|
|
Post by sea.explorer on Mar 11, 2008 20:30:11 GMT -8
Look what showed up at the house today after 6+ years of searching    Original & only stamp 2/25/1949. They are completely chromed. Can you imagine what they must have looked like when they rolled of the line 59 years ago in their shinny chromed glory. These tanks came out only 6 years after Cousteau's first test of the Aqualung in 1943 and just over 2 years after the patent was filed on 12/11/1946.  I have never seen them in chrome. Most of the early aluminum tanks like these were blue anodized. There are not many sets around for reference. They were sold as singles, doubles, triples & the military version as seen in The Silent World were steel. I will be posting more info at Flashback when I get a chance so stay tuned, but you saw it here first. Now all I need is a CG-45 to finish off the set. Not a bad day  -Ryan |
|
|
|
Post by duckbill on Mar 11, 2008 23:14:23 GMT -8
Ryan,
What does the valve mechanism running through the longitudinal axis of the cylinders accomplish? I can't make enough of the drawing to figure it out.
Thanks for sharing.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nemo on Mar 12, 2008 4:32:10 GMT -8
Interesting. When you say "Spiro" you mean these were made by the Spirotechnique division of Aire Liquide in France? In the latter 1940's when Aqua-Lung regulators were being imported from France and Canada, sometimes tanks were included in the shipment. American divers often had problems getting them filled because the I.C.C. put the kybosh on 'em: said they were "inferior quality". That was part of the reason why, when Rene negotiated with Aire Liquide to start building Aqua-Lung regulators in the USA back in 1951-52, he also contracted with the Pressed Steel Tank Company in Milwaukee to produce those (70?) 72's everyone liked so much. Other than that, people were mostly diving those 38's that Walter Kidde made by the thousands during the war. Ye olde "flame thrower" SCUBA tank.  Are you planning on diving them? If so, have you looked into getting them serviced yet? I'm interested to see how they'll be received by techs. Or do you plan to fill them yourself? Good luck with them. Hope it works out for you. Let us know. VBR, Pat |
|
|
|
Post by Michel on Mar 12, 2008 10:31:47 GMT -8
O.K. Ryan...
You're obviously got the right connections and you're not telling us(I'd probably do the same!), you beat me to the Mentor and now the illusive Cousteau tanks(open on both ends) that I've been looking for for years,here and in France with no luck!!!
The triples in yellow of course are the Holy Grail along with a CG45 but still congratulations on the find and sharing the photos. If I'm not mistaken this set of twins used a complete tank as the reserve when the other became exhausted by opening the valve at the bottom as a cross feed.The top and bottom cross members served as clamps to hold the set stable and provide attachment for the harnesses.
Bravo Ryan!What a barn find(wherever that barn may be!).
Michel A.
|
|
|
|
Post by sea.explorer on Mar 12, 2008 14:30:59 GMT -8
The valve is the reserve mechanism. I will be posting more info with High resolution drawings soon. The tanks are Spirotechnique from France. They entered the US for the first time on Monday. They are not in dive worthy condition due to pitting of the aluminum in some spots from years of poor storage. Even if they were in better condition I don't know that I would dive them. I am all for using equipment but these tanks are very very rare. If I were to dive them all things being equal I would never let someone test them and I certainly wouldn't have them stamped since the only stamps on the tanks are from the factory. The only way in my mind is to dive this stuff is to service it yourself. A lot of my collection was taken out of service for specific reasons after years of hard use. This is especially true of some of the Cousteau stuff. If it were the case that use had been randomly discontinued like with much of the dive gear from individual divers it would be different. As for the question about connections. I do have some luck in that department but most of the stuff comes from people I have developed relationships with over many years. The problem is not finding this stuff it is convincing people to part with it. Most people want to trade so you have to cater to peoples interests and be willing to part with some nice stuff. In my experience networking is more successful than deep pockets but that could be because I don't have deep pockets -Ryan |
|
|
|
Post by Michel on Mar 12, 2008 16:12:20 GMT -8
Thanks again Ryan,
Yes I agree,the stuff is out there but people who who have it are also
historically and maybe even emotionally attached to it and money is not always going to work.Then of course there are those who always have more money or are willing to spend more than you for an item. This just happened to me recently on french eBay (ebay.fr) when I tried to bid on a little book called 'Le Manuel du plongeur autonome' by
Spirotechnique circa 1954 +/-, it's very thin and has a blue cover just like the crate you received and contained photos of the mono,bi and tri-blocs...well I thought no one was bidding and wham it went for hundreds of dollars!!!I remember this book because my brother had one given to him by Date Divers in Montreal in the 1960's now lost.It was the basic french how to guide when you bought your equipment.By the way your rig would'nt be from a certain D.Dekker would it? Keep up the good work Ryan,
Michel A.
|
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Mar 12, 2008 20:41:44 GMT -8
Ryan,
All I can say is "WOW!!!," that is quite a find. I admire your tenacity in retrieving this gear, and then posting the photos of it for us to see.
By the way, have you made it to the Pacific Northwest yet? If so, let me know.
I will be enjoying your future posts on these tanks.
John
|
|
|
|
Post by sea.explorer on Mar 12, 2008 22:28:05 GMT -8
Michel, The tanks are not from D.Dekker, but that is a fine guess. I have talked to him about my set though. These came from well off the beaten path. The collector is a huge Cousteau fan and less interested in non Cousteau equipment which worked out well for me. It's all about finding the perfect match. Too bad you didn't win that Spiro publication but Spiro info is in very short supply and high demand. I think I have some of the images from that but not the original document. Catalogs are everywhere in the US but this is not the case in most of Europe in my experience. There are a lot of people out there who are willing to share information which is wonderful since with out the history this is just a bunch of old junk. I have been learning a lot of new things lately which is a big part of the joy of collecting for me.
John, I did make it to Tacoma, and I am enjoying the NW very much. It is good to be back. You should come up to the dive show here in Tacoma the first week in May I will be setting up a large display of Cousteau & vintage gear. It will be my first showing on the west coast and it promises to be my best one yet. I have quite a few new trick up my sleeve. Let me know if you decide to come. I will post more info soon.
-Ryan
|
|
|
|
Post by Nemo on Mar 12, 2008 23:42:24 GMT -8
Ryan said: "The tanks are Spirotechnique from France. They entered the US for the first time on Monday.....If I were to dive them all things being equal I would never let someone test them and I certainly wouldn't have them stamped since the only stamps on the tanks are from the factory."
Wow! Straight from France, with no stamps other than from the manufacturer? Totally agree with what you said. Congrats on a great find!
VBR,
Pat
|
|
|
|
Post by Broxton Coalition on Mar 14, 2008 16:13:54 GMT -8
wow ryan, that is quite a find! well done on bringing that one to your fantastic collection. to celebrate i am watching world without sun tonight. networking is very key to aquiring historical stuff. and i know you will impress a lot of people in the dive show in may. mike |
|
|
|
Post by JES on Mar 14, 2008 18:21:18 GMT -8
.... John, I did make it to Tacoma, and I am enjoying the NW very much. It is good to be back. You should come up to the dive show here in Tacoma the first week in May I will be setting up a large display of Cousteau & vintage gear. It will be my first showing on the west coast and it promises to be my best one yet. I have quite a few new trick up my sleeve. Let me know if you decide to come. I will post more info soon. -Ryan Ryan, Congratulations on the rare find! I travel to the Seattle Tacoma area quite a bit for business. Regretfully, I'm not currently scheduled to travel there the first week in May. Who knows, maybe I'll be lucky and a trip will present itself between now and then.  |
|
|
|
Post by Michel on Mar 15, 2008 8:48:36 GMT -8
Ryan,
When you get around to it it would be great to see more photos,close-ups and different angles to your bi-bloc and also some
measurements like height and weight of the unit.I always wanted to know what a set like that weighed and by deduction estimate what the Cousteau triples in the Silent World weighed? Also any idea on the
filling pressure on those tanks?
Cousteau was still using a set of triples on occasion in the mid 1960's as evidenced on page 62 of the book World Without Sun , a mere 40 odd years ago!Thanks again Ryan...
Michel A.
|
|
|
|
Post by sea.explorer on Mar 15, 2008 14:52:11 GMT -8
Michel, I am preparing section for the museum at Flashback Scuba that will be an in depth look at these tank sets. So, stay tuned. -Ryan
|
|
