Latest Issue of Historical Diver

[Deleted]

Hi Ya All

Come on guys......It may be boring but it is vintage!! Some may be as passionate about hard hat diving as you are with twin hoses. I must confess that one of the guys in our club wants to try hard hat diving but no one was interested so he came to me and asked if I would put my name on the list knowing that if I went several others would follow. It is not one of those things on the top of my to do list (not my cup of tea really), but thought we actually have someone who is interested in diving of old so I said ok.
We now have about 12 people that want to try it. Only problem is where to do it??..We have two options at the moment.
1...Inland site on a 6mtr ledge with good viz, which is a 3hr drive, £90.00 each.
2...Weymouth Harbour... s**t viz 4-5hr drive, £40.00 each but that goes to a diving charity.
I think I'll be letting you know how Weymouth goes when I get back if it happens :-)

Kim

[Nemo]

nemrod said:

I saw some sponge divers in Tampa when I was a child. I spent a summer there with relatives and we suba dived. I thought at the time why didn't those guys buy scuba gear. Seemed like a lot of fuss to me all those pumps and canvas suits. In any case, it was dangerous as well. Didn't those guys get sucked up the pump tube regularly when the valve and pumps failed? I imagine that would be somewhat painful.

I really do see your point, and I have to agree in a lot of respects. Hardhat diving does make me more appreciative of the relative freedom and safety my SCUBA rig affords. No doubt about it.

I think hats are another style of diving that can be a lot of fun if approached the right way.

I've met some octopus divers who think my DA Aquamaster rig is unsafe, too. But I love it anyway. And as long as I take steps to ensure safety, I feel pretty secure with it.

So for me it's kinda the same with hard hats. Yes, one definitely wants to take steps to avoid an equipment failure; and to have backups ready when a failure does occur. But that's true with any underwater technology, isn't it?

As for getting squeezed up the hose if either the compressor or your inlet valve fails: here's a chance to turn this thread into a good tech talk. What do you guys think about that?

Some guys I know have additional one-way valves on the umbilical. I'm thinking a control valve mounted on the breastplate could come in handy, too.

Other ideas?

Pat

[gr8otis]

I saw some sponge divers in Tampa when I was a child. I spent a summer there with relatives and we suba dived. I thought at the time why didn't those guys buy scuba gear. Seemed like a lot of fuss to me all those pumps and canvas suits. In any case, it was dangerous as well. Didn't those guys get sucked up the pump tube regularly when the valve and pumps failed? I imagine that would be somewhat painful.

Just returned from Tarpon Springs where I had the pleasure of diving a Lerios hat made by Nick Toth, in the presence of the master himself.

There are only a few sponge boats left, and they use hookah units now.

The pump/valve failure is not much of a problem as both have to fail, and divers were pretty careful to make sure the return valve was in good order.

m

[Deleted]

Hey Buzz, my daughter lives in League City and I am in the Houston area often. Let me know when the rallies are I might like to join in.

[Ron Hearn]

Hi

As one of those wimpy hard hat divers I beleave you can't have a history time line magazine with out the mentioning of the development and history of helmet diving, as it all began with leather hats and stones for weights and moved up through the centuries until the modern day. Scuba was simply a cast off step up from hard hat diving. LOL

Ron

Ron

[Deleted]

For those not familiar with the Historical Diving Society and its magazine, it was started by a group of commercial divers so, naturally, the focus was initially on helmets. And, there are some among them that think SCUBA is the "wimpy" form of diving. But as noted above, it's all vintage diving and there is room for everyone.

Incidentlally, the board of directors now includes only one commercial diver, Tim Beaver of Global Diving and Salvage, and he is a strong supporter of diving history in all its forms. Look at the list of Advisory Board members and you'll see eminent people from commercial, scientific, military, and recreational fields. The Society is operated by two paid employees and a small group of volunteers who answer to the board of directors and are trying hard to cater to a worldwide audience of diving historians and vintage gear enthusiasts.

With the latest issue, the name of the magazine has changed to The Journal of Diving History and the mix of articles is pretty good. As far as the cost of the magazine, true you only get four issues per year, but the quality of the magazine and its contents has improved dramatically over the years. Also, the money from membership dues helps promote other HDS activities such as bringing Hans Hass to the US, annual conferences, etc.

On the subject of conferences, initially they were held in California where the Society was established, but the effort is being made to move them around the country to be more accessible to the membership and to the public. As a matter of fact, the most successful conference to date, based on attendance, was held in Seattle in 2006.

As Ryan stated, if you show your interest by becoming involved in the Society, you can influence it. Also, if you're prejudiced toward SCUBA or helmets, open yourself up to the other. The history of each field is fascinating and surprisingly intertwined.
Sid

[Deleted]

Kim will probably correct me in that the original HDS was formed in the UK, is still active and publishes a very good magazine of its own. My comments were directed to the HDS USA.
Sid

[Deleted]

I guess I'm back to this again. The whole helmet guys vs. SCUBA guys argument boggles my mind because, to me, it's all part of the same history. But, just for the sake of argument; Augustus Seibe perfected the diving helmet, as we know it, in the 1830's. In France, Lemaire d'Augerville, owner of a salvage company, had designed, and his divers were using, a SCUBA unit with a face mask, detachable weights, a buoyancy compensator, and an autonomous breathing unit in 1828. Check out Historical Diver Magazine issue #24. Let's put this to rest!

[duckbill]

I don't have any problem with hard hat divers. Never saw the need for an issue. If there is still some type of rivalry, I suspect it is on the hard hat side- where it began. From the history I have read, period movies, et. al., it was the hard hat divers that resented (jealousy) the SCUBA divers getting some of their work. Maybe some of the SCUBA guys flaunted their untethered diving freedom just to upset the hard hatters? Any history on this?

[Deleted]

Talking to a commercial diver here in Oregon who broke into the business via SCUBA, his take on it was that the early commercial divers were highly respected specialists who did one thing - dive. The SCUBA guys came on the scene in the 1950's and did just what you suggest, swam circles around the older guys (some of whom started diving just after the turn of the century and worked well into their 70's - no 401K) and also worked cheaper. So yes, there was resentment. He also felt that, in a way, it was demeaning to the older divers.

[neo1968]

Jun 8, 2005 23:22:01 GMT -8 Turtleguy9 said:

Aloha All
I don't know how many of you are members of the Historical Diving Society. I Like the magazine they put out called Historical Diver. It covers a lot of diving topics, Some helmet diving stuff, and some good Scuba Stuff.
I really enjoyed the latest issue covering Emile Gagnan, and the Aqua-Lung 1948-1958.
Aqua-Lung sponsored a color guide to the Early double hose regulators.
Phil Nuytten wrote up a great Serial Number, Nameplate guide of the Cousteau-Gagnan two stage regulators 1948-1958
I learned a lot about the history of the DA Aqualung
Has anyone else read the issue?
Turtleguy9

You know I have been meaning to join the HDS for a while and I should join. The only thing is that I wished they would move into more of the historical aspects of scuba and skin diving. Just my opinion though!

[Deleted]

I just revisited this thread and it never ceases to amaze me that the SCUBA guys and the Helmet guys are so adamantly exclusive of each other. Think of this, the Deane helmet of the 1830's was developed from a fire fighting helmet. The Fleuss rebreather was originally designed for mine rescue as was the Roquayrol/Denayrouze demand regulator (which functioned exactly like the Cousteau/Gagnan reg but preceded it by 80 years). Developments in helmet diving affected open circuit SCUBA (decompression theory amongst other things) and SCUBA had a great impact on commercial helmet diving - take a look at the Kirby/Morgan line of helmets and band masks which originated from abalone divers' swim gear. Additionally, diving is connected to other technological pursuits that have little to do with water. Diving helmets, rebreathers, and open circuit scuba are all direct descendants of fire fighting and mine safety/rescue. The first high altitude pressure suit was a modified divers dress. If any divers could claim historic exclusivity they would probably be free divers as their pursuit stems only from breath hold diving, but the whole history of diving is one big web of connections, and to single out one small part of it, be that helmets or two hose regs, is to miss about 90 percent of the rest. As a member and an officer of the Historical Diving Society, I see people doing this all the time. I would encourage you to consider it all. It's fascinating.

Now, I'm stepping down from my soap box and pushing off to one side.

[Deleted]

Nope back on the box for just a bit. neo1968's last comment caught my attention just before I logged off. I hope you understand that the HDS does not have a staff of writers who go out looking for subjects to write about. All of our magazine content comes from individuals doing research into some aspect of diving history that interests them. If you'd like to see more articles on SCUBA, or free diving, or helmets, or bangsticks dig into the subject, put together an article, and submit it. That's really the only way the HDS can provide material for a wide range of interests.

Now I'm off the box again and going out to mow the lawn.