Post by twinfin on Jul 5, 2009 6:14:09 GMT -8
hi fellow vintage divers! my name is Timm Haubolt (twinfin tim)
,as u may know, i just joined about a month ago, but i 've been a guest for months. i really enjoy the vintage dive stories.
i am a veteran diver. my first scuba experience was in 1961, my grandparents had a cottage on minocqua lake, in northern wisc, and the neighbors son was diving past our swimming area. when he surfaced, i asked if i could try his scuba in 5 ft of water. he said sure. i remember the regulator was a early calypso and the tank and backpac were both usd. the backpac had yellow vinyl straps, not webbing. well, as many of u know, that's all it took to get hooked on the scuba bug!. the following summer, i had a few more chances to do the diving experience. then in 1967 i found in the local classifieds a guy that was selling his scuba gear. for $125 i purchased his aqualung da navy two hose reg, twin 72s, and a usd tank pressure gage. the gentleman bought his equip while doing his tour of duty in the navy in 1957.
he dove in some great dive spots around the world.
in 1967 i took dive lessons from Susan Popov. her dad , Bo and mom Dorothy also instructors and owners of lakeland sports shop in minocqua, wi. the store is still there and Susan and mom Popov operate it. no longer a dive shop, but a sportswear and gift shop, called POPOV'S. i tell u what, the dive industry has really changed since the 50s & 60s. those were the days u had to be a good swimmer. there were no such things as BCs, uw tank pressure gages, dive consols with compass and depth gage. single hose regs were just getting popular, and wet suits that just didn't fit and were only glued together, not stitched. but, once you're hooked, you didn't care how much water sloshed in your suit or the cold water that seeped in thru the holes under the arm pits. you didn't care!, because you looked and felt like MIKE NELSON!! now looking back, i should have never sold my 1957 equip. not thinking of the nostalgic value, i opted to get 2 single 80 cu ft tanks, posiden regs, BCs, and dive consoles. well, that's part of my vintage scuba story. i'm sure we'll be swapping dive experiences in the future. bye for now, twinfin.
,as u may know, i just joined about a month ago, but i 've been a guest for months. i really enjoy the vintage dive stories.
i am a veteran diver. my first scuba experience was in 1961, my grandparents had a cottage on minocqua lake, in northern wisc, and the neighbors son was diving past our swimming area. when he surfaced, i asked if i could try his scuba in 5 ft of water. he said sure. i remember the regulator was a early calypso and the tank and backpac were both usd. the backpac had yellow vinyl straps, not webbing. well, as many of u know, that's all it took to get hooked on the scuba bug!. the following summer, i had a few more chances to do the diving experience. then in 1967 i found in the local classifieds a guy that was selling his scuba gear. for $125 i purchased his aqualung da navy two hose reg, twin 72s, and a usd tank pressure gage. the gentleman bought his equip while doing his tour of duty in the navy in 1957.
he dove in some great dive spots around the world.
in 1967 i took dive lessons from Susan Popov. her dad , Bo and mom Dorothy also instructors and owners of lakeland sports shop in minocqua, wi. the store is still there and Susan and mom Popov operate it. no longer a dive shop, but a sportswear and gift shop, called POPOV'S. i tell u what, the dive industry has really changed since the 50s & 60s. those were the days u had to be a good swimmer. there were no such things as BCs, uw tank pressure gages, dive consols with compass and depth gage. single hose regs were just getting popular, and wet suits that just didn't fit and were only glued together, not stitched. but, once you're hooked, you didn't care how much water sloshed in your suit or the cold water that seeped in thru the holes under the arm pits. you didn't care!, because you looked and felt like MIKE NELSON!! now looking back, i should have never sold my 1957 equip. not thinking of the nostalgic value, i opted to get 2 single 80 cu ft tanks, posiden regs, BCs, and dive consoles. well, that's part of my vintage scuba story. i'm sure we'll be swapping dive experiences in the future. bye for now, twinfin.