Diaporama 60 ans de La Spirotechnique - Aqua Lungan

[trapezus]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1oOT-tH4gs

[Deleted]

Nice timeline. Lots of cool looking gear that the US market either never saw or saw very little of. Paging Dr. David Richie Wilson to History E.R. When you get a chance take a look at the helmet at about 18:58. Never seen that little beast before. Know any more details?

Love this stuff. Only part about it that hurts is that it reminds me about my diving history library and how it's now about 10% of it's original size. Lost allot over the years.

[DavidRitchieWilson]

Do you mean the following helmet, Bill:

The context is the front cover of a back issue of France's national diving magazine L'Aventure Sous-Marine. As such, the helmet may be neither Spirotechnique nor Aqualung in origin. It might even have been home-made.

The helmet in question bears some resemblance to the "Sea Crown" in the Siebe-Gorman catalogue of 1969, which can be accessed at Bryan Pennington's wonderful archive of diving manuals and catalogues. Just follow the "Manuals & Catalogs" link under "Gear info" at the bottom of the home page at Vintagedoublehose.com.

Here is a screenshot of the front cover of the catalogue:

and here is another picture with its accompanying text:


British professional diving equipment manufacturer Siebe-Gorman no longer exists, but it led the way in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. I can't find anything else about the "Sea Crown". It wasn't in the firm's 1963 "Blue Book" catalogue and I don't have access to any of their post-1969 catalogues.

DRW

PS: I submitted this message too soon. Here's a better image of the "Sea Crown", courtesy of the excellent Frogman Museum:

Do visit the web page, where you'll find more information and the explanatory note: "The helmet was only a prototype and was built to work with a rebreather. The helmet did not use a neck dam, but rather was attached to a dry suit neck yoke. It had an oral-nasal mask and a wrap-around polycarbonate face visor. The visor was hinged and could be opened sideways. The white shell was fiberglass."

[Deleted]

Yes, that is the one. Did not think about the possibility that it was a one off or custom helmet. Looked like it was fed by a single LP hose but that was just a cursory glance. Love the old stuff. Simple and rugged for the most part. Not like today when a mask now runs off batteries and cost $1000.00:

oh, pardon me, $999.00

[SeaRat]

Trapezus,

That was a wonderful compilation of different La Spirotechnique and U.S. Divers Company/Aqualung equipment catalogs. Thank you.

John