Pop Sci 1954 diving project

[jrvance]

i just recieved the june 1954 issue of popular science that has the plans for a shallow water hookah rig.

it looks to me that the design is pretty sound and all the parts look easily purchased

i was wondering if anyone has experience with this set up
and if there is a source for the mask with the twin snorkels

if anyone wants ill scan the pages and put the up here

[Ron Hearn]

Hi

Sounds like a great project, I think you could posibly find your mask on Ebay. I would love to see a picture of the completed system with you at depth.

Good luck

Ron

[jrvance]

ya it looks like a lot of fun with room for expansion and experimentation,

it looks like it will cost less than 100$ instead of paying multiple tousands

i am trying to scan it but the binding isnt in the best condition

ill work on it

[Linda]

I saw one of those twin-snorkel things on eBay recently.

I didn't bookmark it, though, and it's closed by now anyway.

[jrvance]

i have seen a couple on ebay so i dont thing thats that great of a problem

[jrvance]

does anyone have any experience using oil less compressors in hookah rigs and were to find one suitable for diving, and if the are suatible for diving? i just dont feel the need to go wacko after breathin some weird chemicals

[jrvance]

well ive looked around and the only part that will be hard to find is the mask, everything elese is availible or easily replaced by a similer part
it uses a hand pump which is pretty cool, very portable, but depth limit around 20 - 25

still working on scans

[Creed]

jrvance said:

does anyone have any experience using oil less compressors in hookah rigs and were to find one suitable for diving, and if the are suatible for diving? i just dont feel the need to go wacko after breathin some weird chemicals

I would think that a set of double or triple tanks set up to float on the surface would be superior to an active compressor. Less chance of things screwing up. Even if the whole thing flips, it will still deliver air.

[jrvance]

it would be more redundant,

[SeaRat]

Why keep the tanks on the surface? Why not put together a sub with the tank(s) on it? That is what Walter Stark did in the 1970s, and wrote about in The Blue Reef, A Report from Beneath the Sea, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1979.

It wouldn't be fair to give the impression that the submarine was a lemon or a sullen sea creature of evil spirit. On the contrary, she served us well most of the time, affording a mobility and underwater freedom unmatched by any other craft I have used. On good days, when the wind was low and the water clear, we were able to glide and soar in the midst of spectacular beauty with an exuberance that is known perhaps only to birds. Flying the machine is very like piloting a silent helicopter, and it puts us on an almost equal footing with the creatures we are studying.

The next day we towed the submarine out around the southwest corner of Enewetak Island. it was a clear, calm day with a brooiling sun. Jo and I submerged in the submarine on the outer edge of the reef. Our objective on this mission was to count the shark populations along a stretch of reef and to test their reactions toward various approaches and 'postures' of the sub. The water was extremely clear, and we could see the bottom plainly from the surface down to depths of more than 100 feet. We descended in rather a steep dive, and on the way down I noticed some blurry patches on the windshield. They turned out to be muddy footprints that had dried; I had made them when I was on the surface, standing on the sub and pushing it away fromthe El Territo after I had lowered it into the water by the crane. We stopped on the bottom at about 80 feet, just inside the steep outer slope of the reef, and I hopped out and wiped off the windshield...
pages 46-47

John

[Bob3]

jrvance said:

does anyone have any experience using oil less compressors in hookah rigs and were to find one suitable for diving, and if the are suatible for diving? i just dont feel the need to go wacko after breathin some weird chemicals

Yah, I've used some of the Sears oilless compressors with a DESCO hardhat, kind of pricey just for a hookah rig though.
I have a little Harbor Freight compressor I've been meaning to hook up to one of those plastic bubble hats...
it puts out 5.8 scfm @ 40psi
www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47407
I'd still slap a filter on it though. Some guys in Mexico I know use Kotex for filter media.
If you want to make a hookah rig with a gas motor, check out the compressor heads at Keene, the guys that make the gold dredges: www.keeneeng.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=DE

[jrvance]

Thanks,

what do you mean by plastic bubble hats