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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Oct 23, 2005 13:08:31 GMT -8
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Post by cstmwrks on Oct 23, 2005 17:02:18 GMT -8
David, Great finds!! Am going to link to those suits myself!
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Post by JES on Oct 23, 2005 19:04:18 GMT -8
David,
As cstmwrks said thanks for the links!
If you run across any others please let us know.
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Oct 25, 2005 8:12:46 GMT -8
Thanks, guys, for the positive feedback, which encouraged me to add the mid-1950s, British-made, Heinke Dolphin Suit to my Historical Diving Suits series: www.tomwilson.com/david/water/heinke-dolphin.pdfHope it also turns out to be of interest.
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Oct 27, 2005 13:36:57 GMT -8
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Post by JES on Oct 28, 2005 15:26:16 GMT -8
David,
How did you become interested in Vintage Dive Suits?
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Oct 29, 2005 3:28:28 GMT -8
A difficult question, JES. Back in the 1960s, when I was a member of my university's subaqua club, my aunt gave me money to buy a suit. Although I opted for a perfectly serviceable lined Typhoon wetsuit, I still hankered a little for the Skooba Totes drysuit I had seen in Submarine Products' catalogue because British waters can be cold.
What interests me about vintage diving suits is that they have the same classic simplicity as masks and fins of the period. Compare that with what might be perceived as the overengineered, multi-material complexity of modern suits. They don't claim to be life-preservers: human judgement surely fulfils that function.
This year I had the chance to try out one of Bill's replica suits swimming off the beach in the North Sea and at first I experienced the disadvantages of the suit - the problem of trapped air and the difficulty of removing the jacket. Then common sense taught me how to vent the air from the neck seal and to flood or talc the jacket after my swim to ease it off. I enjoyed that learning experience, which taught me that an old dog can still learn new tricks. The suit also served its purpose of keeping me warm and dry and I felt far less constricted than I have ever done when I wore a thick wet suit. Lifelong experience has also taught me not to put myself in the way of danger when wearing the suit. I don't try and get out of my depth and wouldn't swim where there are strong currents.
Investigating history via its artefacts (in my case vintage suits) can give fascinating insights into the human condition. The makers of such suits have tended to be talented individuals rather than big corporations. They made their suits for other individualists who enjoyed diving in their native Southern Californian waters instead of heading off on once-a-year expensive trips to tropical climes, which tend nowadays to be regularly afflicted by natural disasters and increasingly by man-made ones too. My research into suits also dispels the myth that diving in the 1950s was the exclusive preserve of hirsute male athletic types. I've chanced upon at least two women's suits of the 1950s.
Finally, I have a penchant for identifying gaps in existing research and trying to fill them. On this forum, most contributors seem to be interested in regulators, or demand valves as we Brits call them. They collect them, study them, service them, catalogue them and try them out during vintage dives. Several websites are devoted to them, so they're relatively well researched and documented. The same isn't true of vintage suits, so I guess I want to explore what is relatively unexplored territory. I hope my little A4 sheets about individual suits of the past continue to have an audience. More are in the planning stage.
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Post by SeaRat on Oct 29, 2005 15:11:25 GMT -8
DavidRichieWilson,
I have a book by Bill Beer, titled We SWAM the GRAND CANYON, The True Story of a Cheap Vacation that Got a Little Out of Hand*. In 1956 Bill Beer and John Daggett "swam, float, bump and slosh their way along 280 miles of one of the country's roughest rivers. The jacket states:
They used sheet rubber dry suit shirts for their swim.
I, when I was the Finswimming Director in in the late 1980s for the Underwater Society of America, wrote to the Sports Committee Chairman for the World Underwater Federation (CMAS) to tell him about the swim, and sent him a copy of the book. Here's what he wrote back:
Thus, Bill Beer and John Daggett were credited with a world record white water swim:
I thought it was very interesting that they chose the sheet rubber shirts for their thermal protection. When I get time, I'll quote a bit from the book.
John
*Copyright 1988, Bill Beer We SWAM the GRAND CANYON THE MOUTAINEERS/SEATTLE 306 2nd Avenue West Seattle, WA 98119 ISBN 0-89886-151-9
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Post by cstmwrks on Oct 29, 2005 18:49:13 GMT -8
David, I like the insight in your last post. I hope the suit will serve you well and provide you with many more vintage dry suit experiances. Some time in the month of November I will have the first vintage style neck entry suit and with some luck a chute entry as well. If you ever wish to have your experiance with any vintage type suit published on my web site feel free to contact me.
Bill
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Oct 30, 2005 1:53:45 GMT -8
Thanks, guys. I've been out with my vintage suit this morning for an hour's swim off my North Sea beach. Air and water both temperate - very unusual for this time of the year and probably the result of global warming!
Great detail, John, in the description of the Grand Canyon swim. I like the way people of that era achieved their goals with a small budget and plenty of determination and by improvising with what was then available. Unlike modern times, when everything is designed for a specific purpose and exercising one's right to make an alternative choice is frowned upon. And the authorities would discourage such "extreme sport" initiatives by individualists out of fear of litigation.
Thanks for the offer of your website as a place to publish my experiences, Bill. I may well take you up on it at some stage, as my morning forays haven't gone unnoticed, drawing puzzled looks from dog walkers and even the attention of two local "bobbies", who came to the water's edge, concerned I was either a potential suicide or even a North Korean spy. Having established that I posed no threat to myself, them or the Crown, they admired my vintage gear consisting of the Customworks two-piece suit with hood and cummerbund and rubber full-foot fins, mask and snorkel. They expressed puzzlement that I had chosen that beach where there wasn't much to see underwater except sand and seaweed, but I explained that the idea was to get some morning exercise - I've recently had surgery - including a climb up sand dunes,which made me out of breath - the thing you're recommended to do these days to fend off heart problems. Having satisfied their curiosity, the two officers of the law headed back in the direction of their morning doughnuts, leaving me alone to have one more dip before driving home for breakfast. I always feel better for the entire day after those mornings when the sea is calm enough for an hour's snorkelling.
Those new suit types do sound tempting, Bill, and I may be looking sometime for something that's a little looser around the stomach to accommodate my middle-age spread...
David
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Post by cstmwrks on Oct 30, 2005 5:08:39 GMT -8
Thats GREAT!!.. If only a tabloid photograpger had been there!! I can see the headline: ANCIENT FROGMAN RETURNS FROM 50 YEAR LONG DIVE!! LOCAL BOBBIES ASSIST IN RETURNING HIM TO THE SEA. I have never got that kind of attention, though I admit that I go to great pains to avoid much in the line of people contact. Most of my dives I'm testing some thing or another and have my mind on goals and a focus on the details at hand. Avoiding people means avoiding distrations.
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Oct 30, 2005 10:09:43 GMT -8
Yes, it was a little disconcerting as the two bobbies were waving to me while I was swimming and walked in my direction as I trudged out of the water. At the time, I was racking my brains trying to imagine what was going on. Was a man-eating shark stalking me and about to pounce? Or had I broken some obscure local bye-law? The only warning notice displayed at the beach was one about keeping dogs away from seal pups during the breeding season. I've never seen any seals on the beach, but perhaps in my suit in the early morning light I may have been mistaken for one!
Anyway, I'm glad it all ended so amicably and they were really only concerned about my safety. So I was spared the embarrassment of a court appearance or a piece by the local newspaper's star reporter on the lines you mention, Bill. One of those things in life to look back on with amusement. I too find onlookers distracting, which is why I try and do my snorkelling at first light when very few people are about. These days I also love seeing the red sun slowly rising above the horizon beyond the bay. I have to say that the people do give me a wide berth, respecting my space, but as for their canine companions, who want to splash about in the waves as well... I suppose I can always pretend I'm an aggressive seal minding my brood if they get too close.
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Nov 6, 2005 9:04:57 GMT -8
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Post by SeaRat on Nov 6, 2005 14:35:57 GMT -8
DavidRichieWilson,
I had an Aquala dry suit which had the same front entry closure method. You state in the write-up:
But the entry is tricky to close off and make water-tight. Here are some dive log entries about my problems sealing the front entry:
Since this was a strip-glued suit, and not a solid sheet, some have said that this caused these leaks, and it may not be applicable to the suit you have. But the chute does need special attention, and the opening must first be pleated, then doubled over and tied very well to be watertight.
John
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Buzz
Senior Diver
Posts: 64
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Post by Buzz on Nov 7, 2005 8:33:15 GMT -8
I always heard that the only way to get a good seal was to use the provided clamp. I see these clamps come up on ebay every once in a while.....but nobody seems to know what they are used for
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