Bend-O-Matic

[frank]

I did a series of dives last fall with a Healthways Automatic Decompression Meter aka the "Bend-O-Matic". My buddy and I pretty well figured it out but I wondered if anyone had the origional instructions and would be willing to share them on PDF. The meter is 1962 vintage.

Thanks, Franko

[vintagefrank]

Hi Frank,

they were all made by SOS in Italy. Could give you a manual - but it´s in german only...

regards
frank

[Scotty]

Frank, I would seriously doubt that you would get any sort of accurate deco data from a S.O.S. decompression meter, especially from one manufactured in the early 1960's (not that these units were all that trustworthy to begin with). The "Bends-O-Matic" employed an internal bladder designed to simulate nitrogen absorbtion within the diver's slow tissues. These bladders became less flexible and hardened with age, effectively rendering the meter useless (or even more useless than before, if that's possible). The S.O.S. ADM probably bent or killed as many divers as it saved and was plagued by poorly-written instructions during its early days on the market. Eventually, there was a system developed by die hard ADM divers to maximize its use with relative safety, although I cannot recall the nickname they gave the technique. Perhaps some of the "old mossbacks" on this board can describe it for you. In short, the auto deco meter makes a better paperweight than a functional piece of vintage dive equipment.