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Post by diver1090 on Jan 2, 2024 13:48:34 GMT -8
Hi Diogo! Welcome to the forum... you will find it easy to make friends here that will try to answer any questions you may have. Thanks for having me. I've already started lurking through message threads and pickup up what I can. As time goes on I'll be sure to badger as many people as possible for more info! |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Jan 7, 2024 3:16:29 GMT -8
Welcome to the forum, Diogo. I live in the UK too, North East England to be exact. I'm a vintage snorkeller, and I sometimes post when conversations get a little regulator-heavy or when some practice on this side of the pond can bring new insights to our discussions here. One of my missions now I am fully retired is to research areas of diving history that have been neglected. I get the impression that American diving history is relatively well covered, with multiple sources of information about leading practitioners and equipment manufacturers there, while the history of European diving has attracted much less research. I would go so far as to say that British diving history is one of the most neglected areas of study. I have tried to address the issue by posting files on my Google drive. I have uploaded diving equipment catalogues unavailable elsewhere at Catalogues. DRW |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Jan 7, 2024 10:19:13 GMT -8
Diogo, it sounds to me like you'd need an extra-large--good luck with that one bruddah! How's your Spanish? I recall there's a pretty good sized vintage presence in Spain because that's where Nemrod was/is? DRW, AKA David Richie Wilson, is in the UK: pick his brain, as he's about as nerdy as they come when it comes to old snorkel/free-dive gear and wetsuits. He's a polyglot too, so he can read things from all over the word to get his fix. JB I’m originally from Portugal so I can get by in Spanish- I speak French and a little Italian too so I guess that puts me in a good position to reach out to folks closer to home. A postscript to my post: Following on from what you have said about your Portuguese origins, do you have any information to share about historical diving equipment manufacturers in Portugal? By way of example, the diving equipment manufacturer Simotal has recently come to my attention:
Portuguese: A velhinha marca SIMOTAL, teve origem em Sesimbra em 1956. A loja ainde existe hoje na Av. de Roma em Lisboa, mas a marca SIMOTAL deixou de se comercializar depois da fusão da empresa detentora desta com a Picasso. Os produtos hoje fabricados e comercializados têm a marca Picasso.
Rough translation: "The old SIMOTAL brand originated in Sesimbra in 1956. The store still exists today on Av. de Roma in Lisbon, but the SIMOTAL brand stopped being sold after the merger of the company that owned it with Picasso. The products manufactured and sold today have the Picasso brand". I would really like to find out more about this Portuguese firm. DRW
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Post by diver1090 on Jan 12, 2024 7:50:40 GMT -8
Hi DRW, pleasure to meet you
I'm astounded that you brought up Simotal- those fins you posted below were my absolute first pair of fins- ever! I still remember trying them on as a kid when they were much too small. I still have these back in Portugal, the rubber has unfortunately cracked in the meantime and will likely only ever be for display now.
In regards to your work with diving history, I assume you've already had a chat with the folks at the Historical Diving Society- I think they're definitely focused on the hard-hat side of things but I'm sure I read mention of vintage scuba folks in there somewhere as well. I think it would be great to see the HDS lean a little more into that side and possibly organise rallies or events in the UK and Europe like the ones in the States.
In regards to Simotal and Portuguese diving manufacture, I will be sure to see what I can find. I came across SIMOTAL products under the Picasso spearfishing line and only discovered that they've carried on as such, likely bought out. The shop you posted has unfortunately been closed for a long while, I managed to get images from 2009 on google showing it already boarded up. I'm afraid history and/or upkeep of heritage in Portugal is something the government and often the general public like to neglect to terrible effect, and I'd be happy to do my share to bring some of these items out of obscurity.
I'll be sure to keep an eye out for british based stuff too- No doubt there's a plethora of information ready to be uncovered!
Kind regards,
Diogo
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Jan 12, 2024 15:05:44 GMT -8
Hi DRW, pleasure to meet you I'm astounded that you brought up Simotal- those fins you posted below were my absolute first pair of fins- ever! I still remember trying them on as a kid when they were much too small. I still have these back in Portugal, the rubber has unfortunately cracked in the meantime and will likely only ever be for display now. In regards to your work with diving history, I assume you've already had a chat with the folks at the Historical Diving Society- I think they're definitely focused on the hard-hat side of things but I'm sure I read mention of vintage scuba folks in there somewhere as well. I think it would be great to see the HDS lean a little more into that side and possibly organise rallies or events in the UK and Europe like the ones in the States. In regards to Simotal and Portuguese diving manufacture, I will be sure to see what I can find. I came across SIMOTAL products under the Picasso spearfishing line and only discovered that they've carried on as such, likely bought out. The shop you posted has unfortunately been closed for a long while, I managed to get images from 2009 on google showing it already boarded up. I'm afraid history and/or upkeep of heritage in Portugal is something the government and often the general public like to neglect to terrible effect, and I'd be happy to do my share to bring some of these items out of obscurity. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for british based stuff too- No doubt there's a plethora of information ready to be uncovered! Kind regards, Diogo A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Diogo. I am delighted to have finally met somebody who has even heard of Simotal, let alone used the underwater equipment the Portuguese firm used to manufacture. After undertaking quite exhaustive online searches, I recently compiled an "album" listing and illustrating what I found out about Simotal and its products. I posted this document later on my Google drive at Simotal Album. Do let me know if this file contains any glaring errors or omissions. Diving equipment history can be a fascinating field of study and you will find plenty of people on the present forum willing to share their expertise and to inform any research or practical projects of your own. I have learnt so much here and you can be certain too that you will receive a much more detailed response to any enquiry than the "Wow!" that is often the standard reaction elsewhere on the Web. DRW |
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Post by vance on Jan 12, 2024 20:34:55 GMT -8
Nice album, DRW. I had never heard of this company or its products. Thanks for the link!
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Jan 13, 2024 7:38:34 GMT -8
Nice album, DRW. I had never heard of this company or its products. Thanks for the link! No reason why you should have heard of Simotal, Phil. I looked online for the principal underwater swimming equipment manufacturers in Europe and found their names with illustrations of their products mainly on auction sites since the continent's few diving gear historians tend to focus on regulators and spearguns to the neglect of masks, snorkels, fins and suits. Linguee and Google Translate make excellent companions these days, the quality of their output having dramatically improved in recent years, thanks to the input of human professional translators. I'm glad the Simotal album proved of interest. It was quite a challenge, though very satisfying nevertheless, to locate the scattered online Portuguese sources then bring them together to compile the document. DRW |
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