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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Feb 20, 2006 11:03:33 GMT -8
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Feb 24, 2006 6:27:10 GMT -8
Maybe somebody can help here. I found these two images online relating to a "seamless suit" of early 1950s vintage: www.tomwilson.com/david/water/seamless1.jpgwww.tomwilson.com/david/water/seamless2.jpgThe first image describes the suit as "The Skin Diver's Suit". Could this be a reference to Skin Diver Magazine - does the font provide a clue perhaps - and the suit therefore be a design commissioned or endorsed by the magazine? And what is the model holding in her right hand - a hood with a mask attached? The second image - from a 1953 Palley's catalogue - seems to illustrate on the top right the same suit, which is now billed as a "lady's" suit. There can't be much diving equipment from this pioneering era which was designed specifically for female use. Is it unique in this respect? I would like to feature this suit in a future contribution to my historical diving suit series, but I have nothing other than these two images to work on. The 1955 edition of the Carriers' "Dive" with its excellent equipment listing appendix doesn't have anything comparable in its "diving suits" section. I would be most grateful if anybody can shed any light on this interesting item. |
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Post by VintageDiverMN on Feb 24, 2006 7:47:18 GMT -8
In 1960 while in France I bought a wet suit from Spirotechnique that had a velco grip instead of a zipper. Ever see one? I still have it, doesn't fit anymore, but I though it was a great idea, worked great, no zipper to get stuck. Frans
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Feb 24, 2006 9:02:02 GMT -8
Indeed, great idea, and I for one thought that velcro was a much more recent invention. In fact, as I have just found out, the Swiss mountaineer George de Mestral came with the idea of velcro (vel(ours) + cro(chet)) in the 1940s while studying under a microscope the burrs sticking to his dog. He patented it in 1955. The fact that La Spirotechnique envisaged a wetsuit application for velcro back in 1960, just 5 years after the patent, is still pretty mindboggling. I only recall zippers being used as fasteners for wetsuit jackets in that decade. I haven't been able to find any reference to the velcroed suit online yet.
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Post by sea.explorer on Feb 24, 2006 9:16:15 GMT -8
Cousteau and his divers suits used velcro closure on all but the first generation of custom suits. -Ryan
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Feb 24, 2006 9:36:42 GMT -8
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Post by duckbill on Feb 24, 2006 9:40:30 GMT -8
In the 40s and early 50s, what we now know here in the US as "snorkeling" was known as "goggling". Then at some time the term "skin diving" came into use. It included SCUBA before it was known by that name. SCUBA was known as "lung diving".
Excerpts from a 1957 World Book Encyclopedia under "Skin Diving":
"Skin Diving is a way to explore the strange, often beautiful world beneath the surface of rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans.
The skin diver usually wears only a swimming suit, or, at most, light protective clothing in which he can move about easily.
Skin divers sometimes use self-contained breathing devices known as lungs.
Most skin divers are 'gogglers'. That is, they wear a face mask, often with a snorkel, but do not use the self-contained breathing apparatus.
Experienced skin divers usually swim in pairs, so that one can help the other if necessary."
That is why "Skin Diver Magazine" was thusly named- not the other way around.
It would be great if someone really knowledgable of the historical definitions of diving terms could write up a time line/definitions page for reference.
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Post by cstmwrks on Apr 5, 2006 5:51:37 GMT -8
Does anyone know what happend with David Wilson? All his pages vanished ( file not found )
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Post by JES on Apr 5, 2006 8:04:02 GMT -8
Does anyone know what happened with David Wilson? All his pages vanished ( file not found ) He last posted on this site on 3/13/06 at 14:20 (Re: Cousteau vintage mask). You can send him a Personal Message by clicking on his user-name to the left of his posts. Hope that this is of some help. |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Apr 9, 2006 8:33:08 GMT -8
Hi, I've been away at a conference for a few days, that's all. Sorry about the dead links, Bill. I moved the files because I made a decision to separate my (special education teaching) professional website, which my brother hosts, from my recreational interests. I made some attempt, a while ago, to post the diving suit files to the web space allocated to me by my ISP but I haven't had the time (and won't in the foreseeable future) to get things up and running. The files are just sitting on my home PC at the moment and I would be very happy for them to be web-accessible if anybody's interested in posting them on their website...
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