Vintage wetsuits (new)

[scubadiverbob]

For those who want to make their own wetsuits, I wish them luck. Here is some good info. If it were me; I'd have Cricket make me one. They have the right sowing machines and know what they are doing. Get leaks in cold water = no fun. Actually, I wish I was still in Panama where I didn't have to wear a wetsuit and everyone wore horsecollar bc's, and I only had to wear six pounds of lead ... "those were the days, my friend" !!!!! (any other of us, that are 'vintage' remember that song? was my favorite song when I was younger ... (I'm 28 now ...))


Hi Robert,

I can sell sheet neoprene. Depending on the thickness, it could run up to about 150.00 per sheet.
All my patterns are custom made, and would be $200. In order for me to make a decent pattern, I would need them to follow my chart and instructions of 60 + measurements.

Cricket

Otter Bay Wetsuits
207 Hoffman Ave
Monterey, CA 93940
888-220-1453
[e-mail]

[SeaRat]

Robert,

The original wet suits were made of neoprene without a lining, and simply glued together. They were rather delicate, but very warm when intact. We had to use talcum powder to put the suits on. But I remember one dive in Clear Lake in about 1966 or so, where I got a large rip in the back of the wet suit. That one area of my skin got really cold (the water was around 37-40 degrees F), but I was able to last through an hour dive. But I was a bit younger then, though I won't claim to be 28 now.

John

[nemrod]

Can he make a real beaver tail two piece suit with clips? No logos?, no rear zippers?, zippers on arms and legs? sharkskin outer? is there a website?

James

[OystrPir8]

Yeah - I just got a Non Terfoam suit with a zipper down the front, zippers at the wrists and ankles and clips and shiny outer (is that shark skin?) It is BEAUTIFUL and it fits great, but it is a 5mil.

The problem is, I am pretty sure it will be too cold for Monterey. I usually dive a 7-on-7 (7mil jacket on a 7mil farmer John)

Id love to find a 1/4 inch or 7 mil version of the same thing. I love the logo, myself.
I also need a hood.

Its a simple pattern but I wonder what she would charge to recreate it as identically as possible.

[SeaRat]

OystrPir8,

I would try the suit in Monterey, but for snorkeling and free diving. It sounds like it is made for that, as many of the spearfishermen used a 3/16 inch suit when free diving in cold water. I think the Non-Tearfoam Suit was a U.S. Divers Co. product, and as I recall it did have one layer of nylon on the inside. If the outside is shiny, it is a skin-out suit. The "Sharkskin" suits had small squares imbedded into the skin, which was supposed to make the suit more flexible.

Here is a photo of my first wet suit, a white stag suit, taken about 1962 in the Puget Sound area:

This suit had neither nylon nor stitching (nothing to stitch to) in it, and simply had glued seams.

In this photo, I'm wearing a farmer John suit with attached hood, nylon-in, and the textured outside (Sharkskin). This was a nice, warm suit, which is lucky as the water temp in Clear Lake is about 37 degrees year-round.


John

John

[scubadiverbob]

Anyone wondering what could be made should call the toll free number listed, 1-888-220-1453
or send an e-mail. They also do repairs.

[SeaRat]

If you are interested in making your own wet suit, take a look at this, from the book Handbook for Skin Divers, An Asco How-To Book[/B] by George Bronson-Howard, no copyright available. I think this book comes from around 1959. But, I hesitate to recommend this, as there is a very good chance you will be overexposed to solvents when trying. You need to do this with very good local exhaust ventilation, or in a very large room (like a warehouse), or the solvent vapor concentrations could get pretty high.


John

[scubadiverbob]

One of the chemicals, paraxylene a.k.a. xylol, might desolve or react with neophrene. I'd check it out on some scrap material before waisting a suit. Make sure to get MSDS forms from the company you buy the chemicals from and follow instructions on the MSDS's to the tee. I'd suggest contacting Otter Bay or some other Wetsuit company before trying any of this.

[SeaRat]

scubadiverbob has some good info, getting the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is always recommended. The MSDS usually states that respiratory protection is necessary if the exposures are over the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for the chemical for an 8-hour exposure. If you don't sample the air in your breathing zone for the chemical, you don't know what the exposure level is that you face. To sample for a chemical requires special sampling pumps and media, or a passive sampling badge, either of which need to be sent to a lab for analysis. Without that information, you need the respiratory protection and chemically resistant gloves. Respiratory protection is at a minimum a half-face cartridge respirator with cartridges which protect against organic vapors. Like scuba, to use any respiratory protection correctly, you need training in its use and limitations.

Why is this important? Well, I knew a guy who owned a scuba shop on the Oregon coast, and began manufacturing wet suits in the attic. He did this for many years, and I believe that he passed away from a cancer (don't know which type). But I do know that many of the solvents in use in the 1970-1990s contained some chemicals which cause cancer. To give an example, xylene (1330-20-7) has a TLV of 100 parts per million (ppm)* for an 8-hour threshold limit value (TLV). It has a short term exposure limit (STEL) of 150 ppm for 15 minutes*. But another of this family, the m-xylene alpha, alpha prime-diamine, has no TLV and a ceiling concentration (a concentration above which people should not be exposed) of 0.1 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3)*, or about 0.02 ppm. This means that exposure to this latter chemical should occur for durations no greater than 15 minutes, at concentrations not greater than 0.02 ppm, no more than 4 times a day. It is also listed as being absorped through the skin. So read the MSDSs, and abide by their recommendations.

So it is best, if you really want this type of wet suit and have the ability to get it made, to have a reputable manufacturer make it for you. I put that information on making a wet suit from the book above on this site for historical purposes only. It shows what we did in the 1950s and 1960s about thermal protection.

John

*All figures quoted are from the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) 2005 Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents[/B] booklet.

[DavidRitchieWilson]

First, yes I do remember the song "Those were the days". Sung by Mary Hopkin. I will always associate it in my mind with a year I spent mastering my spoken French and teaching in a school in the Auvergne between 1968 and 1969. I heard it whenever I went to the local café, where it was popular on the jukebox. Those were indeed the days.

I know we're talking about wetsuits in the 1960s, but there's a fascinating illustrated account of the early (1950s) history of the wetsuit at

www.divinghistory.com/historyofthewetsuit.htm

In that decade, foam neoprene wasn't the only material used to make wetsuits. The Pêche Sport wetsuit distributed by Healthways alongside their Carib drysuit was made of sponge rubber. The Heinke Dolphin wetsuit was made of natural rubber proofed on stockinette, green for the male version and white for the female.

Here's a source of new vintage wetsuits:

www.vintagesoulwetsuits.com/

There's clearly an interest in vintage gear in general, and classic wetsuits in particular, among young people in Japan:

home.a03.itscom.net/koda/AntiqueScuba/10_DivingGear/Wetsuit/wetsuit.htm

David

[scubadiverbob]

Went to: www.vintagesoulwetsuits.com/

They use velcro on the ducktail? My first suit had the metal fasteners. It was a farmer john; custom made. I got it at wholesale prices from Aqualung Dive Center in Norfolk, VA (an advantage of helping overhaul doublehose regs and hydro'ing tanks was buying my gear at wholesale prices). They had just came out with a new material called Lycra so I had lycra put on the inside and nylon 2 on the outside. Before that I always rented suits or in Panama, the Phillipeans, and Hawaii never wore one.

[DavidRitchieWilson]

I agree, the use of Velcro detracts from the design of these suits. My first, late 1960s, British-made suit (Typhoon) also had metal fasteners. Incidentally, Velcro was invented back in 1948 and patented in 1955. Details of its origins and development at

inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa091297.htm

David

[OystrPir8]

The shoulders look funny too on the VintageSoul version - Close but no cigar. - It just doesnt look right.
Ive got a guy here in Berkely who says he has some patterns from the old Healthways suits tucked away somewhere. If I can get ahold of them I will post them.

I dont really do free diving or snorkling much. I need a suit that I can wear in 55 degree water - 5 mil wouldnt cut it - would it?. Ive thought about wearing a dive skin underneath...

[duckbill]

oystrpir8 said:

I need a suit that I can wear in 55 degree water - 5 mil wouldnt cut it - would it?. Ive thought about wearing a dive skin underneath...

It all depends on your tolerance. Everyone is different. Some are also better insulated to begin with if you know what I mean. It also depends on what the agenda is for the dive. If you plan on spending a bunch of time sitting still observing something then you will chill much sooner.

The suit you got probably has the traditional pants which only come up to the waist (pre-farmer john), so you will not get the double layer in the torso. I have a 7 on 7 farmer john which keeps me good down to 50 degrees or so, but then that is my personal tolerance. My 1/4 inch vintage suits all have the waist-height pants, and I chill at about 55 degrees. 1/4 inch is about 6.4 mm, so 5mm (3/16" in vintage suits) may not cut it. All you can do is try it.

USD introduced "Non-Terfoam" in 1961.

[nemrod]

I spoke to the Vintage Soul people some time back and they are good people but their suit is just not quite right. Old style two piece suits have the bottom of the jacket cut square on men's suits and curved on women's suits. All of these suits like from the guy in Greece sold at the rather weird site (festisheyes.com) and the one sold by Vintage Soul has the jacket cut like a girl's suit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also they sew up the ends and vintage suits have raw edges.

This is a true vintage 1/4 suit. The skin is textured (sharkskin) and the ends are left raw. It has zippers and twist snaps on the beaver tail. The torso is cut square. It is also warm, the pants are very high on my torso so if I wear a vest under it I find myself very warm. I have to say, geting in and out of the darn thing is work. Also, it has no logos, the only logo wasa very small patch on the chest and that long ago seems to have worn away. Suit is courtesy of cleavelanddiver.



James