Look at this place.

[Ron]

I looked at the site here, and the store. I remember when this place was all mono-green in color, and when the store only had double hose regulators and parts. To me, it is super impressive to see how far this place has come, simply as a casual observer. There are valve parts, burst discs, single hose parts, cleaning supplies, custom-made one-of-a-kind tools, chrome jobs from a guy who gets paid to speak in Italy, and proprietary silicone parts produced from scratch. I was diving yesterday, and people were shocked at the availability and quality of these new school parts for these old school regulators. My mistral was in nicer shape than their 90's gear.

Then there is the people factor. We have a plethora of engineers of all disciplines, Officers and Non-commissioned Officers from all parts of the military (active, reserve, and retired), museum curators, park directors, educators, physicians, and people from all over the world right here. We have guys here who can literally manufacture what you want to use to go diving. That's the modern day equivalent of calling Scuba Pro on the phone, telling them what you want, and having them make it for you. Seriously, how cool is that?

I keep thinking that there is a way to grow our niche of diving. I cannot help but think when people notice what we have to offer, and the knowledge base that we provide, that they will want to leave their BC in their car and strap on a regulator with two hoses. Everything that a diver needs to succeed except air fills can be learned, purchased, or clarified right here. It amazes me each and every time that I go under the water with this stuff.

I suppose the question is...how do we promote that?

[Bryan]

I am always looking for promotional ideas!! Thanks for the kind words Ron

[Aileron]

Great post Ron. I didn't know VDH back then, but am glad that it's grown and become what it is today. And who knows what tomorrow will bring!

You mention several things that are so impressive about this community, such as the ability to have guys in here that CREATE tools, parts, reproduction pieces that look original, etc. Necessity is the mother of invention. And I'm impressed.

As far as promoting this corner of the diving world, I dive it everywhere and everytime I dive. I take time to answer questions (like "No, it's not a rebreather." *sigh*) I give them VDH's and The Scuba Museum's web address, encourage people to look on the internet. I tell them about "Basic Scuba", I hand them a NAVED brochure if they really seem interested. Most of the time they ask, then just nod, like "Dude, she's nuts." It's funny, brand new divers are extremely interested, as are guys who dove in the 60's and haven't seen "their" gear in forever. Those in between.....well, not so much interest. I'm not sure how to overcome that other than doing what we're all doing. Diving our super cool gear.

Lisa

[SurfLung]

- It's easy to take things for granted sometimes. Our small town has some production shops that employ hundreds of people and have CNC's the size of box cars runniing "tombstone" fixtures that cost more than my more typical CNCs. Most folks in town don't even know about these places yet they are literally the Jewels... The wealth of the community.
- I feel the same about VDH. What a treasure! There is no place in the world like VDH. And, I think it is bigger than just fixing old regulators. This is a better way of diving that is being rediscovered. First by us older guys, but also, people are seeing us enjoying funner diving and nicer equipment. I think it will catch on.

[captain]

Who da thunk it when 6 of us met for the first time at Sand Dog 1 that we would be at this point 8 years later. Back then we were scrounging dive shops and ebay for any parts we could find to keep our double hoses running. Thanks Bryan.

[JES]

Who da thunk it when 6 of us met for the first time at Sand Dog 1 that we would be at this point 8 years later. Back then we were scrounging dive shops and ebay for any parts we could find to keep our double hoses running. Thanks Bryan.

I remember that day well. We have indeed come a long way.

[Bryan]

Who da thunk it when 6 of us met for the first time at Sand Dog 1 that we would be at this point 8 years later. Back then we were scrounging dive shops and ebay for any parts we could find to keep our double hoses running. Thanks Bryan.

Tom, without your help, skill and advice I would have never made it this far!

VDH was built and keeps on growing by taking bits and pieces from the group and putting them all together. No way could I do this alone!