Vintage Diver Double Hose Training & Education

[NAUI Diver]

heres yet another question for you guys.

ive already had some help with this from a forum member who has been extremely patient answering my questions and helping to guide me along the way, but i figure that as more and more new Vintage Divers come into the community, there will be these questions again and again. ive also had a long time friend make a suggestion of a book as well. i thought it might be a good idea to put down a lost of books, manuals, videos, or other training aids for the new to Vintage Diving Diver.

so far ive had suggested to be to look at the following books:

The New Science Of Skin & Scuba Diving. Pre-1970 Edition
Lets Go Diving, By Bill Barada
Basic Scuba, By Fred Roberts

i have bought on my own the above as well as the following:

US Navy Diving Manual 1963, 1970, and 1973 Releases
Underwater Recreation : A Manual of Basic Instruction in Skin and Scuba
by The Underwater Unit; Illustrated By Jess Gruel
i believe that is the LA County Scuba Course of Pre-NAUI days.

i have also downloaded every .PDF file that Bryan has listed for download.

can anyone suggest any other books that may help the new Vintage Diver to understand the procedures and methods used in safely diving a Double Hose Regulator, and diving in the good old days when things were simpler, and divers actually learned HOW to dive, not just paid up their money and got handed a C-Card? does anyone feel that any of the above books are not worth the expense, or are just totally redundant and pointless if one owns something else?

i believe firmly in safety thru education, and i also realize that a man can not learn everything he needs to know out of a book. nothing counts as much as actual first hand experience and training/practice. i have saw a few first hand examples of people that thought that by reading a few books, they knew everything there was/is to know about diving. please allow me to assure you that i am NOT one of those people. i just want to go about my training and learning as safely as possible.

any suggestions, thoughts, or input period is most welcome. i know i will learn alot from it, and i hope that other divers that are new to Vintage Diving may find some help from this post as well.

Ray

[Bryan]

Just my 2 cents.....

I have talked to two different organizations about doing a double hose or vintage diving certification specialty. Both have come back to me with the same answer.
1. No money in it for the dive shops teaching it
2. No one will cover the gear for liability reasons during training.

Before anyone posts "well we will just sign a waiver" We all know in todays society of ambulance chasing attorneys that a waiver is not worth the paper it's written on.

My suggestion to anyone that wants to get into vintage diving would be.

1. read as much as you can in original diving manuals. The ones listed in NAUI divers posts are a great place to start.
2. Be confident and proficient in basic scuba skills. If you have not been diving in 10 years then get back in the pool! Get some reading done, talk to other divers.
3. Ask questions before you drop a bunch of money on vintage equipment. There is a lot of JUNK out there! Get it in good operating condition! Just cause some clown on Flea-Bay says it's serviced by some old Navy guy DON"T BELIVE IT! Do it yourself or get it done by someone that knows what they are doing.
4. Take your gear to the pool. Go as often as you can. Get comfortable with your vintage gear. Start working on the regulator clearing techniques for double hoses that are outlined in all the original training manuals.
5. Come to one of our Vintage Equipent Dives. We are one of the most friendly groups of divers you will every meet and you will find a lot of people that will be more than happy to spend as much time as needed to help you get comfortable in the open water. Most of our dives are shallow and in fresh clear water. Everyone is welcome and the price of admission is simply your willingness to learn and have fun.

This is just my opinion, not to be taken as fact or an endorsment of diving techniques.

[Mudhog]

So there isn't a "Double Hose for Dummies"?
Durn

BTW that would make for a funny t-shirt

[captain]

I would agree with all of what Bryan said. I began my diving career in 1957 at the age of 13. At that time there was no such thing as certification or formal training. You generally got an instruction book when you bought your gear. Even before I bought any equiptment I had been reading anything and everything I could find about diving. I had access to a pool and spent every minute I could in it practicing what I read until everything became second nature to me. I probably spent a year or two just diving in the pool before ventured in to open water. Even then it was shallow Lake Ponchatrain which has a max depth of 15 feet and usually only 3 or 4 foot visibility. I did all of this solo because there were no other divers that I knew of in my town. I wish I still had all of the old books but all I have now is a 1955 and a 1970 edition of the Navy diving manual and a first edition of The Silent World. Five years ago I would never have thought I would be diving two hose regulators again. I wasn't until I discovered Dan,s vintage scuba web site and all these great people that I dusted off my old Aqua Master and got renewed to the old days and ways.

[1969ivan1]

Tom, We are lucky to have guys like you in our ranks. Without you, guys like us would just be wantabes trying to dive like real vintage divers. We learn so much from you original divers. I most probably would never have gotten a set of doubles with a military harness if it was not for Tom and his instruction. There is no substitute for being trained by the a real deal vintage diver.

[Nemrod]

"Ask questions before you drop a bunch of money on vintage equipment. There is a lot of JUNK out there! Get it in good operating condition! Just cause some clown on Flea-Bay says it's serviced by some old Navy guy DON"T BELIVE IT! Do it yourself or get it done by someone that knows what they are doing."

This is very important to a fellow who has no familiarity with double hose or the other assorted gear. You are buying a piece of gear that is thrity or more years old and has been dived possibly by numeros people and repaired by who knows what! I bought the famous DA from an "old Navy fellow" which had been built up by his buddy who was another "old Navy fellow" who was an "expert. I paid top dollar for it and when I got it I was pleased. It was in superb condition and came with a ton of extra parts---hmmmmm--what ---Royal parts-----hmmmmm. Several pool tests revealed I had a fine breathing reg. Usually breathing off the high pressure in the pool before giving my Mistral a workout I was pleased with both. Then, not to long before SDII, for some reason after my usual fooling around with about 1200psi I swiched back to the DA. breathed great--swiming around--tank pressure hit 1000psi--it SLAMMED shut like a vault. NO AIR. Turns out it had an odd assortment of DA and RAM prts mixed into a lethal combintaion. No worries--Bryan fixed me up.

Sooo, what does this mean, well, you buy some old regulator, it may breath just fine--it may look great----IT DOES STILL NEED TO BE SERVICED BY THE REAL EXPERTS, Bryan, Dan or Chuck. I am talking about a fellow new to vintage, some one who has dabbled with them all their life obviously can do their own work or judge the equipments actual condition.
There is a strong possibility that any ebay regulator may have wrong parts, worn parts, incorrectly assembled parts and thanks to the robust design of these things appear to function just fine, just fine enough to get you down a hundred feet and quit on you.

Also, lot's of pool time and lol, make sure the darn thing breahs OK from a full tank all the way down through reserve and test that RESERVE too.

Nemrod