Wet-suit Dreams and other things

[Nemrod]

LOL, well, I am trying to be vintage--really It is a high bar I have to hurtle, http://vintagescuba.proboards2.com/inde ... 318&page=1 .

This is me below about 1978 or 1980, recognize that regulator and BC? Notice the smooth wetsuit. Yeah, yeah, my photog at the time is no better than the one I got now. I am slowly working back through my slides, sooner or later some from the 66-72 period will come drifiting to the top. They are a hoot.



Sorta back on topic, we need something like a vintage source book. In aviation they have Source Books were you can look up items by catagory and then it lists suppliers. Think of an online "source book" with links to everything from vdh giblets to vintage wetsuits or masks or weights or what ever have you.

Nem

[JES]

What, no brightly colored weights?

[swimjim]

Tekna reg, Dacor Tank, not sure about the BC though.

Jim

[luis]

Also I am not sure about the comment: “Drysuits are not vintage”. The neoprene drysuit, Unisuit has been around since the 60’s. I have a book about cold water diving and ice diving with lots of pictures of divers in Unisuit with double hose regulators, mostly Royal Aqua Master.

I actually own a crotch entry vintage Unisuit that I haven’t had a chance to use yet. I am having new boots installed on it. It is going to be interesting diving it.

It's a pretty unique suit-I have used one before and they're pretty comfortable. The only drawback for me was the extra weight I needed as compared to the bag suit (Viking) that I use now. Luis, do you have to use extra weight with your uni? Uni has been around since the 50's according to this web page:
http://www.scubacenter.com/scubacenter_ ... ive_HB.htm

Poog

I actually haven’t tried the Unisuit yet. The boots didn’t fit me when I got it.

My regular dry suit is a full 7mm neoprene suit, shoulder entry, made by Atlan. In salt water I need from 35 lbs to 43 lbs, depending if I am wearing any insulation or not. The neoprene provides a lot of insulation by itself, but this time of the year I use a Bare light undergarment.

I am afraid that the Unisuit is going to require even more weights.

[Nemrod]

LOL, swimjim, I meant that for folks that dove the SDs they might have seen that BC and in the pic that Bryan said I was not vintage enough that same Tekna (not vintage) was playing second fiddle to the Phoenix---that is all--I was not really testing the ability to name the brand--ha . I bought that BC in about 1974 I think when I worked in a dive shop part time. I worked for dive equipment.



Luis, what do you think of the Whites Fusion dry syuit? With an all black lycra and neoprene outer skin it could pass at a distance as a --well--maybe not--vintage wetsuit. Never mind that .

Another vintage wetsuit pic from who knows.



N

[luis]

Luis, what do you think of the Whites Fusion dry syuit? With an all black lycra and neoprene outer skin it could pass at a distance as a --well--maybe not--vintage wetsuit. Never mind that .


N

Well I don’t think the Fusion has any trace of vintage gear in it, but it sounds very interesting. I haven’t seen one, but I have been reading the reviews and the hole concept seems very promising. I just hope the quality and durability matches the functional design.

The idea of wearing a dry suit that feels like you are wearing a 3mm wet suit (even with full insulation) sounds very appealing. Maybe not vintage, but it could fit in an eclectic diving set up.

My 7mm neoprene drysuit is not vintage either, but being neoprene I feel it at least has a partial heritage of a Unisuit. The original Unisuits were normally red, but I like my black suit.

[captain]

N is a vintage techno junkie.

[JES]

Barb,

That sounds like a good deal.

What specific wetsuit are you having them custom make for you?

BTW, You could pass as the step-sister in my book to our newest 2008 VDH friends.

Barb,

I was afraid that my original post was lost in the shuffle of the subsequent posts.

What specific wetsuit are you having Spiros custom make for you?

Thank you for the information.

[Nemrod]

Yes, Mermaid, please tell us more about the new suit and maybe some pics of it when it comes in.

The last week I have been speaking with Wetwear. I finally placed the order Thursday. Here is the thing, as is often pointed out--I am not pure vintage--- . I started out with the very nice lady at Wetwear and we were going to do a skin out, 5/3 Rubatex G231-N with nylon inside, unfinshed edges, zips. Thing is that I have just not had good luck with skin out suits. I bought my first suit, a gift from my sisters and mom when I was about 15 and it was skin out. I wore that suit rough-- and while it was OK it did not last terribly long. In fact, I had nothing but skin out suits until sometime around 82 where I got a nylon II and then in 87ish I got one from Terrapin, Nylon II. The nylon II is just so much more durable that when I start dealing with 500 dollars expenditures I want my money's worth in terms of life and function.

Soooo, in the end, as it stands now, I modified my order for a vintage style, vintage cut suit with twist locks and plastic YKK balck zips made from genuine Rubatex G231-N in Nylon II in all 5MM. It will be royal blue inside and black out and I decided to get finsihed edges. Besides, the USD catalogs show Nylon II, (Rubatex?) suits so it is still vintage--enough .

No neoprene beats Rubatex G231-N for resistence to crush or spring back or durability. It was the material of choice for suits up until the 80s when cheap blended neoprenes took over the off the shelf market and most US wetsuit makers when TU.

The beaver tail two piece suit is such a functional design I don't understand why they are so rare now. You can do farmer john or waist high, use the jackert alone for warmer water, between dives remove the jacket and get warm in a coat or wind breaker while keeping the pants on etc. Just a very versitile design like all vintage gear.

For sub 300 dollars throw away I would do a smooth skin out, at 400-600 I want nylon II but I ain't all that vintage sometimes ya know. Function first, form second.

Oh, anyone come up with another website or company to check out?

Nem

[ivan's mermaid]

I really don't know a specific name of the wet suit that we ordered.

Rob and I spoke with Spiros, via e mail, and we sent him a photo of our own Allan Klauda, in his great looking vintage elios sub suit, and he was "uber sexy" in those shots, by the way.

We told him that it had to be slick skin on the outside, a farmer jane, 5 mil, with a beaver tail, and zippers at the ankle and wrists.

He quickly responded that he could make a suit just like we wanted, so we ordered it.

And by the way, thank you for the big sister compliment.

We're supposed to receive the suit around the 3rd week of February, and hopefully will be able to send in some great looking pics.

Some of the pictures of women in vintage suits that have been posted are really cool looking. I hope my turns out just like we want.