Vintage Double Hose

Just some pictures of a really nice and fully functional 1974 BCP Scubapro wing. She holds air great and has no dry-rot. I placed these here due to this not being a horse collar, but not a STAB jacket.

I used one for quite a while and it was very used when I got it. The only bad thing about it were the buttons on the inflator. They fell off all the time no matter how tight you thought they were...and the special SPro proprietary thumb killer LP hose that went with it. Finally the seams started leaking and I parted it out and moved on to an At-Pac...

Bryan is spot on about the inflator buttons on the power inflators of this era. I haven't had any problems with this one, but have had buttons fly off with other ones. I have a Scubapro horse collar that I dive with a lot and it had that problem, so I just slapped an Air2 on it.
For seam leak problems on these type of bladders (seamed polymer impregnated poly cloth such as in an old style inflatable rubber raft) my solution to re-seal and reinforce them is to use (get ready to laugh Luis) ATV black heavy Fix-a-Flat as an interior reinforcement seal. It is a little trouble to use due to ensuring that you don't freeze up ports or relief valve areas, you have to be a little creative. The bottom line is to take all hose and port assemblies off the bladder, clean the bladder interior with soapy water, rinse thoroughly and let it dry completely inside. Once totally dry, get everything air tight (or plug up) around CO2 detonators and relief valves BEFORE you drop the Fix-a-Flat into the bladder (approximately 4 liquid ounces) through the relief valve entry port. Inflate using your inflator hose and roll the bladder around to get the Fix-a-Flat to enter the seams, keeping the seams pointed down to the ground as you roll the bladder around slowly. It takes about an hour to ensure that the matrix gums up and sets. Keep the bladder inflated over night and check periodically. The key is ensuring that it holds air and stays inflated or else you could accidentally have the bladder walls stick together (ask me how I know this). After a couple of days, release the air and clean any excess material around port and hose openings. It really works and I've been diving one done this way for 2 years now without any problems. I am doubtful as to this technique would working on heavy vinyl horse collar (radio seamed) bladders such as the jacketed ones that USD and others (Sea Quest, Sea Tech, etc.) made or still make.

A+

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Ha! I never would have thought about using Fix-A-Flat. Very creative!

Bronze06 wrote:
For seam leak problems on these type of bladders (seamed polymer impregnated poly cloth such as in an old style inflatable rubber raft) my solution to re-seal and reinforce them is to use (get ready to laugh Luis) ATV black heavy Fix-a-Flat as an interior reinforcement seal. It is a little trouble to use due to ensuring that you don't freeze up ports or relief valve areas, you have to be a little creative. ...


I am doubtful as to this technique would working on heavy vinyl horse collar (radio seamed) bladders such as the jacketed ones that USD and others (Sea Quest, Sea Tech, etc.) made or still make.

I actually bought a can of Fix-a-Flat about ten years ago to try to fix my old Fenzy. I thought through all the prep work I needed to do and ended up abandoning the project. I don't have a lot of patience for some projects involving bonding, glue, or paint.

I ended up finding other Fenzy in better condition (with a lot less) use on eBay. My original one is also very faded. I actually now have at least 2 Fenzy in almost new condition, but after 40 years I came to the realization that they are darn uncomfortable... I don't care for horse collars anymore, but of all of them the Fenzy got to be the most uncomfortable, it is cool , but still uncomfortable.


I agree that the vintage US Divers BC (jacket or horse collar) are hopeless. The bladders will crack in any of the fittings.

Thanks for the Atta Boys guys. As Luis implies, it is a little time consuming and will only work if the interior is thoroughly cleaned and dried completely. It will only work on polymer bonded cloth types like the Fenzy and early Scubapro or early rubber bonded cloth types like the 1962 USD horse collars or similar types. I use the liquid Heavy Duty ATV black Fix-a-Flat in the plastic squeeze bottle, not the stuff in the pressurized can that is used for temporary fixes on automobiles. When originally constructed, the rubberized/poly bonded cloth types all had a liquid rubber adhesive/sealant that was used in their seams when assembled at the factory. I just figured that if it can seal an ATV tire pretty much permanently, it should work on certain BCs.