Deluxe Package #4

[Nemrod]

I was looking through that USD disc from vdh, It would never play because it was warped so I stuck it in a dictionary and forgot about it. I remembered it yesterday and was looking through it--it ran long enough for me to transfer the files. Cool!

I notice that in several catalogs USD suggested packages of gear. In one they showed Package #1, package #2, Professional Package #3 and Dleuxe Package #4. Then they had a long list of "suggested" accesories. I am pretty sure my first USD gear came in a package deal and I know my neighbor and friend had a package USD rig and he had the complete USD outfit.

Did people buy packages? Was the gear actually in a package as a scuba set? Do you think guys showed up on the beach bragging they had the Pro Package or the Deluxe package? I just find it interesting that people were once brand oriiented--you either were all Voit or USD or Nemrod etc. yeah, yeah, they mixed and matched but not so much as today. I definity remember guys in full sets of a single brand and thinking how cool they were.

Off subject but "branding" of items used to be tasteful and now it has become such that the item is a advertising billboard--when did that begin. For example having a wet suit that instead of having a small USD symbol on the breast or lower left tunic, to having BARE boldy printed in huge letters on the chest and leg and back and rearend?

Nemrod

[standingup]

I remember brand loyalty to the point of only using a different brand when an item wasn't available in your brand. This went hand in hand with dealing with stores where you knew the owner. When the superstores came in everything became less personal and brand loyalty also waned . To combat this tv shows and movies became advertising mediums- (zoom in on the coke can as the hero drinks -etc) Also brand identifiers became more prominent and larger.
Time frame when this seems to have started was I believe the 70's . Diving brand loyalty I believe was more a loyalty to the LDS and the brand he carried.

[capn_tucker]

Yeah, it was still that way in 1980 when I first learned to dive. One of the two LDS had Dacor & Scubapro, and the other had Sportsways & Swimaster.
Scubapro was as outrageous in price then as now, and I ended up learning from the Sportsways shop because their gear and classes were cheaper.
But no single brand loyalty.
I had a little of everything in the shop; Sportsways reg, Swimaster mask/fins/snorkel, Parkway BC and Seasuits wetsuit.
Neither of the two shops carried US Divers. USD was looked on with contempt as being "cheap", and the kind of gear you'd find in a department store. In fact, K-mart was the only place you could find USD locally..
I still remember all the USD regulator recalls posted on the dive shop walls..
And look at me now, a complete set of USD gear, and one of Voit..

[Nemrod]

It is true that by 1980 (post vintage era) USD was cheap junk but--BUT---in the 60s it was THE BEST as demonstrated by the fact that we are mostly diving their stuff today--as vintage equipment. The vintage movement would not even exist if USD and Voit were not around because much of the rest of the vintage equipment is barely useable, then and now. Sooo, back in the vintage era (1975 and earlier) I did think divers were brand loyal and tended not to mix and match preferring to outfit from a full line supplier (Voit, USD, Nemrod etc).

Since ScubaPro really never a had a double hose they are not even a vintage player--they are a non starter. I was never much about ScubaPro or Dacor for that matter (except for their Dacor SeaChute horsecollar BCs). ScubaPro did have some great single hose post vintage stuff but their BCs and other equipment was overpriced and relatvely weird or non functional. Every company seemed to have a product or two that was a good piece. Certainly nowadays you must mix and match. The finest wings are made by OxyCheq and while they have a bunch of stuff they have no regulators etc as an example. Most companies now specialize and therefore you MUST pick and choose AND that is what I was distinguishing between initially--vintage era Full Line companies that had every piece of gear you would need and therefore could potentially be outfitted fully with Nemrod, USD, Voit etc gear--that is almost impossible today I suppose except for AL and ScubaPro.

If one goes to a vintage dive it seems the bulk of the gear being dived is USD, Voit, Nemrod or copies of their gear such as Allan's harnesses or the vdh banjo adapters with an occasional Sportsways piece like the SeaVue SPG or a Fenzy.

Just some disorganized ramblings as I clean out the basement.

James

[capn_tucker]

I agree; in the '60s and early '70s USD and Voit were the best (and why I've junked nearly everything newer).
My Phoenix, being only semi-vintage has the last holdouts attached to it, a Scubapro 5000 psi gauge and Pennform console. Sportsways lives on in the console's depth gauge (and Seavue gauges attached to some of my tanks).
But on true vintage dives it's either Voit or USD from head to toe...

[treasureman]

I have always been a Aqualung/USD/US Divers loyal diver. I tried the Nemrod, they were a good reg, but found that it did not breath as nice as a DA or Ram. I like the USD tanks because in thiose days they had a lifetime warranty. It usually stated this in their catalogue. In fact I still have a USD steel 72 that kept on passing hydro up until the last time. I called up USD, asked them about their lifetime warranty on tanks and they said "what life time warranty. I referedd them to their 1973 catalogue, and told them the tank was 1973. I was told sorry pal no luck. In any event. I still buy USD and its various incarnations, i found that the quality was always there. And now with my Aqualung/RAM/Phenix, the quality just got better.

I had a USD Doxa watch in those days, the biggest Seahawk shark knife i could carry, and my faithful RAm aND usd wetsuit rubber both sides with a five pound bag of talcum powder. The joys of diving