The Diver Who
Walked Back
by
Samuel G. and Debborah Lecocq
© 2006 Samuel G. Lecocq and Debborah
Lecocq
All Rights Reserved.
In 1956, during the early years of diving, scuba equipment
was undergoing a period of rapid improvement and redesign.
The standard high pressure cylinder was a 70 cu. ft. steel
tank manufactured by Pressed Steel Tank Co, with a maximum
pressure of 2150 psi. When I was at U.S. Divers, Rene Bussoz
and I were scratching our heads trying to devise a way to
increase the volume of air available to the diver to
increase bottom time. We contacted Pressed Steel Tank who
offered to make a short run of a steel cylinder with an
outside measurement similar to the 70 cu. ft. but with a
greater wall thickness. This made the tank heavier, but it
could carry 3000 psi, which gave the diver about 80 cu. ft.
of volume.
We introduced a few of these tanks, shipping them to some
key dealers around the country. But somehow a dealer in
Chicago, named Vern Pederson, ordered a twin cylinder
assembly with two of the 3000 psi steel tanks. The twin
tanks were shipped to Pederson’s shop where they were sold
to a young, strapping, mid-west diver. He decided to test
his new toy in Lake Michigan. As usual, he suited up with
his regular gear, a drysuit (which in those days was not so
dry), his standard weight belt, mask, fins and snorkel. He
jumped off the end of the pier and went directly to the
bottom looking forward to a nice long dive with the greater
volume of air.
After a short time he decided to ascend to check his
location in relation to the shore. He started his swim to
the surface, kicking very hard but making little progress.
After a few minutes, exhausted, he sunk back to the bottom.
Then he realized that something was wrong with his buoyancy.
Nobody had told him that the 3000 psi tanks were much
heavier than the 70 psi tanks, especially critical when
wearing twin tanks. He realized he had only a couple
choices. One was to drop his weight belt which was
practically impossible because in those days they were not
secured with quick-release mechanisms. The other was to
ditch his tanks and make a free ascent. He was only in about
30 feet of water so this would have been easy, but there was
no way he was going to abandon those brand new twin
cylinders and regulators. He had saved, borrowed, and begged
to buy this equipment and he was not going to part with it.
After studying the situation, and being a very resourceful
diver, he realized there was another option. He could walk
or crawl back to shore. He had plenty of air, so he decided
to walk, but it was a long haul and he got annoyed, then
angered, as he trudged along at the bottom of the lake. When
he finally got to the beach and was spotted crawling out of
the water, it was an occasion for some hilarity among the
people on the shoreline -- which didn’t help the diver’s
mood.
On shore, he fully realized how much heavier the 3000 psi
tanks were than the tanks he had been used to diving with.
He hefted the weighty tanks in the trunk of his car, drove
directly to the dive shop and was told by the salesman who
sold him the tanks that he was not aware of any difference
in buoyancy. But it just so happened that the National
Sporting Goods show was taking place a couple miles away at
the Morrison Hotel and the salesman told him someone there
could probably address his concerns. He was told to head
over there and talk to the people at U.S. Divers Company who
had sold the tanks to the shop. By this time, the driver was
mad, raving mad.
He marched over to the Morrison Hotel and found out where
the display room for U.S. Divers was located. He loaded the
tanks in the elevator and went up a few floors directly to
the U. S. Divers room, struggling under the weight of the
twin tanks, cussing and fuming. He hoisted the twin tanks in
the air as high as he could and this was pretty high because
he was a big guy. He then threw the tanks on the floor
shaking the hotel to its foundations. Everyone turned around
to see what was causing the disturbance. Zale Parry and I
were representing Healthways at the show and we had just
entered the room to visit some old friends at U.S. Divers.
We were both surprised and amused at the sight of this guy,
fighting mad and shouting, mostly cussing.
Immediately, all of us realized what the problem was. Rene
Bussoz, president and founder of the U.S. Divers Co.,
approached the diver with his cool, calm demeanor and
apologized for the problem, explaining to him that the
product was designed to test the market. But one thing Rene
had not considered was the tanks would be used in fresh
water where the negative buoyancy is much greater than in
salt water. Rene immediately offered to give him a brand new
set of twin 70 cu. ft. tanks and the latest regulator. The
big guy was appeased.
Nevertheless, this incident pointed up the need to test your
equipment, test your buoyancy and plan your dive.
From the conception of scuba, there was no formal
instruction in the use of the equipment, including the
Aqualung. Buoyancy compensators, quick-release buckles, and
other safety equipment did not exist. We were all learning
on the job, but we realized right away that more instruction
was needed. When I started with Rene Bussoz at Rene Sports
in Westwood, California, the original Aqualungs were
imported from France. No instructional materials were
available in France, so no instructions were included with
the equipment shipped to us in the U.S.
In 1952, Rene Bussoz had written an instruction manual
entitled "Self Contained Diving," a 24-page booklet
explaining the use of the equipment and how to avoid
decompression, air embolism and other dangers of diving.
Rene included the booklet with all Aqualung units sold by
the U.S. Divers Co.
