Debborah Lecocq and Samuel G. Lecocq

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.

Sam Lecocq and Ron Church, lead photographer for Calypso, photo credit John Connolly.

For more personal accounts of the Cousteaus and other fascinating personalities involved in the evolution of diving, look for the upcoming release of the biography of Samuel G. Lecocq entitled:

Scuba; Evolution, Intrigue and Controversy;
A first hand account of the development of Scuba.
By Samuel G. Lecocq and Debborah Lecocq

First editions of the biography of Samuel Lecocq will be made available at Portage Quarry in Ohio on August 11, 12 and 13th, 2006 where Samuel Lecocq will be pleased to autograph copies.

© 2006 Samuel G. Lecocq and Debborah Lecocq
All Rights Reserved.