Masks

The Aquadyne masks had similar features as the Kirby Morgan masks. The first one came on the market in 1974 and was called the (Dive Mask) DM-4. DM-5 followed in 1970 and DM-6 in 1975. The masks can be worn with just the spider, with a hood and the spider or in combination with a hard helmet shell. They can be used with tanks or an umbilical, as demand or free flow mask with air or mixed gas.

DM-5

Photos courtesy of Kees van Hooff

Above is a photo of Buzz Marcus in 1977 using a DM5 General Aquadyne band mask. At this time Buzz was involved in the Geoduck (pronounced gooeyduck) giant clam fishery in Washington State, U.S.A. The divers spent an average of 5-6 hours per day underwater using water pressure from a fire hose to jet the large clams out of the bottom …. They weighed up to 4 pounds each. The Divers never exceeded the 70 foot table and did in water decompression.

In addition to the Aquadyne they wore long underwear beneath dry suits with coveralls over the top. Buzz used 48 pounds of lead on a Miller belt to keep him on the bottom, and rubber boots were worn to protect his feet. Fighting the strong current was a never ending battle, and on many occasions he would have to leave the bottom to wait out the strong tidal forces aboard their 34 foot dive boat. They worked with two divers in the water and only one tender on the surface.

Buzz tallied 5,000 plus hours of bottom time over 2 ½ years in that fishery. Upon leaving the fishery he attended the Diver’s Institute of Technology in Seattle, and went on to become a harbour diver for Crowley Maritime. After leaving Crowley due to a lack of work, Buzz returned to Mollusc harvesting in the abalone fishery in S.E. Alaska where he logged another 2000+ hours of bottom time. Buzz now lives in the dry half of Oregon State, far from the ocean but still recalls his life underwater with great fondness and pride.

DM-6

Special DM versions

In 1974 General Aquadyne combined the Observer II underwater television system with the DM-5 mask, thus creating the DM-5TV. Who has pictures of these masks ?

Helmets

AH-2

Special AH-2 versions

The following versions are very interesting as well:

• AH-2TV helmet with integrated Observer II television system
• AH GS-2 mixed gas diving helmet 

Who has pictures of these hats ??

Earlier style Advanced 200 Mixed Gas helmet on a breastplate

Front and rear views of the Mixed gas helmet on a commercial 12 bolt breastplate. The locking mechanism will connect the helmet to both the breastplate and the neck dam as it’s a universal fitting. The rear view shows how wide the breastplate is relative to the bonnet. There are telephone binding posts and an addition Marsh Marine cable for the underwater telephone.
Side views show the air control valve and the exhaust outlet and 2 extra ports to connect the mixed gas breather unit. The brass brales on the breastplate clamp the suit to the breastplate in the same way a Standard Dress corselet does.

AH-3

On the job: Salvage diver Stig Hermansson from Sweden with his General Aquadyne AH-3  

Both the AH-2 and AH-3 can be used with a commercial breastplate and a neck ring assembly

DMC-7

Have a look at this well known demand helmet. The General Aquadyne DMC-7. These hats were first made in 1974 based on the DM-5 bandmask. The helmet shell was simply added to the bandmask with 12 screws and it became a "helmet" again. On more recent models the helmet shell and the mask were integrated again, creating the DMC-7 helmet.

Photos courtesy of and thanks to Kees van Hooff Standaard duikploeg DTY Holland DTY.NL

Pictures contributed by professional diver Magnus Lundbeck from Sweden. The knob on the left is to adjust the inner linear 
(neck cushion).

• Last update: 1st October 2013