Commercial (Standard Divers)

[ratcliffe]

Originally Posted by A. Berk

After leaving the Navy I did a stint in Tillbury docks with an outfit that I can't recall - though the 'gaffer' smoked cigars and had chronic dandruff. The job was duff but at least I got my 'standard hat' posed photo from it (in B & W of course).

All the best,

A. Berk

Care to post that in the gallery ? Old diving pictures are always great!

[A. Berk]

Maybe... when I get back home from this present job (offshore right now) I'll dig the photo out and think about it.

Berko

[DiverMikeD]

Hi Neil

>>I'd be like to hear from any commercial / ex-commercial divers who during the course of their careers actually worked in Standard Diving Dress.<,

Having read through the posts, it is quite interesting to find so many
'Tin Hat' types still around :o))

I had the pleasure?? of using this kit for nearly ten years, here on the Isle of Man. The local Government 'Harbour Board', as it used to be called, used this gear for many many years and long before I joined them in 79. I was with the team (6 off) from 1979 thru 1989, when I left to go and work in the States.
To my knowledge, if my memory still serves me, we had four complete sets of Standard Diving Dress and it was my lot to keep up with the maintenance as well as using it at work and sometimes, play:o))
It was not used all the time, as we used any kit that any specific job required, ranging from Scuba through KMB/ComexPro/AH3/Tin Hat etc. Depending entirely on the amount of freedom of movement that we needed for the job in hand.
I did my intial training (trial by fire) on Standard Dress, with the Navy guys at
'HMS Terror' in Singapore, back in 64 thru 67. That was under the command of LtCmdr Lermitte?? at the time, Great guy. Anyway, there was quite a gap in years before I made my aquaintance with the gear again here on the IoMan.
Sometime around 87/88, I decided that I was kinda tired of the crappy old corroded look of our tin hat gear and so I set out to do a refurbish job.
This was a complete strip down job, glass and all came off/out :o))
Anway, to cut a long story short, I still have some photos of the helmets in the 'Before & After' stage, so will try to post them with this message, if they are not here, try the gallery.
To my knowledge, the gear was not used after I left and it has all dissappeared, apart from one complete set that I believe is on display somewhere. I will find out and get a few pictures for the Gallery or whatever.
Being 68 now, I am not doing any full time commercial work, obviously, but I still dive both for pleasure and semi professionally, doing moorings and pot recovery for the local lobster/crab lads.
I still love being in the water (it's my second home) and seeing that I grew my own gills just after starting to dive back in 1954, I need to keep them wet regularly, otherwise they will atrophy back into lungs again!! Can't have that now, can we! :o)))
Tried to get the photo into this post, but failed miserably. Guess it's back to school for me. Check out the Gallery as I will see if I can get it on to that. More to follow when I can.
Regards to all
Mike

[DiverMikeD]

OK Guys.
I have at last, with helpful suggestions from others, managed to get on the 'Photo-Resize' thingy site :o))
The first picture for you is now on the 'Gallery/Recent Pictures' page and is of some of the Tin hats that I used to use and service. More to follow when I get some time to sit down for a while!
I have named this photo, 'Twin Hat' and is one of about four photos that I took during a 'Major' refurbishment of the Four sets of kit that we had.
They were all very old and had seen some serious service during their time. I just got tired of seeing them in such a crappy condition, so I set to and did the 'Biz' on them. what you see, is the first helmet that I rebuilt, alongside the next one for the treatment!! :o)) Enjoy.



Mike
Aquatech Diving Services
Isle of Man

[Neil Hunt]

Originally Posted by DiverMikeD

Hi Neil

>>I'd be like to hear from any commercial / ex-commercial divers who during the course of their careers actually worked in Standard Diving Dress.<,

Having read through the posts, it is quite interesting to find so many
'Tin Hat' types still around :o))

I had the pleasure?? of using this kit for nearly ten years, here on the Isle of Man. The local Government 'Harbour Board', as it used to be called, used this gear for many many years and long before I joined them in 79. I was with the team (6 off) from 1979 thru 1989, when I left to go and work in the States.
To my knowledge, if my memory still serves me, we had four complete sets of Standard Diving Dress and it was my lot to keep up with the maintenance as well as using it at work and sometimes, play:o))
It was not used all the time, as we used any kit that any specific job required, ranging from Scuba through KMB/ComexPro/AH3/Tin Hat etc. Depending entirely on the amount of freedom of movement that we needed for the job in hand.
I did my intial training (trial by fire) on Standard Dress, with the Navy guys at
'HMS Terror' in Singapore, back in 64 thru 67. That was under the command of LtCmdr Lermitte?? at the time, Great guy. Anyway, there was quite a gap in years before I made my aquaintance with the gear again here on the IoMan.
Sometime around 87/88, I decided that I was kinda tired of the crappy old corroded look of our tin hat gear and so I set out to do a refurbish job.
This was a complete strip down job, glass and all came off/out :o))
Anway, to cut a long story short, I still have some photos of the helmets in the 'Before & After' stage, so will try to post them with this message, if they are not here, try the gallery.
To my knowledge, the gear was not used after I left and it has all dissappeared, apart from one complete set that I believe is on display somewhere. I will find out and get a few pictures for the Gallery or whatever.
Being 68 now, I am not doing any full time commercial work, obviously, but I still dive both for pleasure and semi professionally, doing moorings and pot recovery for the local lobster/crab lads.
I still love being in the water (it's my second home) and seeing that I grew my own gills just after starting to dive back in 1954, I need to keep them wet regularly, otherwise they will atrophy back into lungs again!! Can't have that now, can we! :o)))
Tried to get the photo into this post, but failed miserably. Guess it's back to school for me. Check out the Gallery as I will see if I can get it on to that. More to follow when I can.
Regards to all
Mike

Dear Mike,
Thank you for taking the trouble to reply and it's good to see your efforts on the Siebe 12 bolts. I used this type of hat extensively and like you I dived in many newer helmets, however, I always felt proud to be a classic diver.

Regards,
Neil.

[DiverMikeD]

Hi Neil.

>>Thank you for taking the trouble to reply and it's good to see your efforts on the Siebe 12 bolts<<

It was a pleasure, both replying and doing the 'Biz' :0)).

>>I used this type of hat extensively and like you I dived in many newer helmets, however, I always felt proud to be a classic diver<<

I hear that! Likewise!! Once dived, never forgotten!!!

Regards,

Mike
Aquatech Diving Services
Isle of Man

[A. Berk]

... and stuck it in the avatar spot - a berk with long hair - don't think I could grow it anywhere else at the time

Berko

[DiverMikeD]

Hi Berko :o)

Good to see the occasional message being added to the 'Tin Hat Team' memory lane! Glad that you found your life's history photo.

>and stuck it in the avatar spot<

Well it could have been a bit painful if you had stuck it anywhere else :O)

>a berk with long hair - don't think I could grow it anywhere else at the time<

Glad to see you have a good sense of humour. I know that it was a necessity sometimes when on the job. 'Working I mean'!
Anyway, I am sure that in the intervening years, like myself and others, you have both grown and lost some in the meantime :o)))

Regards to all

Mike
Isle of Man

[A. Berk]

Originally Posted by DiverMikeD

Glad to see you have a good sense of humour. I know that it was a necessity sometimes when on the job.

You can say that again Mike, without a sense of humour in offshore diving you would be buggered! I always carry a spare

Berko

[burtycdms]

Originally Posted by Neil Hunt

This is my first entry on YD, so Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

I'd be like to hear from any commercial / ex-commercial divers who during the course of their careers actually worked in Standard Diving Dress.

Kind regards,
Neil Hunt
Founder: The Guild of Standard Divers

Hi,

My name is Peter, and i am an instructor at the Diver Training College where we do the Hard Hat and Decompression Course. The company is called Commecercial Diving and Marine Services and the director of the company used standard dress during the early years of his career. I saw your comment posted 26/1/08 and it cought my eye!!! I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Peter