- REBREATHERS - SPORT DIVERS ... - Stingray Divers

iron Men
non-Mag gear
For the original UDT divers, it wasn’t about
the gear as much as the guts. With less
equipment than most modern-day snorklers,
these brave men swam ashore – often under
fire – to disable beach defenses and clear
mines in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres
of WWII. Here, diver Heath Yeager models an
original UDT dive kit, which includes simple
cotton shorts, a work weight belt with a nonmagnetic
magnesium alloy buckle, a nonmag
K Bar knife, Voit Duck Feet Fins, and a
horse collar vest.
In addition to staging demonstrations
with vintage scuba gear and antique diving
helmets, Heath is the founder and owner of
www.divenowflorida.com - a central Floridabased
company that offers dive tours to
Weeki Wachee and numerous other locations
around the state via a luxury van service.
Vouching for the authenticity of Heath’s kit
was veteran diver and Weeki Wachee regular
Ed Burnod, who served as a Navy UDT diver
from 1964 to 1976. Having recently moved to
west Florida, he dives in the springs as often
as possible, and still has one of his original
non-magnetic doublehose regulators from
his navy days.
Keeping it Cousteau
Like a lot of youngsters, Ryan Spence
was captivated by the adventures of Captain
Cousteau and crew of the Calypso. He
became a diver when he grew up, and began
collecting vintage gear about five years ago.
His hunt for authentic equipment eventually
lead him to Steven Arrington, a former chief
diver for the Cousteau team who was looking
to pass along some original equipment from
his Calypso days.
Unable to interest a museum in the gear,
he eventually decided to sell it to a private
collector. Enter Ryan, who recognized the
historic importance of these pieces. It was
the first of many acquisitions, as be began
www.underwaterjournal.com June/July 2007