They abandoned fast this design cause when the scuba diver finished ammo he came quickly to the surface.

Dont miss this gem

 

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-SCUBA-DIVING-D...1QQcmdZViewItem

Very sad indeed

Very sad indeed

 

Somebody problem made that 40 years ago when that kind of belt cost 50 cents at the local surplus store: fill up the pockets with fishing weights and down you go.

The buckel attaced is from a WW II Armored vehicle seat belt.

BKW

why would a scuba diver by shooting an M1 under water? WWII divers were primarily tasked with demolitions, I thought...

 

this seems like somebody's imagination run wild

why would a scuba diver by shooting an M1 under water? WWII divers were primarily tasked with demolitions, I thought...

 

this seems like somebody's imagination run wild

 

If you melted some lead to fit in each pocket it was probably a lot cheaper than buying a diver's weight belt. This may have been put together back in the days when commercial divers weight belts were not even available.

Brig I think hit it right on... Crazy...

 

Chris

Yes, I think it is a made up item as well. It looks like it was thrown together from various pieces. I wouldn't waste my money on it, even if it was real I wouldn't be interested in a questionable object.

 

- Jeff

There was a seller a few weeks ago that had a good condition M1 belt and one similar to this one which was really discolored being sold as a lot. He said the latter was used as a dive belt by his father on the Great Lakes. I am positive it was a different belt and seller. Odd but maybe it was advertised as a way to make a cheap dive belt in a magazine. I am sure some of you have seen similar articles in hunting magazines on how to make a good dear rifle out of that '03 or K98 etc.

Not that the one on eBay is real, but here is a photo of a WWII naval diver from Jeff Warner's "US Naval Amphibious Forces" wearing "long johns", a weight belt made from a cartridge belt and sneakers.

 

Tom

I cannot believe Uncle Sam would have been in so hard financial difficulties he couldn't afford a normal weight belt. I'm incline to think some do-it-yourself.

I cannot believe Uncle Sam would have been in so hard financial difficulties he couldn't afford a normal weight belt. I'm incline to think some do-it-yourself.

 

You have to remember that, during WWII, diving was in its infancy. When one thought of "diver" they pictured the guy in the canvas suit and brass helmet. Lightweight equipment was "bodged" from existing gear - like making gas masks into diving masks, etc. Modern SCUBA equipment, where the diver wore his air tank on his back, wasn't invented until the late 1940's by Frenchman Jacques Cousteau.

 

The only Self Contained Breathing Apparatus available during WWII was the oxygen rebreather used by UDT personnel and these, in fact, were nothing more than the Momson Lung developed as a submarine escape device.

 

During WWII there was no such thing as a "normal weight belt". All they had were the lead/steel shoes and giant lead belts worn by hard hat divers. Lightweight gear was being invented as they went along, so using an ammo belt as a container for lead weights makes perfect sense.

 

Again, all this does not mean the one being sold on eBay is for real. As already pointed out, anyone at any time could have come up with the idea to use an ammo belt for this purpose. They did it during WWII but that doesn't mean THIS belt is one converted at that time.

 

Tom

Came across this old thread

 

I cannot believe Uncle Sam would have been in so hard financial difficulties he couldn't afford a normal weight belt. I'm incline to think some do-it-yourself.

 

Actually the standard web cartridge belt was authorized for use with weights during WWII & the KW. as mentioned by sgtbrown.

Having been interested and involved in sport and commercial diving since I was a kid, I remember Cartridge Belts being recommended for modification into weight belts in the '50s. Also have seen numerous vintage photos of divers rigged with ammo belts, mostly late '40s-'50s. The pic Sgt. Brown posted is invaluable; looks to be a modified Gas Mask, maybe a Victor Berg mask? The Desco company actually used to market a copy of an ammo belt with cast lead blocks for the pouches.

Came across this old thread

Actually the standard web cartridge belt was authorized for use with weights during WWII & the KW. as mentioned by sgtbrown.

this one is old...really digging today, eh?

Sad no one thought to post a picture of it when they could have...it would have been nice to see the actual subject of this thread.

this one is old...really digging today, eh?

 

It's an old post, but the subject is worthy of discussion.

Sad no one thought to post a picture of it when they could have...it would have been nice to see the actual subject of this thread.

 

 

It would have been nice, but we know a standard cartridge belt was authorized for use as a weight belt, the weights fit into the pockets.

Having been interested and involved in sport and commercial diving since I was a kid, I remember Cartridge Belts being recommended for modification into weight belts in the '50s. Also have seen numerous vintage photos of divers rigged with ammo belts, mostly late '40s-'50s. The pic Sgt. Brown posted is invaluable; looks to be a modified Gas Mask, maybe a Victor Berg mask? The Desco company actually used to market a copy of an ammo belt with cast lead blocks for the pouches.

 

 

That would be interesting, I never heard of a commercial product being manufactured! I know the real cartridge belts were authorized for use with weights in the pockets.

 

 

I'm not sure it's a modified mask, the divers at PH in 1942-44 (possibly the best known photos) used some modified masks for their work though.

Evidently Desco co-founder Jack Browne hadn't perfected his triangular brass-framed mask yet; I've got some catalogues at home with all that stuff in them. I need to scan in a few of them and revisit this thread :think:

 

Another of the many war surplus items utilized by divers were Bayonets and Fighting Knives; they can be seen in old photos, as well as vintage diving films. Of course, Navy surplus weight belts, shoes and chaffs were all over the place among civilian divers.

Of course, Navy surplus weight belts, shoes and chaffs were all over the place among civilian divers.

 

 

Yeah, people wonder why they are somewhat hard to find anymore. They used them all up!

Now that someone has resurrected this thread, I got looking closer at the photo I posted and noticed something significant. Written on the tank is "Oxygen". Now, breathing pure oxygen is limited to a dive depth of 33 feet. Any deeper and oxygen poisoning can occur. :crying: So this guy was staying (I hope) darned shallow.

 

That was one of the problems with the oxygen rebreathers used by UDT and other "frogmen" during tactical exercises like attaching limpet mines to enemy ships in harbor. Get a little deep on the swim in or out and Bye Bye!

 

Tom

Now that someone has resurrected this thread, I got looking closer at the photo I posted and noticed something significant. Written on the tank is "Oxygen". Now, breathing pure oxygen is limited to a dive depth of 33 feet. Any deeper and oxygen poisoning can occur. :crying: So this guy was staying (I hope) darned shallow.

 

That was one of the problems with the oxygen rebreathers used by UDT and other "frogmen" during tactical exercises like attaching limpet mines to enemy ships in harbor. Get a little deep on the swim in or out and Bye Bye!

 

Tom

 

Yeah with that mask he's not going too deep.

Rusty: Heh heh...you got that right!!

 

Tom: One of the initial films they showed us in training was an old Navy trainer which showed what happened with a guy breathing O2 from an oral/nasal for about 30 minutes...like something out of a scifi movie Cousteau had some short-lived experiments in his early days as well, and the "surface decompression" and bends treatment tables, as I recall, demanded a maximum of only 5 minutes on oxygen before a mandatory "air break".

 

Yeah, the older Navy Light and Heavy Belts were made of leather, so very few exist today. Desco supplies these original designs made of far superior thin synthetic conveyor belting (as well as leather); this was the #1 choice for weight belts, ankle weights, etc., and could be obtained in rolls by those of us who liked making our own gear. Sorry- I guess I hijacked the thread and got a little off-topic.

Here is the Weight Belts section from a '70s Desco catalogue (all these products are still available):