You bring back such wonderful memories. I am so glad that we don't have to go through the "Navy Diver" training to become a scuba diver today. I am 66yrs and Sea Hunt was so much a part of my wonderful childhood. My Dad was a WWII Navy Pilot in the South Pacific and we grew up with a boat and going deep sea fishing in Oregon. As my Dad grew older (passed last March at 95yrs) he loved to watch my underwater scuba diving videos. Obviously (thank God) not the adventures of Mike Nelson. I'm watching/skipping through some of the old Sea Hunt episodes. Thank you again Alec. P.S. Just looked up the Jack Browne Mask. DESCO Commercial Free Flow Mask $730.00
Great to hear from another Sea Hunt lover. It was obviously a big part of my childhood and it actually influenced my entire life, my scuba hobby becoming a wonderful life-long career. Thanks for watching. I have many more Sea Hunt episodes planned. Alec
Alec, have you considered doing a special series to the effect of, “Alec Peirce Reacts to Sea Hunt.” I know I would enjoy watching you offer commentary on each episode as you watch it. You have a history in this sport and a love for the series that can’t be found anywhere else. It would be great. Thanks for your brilliant videos!
I'm afraid to say that my public reactions have reduced over the decades, but inside I'm still jumping! Having watched every episode a dozen time, or more, it's like watching Monty Python where you know the words, movements and bloopers of the Cheese Shop!. A
Just found this site. I'm hooked. Spent most of my life diving. Stories galore. I've accumulated a significant collection of old diving equipment. Similar to some of yours.
Send me pictures or a list. I'm always interested in sharing ideas or parts or even trading stuff. Anything related to Sea Hunt? aleccpeirce@gmail.com Thanks for watching. Alec
Gday Alec, im a young diver from Queensland Australia who mainly dives with a hose connected to a small compressor (I do a bit of work removing shell of trawlers) and Im being to be obsessed with your channel haha keep up the great work mate! 🤘
Dove one in commercial dive school in Seattle. Fun fact, if you dive them without a hood with two divers, you can talk easily to each other by taking turns pressing your ear up to the face plate.
Hi Alec! It was great meeting you at Silver Springs during the 2017 Sea Hunt Forever events in Ocala! If you recall, we talked about your amazing Sea Hunt collection and my work as the maintenance diver for Silver Springs in the mid 70's. You interviewed me on camera, as well! I just discovered your RUclips channel and subscribed immediately! I'm looking forward to viewing your extensive video library of vintage gear. When I worked at the Springs under Leon Cheatom, some of the old Voit scuba equipment from the 60's still existed and was stored in the dive locker behind the old Bath House and the Reptile Institute. As I remember, there were several sets of the white Voit doubles and singles with 1/2 inch valves attached to the classic Voit hard blue backpacks with canvas straps that were used in underwater still and film productions by the likes of Bruce Mozert, were long out of date, and fascinated me. I wish I knew where all that stuff ended up! Having an original Jack Browne commercial mask is pretty cool! I'm looking forward to seeing some video of the 2017 Sea Hunt Forever events here! Thank you for making your collection and resources available to the public!!!
I sure remember meeting you Courtland. I think Kevin is working on a short video that will feature you at my Sea Hunt collection. To the best of our knowledge, 'our' meaning the entire Sea Hunt community, there is no actual original scuba gear remaining from Sea Hunt. It was all sold, given away or trashed. Too bad. You can actually buy old Jack Browne masks pretty frequently on eBay. Take care. Alec
Mask was made by DESCO. I worked for SCUBAPRO back in the 80's. They also made a full-face mask, but, it worked by plugging a second stage into the mouth hole.
LoL that look and feel like me some nights put on my Cpap mask lol. Oh you forgot one Mike was in USCG Reserve with good security clearance so work on secret government projects or rescues at a moment's notice. Love Sea Hunt watch the reruns whenever I can.
Alec I love your channel. Also I remember seeing this mask in a move called the deep. I really enjoy that movie. That's why I use to go hookah diving. To look for spanish galleons in my early 20's.
I loved The Deep - especially the first 10 minutes. Jacqueline Bisset was gorgeous. That was the first really accurate scuba diving movie. The gear, the actions, the environment were all realistic. Thanks for watching. Alec
Very hard. Obviously blowing out to equalize won't work as the air simply exits the mask from the exhaust or the edge seal. Commercial divers or early Full Face divers learned how to equalize by swallowing, moving their jaw or other means. Alec
I always wondered about the 1/2 of water in the bottom of the mask and how Lloyd didn't end up swallowing it 🤔So wish someone way smarter than me could colorize the episodes .So many favorites like Murder at 60 ft and how the show seems to be some what prophetic with scientific enhancements
It became a Mike Nelson trademark - that water in his mask. I think it was closer to an inch than 1/2". When we do our vintage dives and Sea Hunt scenarios, you see a lot of that. Those old masks simply didn't seal as well as today. Take care. Alec
Also known as the “Desco Mask.” Great lightweight surface supplied mask. A bit risky for newby divers who could overbreathe the equipment and bring about CO2 toxicity. More modern masks prevent that with use of an oral-nasal.
Just a clarification: Mike is not on the ocean when donning the Desco mask, he is at Marineland and preparing to enter the shark tank to deal with a shark that won’t feed. This is Season 1, Epidode 1. During the 1960s, you could go into variety stores and find children’s snorkel gear during summer months(still recall the PVC odor). Anyway, the children’s masks were often triangular even though they weren’t full face...definitely trying to copy this design to some degree.
Very hard Michael. I've used many Full Face masks of different designs and they have a couple of nice benefits (lens never fogs up, you can breath through your nose or mouth, you can talk easily, have a smoke, etc.) but they also have some problems. One is that there's no easy way to plug your nose so equalization is only done by swallowing or moving the jaw. Some commercial divers actually clamp their nose closed before putting on the mask which may help but I hated it. Also they are hard to clear so don't let water in!!
Hi Alec. it was nice talking to you and Diane at the scuba swap this weekend. I wanted to ask you about the mask, you mentioned it was a commercial diving mask , because of the constant flow of air is it considered a smaller version of a hard hat diving helmet? The mask was always used in the opening credits but I don't recall anyone in seahunt ever using anything but the 2 hose and later the single hose regs? I read somewhere that the first single hose reg was the Poseidon ? which was the very first actual two hose not fed from the surface (self contained) diving setup? It is interesting how many of the modern inventions are just variations of vintage concepts from many years ago.keep the vintage playlists coming! thanks Owen m
There are many unique specialties but PADI is rec/tec, not commercial diving as it is an entirely different world. I know as I did hard hat commercial diving in my early years. A
Sorry no Sasha. Sold my last dive store Scuba 2000 and retired to a life of harder work at my ranch. Try posting it on www.scubaboard.com to see who may be interested.
Did that Ben. At Sea Hunt Forever 2019, Kevin shot my friend Ron putting on a Browne mask (just like Mike Nelson) and dove Silver Springs. Watch this video on Sea Hunt Remembered, "S03E12 Vintage Diving". You will see it in the beginning. Hope you like it. A.
Simply out of room Tom. I hold instructor status at different levels, Instructor, Master Instructor, Instructor Trainer, etc., for ACUC, CMAS, NAUI, PADI, IDEA, TDI/SDI, UDIE, CURE and maybe another one or two. Interestingly I do NOT have a certification card at any level from SSI. My SSI Platinum Pro 5000 award is an award for contribution to the sport which SSI gave me. Alec
This blows my mind Alec, and I struggle to become a Dive Master due to the insane hard swimming time restrictions set by PADI. Thank you for sharing Alec
Wow. First time I've had someone complain that PADI Standards are too high. But, I find it hard to believe the swimming requirements for PADI DM are tough Tom. Maybe there's an issue with the Course Director or facility. I'll speak to our training department. Maybe get someone to reach you. Alec
Thanks, it is the 400 meter that is my worst nightmare, that is normally 16 laps in an regular pool and you need 8minutes in order to complete. For that you need to crawl all the way and I am not very good at that. Kinda ironic as you would in 99 percent of the time never need to crawl while diving
For the record, the PADI Divemaster Swimming Evaluation is: - 400 yards, any stroke in less than 10 minutes. - 800 yards with mask, fins, snorkel in less than 15 minutes. - 100 yards towing an inert diver in less than 3 minutes. - tread water or float for 15 minutes with the last 2 minutes hands (not arms) out of the water. If you're in the PADI DM course Tom you should also have the PADI Instructor manual that shows the requirements. Good luck. Alec
I was born in 1963. As I grew up, I loved Lloyd Bridges and his latter movies, including, Airplane! However, an interesting story about the Sea Hunt intro. Around 1967, maybe 1968, they did reruns of the show Sea Hunt, which originally aired in the late 50’s till 61. Well, as a 5 year old kid, whenever the show’s reruns began with the opening theme song, that song scared the shit outta me being 5 years old. Every time that song came on I turned off that show because of that scary song. Funny, how kids react to things.
The theme music for Sea Hunt was a special composition, as was the case for all shows in those days. I have no idea how or why as to the music but it has been described as "haunting" more than once over the years. Clearly, that was the case in your mind. Take care. Alec
I've noticed that you mention Sea Hunt a LOT on your channel...you do know that you (and all your subscribers, viewers and friends) can watch ALL SEASONS, ALL EPISODES on RUclips, whenever you want, for free...right? I mean, if you are a diver, there are some gaffs that you'll laugh and catch...but it DOES bring back memories... Here's the link to the 'Sea Hunt' episodes...(all in one-list...note the episode names) ruclips.net/video/BqCIEr8AFgs/видео.html
Oh yeah! Thanks but any Sea Hunt Nut knows that the Sea Hunt is still available and popular. Yes, I refer to Sea Hunt a lot. You know I have the largest collection of Sea Hunt memorabilia in the world (according to several authorities and as per the Scuba Book of World Records. In that collection, I have over 100 of the original Sea Hunt films that were sent to TV stations all over North America and then broadcast. I still watch these 60 years-old films occasionally. Great fun. Thanks for watching. Alec
What an awesome mask, the shape and the brass frame make it look so cool
And comfortable to dive
A
I just started watching this Sea Hunt yesterday thanks a lot Mr. Peirce for the hook up.
Great to see the gear that my grandfather and father used when they dived in the 50s and 60s.
What a great channel. Subscribed!
Thanks for watching. Alec
You bring back such wonderful memories. I am so glad that we don't have to go through the "Navy Diver" training to become a scuba diver today. I am 66yrs and Sea Hunt was so much a part of my wonderful childhood. My Dad was a WWII Navy Pilot in the South Pacific and we grew up with a boat and going deep sea fishing in Oregon. As my Dad grew older (passed last March at 95yrs) he loved to watch my underwater scuba diving videos. Obviously (thank God) not the adventures of Mike Nelson.
I'm watching/skipping through some of the old Sea Hunt episodes. Thank you again Alec.
P.S. Just looked up the Jack Browne Mask. DESCO Commercial Free Flow Mask $730.00
Great to hear from another Sea Hunt lover.
It was obviously a big part of my childhood and it actually influenced my entire life, my scuba hobby becoming a wonderful life-long career.
Thanks for watching. I have many more Sea Hunt episodes planned.
Alec
Alec, have you considered doing a special series to the effect of, “Alec Peirce Reacts to Sea Hunt.” I know I would enjoy watching you offer commentary on each episode as you watch it. You have a history in this sport and a love for the series that can’t be found anywhere else. It would be great. Thanks for your brilliant videos!
I'm afraid to say that my public reactions have reduced over the decades, but inside I'm still jumping! Having watched every episode a dozen time, or more, it's like watching Monty Python where you know the words, movements and bloopers of the Cheese Shop!.
A
Just found this site. I'm hooked. Spent most of my life diving. Stories galore. I've accumulated a significant collection of old diving equipment. Similar to some of yours.
Send me pictures or a list. I'm always interested in sharing ideas or parts or even trading stuff. Anything related to Sea Hunt?
aleccpeirce@gmail.com
Thanks for watching.
Alec
Gday Alec, im a young diver from Queensland Australia who mainly dives with a hose connected to a small compressor (I do a bit of work removing shell of trawlers) and Im being to be obsessed with your channel haha keep up the great work mate! 🤘
A Hookah diver!! Great fun. I've done a lot of that too.
Good to hear from you.
Alec
I saw as a kid one of the camera men worked with Sea Hunt...Russ Flagg was his name...
Don't know the gent but you're very lucky to have seen them film. I'm jealous.
Dove one in commercial dive school in Seattle. Fun fact, if you dive them without a hood with two divers, you can talk easily to each other by taking turns pressing your ear up to the face plate.
That's a great tip.
A
Hi Alec! It was great meeting you at Silver Springs during the 2017 Sea Hunt Forever events in Ocala! If you recall, we talked about your amazing Sea Hunt collection and my work as the maintenance diver for Silver Springs in the mid 70's. You interviewed me on camera, as well! I just discovered your RUclips channel and subscribed immediately! I'm looking forward to viewing your extensive video library of vintage gear. When I worked at the Springs under Leon Cheatom, some of the old Voit scuba equipment from the 60's still existed and was stored in the dive locker behind the old Bath House and the Reptile Institute. As I remember, there were several sets of the white Voit doubles and singles with 1/2 inch valves attached to the classic Voit hard blue backpacks with canvas straps that were used in underwater still and film productions by the likes of Bruce Mozert, were long out of date, and fascinated me. I wish I knew where all that stuff ended up! Having an original Jack Browne commercial mask is pretty cool! I'm looking forward to seeing some video of the 2017 Sea Hunt Forever events here! Thank you for making your collection and resources available to the public!!!
I sure remember meeting you Courtland. I think Kevin is working on a short video that will feature you at my Sea Hunt collection.
To the best of our knowledge, 'our' meaning the entire Sea Hunt community, there is no actual original scuba gear remaining from Sea Hunt. It was all sold, given away or trashed. Too bad.
You can actually buy old Jack Browne masks pretty frequently on eBay.
Take care. Alec
I did enjoy this, thank you!
You are so welcome!
Mask was made by DESCO. I worked for SCUBAPRO back in the 80's. They also made a full-face mask, but, it worked by plugging a second stage into the mouth hole.
Desco is still around today and making a modern version of Mike's mask. Thanks Bill.
I've never watched Sea Hunt, but I remember this mask from a movie - "The Deep"!
Same mask. It's been around for almost 100 years!
Alec
LoL that look and feel like me some nights put on my Cpap mask lol. Oh you forgot one Mike was in USCG Reserve with good security clearance so work on secret government projects or rescues at a moment's notice. Love Sea Hunt watch the reruns whenever I can.
Mike could do almost everything. Also, Kevin loves the U.F.O. series and understood your SHADO meaning (explained it to me).
Alec I love your channel. Also I remember seeing this mask in a move called the deep. I really enjoy that movie. That's why I use to go hookah diving. To look for spanish galleons in my early 20's.
I loved The Deep - especially the first 10 minutes. Jacqueline Bisset was gorgeous.
That was the first really accurate scuba diving movie. The gear, the actions, the environment were all realistic.
Thanks for watching.
Alec
Your very welcome. And it's my pleasure .
I dove a Browne mask in January 1989, in seattle Washington . It might have been some very small differences, but it was a real 1940s mask
They have changed little since the 60's because they work so well. Thanks for sharing.
A.
I grew up with Sea Hunt.
Me too. Mike saves the day and gets the girl too. That's what diving is all about, right?
A
So cool!
Glad you like it Joe.
Hi Alec. You didn't mentioned in this video how to equilze in such mask and I am really curious about it. Thanks for sharing !
Very hard. Obviously blowing out to equalize won't work as the air simply exits the mask from the exhaust or the edge seal. Commercial divers or early Full Face divers learned how to equalize by swallowing, moving their jaw or other means.
Alec
I always wondered about the 1/2 of water in the bottom of the mask and how Lloyd didn't end up swallowing it 🤔So wish someone way smarter than me could colorize the episodes .So many favorites like Murder at 60 ft and how the show seems to be some what prophetic with scientific enhancements
It became a Mike Nelson trademark - that water in his mask. I think it was closer to an inch than 1/2".
When we do our vintage dives and Sea Hunt scenarios, you see a lot of that. Those old masks simply didn't seal as well as today.
Take care.
Alec
lol I'm Mike Nelson every night when I put on my cpap mask!
Right Richard. Whatever cranks you!
I hope you're not also carrying a speargun or a knife!!!!
Alec
Alec Peirce Scuba just a bunch of marker buoys😳
Alec Peirce Scuba no just a bunch of marker buoys and signal flares ;)
Also known as the “Desco Mask.” Great lightweight surface supplied mask. A bit risky for newby divers who could overbreathe the equipment and bring about CO2 toxicity. More modern masks prevent that with use of an oral-nasal.
A mask used by Mike Nelson in the 1960's and still used today, that's a great mask.
Just a clarification: Mike is not on the ocean when donning the Desco mask, he is at Marineland and preparing to enter the shark tank to deal with a shark that won’t feed. This is Season 1, Epidode 1. During the 1960s, you could go into variety stores and find children’s snorkel gear during summer months(still recall the PVC odor). Anyway, the children’s masks were often triangular even though they weren’t full face...definitely trying to copy this design to some degree.
That is something I know very well as a Sea Hunt lover and collector. Enjoy all my Sea Hunt videos.
A
BTW....get the word around. MGM got the old negs and remastered and fixed all the episodes. its a big 4 pack collection but totaly worth it.
Already have it! Do love watching the originals with all their problems just like when I was a kid dreaming of diving.
Yet you rarely if ever saw him using that mask.
Want to see one being dived? Watch my Sea Hunt Remembered, video S03E12 to see my friend dive it in Silver Springs Florida.
Alec
Hey Alec, how do you equalized your ears in those mask?
Very hard Michael.
I've used many Full Face masks of different designs and they have a couple of nice benefits (lens never fogs up, you can breath through your nose or mouth, you can talk easily, have a smoke, etc.) but they also have some problems. One is that there's no easy way to plug your nose so equalization is only done by swallowing or moving the jaw. Some commercial divers actually clamp their nose closed before putting on the mask which may help but I hated it. Also they are hard to clear so don't let water in!!
Hi Alec. it was nice talking to you and Diane at the scuba swap this weekend. I wanted to ask you about the mask, you mentioned it was a commercial diving mask , because of the constant flow of air is it considered a smaller version of a hard hat diving helmet? The mask was always used in the opening credits but I don't recall anyone in seahunt ever using anything but the 2 hose and later the single hose regs? I read somewhere that the first single hose reg was the Poseidon ? which was the very first actual two hose not fed from the surface (self contained) diving setup? It is interesting how many of the modern inventions are just variations of vintage concepts from many years ago.keep the vintage playlists coming! thanks Owen m
Hi Alec does Padi have a working diver specialty course ?
There are many unique specialties but PADI is rec/tec, not commercial diving as it is an entirely different world. I know as I did hard hat commercial diving in my early years.
A
Desco made masks of that type for many years. Not sure if they're still making them nowadays
Desco is still around and make a modern version of the famous Sea Hunt mask. I have friends who collect and dive this regularly.
Hi Alec, I spoke to you about the Bauer KA10B dive compressor not so long ago. If you are interested I have got it going and have listed it on eBay!
Sorry no Sasha. Sold my last dive store Scuba 2000 and retired to a life of harder work at my ranch. Try posting it on www.scubaboard.com to see who may be interested.
Hi Alec, did you ever thought about to dive with a Browne mask on your next sea hunt adventure?
Did that Ben. At Sea Hunt Forever 2019, Kevin shot my friend Ron putting on a Browne mask (just like Mike Nelson) and dove Silver Springs. Watch this video on Sea Hunt Remembered, "S03E12 Vintage Diving". You will see it in the beginning. Hope you like it.
A.
How come PADI is not listed in the credential list?
Simply out of room Tom. I hold instructor status at different levels, Instructor, Master Instructor, Instructor Trainer, etc., for ACUC, CMAS, NAUI, PADI, IDEA, TDI/SDI, UDIE, CURE and maybe another one or two.
Interestingly I do NOT have a certification card at any level from SSI. My SSI Platinum Pro 5000 award is an award for contribution to the sport which SSI gave me.
Alec
This blows my mind Alec, and I struggle to become a Dive Master due to the insane hard swimming time restrictions set by PADI. Thank you for sharing Alec
Wow. First time I've had someone complain that PADI Standards are too high.
But, I find it hard to believe the swimming requirements for PADI DM are tough Tom.
Maybe there's an issue with the Course Director or facility.
I'll speak to our training department. Maybe get someone to reach you.
Alec
Thanks, it is the 400 meter that is my worst nightmare, that is normally 16 laps in an regular pool and you need 8minutes in order to complete. For that you need to crawl all the way and I am not very good at that. Kinda ironic as you would in 99 percent of the time never need to crawl while diving
For the record, the PADI Divemaster Swimming Evaluation is:
- 400 yards, any stroke in less than 10 minutes.
- 800 yards with mask, fins, snorkel in less than 15 minutes.
- 100 yards towing an inert diver in less than 3 minutes.
- tread water or float for 15 minutes with the last 2 minutes hands (not arms) out of the water.
If you're in the PADI DM course Tom you should also have the PADI Instructor manual that shows the requirements.
Good luck. Alec
I was born in 1963. As I grew up, I loved Lloyd Bridges and his latter movies, including, Airplane! However, an interesting story about the Sea Hunt intro. Around 1967, maybe 1968, they did reruns of the show Sea Hunt, which originally aired in the late 50’s till 61. Well, as a 5 year old kid, whenever the show’s reruns began with the opening theme song, that song scared the shit outta me being 5 years old. Every time that song came on I turned off that show because of that scary song. Funny, how kids react to things.
The theme music for Sea Hunt was a special composition, as was the case for all shows in those days.
I have no idea how or why as to the music but it has been described as "haunting" more than once over the years.
Clearly, that was the case in your mind.
Take care.
Alec
If THAT scared you, how did you handle the theme songs from The Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, or the sounds from The Outer Limits?? ;-)
It was that theme song- true it is haunting- that got me running to watch the show
Made by the same company that produces the legendary United States Navy Mark V Diving helmet.
Yep. Still in business. In fact, this helmet is still in use today.
Hard to beat a good design.
Alec
Like
I've noticed that you mention Sea Hunt a LOT on your channel...you do know that you (and all your subscribers, viewers and friends) can watch ALL SEASONS, ALL EPISODES on RUclips, whenever you want, for free...right? I mean, if you are a diver, there are some gaffs that you'll laugh and catch...but it DOES bring back memories...
Here's the link to the 'Sea Hunt' episodes...(all in one-list...note the episode names)
ruclips.net/video/BqCIEr8AFgs/видео.html
Oh yeah! Thanks but any Sea Hunt Nut knows that the Sea Hunt is still available and popular.
Yes, I refer to Sea Hunt a lot.
You know I have the largest collection of Sea Hunt memorabilia in the world (according to several authorities and as per the Scuba Book of World Records. In that collection, I have over 100 of the original Sea Hunt films that were sent to TV stations all over North America and then broadcast. I still watch these 60 years-old films occasionally.
Great fun.
Thanks for watching.
Alec
I have never seen sea hunt
Give it a try. It's on RUclips so watch the first episode here: ruclips.net/video/BqCIEr8AFgs/видео.html