History
The passion for scuba diving and for the marine environment comes from childhood.
The old TV series already brought the underwater adventures of some “heroes” and showed the deep end of the oceans. These series aroused my first interests about the mysterious world.
Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) and Captain Crane (David Hedison) with their missions on board the Seaview submarine in the series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Mike Nelson (Lloyd Bridges) in Sea Hunt – with his classes and tips about Scuba Diving.
I attended my first scuba dive course in the 80s and, since then, my interest in the subject has only increased, specially my interest in courses and in the various types of equipment that have been and are used in the scuba diving activity – the open circuit ones and the close circuit ones (rebreathers) – many of them unknown by most of the scuba divers.
My interest in collecting “old” regulators came almost by accident, with books and internet research about the development of open circuit equipment.
Every scuba diver learned in their basic course that Jacques Yves Cousteau and the Aire Liquide engineer, Émile Gagnan, improved and patented the first scuba diving regulator, the Scaphandre Autonome, known as SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus), which is the equipment used in the practice of Scuba Diving until the present days. However, few scuba divers know how the first regulators were, and many are unaware of the fact that they had two hoses and were called double hose regulators, or twin hose regulators / demand valves, or bitráqueas in Spanish.
In Brazil, the first Scuba Diving equipment arrived in the late 40s and early 50s, in Rio de Janeiro. Its use was extremely elitist and was mainly for the spearfishing sport. Fortunately, this practice was separated from the scuba diving, once the hunters realized that it was anti-sport to fish in any way that wasn’t with apnea.
This vision was even more reinforced in the late 70s, when the first American Agencies, through its instructors, arrived in the country.
The difficulty of importation and the high prices of equipment from that time, resulted in a reality where few Brazilians had access to the first scuba diving equipment developed in other countries.
Very little is known about the old regulators with two hoses, the so-called “double hose regulator” is known by today’s divers and, in Brazil, it’s virtually unknown.
In the 80s, with the great technological development, a new panorama for scuba diving has arisen in the United States and around the world.
Various industries offered news in equipment that was becoming increasingly cheaper and more widespread, which allowed a greater popularization of scuba diving around the world and in Brazil.
The idea of starting a collection of “double hose regulators” came from this lack of information that exists about this fantastic equipment, which dominated the scuba diving activity in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.
By finding out that, in many countries, there are:
- Many collectors;
- Vintage Scuba Diving Groups;
- Websites specialized in this kind of equipment;
- Various discussions forums on the subject;
- Restorative and parts being manufactured for various models of old regulators, by specialists and lovers of this equipment.
I started to study about the many manufacturers that existed, or the different models that have been sold and its operating mechanism and decided to start the collection.
I have a lot to learn and study, and, therefore, I decided to become a collector of these Wonders, whose design was patented by Cousteau and Gagnan in 1945. It is no coincidence that the first regulator was called CG-45 (“C” for Cousteau , “G” for Gagnan and “45” for 1945, year of the equipment’s patent).
Ah! And, also, it’s no coincidence that the name that I decided to give this site is www.cg-45.com
The site contains photos of regulators from my collection, information about various manufacturers from various countries, some of the history of these manufacturers and a few other vintage items used in the scuba diving activity, as well as pictures of items from my library and some links of specialized websites around the internet.
I would like to share this passion with everyone and I hope you have fun while browsing through my website, and can learn more about these wonderful equipment.
The site will be constantly updated, whether with new acquisitions or new information.
Aknowledgment
Our most sincere thanks to the many friends we have made since the beginning of our collection, in particular:
- Bryan Pennigton – United States
- Franz Rothbrust – Germany
- Ed LaRochelle – United States
- John Salsbury – England
- Enrique Dauner – Spain Peter Dick – England
- Jérôme Cellard – France
With the support of these friends, many collectors, the CG-45.com Collection has achieved great amount of information, above the ability to have acquired many regulatory models.
With the help of these friends, many of them yet virtual friends, it has been possible to build the CG-45.com site and help preserve the history of diving.
The idea of setting up a virtual museum, composed of photos of hundreds of different double hose regulators that are part of the CG-45.com Collection, has been a major challenge. The constant search for information about the dozens of manufacturers that have existed, their stories, models of double hose regulators produced and their differences, in addition to the permanent search for missing samples in our collection, would have been impossible without the collaboration of many friends we have made and are spread around the world.
Welcome to CG-45.com Collection !