MOAV's 10 QUESTIONS
with The President of California Classic Equipment Divers, Mr. Charlie Orr
 

1. Where & when did you start diving heavy gear?
 I started diving heavy gear several years ago with Duke Drake, and later on with Rick Eriksen. Our first attempt was using a MKV as a shallow water helmet with no dress. I think that was in Arroyo Grande Ca.

2. Who were your diving heroes growing up & why?
My diving heroes growing up were ER Cross and Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt. When I was a kid, I lived almost behind the old Sparling School, in Wilmington Ca.  In later years I've added a couple more heroes to the list. Capt. Ed White and Torrance Parker.

3. Tell us about your gear.
 The gear that I use most is my TOA hat and Dukes modified Chinese hat.

4. What is your favorite diving configuration?
My favorite configuration is my TOA hat, TOA dress, Rick Eriksens home made belt. Nylon chaffing pants and 6-lb. ankle weights with rubber galoshes.

5. What's the best dive you ever had & why?
I think the best dive I ever had was at Dive into History in Carmel Ca.  I had the honor of diving with Scrap Lundy and using Bob Kirby's gear.  And also there was ex abalone diver Roy Hatori.

6. What's the worst & why?
7. Tell us your strangest diving story.
6&7 I would like to combine these two. The strangest and worst.  Between Duke and I, we finally had enough gear to actually get in the water.  We had a Chinese dress. 150 ft. of new Gates ½ inch hose. An old MKV belt and boots.  No com box. We meet at Santa Barbara City College, thinking we might have a chance to use their tank, but they were closed.  It was at least 100 degrees, maybe more.  We had "borrowed" a couple of 3500 lb. Bottles from work. We had lugged all this stuff better than a hundred miles, so we decided to dive anyway. With or with out water. The hose was full of kinks, so I stretched it out across the black top parking lot to warm it up a bit.   Rhonda (Duke's wife) and I dress old Duke in.  Duke was acting pretty tuff. I think he was trying to impress his wife. Anyway, we got him dressed in, and I put on the helmet. I locked it down, and gave him a couple of taps on the top. Walked over to the truck and gave Duke a shot of air.  The first thing I noticed was that he was really moving around a lot. And his wife had this worried look on her face.  I walked over and looked in his faceplate. Boy, old Duke didn't look so good.  But he was still smiling. He was determined to enjoy the dive.
He even gave me thumbs up. And, I swear there was steam coming out the exhaust valve.

8. If you were putting together a complete set of gear today, how would you do it?
When we were getting our gear together, because we didn't know better, we bought a lot of things we didn't need. Also, we didn't know where to get the best buys.  It's fun to put a 60-year-old helmet back in service, but make sure it's checked out. That the non-return is functional and that the exhaust valve is working well and adjusted properly.  Seek the advice of experts, like Ric Koellner at DESCO.

9. What is your best advice for people getting started in heavy gear?
My best advice for people getting started today, like I said before, is to get the right information from the pros. To make sure your equipment is in good order and follow safe practices. And have fun.