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Mike Carson has dedicated over 35 years designing diving equipment for commercial and military industries.
His main concern is the safety of divers and their equipment working in the offshore industries.

Check out Carson Dive Tech for more information.
The following paragraphs are quotes taken from OffShoreDiversforum.com. Some are excerpts from longer threads. These are not the words of Mike Carson and belong to the poster signified by their user name. The quotes are posted verbatim and have not been edited, or changed in anyway. These quotes address safety concerns within the commercial diving industry.

"hats off"

"Posted by MMorris on 4/5/2008, in a reply to 'Re: Kix'" "I do know firsthand that the old suicide button type tolietseat neckdam that you pushed in the button would come off on a regular basis if you bumped it accidentally. But almost everybody with any sense changed to the new style when it came out. Personally I prefer the new style to the new arrangement on the newer style hats. Sorry if I can't say the numbers. I am not allowed to Bev or I will get sued. Does anybody know how many Millers, Swindells, Descos, Aquadines, Carsons, or any of the other brands have popped off accidently? Or is this just a problem with this one style of hat?"


"Re: 17B question"

"Posted by The Gnome on 2/14/2008 to '17B question'"
"I always thought the toliet seat design on the 17B was a very outdated, and dangerous way to cam up a dive helmet. I know a lot of people on here will tell me to STFU, but I think the 17B had it's day, but it's time to move onto the much better, and safer method of the 27. My two cents."


"Re: Superlite"

"Posted by TC on 4/5/2008 in reply to ' Kix'" "The straps are a secondary restraint system to stop the helmet floating off if it comes uncammed, official kirby morgan part as listed in their safety bulletins 2/2003 and 3/2003. comes as standard on all new superllites, available as a retrofit for all old helmets.

they were brought out following two fatalities on BP sites in the GOM (July 2001, Mouritson) and Egypt (Dec 2002, Not recorded) both involving helmets coming off.

Big arguement whether they were related to poor maintenance, dressing in wrong or some freak failure mode.

To some extent, it is irrelevant, the issue is that for some reason helmets come loose and can float off (also several reported non-fatal incidents in IMCA safety flashes), the cure is fitting the straps as supplied by the manufacturer.

Pretty sad it took that double fatality to get everybody's attention.

Even sadder if you go back through the stats.

John Martin, UKCS, 1975, Azzopardi, UKCS, 1977, Eke, UKCS, 1979, Bill Carr, Norway 1987. All drowned after they lost their helmets.

I guess we aren't very clever.

But it's way past sad when we hear that two guys died inland in the GOM in 2007 - 5 years after the straps came out - in incidents where their hats came loose, both shallow but on penetration dives where immediate surfacing was not an option.

Hard lesson.

Dive safe guys.

TC


"Kirby Morgan Mafia?"

"Posted by Wet on 5/20/2008 in reply to 'Morgan vs. Carson law-suit'" Man, I have heard more crap on this site about DSI's practice of frivolously suing the other hat makers.

Bev "the bully" Morgan seems like any other leader of our industry, placed on a pedestal not of his making, realizing success based on others work, and showing his willingness to stab ANY up and corner in the back.

I suppose that if you make a crappy helmet you have to figure out ways to make up for it.

So, how does it feel knowing that Miller made a better hat than yours, in the middle of BFE, in his own backyard, with his own two hands, than you could with a team of engineers, newest CAD programs, Navy contracts and a cache of lawyers. That must suck!

Now there's Gorski, Heavy Metal Divers, Carson, Genesis, just to name a few.

Maybe, just maybe, if you made a hat worth it's weight in whaleshit, you wouldn't have all this competition.

By the way love the 77, looks like a 27 or 17k trying to be a miller, except for the cosmetically altered EXO regulator, how original. (note the sarcasm)

When may we expect something that is not a warmed over version of the crap others invented for you in the late 70s, or isn't such a POS that is has to be factory inspected every year? Or is that R&D money currently being diverted to pay for lawyers to artificially maintain your fading hammerlock on the dive industry?

Oh, wait, you'll sue me... Uh, long live the Superlite ?!!?


"Re: IDIOT"

"Posted by Lucky 13 on 2/20/2008 in reply to 'Re: IDIOT'" I believe coast guard is just the investigative body for the industrial accident itself, the ones that put together the official report. I think they have all tests on equipment performed by governing bodies like OSHA (who Im sure uses another entity like say the US NAVY to run further tests to recreate the accident.) After everything is said and done the next of kin would be given the divers personal items that may have been collected for evidence.


"Re: Technical Hat Question"

"Posted by bbar on 12/26/2007 in reply to 'Re: Technical Hat Question'" Then again to stir more shi?? Who makes the guidelines for this so called "certification" and other than the "Companies" who is it regulated by? Who makes the certification requirements? (other than the Manufactures' or "companies" :) Where is the assureance that it will be done right and where is out Liability covered when your hat fails to perform.(And before bashing I know thats the reason they have insurance) but as we know can be lost in a court of law!! The point here is that even if you take your hat to a repair facility or other wise you ae sit out of luck when it comes liability for the quility of the "service" or "inspection" of your life support equipment.Sowho is it to decide whether your hat passes or gails? and for that matter to even say it is safe! No I'm not knocking the fact that a helmet should not be inspected or certified. but the fact there is no grounds for us to have to pay a extremely large amount to have it done! when nobody can show that there is goverment regulation requireing it! We all live on the rules of OSHA No I'm not including the ADC or IMCA as there are not governed by the government. They are for "PROFIT ONLY" organizations in my mind!


UBA MK 21 MOD 1 HELMET
Books of interest::

Sea Dwellers by Bob Barth & Scott Carpenter
Hard Hat Divers Wear Dresses by Bob Kirby
Cast A Deep Shadow by Gary L. Harris
Illustration taken from the US Diving Manual
Illustration taken from the US Diving Manual

US NAVY DIVING HELMET MK-21 IS BASED ON THE SUPERLITE 17 MODEL

Manufactured since 1976 by the Kirby Morgan Corporation, this style of helmet has had numerous reports of coming off. So how did Kirby Morgan fix it by adding a strap to go over the helmet?

I'm glad they don't manufacture for the airline industries. Remember years back, when the doors were falling off some of the airliners? Fix it with a strap! Sheer genius, huh?


Through the years I have read numerous reports of divers' face plates being blown out resulting in serious injuries and fatalities. In my opinion, this particular problem is mostly related to one fiberglass helmet in particular. I have spoken numerous times about this problem to the manufactuer over the past 30 years. So I am offering this safety tip from my many years of experience as a diver and as helmet manufactuer

Shown in this illustration:

1. Carefully drill out four to six inserts: two on the top and two on the bottom.

2. Fill the holes with epoxy. Drill out the epoxy and then insert a stainless steel screw with a washer and the lock nut on the inside of the helmet. Minimum of four.


KM67

"Posted on 05/03/2010" Unheard of in a diving helmet? From 1970 on, all my original helmets and masks have been through bolted. I've been preaching this safety tip to Kirby-Morgan since the late '70s, guess he finally heard me.

From the KMDSI website, Product Information for the KM67 Diving Helmet:

"Our new Ultra ViewT Port Design isn't just wider, it's also thicker, much thicker, which is essential to your safety when your port is this wide. It's also through bolted, which is unheard of in a diving helmet, but makes you think about it. If you ever strip a retainer bolt, which is unlikely given their size, just replace it and its special securing nut without special tools or procedures."

US NAVY KIRBY MORGAN

SWEETHEART DEAL

???


US NAVY
MK-12
Dive Systems
US NAVY
MK-21
Dive Helmets

 

According to the US Navy Dive Manual:

“The MK- V diving helmet was the standard US Navy equipment until succeeded by the MK-12 Surface Supplied Diving System (SSDS) in February 1980. The MK-12 was replaced by the MK-21 in December 1993.” (So according the USN Dive Manual the MK-12 was replaced 13 years and 10 months later by the MK-21.)

“In 1990, the MK-1 MOD 0 was replaced by the MK 21 MOD 1 (Superlite 17B/NS) demand helmet. This is the lightweight rig in use today. In 1985, after an extensive development period, the direct replacement for the MK-V MOD 1 helmet was approved for Fleet use. The new MK-12 mixed Gas Surface-Supplied Diving System (SSDS) was similar to the MK-12 Air SSDS … The MK-12 system was retired in 1992 after the introduction of the MK-21 MOD 1 demand helmet.”

1. It has long been rumored that the USN unofficially began replacing the MK-12 with what would 13 years later be known as the MK-21 SSDS on January 13, 1982 during the recovery operations at the Air Florida Flight 90 crash into the Potomac River. One civilian diver on scene recalls that the military were using KBM-10s, Superlites, and MK-12s.

2. I have heard that after the plane crashed into the icy Potomac River at the 14th St. bridge in Washington, D.C. Dive teams responded from the USCG, US Army and US Navy. As one USN diver entered the water his exhaust valve froze open causing a potentially serious problem. After a quick recovery of the diver, the boat and crew left and did not return until the next day. At which time, all the divers were wearing what appeared to be new Kirby Morgan Superlite-17 helmets. They were also wearing the MK-12 blue coveralls that distinctly have a yellow stripe. This combination is still being used as of this day.

3. The US Navy MK-21 is still manufactured by Kirby Morgan Dive Systems, Inc. No other diving helmet manufacturer has ever been awarded the contract. As far as I know no one else has ever had the opportunity to bid on the contract, since no one else has ever been ANU approved by the Navy. The entire process has been a mystery kept under wrap until, very recently.

This story was told to me over the years by a number of navy personnel. So the way I see it all the taxpayers got for the millions of dollars the Navy spent developing the MK-12 was a pair of coveralls.