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I used to think old Kirby Morgan hats were just nostalgia...
Been doing inland commercial diving for about 8 years now, mostly bridge repair and dam work around the Pacific Northwest. Always ran with a modern KM 28 with that lightweight shell. Then last month I had to use a beat up old SuperLite 17 for a whole week when my reg went down for service. After about three days I noticed my neck was way less sore at the end of shifts... that extra weight actually balanced better underwater and the old exhaust valve setup felt more reliable somehow. Now I'm hunting for a used 17 and wondering if anyone else has gone back to older gear after swearing by new stuff.
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adamcoleman1mo ago
The weight thing is real... I had the same experience with a KM 17 a few years back. Those old hats sit lower so your neck muscles don't have to fight the buoyancy as much the way the newer lightweight shells tend to float up. The exhaust valves on those old models are way simpler too, less plastic parts to fail at depth. If you find a used 17, just replace the faceport and check the duckbill valve before you run it, but the rest of that gear is basically bulletproof.
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