History of the diving suit

In 1930, Wallace Hume Carothers invented the two essential components of the wetsuits, neoprene and nylon. Within the company DuPont Chemicals in the United States, he developed the first synthetic elastomer. But his invention initially had nothing to do with sport. Neoprene had mainly industrial applications in the automobile, construction and aviation.

A story of surfers

He only got into making wetsuits for water sports in 1952 when Jack O'Neill, a northern California surfer who was looking for a way to surf longer, bought a stock on the advice of a friend to To do some tests.
Concept that he invented, Jack opens a surf shop in a garage near the beach, in San Francisco. With his brother, he was tired of going into the water with woolen sweaters that they soaked in oil. to protect yourself from the freezing temperature!
His neoprene arrived, he hastens to cover it with PVC to solidify it and creates his first vest. Quite happy with the result, he then made jackets which he sold in his store.

While his surf shop is flourishing, Jack is victim of a leash accident while surfing in Santa Cruz. He then began to wear a pirate headband which became the O'Neill brand logo. He then continues to innovate and improve the quality and design of his products. It was in 1956, during a fair, that his models, presented on his children in a pool filled with ice cubes, began to be a real success.

Meanwhile, still in California, two brothers, Bob and Bill Meistrell, passionate about diving and surfing and having heard about Bradner's experiences, were also cutting neoprene behind a fridge to make their first wetsuit. They too had a store, Dive N 'Surf, in Redondo Beach and they are starting to sell their wetsuits.

At first, they called them thermoclines, but they couldn't get past their competitor O'Neill. With the help of Hang Ten founder Duke Boyd, they created the name and logo Body Glove because the suit "had to go like a glove."

But in truth, the first inventor of the suit is an academic from Berkeley University in California, Hugh Bradner, who works for the United States Navy. He understood that the body should not be completely dry under the suit and that neoprene was the ideal material. On the other hand, commercialization did not interest him.

2 prototypes of Bradner suits

At this time, the wetsuits are raw neoprene without nylon, thick and stiff. They irritate surfers on the arms. Without zippers they were very difficult to put on and surfers had to use talcum powder to keep them from tearing. Faced with all these inconveniences and their high price, many continued to surf without them, and the surfers who used them were treated as… little girls!

The Meistrell brothers made wetsuits for professional divers, soldiers, movie actors and even some animals ...

Nylon was then glued to the inside of the suits, which made them much easier to put on. The appearance of nylon on both sides in the 70s made it possible to greatly diversify its colors, which culminated with neon in the 80s. Even if some true surfers still preferred black, fashions and clans of colors then made their appearance.

In 1970 the founders of Rip Curl, Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer, decided with an old sewing machine and friends, including Alan Green, the founder of Quicksilver, to make combinations in their turn. Surfing was exploding in the United States and Australia and they wanted to have their share of the cake!

And meanwhile in Marseille

In 1934, Georges Beuchat was 24 years old and decided to create in Marseille the first underwater material company in the world.

It is a small company which begins by manufacturing small spears inspired by a Polynesian hunter passing through. The creeks of Sormiou and Morgiou become the playground of the young inventor.

In 1953, he invented the first isothermal garment, which he made with rubber canvas. The first series will be used by underwater works companies and by the team of Commander Cousteau. When foam rubber appears, George Beuchat makes more stretchy suits, the first "Tarzan", in 1963.

But this name was registered internationally by Hollywood studios MGM, owners of the rights to the character Tarzan, originally a comic strip. Georges Beuchat was sued by the MGM and forced by the courts to abandon the use of this name. In order to preserve the notoriety linked to the already very famous brand, the products manufactured at that time were then marketed under the name Espadon Tarzan and often simply marked Espadon, then under the final name of Beuchat, at the end of the 50s.

He then made the famous combinations with yellow stripes that appear so often in Cousteau's films. Finally, in 1966, he created the first jumpsuit for women.

Good dives… nice and warm…