Can we compare Kirby Morgan helmets with the old Desco stuff?

I spent my first three years diving with a beat up Desco brass hat that weighed a ton and leaked like a sieve. Then I got a chance to try a Kirby Morgan SuperLite 17 on a pipeline job off the Louisiana coast last summer. The difference was insane. The KM was lighter on my neck, the communication system actually worked clear, and I didn't have to fight with the valves every time I wanted to adjust my air. The first dive with it I finished the job in half the time because I wasn't constantly fussing with equipment. My buddy still swears by his old Desco and says the KM feels too plasticky. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed a big jump in comfort or efficiency?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamesf412d ago

You ever have a dive helmet that felt like it was trying to drown you just for fun? That was my old Desco brass hat. I swear it had a grudge. Switched to a KM 17 two years back and suddenly I could hear the surface crew without them yelling through a tin can and a string. The first time I used it I actually finished my inspection an hour early and just floated there feeling like I was cheating.

lee_reed2d ago

Yeah I felt like a bobblehead for a month after switching to the KM, neck couldn't believe the weight was gone.

joel_martinez2d ago

@jamesf41 That thing about floating there feeling like you were cheating really got me. Nobody talks about what that lightness does to your brain over time. It's not just your neck that adjusts, it's your whole sense of where you are in the water. I've seen guys who went from heavy hats to a KM and they'd drift off station for the first few days because their body was still expecting that weight to hold them down. It's like your instincts are fighting your gear. And yeah the comms thing is real too, first time I heard a tender clearly without that hollow echo I almost forgot to answer.