aqua lung diving regulator aqua lung legend 2010 diving cylinder for 200 bar with din cylinder valve from aqua lung la spirotechnique later aqua lung la spirotechnique 1 is a large and well known french firm which makes scuba gear scuba sets and other breathing apparati . it started making the so called aqua lung regulators like the cg45 1945 and the mistral 1955 among others . contents 1 history 2 brands 2.1 apeks marine equipment ltd 2.2 whites manufacturing ltd 3 references 4 external links history edit in december 1942 the lieutenant de vaisseau ship of the line lieutenant jacques yves cousteau met in paris for the first time the engineer mile gagnan employee at air liquide a french company specialising in compressed gas . because of severe fuel restrictions due to the german occupation of france gagnan had miniaturized and adapted to gas generators a rouquayrol denayrouze type regulator . invented in 1860 adapted to diving in 1864 and mass produced as of 1865 when the ministry of the french navy ordered the first apparati 2 the rouquayrol denayrouze regulator was being commercialized in 1942 by the bernard piel company who had inherited the patent . cousteau requested gagnan to adapt his new own regulator to diving and both men patented in 1943 the first modern diving regulator . early in 1943 cousteau and gagnan ordered air liquide to make at its factory in boulogne billancourt two scuba set prototypes that cousteau and fr d ric dumas used to shoot the underwater film paves shipwrecks directed by cousteau the same year . 3 they were the first modern diving regulators to be made . in 1946 air liquide founded la spirotechnique its own division destined to conceive and mass produce regulators and other diving equipment . also in 1946 la spirotechnique launched the cg45 the first modern regulator to be commercialized . the year 1946 represents thus the beginning of the popularisation of scuba diving . in english speaking countries the cg45 was commercialized under the name of aqua lung a word coined by cousteau himself on that purpose . in the usa during world war ii the american military physician christian j. lambertsen designed a wartime frogman s rebreather which in 1952 got called the scuba acronym for self contained underwater breathing apparatus 4 and later the name changing to scuba and treated as a word was used to mean any underwater breathing set . in britain the word aqualung became a generic trademark for open circuit underwater breathing sets and stayed so for many years . the word scuba became the generic word quickly in the usa and eventually in britain . for more information see aqua lung trademark issues . from 1946 to 1955 la spirotechnique sold only one model of regulator the cg45 . on april 1955 it launched the mistral a single stage regulator that was cheaper to build and easier to breathe than the cg45 . the mistral became the brands spearhead and set off to establish scuba diving across the world . the cg45 and the mistral were twin hose regulators but la spirotechnique wanted to create a single hose regulator to let divers exchange their mouthpieces in narrow underwater caves and hollows not knowing that in 1952 the australian ted eldred had started to sell the first single hose regulator the porpoise . in 1955 la spirotechnique launched its first single hose regulator . conceived by jean bronnec and raymond gauthier this regulator was the cristal called the aquamatic for english speaking countries . the first american branch of la spirotechnique was u.s. divers which was the company that first sold aqualungs cg45 mistral aquamatic cristal and other spirotechnique regulators in the usa . at some point la spirotechnique used the word aqua lung to change its name or to use it as an alternate name . nowadays u.s. divers is a division of aqua lung america an american branch of la spirotechnique . aqua lung la spirotechnique sits nowadays in carros near nice 5 and owns its own international branches around the world like aqua lung america . brands edit apeks marine equipment ltd edit a british manufacturer of scuba diving equipment based in blackburn . 6 it was founded in 1974 by ken ainscough and eric partington the name apeks being an anagram of their initials . 7 the company is best known for its diving regulators especially for cold water use as well as drysuit valves which are provided to many drysuit manufacturers . apeks equipment is used by several militaries and emergency services including the royal navy . 7 whites manufacturing ltd edit whites manufacturing was a scuba diving equipment manufacture based in victoria bc that specifically focused on dry suit innovation and accessories . it was acquired by aqua lung in 2010 8 and many of its products were merged into the aqua lung line in 2015 . 9 references edit industrial index card of aqua lung la spirotechnique at achats.defense.gouv.fr the french minister of defence commercial branch website in french avec ou sans bulles with or without bubbles an article in french by eric bahuet published in the specialized website plongeesout.com . those two scuba sets made by air liquide are mentioned in the opening credits of the film as scaphandre autonome air liquide syst me cousteau air liquide s scuba set cousteau system . see lambertsen s homage by the passedaway.com website laurent xavier grima aqua lung 1947 2007 soixante ans au service de la plong e sous marine in french apeks marine equipement ltd. apeks . apeks . retrieved 14 june 2013 . a b sport diver june 2013 . best of british apeks . sport diver . white s manufacturing ltd. joins aqua lung pdf . aqua lung . retrieved 15 august 2015 . whites drywear has joined the aqua lung family . white s diving . external links edit http frogmanmuseum.free.fr html regulatorslaspirotechniqueen.htm images of spirotechnique aqualung demand valves retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title aqua lung la spirotechnique & oldid 720745008 categories 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