From an article written by Bev Morgan.
The portion dealing with helmets is reproduced here. The complete article
can be found at DSI's website. A URL for it follows this text. Offshorediver.com
wishes to thank Bev Morgan for supplying the text and photos.
A History of the Superlite Diving Helmet
The SuperLite line of commercial/military divers' helmets are in use throughout the world. This article follows the development of the Kirby Morgan line of Commercial Divers' Helmet s and Full Face Masks from the heavy gear days of the sixties to the present, state of the art helmets and masks.
The Kirby Morgan Corporation was founded by Bev Morgan and Bob Kirby in 1966 in Santa Barbara, California. The purpose of the Corporation was to manufacture high quality commercial diving equipment. Prior to the start of the Corporation, Bob Kirby and Bev Morgan were designing and making diving masks. Morgan made his first demand mask in 1949 and Kirby made his a short time later.
The first products manufactured by the Kirby Morgan Corporation were metal heavy gear helmets (standard helmets). The transition from these traditional helmets to the SuperLite-17 is filled with interesting underwater helmet and mask innovations which will be shown and described.
KMAH-1 The
Kirby Morgan Commercial Air Helmet
This helmet was manufactured in 1965. (Kirby and Morgan were working together as a partnership prior to the Kirby Morgan Corporation formation.) The breastplate was made by Yokohama Diving Apparatus. The helmet was spun from two sheet of copper by Hummel Products in Santa Barbara, California. The forming and assembly was done by Kirby Morgan. The helmet had several improvements over previous designs. The viewing ports were made of one inch plexiglass, threaded to screw into the helmet and sealed with O rings. This eliminated the need for grills over the former glass ports, and thus improved visibility. Incoming air was more effectively silenced, improving communication and preventing a loss of hearing to the diver.
KMHeH-2 The Kirby
Morgan Commercial Helium Helmet
This helmet was manufactured in 1965. The design was the same as the air hat with the addition of a permanently mounted canister and venturi recirculator system. A standard Sodasorb® CO2 absorbent chemical cartridge was utilized in the canister. This helmet was the first practical commercial helium helmet with a venturi. Mr. H. Dan Wilson was the first designer and user of a commercial helium helmet which used a demand system, not a venturi. His helmet preceded this hat by two years. The U.S. Navy was the pioneer of gas diving, starting in the '30s.
The KMAH-1 and the KMHeH-2
were manufactured by Yokohama Diving Apparatus from 1966 to 1990.
Kirby Morgan could not economically
produce the helmets in the United States.
Yokohama Diving Apparatus
is no longer in business.
Kirby Morgan started development of a line of light, fiberglass based masks and helmets which culminated in the state of the art helmets and masks produced by Diving Systems International today. These helmets and masks have a long and varied history , which is briefly touched on below. This endless research and testing continues today, ensuring that the Kirby Morgan products produced today are the best and safest equipment to be had any where in the world.
MCSHX-3 The
Morgan Clam Shell.
Designed to be dry over the entire head with a neck seal, it was not successful, and was not used beyond tank testing. The primary problem was leaking in the joint between the front and rear of the hat.
KMCSHX-4 Kirby
Morgan Clam Shell Helmet.
The Kirby Morgan Clam Shell Helmet was designed and made in 1966 under contract with the U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit. The helmet was designed for use with semi-closed circuit breathing systems. The rear of the helmet was free-flooding. Only one prototype was made and tested.
KMCSHX-5 Kirby Morgan
Clam Shell Helmet.
The next progression in clam shells, this helmet used a demand regulator as a back up breathing system. The main breathing system was a back mounted semi-closed recirculator. This photograph shows Kirby suited up for a test, using a chest mounted breathing bag on a venturi recirculator. This helmet was free flooding in the rear and was made of fiberglass. Only one was made in 1967.
KMCSH-6.
This was the final version of the early Kirby Morgan Clam Shell Helmets. The hinge point was at the front. It was made of fiberglass and was free-flooding in the rear. Twelve of these helmets were made in 1968 for the U.S. Navy, & eight for Commercial use. Several dry head versions of this helmet were tested, but were not successful. The wet head version had limited success.
KMSLH-7.
Kirby Morgan Semi-Light Helmet. At the same time the clam shell series was being made, the Semi-Light fiber glass helmet was designed and manufactured. A face seal separated the face area of this helmet from the back. The first was made in 1966. In all, 36 Semi-Lights were made and sold. The helmet was discontinued due to lack of time and funding. This helmet was the direct forerunner to the Kirby Morgan SuperLite-17.
KMSLHX-8.
One modified version of the Semi-Light was made and tested. The balance was not right so the helmet was not manufactured.
MHX-9.
This unnamed helmet was designed to be used with a rubber mask section inserted into the forward part of the helmet. One was made and tested.
MH-10.
The Morgan 10 Recirculator Helmet. This hat was designed in 1971 to be used with the General Electric Mark 10 closed circuit breathing system. The side mounted tubes were connected to hoses that ran breathing gas to and from the back mounted recirculator. A unique hood that was easily removable and adjustable was used on this unit.
MH-11.
Morgan 11 Recirculator Helmet. This helmet was similar to the MH-10 with the addition of a demand regulator which was used as a backup breathing system. It differs very little from the Band Mask design in appearance. The gas flow tubes are provided for use with the Westinghouse supplied U.S. Navy Mark 11 breathing system. The diver's head was dry in this hat.
MHX-12.
Morgan 12 experimental dry helmet design to attach to a Band Mask. A rubber hood liner inside the hard helmet provided a dry environment for the diver's head. Two versions of this helmet were made. This design led to the KMH-16.
KHX-13.
The Bucket Hat. This helmet was made as a joke, but several important findings were made as a result of water testing this unit. The helmet dives quite well and is surprisingly comfortable.
MHX-14.
Morgan 14 experimental helmet had a rubber insert in the front which isolated the diver's face from the rest of the helmet to improve the operation of the demand regulator. Water tests were not favorable, so work on this hat was stopped.
KHX-15.
The Kirby 15 Experimental hat. One was made and sold to the U.S. Navy. It was made of fiberglass and fitted with a simple steady flow breathing system. This hat was used as a platform on which to test a new neck dam and yoke system. The rubber neck dam (seal) is attached to a metal band that is clamped with a cam lever around the circular neck area of the helmet. The yoke system provides a closure at the bottom of the helmet that is smaller than a diver's head and securely fastens the hat to the head.
KHXD-15.
The Kirby Experimental Demand
15. This helmet had several features that were new. A silenced servo demand
regulator was positioned on the side of the hat. One was made and tested.
The overall size of the helmet required counter balancing weight that made
it heavier than we liked.
KMH-16.
The Kirby Morgan Helmet 16. This helmet was an add on hat for the KMB-10 Band Mask. A rubber hood inside the fiberglass helmet provided a dry head environment to the diver. The neck seal clamped in place with a cam-action band similar to the SuperLite-17.
There's more to the story...
The history of the Superlite
is incomplete without mention of the Kirby Morgan bandmasks.
They are covered in pretty
fair detail at the DSI site:
