Dacor (scuba diving)

DACOR Corporation was a former American manufacturer of scuba diving equipment which was founded in 1954 by Sam Davison Jr. in Evanston, Illinois as "The Davison Corporation". Its name is derived from the first two letters of his surname, "Davison," and the first three letters of "corporation". Since it's foundation, DACOR was one of the five early American diving equipment manufacturers.

Together, they were:

• DACOR
• U.S. Divers (Now Aqua-Lung)
• Healthways (Sold to Scubapro in the early 60's)
• Swimaster (Sold to Voit in the early 60's)
• Voit (Sold to AMF somewhere in the late 50's to early 60's)

DIVE DACOR

---

The Professional's Choice

Cable: DIVECOR Details
Genre	Diving equipment
Founded	1954 | Evanston, Illinois, United States
Founder	Jr Samuel M Davison
Headquarters	Evanston (1955-1959) Skokie (1959-1970) Northfield (1970 - Last) , United States
Key people	Samuel Davison, Donald Davison, Robert Oslon, Wallace Mitchell, Vern Pedersen.
Products	Scuba Equipment: Scuba Regulators, Aluminum Cylinders, Steel Cylinders, Stainless Steel Cylinders (INNOVATION NEVER RELEASED), Masks, Snorkels, Fins, Backpacks, Wetsuits, Drysuits, Seachute Jackets, B.C Vests, Nautilus CVS, Lights, Instrumentation Consoles, DIve Watches, Photo Equipment, Knives, Stingray Spearguns, Polespears, Merchandise, Bags, Flags/Floats/Lift Bags, Weight Belts, Books, Schematics, Accessories,
Website	Domain Not Operational divedacor.com

HISTORY

Davison Corporation

                                 DACOR 1954 - 1998  

Jr Samuel M Davison - Founder and President of DACOR

Sam Davison's time in Guam profoundly influenced both him and his well-known company, DACOR. His significant contributions to the sport are immeasurable. Serving as a US Marine during World War II, Sam Davison Jr. spent considerable time in the South Pacific, where his experiences on Guam left an unforgettable mark on his life. Those images left him with memories that he would never forget.

The story of DACOR begins with its founder, Sam Davison Jr. Sam and his fellow Marines stumbled upon a new discovery during their service on the island of Guam: Japanese underwater goggles. This discovery ignited a desire within him to capture and share the images he encountered. It became a moment that would shape the trajectory of his life. During post-World War II, Sam began experimenting with different ways of breathing under water. Sam soon became aware of WWII surplus Diluter O2 regulators that were modified for use as scuba regulators from instructions published in Do It Yourself magazines. Also, the French Cousteau – Gagnan CG45 Scaphandre Autonome regulators were being imported into America and receiving publicity in newspaper articles and other media. Inspired by the success of these products, Sam began sketching his own ideas for constructing a scuba regulator. Upon returning home from the war, he sold vacuum cleaners from 1945 to 1947. Subsequently, in 1948, he enrolled at the University of Miami to pursue engineering, yet his underwater adventures off the shores of Guam continued to exert a profound influence on him. Reconnecting with his childhood friend, Bob Olson, at Lake Michigan further fueled their shared passion for underwater exploration. Using makeshift methods like inverted buckets with air hoses, they improvised until 1950, when Davison learned of the invention of SCUBA equipment in France. Eager to adopt this safer and more efficient gear, he swiftly abandoned the makeshift apparatus. Their dreams of diving were fully realized upon discovering an article in the July 1953 edition of SCIENCE POPULAR magazine featuring "How to construct your own Diving Lung." In those early days, Sam Davison explored depths of up to 170 feet with little knowledge of decompression sickness. To fund his venture into manufacturing diving equipment, he borrowed $10,000 from his mother. Over two years, he meticulously crafted a double-hose regulator. Its innovative design caught the attention of a buyer from Montgomery Ward, who purchased ten units initially, followed by an order of 300 more. Convinced of its superiority, Davison resolved to establish his own company for its production. Thus, the Davison Corporation of Evanston, Illinois, was founded in 1954.

In 1954, Sam met with his longtime acquaintance Wallace (Wally) Mitchell, who was a design engineer by profession and also very wealthy. Wally agreed to help Sam with his scuba regulator ideas, transferred Sam’s sketches into draftsman's blue prints, and assisted with the mechanical issues involved. The two men worked swiftly ,and by mid-to-late 1954, they had the prototype and production designs for the first generation of regulators, which were referred to as Lung Model R-1.

In 1954, Sam met Wallace Mitchell, who was a design engineer. Wallace agreed to help Sam with his scuba regulator ideas and assisted with the mechanical issues involved. Both worked swiftly, and by mid-to-late 1954, they had the prototype and production designs for the first generation of regulators, which were referred to as Lung Model R-1, which later In spring 1955, DACOR launched its first regulator, "Model R-1," sparking a surge in manufacturing activity. This regulator featured two diaphragms aswell as the others that came, This strategy was adopted to avoid the Spirotechnique patent. Wallace Mitchell filed for patent #3,028,859 for an underwater breathing device in September 1955, with DACOR as an assignee. Several double hose regulator models were produced by DACOR from 1955 to 1982: R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, C-2 Clipper, C-3 Clipper, and C-3N.

This regulator featured a vane in the airstream to regulate airflow. At the time, the prevailing belief was that when divers were compelled to breathe more forcefully, they would consume less air. Although this theory was later debunked, no diver ever suffered injury or harm while using this regulator.

DACOR REGULATORS |Model's R & C|Dart| Olympic| Pacer|

Evolution of Regulator Innovation

(1950's)

In 1955, DACOR began it's production of their first regulator, called "Dial a Breath," sparking a wave of manufacturing. This regulator had two diaphragms and a vane in the airflow to control how much air the diver got. Back then, people thought that making divers breathe harder would make them use less air, but later they found out that wasn't true. (UNFINISHED)

(1960's)

Reference: official Dacor market -

(1970's)

.reference Best of the Best -

(1980's)

Reference: 1987 and 72' 87' (Golden age of Dacor) -

(1990's)

.reference change in the administration downfall and demise of Original Dacor

(2000's)

reference Dacor in disguise

{INCOMPLETED} Rev. 5/12/2024

REGULATOR EVOLUTION

''DIVING LUNG'' | Double-Hose Regulators

1978 | Model C-3NB | A "Balanced" double hose regulator that was never released

---

Single-Hose Regulators

199? - 199? | ENDURO

{INCOMPLETED} Rev. 5/12/2024

DACOR merged with Mares. A Dacor open-circuit scuba diving system named DaCor was patented by Dacor, e.g. see U.S. patent 3,128,481 (a safety float, in 1955 by Sam Jr, founder and president. His brother, Donald Davison, was vice president of worldwide sales. After their deaths in the late 1980s, Sam's wife Joan became CEO of the company, and later sold to Mares.

References

Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt around 1977 used a Dacor Dart scuba regulator to create the heavy breathing of the notorious antagonist Darth Vader.