Hammond Shallow Water Helmet Dive at Barracuda Reef

The Hammond shallow water is a Miami made diving helmet designed by Louis Hammond in 1978. Less than 25 of these hats were produced, all being made of cast brass and weighing almost 75 lbs. These helmets were specifically designed for a tourist attraction to do underwater walks in the Dutch Antilles, Mr. Hammond even personally helped scout possible locations near where the cruise ships docked.

This helmet is very high on our list of favorites to dive. Since it's cast brass, it doesn't require any additional weights. This hat can easily and comfortably be worn by anyone, unlike other cast helmets, like the Sneads, this one has an extra wide breastplate area. The port on the hat protrudes out giving plenty of headroom and the ability for the individuals with glasses to wear them in the helmet. The large, flat window gives fantastic vision both outside and inside the helmet, which was perfect for taking pictures of tourist while they were on their underwater walk.

A handful of small variations can be found on these helmets as they were being produced over the years, we'll be taking a more in depth look at those differences in a future video.

We wanted to give a big Thank You to Mr. Hammond, for always taking the time to talk and share dive history with us, we greatly appreciate it!

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