Kirkland man is a connoisseur of old diving gear

Bradley "Mitch" Mitchell of Kirkland spent the last two months polishing his collection of antique diving gear. He rented a trailer to haul the diving helmets, air pump, weights and diving suit to the Seattle Aquarium and will take off work next week to show it all off.

"Within a few hours, there will be kids' paw prints all over everything," Mitchell said. "That's OK. This is a hands-on exhibit."

Mitchell is the only participant in the annual "Dive Into Spring Break" event who won't get wet. Other volunteers and staff will give diving demonstrations during the week's program. It's not that his antique equipment, some of it more than 100 years old, is outdated. It all works. He prefers to admire it from dry land.

"I'm a great swimmer, but I'm not a diver," Mitchell said.

Mitchell's niche in the antique-collecting world is U.S. Navy diving equipment, particularly Mark V diving helmets. He knows the gear so well that Roger Ottenbach, owner of Cuttysark Nautical Antiques in Seattle, uses Mitchell as a consultant to separate the real Mark V helmets from the fake.

One clue is the weight — each Mark V helmet weighs 58 pounds. They were manufactured for the Navy from 1916 until 1983. Aquarium visitors will get to try on one of the diving suits, along with the shoes, weights and helmet. They won't walk far. The complete outfit weighs 190 pounds.

"If you're claustrophobic, stay out of it," Mitchell said.

Dive Into Spring Break

Antique diving equipment display and diving demonstrations through April 15 at the Seattle Aquarium; admission is $12.50 for adults, $8.50 for youth 4-12 and free for children 3 and under. 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. 206-386-4300. 1483 Alaskan Way, Seattle

Mitchell, a heavy-equipment operator by day, didn't become an expert overnight. Always interested in things nautical, he fondly remembers going to the Seattle waterfront when he was growing up near Green Lake. He studied books and talked to other collectors, but didn't begin buying helmets and gear until about 18 years ago.

Now his collection takes up his garage and overflows into the living room, dining room and family office.

His pride and joy, he said, is the 1893 U.S. Navy air pump that will be on display at the aquarium. It looks like a big box with two ship's steering wheels on the side. Men on a boat or a dock would turn wheels to make the compressors inside the box send air through hoses to one or two divers.

Last year, a woman asked if the machine was a coffee grinder.

He wasn't insulted. He's so passionate about the helmets and the fireboat water gun that he delights in explaining and describing the equipment. He admires the Navy divers who used the gear and knows the names of many old master divers and their stories of underwater salvage operations.

"Some people collect art. The diving gear is what I like, what I collect," he said. "This is what moves my soul."

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com