MANUFACTURED FROM MODERN MATERIALS
KME manufactures commercial working dresses for all types of Hard Hat or"DEEP SEA"
diving helmets, using modern materials. Due to many requestsby tourist attractions and
hobby divers. KME, working with our materialsuppliers, has developed a replica MK-V
dress that is usable for diving.
The last MK-V diving dresses were manufactured by DESCO in 1964, as far as our research
was able to find. The waterproof barrier was a layer of live natural gum rubber between
two sheets of cotton twill. After this many years that gum rubber layer has "dry rotted"
into a white powder in most of the remaining MK-V dresses. There are, surprisingly, a few
of the old original dresses that KME has been asked to repaire that can be restored well
enough to dive again.
The movie "Men of Honor" rented five old ML-V dresses and KME was asked to recondition them. After restoring
all the vulcanized rubber gaskets and wrist seals, we were able to get wo dresses to the point that they were dry
enough to dive. One of the worst leaking dresses was one that came still packed in its original military shipping
packaging of talcum filled heavy brown waxed paper.
KME Replica MK-V Dress after the first Same dress being prepaired to ship
day of diving. Now it is "broken in"!
SPECIFICATIONS:
This MK-V dress is built to the same strict specifications as the KME-6600 commercial hard hat dress.The suit material is 1/8" thick RUBATEXTM G-231-N neoprene foam sheet with fabric on both sides. KME special orders this material with white Polyester fabric outside and nylon super heavy weave fabric inside. The outside white finish is as near to the look of the old cotton dresses as it is possible to get with modern long lasting materials. The super heavy weave nylon inside eliminates the stretch, normally associate with neoprene suits, to a minimum, yet allows much more flexibility than the old cotton twill material.The knee pads, elbow pads, crotch reinforcing patch, and the leg laces attachments are made of polyester Cordura TM to insure long life. They are sized and placed on the dress to original U S Navy specifications.The breast plate gasket in the KME MK-V Dress is vulcanized black natural rubber, molded as specified for the original dresses.Wrist seals can be ordered in three types: original Molded Rubber (authentic, from DESCO), Latex (looks close to authentic, but very fragile and relatively short lived) and Neoprene (most comfortable, can be sized to fit, seals well and has long life).The patterns used by KME are the same as the world famous (but no longer manufactured) "Yokohama" commercial dress which is slightly larger than the Navy specified patterns. The sizes are not enough larger to change your MK-V size when ordering. MK-V dresses are available on order, in standard sizes 1 through 5 and custom sizing is available for an added cost.The only thing that KME changes on the MK-V dress is the feet. The old stiff, heavy reinforced feet are replaced with a foot that still looks authentic except for a light protective sole on the bottom of the foot. The standard size is men's # 13, but other sizes can be special ordered at no extra cost. |
Diving Dress Sizes Link
