Northeast Working Equipment Group
D-Day 1998 Working Equipment Rally
Page 1 -- Butlers' Mk12
Willow Springs Quarry - Richland, Pennsylvania
TWO FREE-FLOW AIR HATS team up as Tim Berger dives Jim Boyd's Aquadyne AH2 and Jim Folk is in the Butler yellow Mk12. The AH2 is mated to the Aquala drysuit, while the Mk12 in this instance is being worn with a neck dam over a DUI drysuit beneath the Mk12 nylon coveralls. Both helmets are rigged with a Mk12 harness.
THE NORTHEAST WORKING EQUIPMENT GROUP held its fifth annual spring Working Equipment rally at Willow Springs Quarry Park in Richland, Pennsylvania, over the June 6 D-Day Weekend (the spring rally has previously been held on the Memorial Day weekend but was rescheduled to June 6-8 to avoid a schedule conflict with key logistical personnel -- and Monday was declared an honorary holiday. The gear dived included U.S. Navy MkV helmets owned by members Ray Butts, Bob Rusnak and Jim Folk. A highlight of this rally was the U.S. Navy Mk12 helmet rig acquired by brothers Mark and Dan Butler. The Butlers had a complete Mk12 except for the heavy neoprene suit, so the helmet was used with a neck dam over conventional drysuits, worn beneath the blue and yellow nylon jumpsuits. As in the proper Mk12 rig, the weights were carried in the leg pockets of the jump suit. Jim Folk (top) dived Dave Hill's #3 jumpsuit and Butler helmet over a DUI drysuit, while Mark Butler (above) dived his #5 jumpsuit over a red Viking drysuit. Dave Hill is shown tending, at left. In the water, Mark and Greg Platt (in Dave Hill's SuperLite 17) indulged in some horseplay.
DAN BUTLER (above left), partner with younger brother Mark in the Mk12, tried out the family rig. And Dave Hill also got a dive. Details of the helmet are clear in the views (below) of Jim Folk in the Mk12. The #3 jumpsuit is owned by Dave Hill, while the #5 suit is the Butlers'.
MARK BUTLER'S other new "toy" at the Rally was newborn son Sean
-- and mamma Dawn Butler was exploring new "tender" duties!