UW: Let's start from the beginning. At what point did this new helmet go from being just an idea, a thought in your head, to something you decided to actually build?
LG: The idea to build my own helmet began in Poland about 25 years ago - 1980. Ex-military, antiquated commercial equipment, and scuba was all that was available in that part of the world at that time. Equipment from the Western market was far too expensive and difficult to acquire. As a result, there was a definite need for improved diving equipment.
Building diving equipment was actually second nature to me. It began out of necessity, as a result of being a commercial diver and operating a small diving company in Eastern Europe through the early 1980s.

UW: What was the first problem you encountered in the development process, and how did you overcome it?
LG: The options were to make-do with what we had, or take it upon ourselves to bring something new into the market by building our own equipment. Many ideas were considered and several variations and adaptations to existing diving equipment took place, from 1980 thru 1984, during the time that we operated our business in Eastern Europe.
As far as the biggest problem I encountered, I was living in a country with no opportunities and no room for advancement, lacking the resources to build a helmet up to the standards that satisfied me. In 1984, I immigrated to the United States and became involved in the diving community along the Gulf of Mexico and inland waters. That was my first real contact with helmets such as Superlite or Miller, and the necessity for a new helmet turned into a hobby. From then on, I could not get rid of the bug in my head and the urge to build one.

UW: Tell us about the first prototype. Was it difficult to build? Did it work right away?
LG: As a joke, I turned a metal bucket into a diving helmet and we had a lot of fun with it. Ben Miller had a blast when he saw it for the first time. The Bucket is still on display at the Ocean Corp. in Houston.
Then I made a serious attempt at a first hand-mold. However, when I found out how much it was going to cost me to cast it out of steel, the mold went on a shelf for couple of years.
But the bug in my head and the urge stayed. I did not have the kind of money to support this project, but I had a lot of friends with just the right skills and connections. Ed Golik took care of casting and machining of the shell, and Andre Stenzel converted all my pencil drawings and designs to Auto Cad.
But this project would have never been completed without the help and support of a good friend and the best machinist I know, Derek Dwornik. Between the both of us, we filled up a few milk cartons with machined parts, which I designed and redesigned. I could only imagine how much this would have cost me without the help of my good friends, and the countless bottles of vodka. That's how the first prototype was born, a free-flow, sand-cast, silicone bronze diving helmet. I had a lot of time in free-flow helmets so I knew that this one worked very well.
There was no turning back.

UW: Did you go through several design shapes? What did you change as you went through various stages of design?
LG: All of the guys diving my helmet asked for a regulator, and so I started again, more garbage in my milk buckets. (It would be very expensive garbage if it was not for my machinist friend and a lot of vodka.)
Finally, I ended up with my first production line, the G2000 silicone bronze commercial diving helmet, complete witha demand regulator. The Ocean Corp. in Houston and Louisiana Technical College's Young Memorial Campus in Morgan City put it to the test in their diving programs.
With Cal Dive in Morgan City, we adapted a Jewel reclaim regulator. A couple of the company's divers tested it in saturation on a job in the Gulf of Mexico. To me it was still a free-flow helmet design, with second stage adapted to it. I continued working on the drawings and designs, switching from Auto Cad to 3D Solid Works.
At that point, sand casting was not an option, so the next challenge was finding a foundry that could handle that kind of investment casting.
It appeared to be a very complicated design for most foundries. Another year went by and then I found the right place and the right guy, with the same type of attitude as mine - challenge is not a problem.
We started talking about it and all of a sudden became really good friends. The price was right too. The first prototype G2000SS investment casting stainless steel diving helmet was born.
My idea was to use the first stage on it, but this was a mistake (more garbage into my milk carton, and yes, more vodka).
The first test at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit showed not enough gas flow on the low pressure side at the first stage, so it was back to the drawing board. I got rid of the first stage and waited for another appointment with the Navy.

UW: Did you pay particular attention to interior comfort, to improve the fit around the diver's neck and head?
LG: Not just that. I wanted something different and comfortable to wear, easy breathing, modern, safe, low-maintenance and cost-effective. Ideally, the helmet would be made of stainless steel if possible, and would contain component parts - valves, o-rings, etc. - that are readily available and easy to assemble and disassemble.

UW: So you had a working prototype - what did you do then? Was it difficult to get financing to go forward with manufacturing the helmet?
LG: Two prototypes were built with satisfactory results from testing. We decided to go with tooling for investment casting. As I mentioned before, a lot of people in this industry called that impossible, but not Gerry Krause, owner of Shellcast, Inc. He built the tooling, something I have never seen before. The price was right and the bank agreed to it with no complications.

UW: What have you done as far as testing it? Did you dive it first?
LG: Due to the convenience of having a really good relationship with Ocean Corp. here in Houston, I always have access to their facilities. That has allowed not only me, but also the instructors and students, to test it first and get different opinions.
The G2000SS was also tested in October 2003 by Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) in Panama City, Florida. The results were consistent with values commonly seen in diving helmets, proving the G2000SS meets most, if not all, requirements and goals presently in place. In addition, we anticipate receiving European Certification (CE) in the near future.

UW: Where do you stand with the G200SS now?
LG: As of now, we are in production and have helmets available at an introductory price of $5,400. At the present time, only Bay-Tech Industries, in Harvey, Louisiana, represents us as a distributor.

UW: Will you market this to government agencies and navies, as well as individual divers?
LG: I can only hope for it. This is something I will certainly push for.