About HeavyMetalDivers LLC
Making the world's best diving helmets, made of bronze.
HeavyMetalDivers LLC makes deep sea diving helmets and associated equipment, and has been in business since 2007, 19 years building the Gladiator line for commercial and military divers who refuse to settle for plastic.
Our Story
Marty needed a helmet, so he built one.
Marty did not want to buy a fiberglass helmet, and he could not get a Miller helmet on without scraping his forehead. So he built his own.
HeavyMetalDivers came into existence shortly after the passing of Ben Miller RIP. The Gladiator diving helmet was initially going to be marketed through Miller Diving. After Ben Miller passed away and his company was sold, HeavyMetalDivers began operation.
Martin Morris, Sub Sonar tech, HVAC tech, Commercial Diver, Supervisor, Superintendent, is the creator of the Gladiator diving helmet and owner of HeavyMetalDivers. The first helmets made were custom hats and prototypes for the Gladiator molds. All were working helmets, sold to commercial divers onsite.
Field testing was extensive, and the first test dive for a Gladiator was to 273' on a working dive in the Gulf of Mexico. Every feature on the Gladiator is intended to be an improvement on the existing plastic helmets commonly in use today.
U.S. Navy Submarine Veteran
Owned and run by a U.S. Navy submarine veteran.
Commercial Diver Owned & Operated
Built by a working commercial diver, for working commercial divers.
Made in Texas
Manufactured in Marion, Texas. Cast, machined, and assembled in the USA.
The Progression
From custom hats to the modern Gladiator.
A helmet that fit
Marty needed a helmet. He did not want to buy a fiberglass helmet, and he could not get a Miller helmet on without scraping his forehead, so he built one.
Martin Morris
Sub sonar tech, HVAC tech, commercial diver, supervisor, and superintendent, Martin Morris is the creator of the Gladiator diving helmet and owner of HeavyMetalDivers. The first helmets made were custom hats and prototypes for the Gladiator molds.
Field-tested in the Gulf
All early helmets were working helmets, sold to commercial divers onsite. Field testing was extensive: the first test dive for a Gladiator reached 273' on a working dive in the Gulf of Mexico.
Bronze vs. Fiberglass
Why we build diving helmets out of bronze.
Most commercial diving helmets in use today are made of fiberglass or plastic. The Gladiator is cast in silicon bronze. That choice is not cosmetic. It changes how the helmet performs, how it holds up, and how long it lasts.
Bronze construction
The Gladiator shell is cast silicon bronze, nominally 1/4" thick, an investment casting made from molds built off laser-scanned patterns. Bronze is a working metal: dense, tough, and stable in salt water.
Durability
These helmets take the everyday punishment of offshore work: impacts, abrasion, and handling on deck. Where a fiberglass shell cracks or delaminates, bronze absorbs the hit and keeps its shape.
Repairability
Damage to a bronze shell can be ground, welded, brazed, and refinished. A cracked fiberglass shell is generally a replacement, not a repair.
Commercial-diver experience
Every feature on the Gladiator is intended to be an improvement on the existing plastic helmets commonly in use today, designed by a working diver who has worn one on the job.
Long-term serviceability
A bronze helmet can be rebuilt, with hardware, valving, comms, and finish renewed, and returned to service instead of retired. That is how a helmet earns its keep over decades.
Cast Silicon Bronze: The Gladiator
- Resists impacts and abrasion
- Can be welded, brazed, ground, and refinished
- Rebuildable and refinishable for a long service life
- Slightly negative buoyancy, stable and comfortable in the water
- Bronze shell acoustics for crisper comms
- Damage is repaired, not a death sentence
Fiberglass / Plastic Shells
- Cracks and delaminates on impact
- Damage is often not repairable
- Typically replaced rather than rebuilt
- Laminate ages and degrades over time
- Duller acoustics
- Shorter working life
Bronze also sounds different. The shell's acoustics carry the 8-ohm speakers and microphone far more cleanly than a plastic shell, and both the Gen-6 and Gen-7 Gladiator sit slightly negative in the water, stable and comfortable on long-duration working dives.
Our Goal
"To provide the very best, safest, most comfortable diving helmet possible."
That single standard drives every casting, every machined brass component, and every field test. It is why the Gladiator is built in silicon bronze, and why working divers trust it at depth. We serve divers in the USA, Mexico, Canada, and internationally.