 A scuba diver in usual sport diving gear SCUBA is an acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. These initials originated in 1939 in the US Navy to refer to US military diver's rebreather sets. As with radar, the acronym has become so familiar that it is often not capitalized and is treated as an ordinary word; for example, it has been taken into the Welsh language as "sgwba". Scuba diver. ...
Scuba diver. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Backronym and Apronym (Discuss) Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, such as NATO, laser, and ABC, written as the initial letter or letters of words, and pronounced on the basis of this abbreviated written form. ...
The United States Navy, also known as the USN or the U.S. Navy, is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ...
// This page describes a type of scuba diver. ...
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
This long range radar antenna, known as ALTAIR, is used to detect and track space objects in conjunction with ABM testing at the Ronald Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein atoll. ...
Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ...
A scuba set provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. ...
Scuba diving is swimming underwater while using self-contained breathing equipment. ...
Types of scuba sets
Modern scuba sets are of two types: - open-circuit (In Europe, but not the U.S., often called an "aqualung", see Aqua-Lung™, invented by Jacques-Yves Cousteau). Here the diver breathes in from the set and out to waste. This type of equipment is relatively simple, making it cheap and reliable.
- closed-circuit/semi-closed circuit (also referred to as a rebreather). Here the diver breathes in from the set, and out back into the set where the exhaled gas is reprocessed to make it fit to breathe again.
Both types of scuba provide a means of supplying air or other breathing gas, nearly always from a high pressure diving cylinder, and a harness to strap it to the diver's body. Most open-circuit scuba and some rebreathers have a demand regulator to control the supply of breathing gas. Some rebreathers only have a constant-flow regulator like in blowtorches. Some divers use the word "scuba" to mean open-circuit sets only. ...
Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1976. ...
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
Layers of Atmosphere - not to scale (NOAA)[2] Earths atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earths gravity. ...
Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. ...
The use of water pressure - the Captain Cook Memorial Jet in Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, Australia. ...
12 litre and 3 litre steel diving cylinders A diving cylinder or SCUBA tank is used to store and transport high pressure breathing gas as a component of an Aqua-Lung. ...
The term harness has been used for many centuries for part of the collection of equipment known as horse tack, essential in the domestic, military, and agrarian use of horses. ...
A gas pressure regulator has one or more valves in series, which let the gas out of a gas cylinder in a controlled way, lowering its pressure at each stage. ...
The word blowtorch can mean:- A cutting torch used for cutting metal. ...
Open circuit scuba sets The duration of open-circuit dives is shorter than a rebreather dive, in proportion to the weight and bulk of the set. It can be uneconomic when used with expensive gas mixes such as heliox and trimix. Most divers use standard air (i.e. 21% Oxygen / 79% Nitrogen). The cylinder is nearly always worn on the back. "Twin sets" with two backpack cylinders were much more common in the 1960s than now; although twin cylinders (aka "doubles") are commonly used by technical divers for the increased duration and redundancy they provide. Submarine Products sold a sport air scuba with 3 backpack cylinders. Sometimes cave divers have cylinders slung at their sides instead. A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
Heliox is a gas that is composed of a mixture of helium (He) and oxygen (O2). ...
Trimix is a breathing gas, consisting of oxygen, helium and nitrogen, and is often used during the deep phase of dives carried out using Technical diving techniques. ...
The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...
Submarine Products Ltd were a diving gear manufacturer with a factory in Hexham in Northumberland in England. ...
See diving cylinder for more information about the cylinders and how they are arranged. 12 litre and 3 litre steel diving cylinders A diving cylinder or SCUBA tank is used to store and transport high pressure breathing gas as a component of an Aqua-Lung. ...
Newspapers and television news often describe open circuit scuba wrongly as "oxygen" equipment, probably by false analogy from airplane pilots' oxygen cylinders. Until Enriched Air Nitrox was widely accepted in the late 1990s, almost all sport scuba used simple compressed air. This allowed the scuba industry in the U.S. to bypass being supervised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which defines non-air gas mixtures intended to prevent or treat diseases, as "drugs." Exotic gas mixtures presently used in scuba are intended to prevent decompression illness in diving, but officially, the FDA appears to continue to believe that scuba divers all use compressed air. For other uses, see News (disambiguation). ...
Aviation refers to flying using aircraft, machines designed by humans for atmospheric flight. ...
Nitrox refers to any gas mixture composed (excluding trace gases) of nitrogen and oxygen; this includes normal air which is approximately 79% nitrogen and 21% oxygen (although around 1% is actually other gases). ...
FDA logo The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is responsible for regulating food, dietary supplements, drugs, biological medical products, blood products, medical devices, radiation-emitting devices, veterinary products, and cosmetics in the United States. ...
This article needs cleanup. ...
At partial pressures over about 1.6 atmospheres, oxygen becomes toxic. Open circuit scuba may supply various breathing gases; but rarely pure oxygen, except during decompression stops in technical diving. Oxygen toxicity or oxygen toxicity syndrome is severe hyperoxia caused by breathing oxygen at elevated partial pressures. ...
Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. ...
Decompresion has several meanings: in physics, decompression is the release of pressure and is the opposition of compression in medicine, scuba diving and aviation, decompression can refer to a sickness in scuba diving, decompression can refer to a stop, a chamber, a buoy, a trapeze, tables or a computer in...
Technical diving is a form of SCUBA diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving. ...
Some divers use Enriched Air Nitrox, which has a higher percentage of oxygen, usually 32% or 36% (EAN32 and EAN36, respectively). This lets them stay underwater longer, because less nitrogen is absorbed into the body's tissues. The most common Nitrox blending method needs an oxygen service tank, which is a tank that has had any non-oxygen-compatible grease or rubber removed, by cleaning and replacing parts. Nitrox refers to any gas mixture composed (excluding trace gases) of nitrogen and oxygen; this includes normal air which is approximately 79% nitrogen and 21% oxygen (although around 1% is actually other gases). ...
Constant flow Constant flow scuba sets do not have a demand regulator; the breathing gas flows at a constant rate unless the diver switches it on and off by hand. They run out of air quicker than aqualungs. There were attempts at designing and using these before 1939, for diving and for industrial use. Examples were "Ohgushi's Peerless Respirator", and Commandant le Prieur's breathing sets: see Timeline of underwater technology. Commandant Yves Paul Gaston le Prieur (born 1885, died 1963) was a military man. ...
Timeline of underwater technology // Pre-industrial Several centuries BC: (Relief carvings made at this time show Assyrian soldiers crossing rivers using inflated goatskin floats. ...
With a demand regulator This type of set consists of one or more diving cylinders containing breathing gas at high pressure (typically 200-300 Bar) connected to a diving regulator. The regulator supplies the diver with as much of the gas as needed, at a pressure suitable for breathing at the depth of the diver. 12 litre and 3 litre steel diving cylinders A diving cylinder or SCUBA tank is used to store and transport high pressure breathing gas as a component of an Aqua-Lung. ...
Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. ...
The bar (symbol bar) and the millibar (symbol mbar, also mb) are units of pressure. ...
A gas pressure regulator has one or more valves in series, which let the gas out of a gas cylinder in a controlled way, lowering its pressure at each stage. ...
- See Diving regulator for more information about diving regulators.
Colloquially this type of breathing set is sometimes (depending on the country of the English speaker) often called an aqualung; however, the word "Aqua-Lung" (note spelling) is a tradename protected by the Cousteau-Gagnan patent. A gas pressure regulator has one or more valves in series, which let the gas out of a gas cylinder in a controlled way, lowering its pressure at each stage. ...
A trade name, also known as a trading name or a business name, is the legal name of a business, or the name which a business trades under for commercial purposes. ...
Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1976. ...
Emile Gagnan (born November 1900) was a French engineer and co-inventor (together with Jacques Cousteau) of the demand-valve used for the first Scuba equipment (Aqua-Lung) in 1943. ...
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which...
 Old-type "twin hose" Cousteau-type aqualung Old-type twin-hose aqualung This work is copyrighted, and used with permission. ...
Old-type twin-hose aqualung This work is copyrighted, and used with permission. ...
"Twin-hose" open-circuit scuba This is the first type of diving demand valve which came into general use, and the one that can be seen in classic 1960s SCUBA adventures such as TV's Sea Hunt. Sea Hunt was an American television adventure series from syndicator Ziv TV that ran from 1958 to 1961 and was popular in repeats for decades afterwards. ...
In this type of set, the two (or occasionally one or three) stages of the regulator are in a large circular valve assembly mounted on top of the cylinder pack. This type has two wide breathing tubes like those on many modern rebreathers, one for intake and one for exhalation. The return tube was not for rebreathing, but because the air exhaust needed to be as near as possible to the regulator's second stage diaphragm, to avoid pressure differences, which would cause a free-flow of gas, or extra resistance to breathing, according to which way up the diver is in the water. In modern single-hose sets this problem is avoided by moving the second stage regulator to the diver's mouthpiece. The twin-hose sets came with a mouthpiece as standard, but a fullface mask was an option. Another optional extra was a mouthpiece that also had a snorkel attached and a valve to switch between aqualung and snorkel. A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
In mechanics, a diaphragm is a sheet of a semi-flexible material, anchored at its periphery, and most often round in shape. ...
A diver in a pool wearing an AGA full face mask A diver wearing an Ocean Reef full face mask A full-face diving mask is a type of diving mask worn by SCUBA divers so that they can talk with the surface or other divers. ...
Note the correct layout of this type, in the image to the right. In comics there have been thousands of drawings[citation needed] of two-cylinder twin-hose aqualungs shown wrongly, with one wide breathing tube coming straight out of each cylinder top with no regulator. Comics (or, less commonly, sequential art) is a form of visual art consisting of images which are commonly combined with text, often in the form of speech balloons or image captions. ...
 A "single-hose" aqualung with "octopus" primary regulator. See further detail in photo description. Download high resolution version (500x667, 26 KB)aqua lung This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...
Download high resolution version (500x667, 26 KB)aqua lung This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...
"Single-hose" open-circuit scuba Most modern open-circuit scuba sets have a diving regulator consisting of a first stage pressure reducing valve fastened over the diving cylinder's output valve. This valve cuts the pressure from the cylinder, which may be up to 300 bar, to a constant lower pressure, often about 10 bar above the ambient pressure, which is used in the "low pressure" part of the system. A relatively thin low-pressure hose links this with the second-stage regulator, or "demand valve," which is located in the mouthpiece. Exhalation occurs out of a one-way diaphragm in the chamber of the demand valve, directly into the water quite close to the diver's mouth. This configuration type is called "single hose". The first make of this sort of scuba was the Porpoise (make of scuba gear) which was made in Melbourne, Australia by Ted Eldred. A gas pressure regulator has one or more valves in series, which let the gas out of a gas cylinder in a controlled way, lowering its pressure at each stage. ...
12 litre and 3 litre steel diving cylinders A diving cylinder or SCUBA tank is used to store and transport high pressure breathing gas as a component of an Aqua-Lung. ...
Porpoise is a tradename for scuba developed by Ted Eldred in Australia and made there from the late 1940s onwards. ...
The City of Melbournes coat of arms The central business district of Melbourne, viewed from the north Alternate meanings: Melbourne (disambiguation) Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia, with a population of 52,117 in the Central...
The first scuba set tradenamed Porpoise was a rebreather, but when a demonstration resulted in a diver passing out, Ted began to develop the single-hose scuba. Its regulator's first stage and second stage had to be seperated to avoid the Cousteau-Gagnan patent which protected the double-hose scuba. A trade name, also known as a trading name or a business name, is the legal name of a business, or the name which a business trades under for commercial purposes. ...
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which...
All modern scuba sets have a spare second-stage demand valve on its own second hose, a configuration called an "octopus" because it often has more hoses for other purposes coming out of the primary regulator on the cylinder top. This second "second-stage" regulator and hose, or "alternate air source", or "safe secondary" or "safe-second" for short, is typically yellow (signaling that it is an emergency or backup device). It is often worn secured into a clip on the stab-jacket or a special friction plug on a diver's chest, easily available to be grabbed by, or offered to, a second diver in trouble for need of air. In so doing, this second mouthpiece eliminates the need for two divers, who need to share a cylinder, to "buddy-breathe" by trading off the same mouthpiece. The original octopus idea was conceived by Sheck Exley as a way for single-file-swimming cave divers to share air in a narrow tunnel, but has now become the standard in recreational diving. Modern "octopus" type primary stage regulators also typically feature high-pressure ports for use by computer sensors, and additional ports for additional low-pressure hoses for inflation of dry suits and buoyancy compensator (BC) devices. A buoyancy compensator (or buoyancy control device, BC or BCD) is a piece of diving equipment worn by divers to provide: life saving emergency buoyancy both underwater and on the surface. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
A buoyancy compensator (or buoyancy control device, BC or BCD) is a piece of diving equipment worn by divers to provide: life saving emergency buoyancy both underwater and on the surface. ...
Increasingly, in the 21st century, "safety" secondary mouthpieces have been combined with the inflator and exhaust assembly of buoyancy compensator (BC) devices. This combination eliminates the need for a separate low pressure hose for the BC. Some diving schools now suggest that a diver offer another diver in trouble their primary mouthpiece (i.e. the one in their mouth), before going to their own safe-secondary. The idea here is that the diver not in trouble has much more time to sort things out with his/her own equipment after temporarily losing ability to breathe. A buoyancy compensator (or buoyancy control device, BC or BCD) is a piece of diving equipment worn by divers to provide: life saving emergency buoyancy both underwater and on the surface. ...
Cryogenic open-circuit scuba There have been designs for a cryogenic open-circuit scuba which has liquid-air tanks instead of cylinders. - Jordan Klein designed a cryogenic open-circuit scuba called "Mako" and made at least a prototype.
- The Russian Kriolang (from Greek cryo- (= "frost") + English "lung") was copied from Jordan Klein's "Mako" cryogenic open-circuit scuba. Janwillem Bech's rebreather site shows pictures of a Kriolang that was made in 1974. Its diving duration is likely several hours. It would have to be filled immediately before use.
- SCAMP (Supercritical Air Mobility Pack®) is an out-of-water liquid-air open-circuit breathing set designed by NASA by adapting space suit technology.
An Inspiration™ rebreather seen from the front It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with prototyping. ...
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States federal government, responsible for the nations public space program. ...
Apollo 15 space suit A spacesuit is a complex system of garments, equipment, and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space. ...
Download high resolution version (500x667, 30 KB)rebreather inspiration front This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...
Download high resolution version (500x667, 30 KB)rebreather inspiration front This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...
Rebreathers -
With rebreathers, the gas the diver exhales is stored between breaths in a "counterlung". In some rebreathers, one-way valves direct the gas through a "loop". In other rebreathers, the inhaled and exhaled gas goes back and forth along a single tube: this is called the pendulum system. The oxygen consumed by the diver is replaced, nearly always from a cylinder, The exhaled carbon dioxide generated by the diver is removed by passing the gas through a "scrubber": a canister full of soda lime. Then the gas is fit to be re-inhaled. This type of scuba equipment is known as 'closed circuit'. A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. ...
Simple gravity pendulum assumes no air resistance and no friction of/at the nail/screw. ...
12 litre and 3 litre steel diving cylinders A diving cylinder or SCUBA tank is used to store and transport high pressure breathing gas as a component of an Aqua-Lung. ...
Soda lime is a mixture of chemicals, used in granular form in closed breathing environments, such as general anaesthesia, submarines, rebreathers and recompression chambers, to remove carbon dioxide from breathing gases to prevent CO2 retention and carbon dioxide poisoning. ...
Since 80% or more of the oxygen remains in normal exhaled gas, and is thus wasted, rebreathers use gas very economically, making longer dives possible and special mixes cheaper to use at the expense of more complicated technology and more experience and longer training. There are three variants of rebreather: oxygen rebreathers, semi-closed circuit rebreathers, and fully closed circuit rebreathers. A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
The rebreather's economic use of gas, typically 1.6 litres of oxygen per minute, allows dives of much longer duration than is possible with open circuit equipment where gas consumption is typically 10 times higher. Oxygen rebreathers have a maximum operating depth of around 6 metres / 18 feet, but several types of fully closed circuit rebreathers, when using a helium-based diluent, can dive deeper than 100 metres / 330 feet. The main limiting factors on rebreathers are the duration of the carbon dioxide scrubber, which is generally at least 3 hours, and that the scrubber gets less efficient at depth because the scrubber's inside is more crowded with diluent molecules hindering the carbon dioxide molecules from reaching the absorbent as quickly. In technical diving, the maximum operating depth (MOD) of a breathing gas is the depth at which the partial pressure of oxygen (ppO2) of the gas mix exceeds a safe limit. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number helium, He, 2 Chemical series noble gases Group, Period, Block 18, 1, s Appearance colorless Standard atomic weight 4. ...
Duration of a dive The duration of an open-circuit dive depends on factors such as the capacity (volume of gas) in the diving cylinder, the depth of the dive and the breathing rate of the diver. 12 litre and 3 litre steel diving cylinders A diving cylinder or SCUBA tank is used to store and transport high pressure breathing gas as a component of an Aqua-Lung. ...
An open circuit diver whose breathing rate at the surface (atmospheric pressure) is 15 litres per minute will consume 3 x 15 = 45 litres of gas per minute at 20 metres. [(20 m/10 m per bar) + 1 bar atmospheric pressure] × 15 L/min = 45 L/min). If an 11 litre cylinder filled to 200 bar is used until there is a reserve of 17% there is (83% × 200 × 11) = 1826 litres. At 45 L/min the dive at depth will be a maximum of 40.5 minutes (1826/45). These depths and times are typical of experienced sport divers leisurely exploring a coral reef using 200 bar aluminum cylinders rented from a commercial sport diving operation in most tropical island or coastal resorts. Some of the biodiversity of a coral reef. ...
The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ...
A semi-closed circuit rebreather dive is about three times the length of the equivalent open circuit dive; gas is recycled but fresh gas must be constantly injected to replace at least the oxygen used, and any excess gas from this must be vented. Although it uses gas more economically, the weight of the rebreathing equipment means the diver carries smaller cylinders. Still, most semi-closed systems allow at least twice the duration of open circuit systems (around 2 hours).
An oxygen rebreather diver or a fully closed circuit rebreather diver consumes about 1 litre of oxygen per minute. Except during ascent or descent, the fully closed circuit rebreather that is operating correctly uses no or very little diluent. So, a diver with a 3 litre oxygen cylinder filled to 200 bar who leaves 25% in reserve will be able to do a 450 minute = 7.5 hour dive (3 L × 200 bar × 0.75 / 1). The life of the soda lime scrubber is likely to be less than this and so will be the limiting factor of the dive. Soda lime is a mixture of chemicals, used in granular form in closed breathing environments, such as general anaesthesia, submarines, rebreathers and recompression chambers, to remove carbon dioxide from breathing gases to prevent CO2 retention and carbon dioxide poisoning. ...
In practice, dive times are more often influenced by other factors such as water temperature and the need for safe ascent (see decompression sickness). Hypothermia refers to any condition in which the temperature of a body drops below the level required for normal metabolism and/or bodily function to take place. ...
Decompression sickness (DCS), the diver’s disease, the bends, or caisson disease is the name given to a variety of symptoms suffered by a person exposed to a reduction in the pressure surrounding their body. ...
Air cylinders Air cylinders used for scuba diving come in various sizes and materials and are typically designated by material (aluminium, steel, high-pressure steel, etc) and by how much air (in cubic feet) they contain at 1 atmosphere (80, 100, 120, etc). The commonest is the "Aluminum 80", which will give an average experienced diver from 40 to 60 minutes of dive time under common dive conditions. Industrial compressed gas cylinders used for oxy-fuel welding and cutting of steel. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number aluminium, Al, 13 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 13, 3, p Appearance silvery Standard atomic weight 26. ...
The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ...
Air cylinder pressure will vary according to the type of material used, ranging from 2000 psi up to nearly 4000 psi.
Aluminium cylinders are less expensive than steel and have been known to last for 20 years with standard regular maintenance. The drawback is that aluminium cylinders are neutrally buoyant when full, and positively buoyant when nearing empty. This results in having to monitor buoyancy during the dive more closely so as not to experience the "express elevator to the surface". Aluminium tanks also need the diver to carry more weight. Divers often prefer to use steel tanks as they are negatively buoyant when full and neutral when empty. Many steel tanks also accept higher pressure fills, giving more capacity for a longer dive for the same size of cylinder.
Underwater alternatives to scuba There are alternative methods that a person can use to survive and function while underwater, including: - free-diving - swimming underwater on a single breath of air.
- snorkeling - a form of free-diving where the diver's mouth and nose can remain underwater when breathing, because the diver is able to breathe at the surface through a short tube known as a snorkel.
- surface supplied diving - originally used in professional diving for long or deep dives where an umbilical line connects the diver with the surface providing breathing gas, and sometimes warm water to heat the diving suit, and usually nowadays voice communications. Some tourist resorts now offer a surface supplied diving arrangement, trademarked as Snuba, as an introduction to diving for the inexperienced. Using the same type of equipment as scuba diving, the diver breathes from compressed air tanks, which float on a free floating raft at the surface, allowing the diver only 20-30 feet (6-9 m) of depth to travel.
- Atmospheric diving suit - an armored suit which protects the diver from the surrounding water pressure.
- Liquid breathing - so far, in the real world, liquid breathing for humans is only laboratory experiments, and (one lung at a time) medical treatment. It has possibilities of being used for very deep diving. It is memorably portrayed in the film "The Abyss".
- Artificial gills (human) - these are mostly science fiction. In the real world they have to process a massive amount of water to extract enough oxygen to supply an active diver, and processing this much water takes a great deal of energy (possible for cold-blooded fish, but harder for humans with higher metabolic rates). But see Like-A-Fish for an attempt to develop real artificial gills for divers.
Freedive photographer Free-diving is an aquatic sport, considered an extreme sport, in which divers attempt to reach great depths unassisted by breathing apparatus. ...
A snorkeler amid corals on a coral reef near Fiji. ...
Snorkel A snorkel (also spelled schnorkel or schnorchel) is a tube that allows a person, vehicle, or vessel to draw air while submerged under water. ...
Surface supplied diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California Surface supplied diving refers to divers using equipment supplied with breathing gas using an umbilical cord from the surface, often from a diving support vessel but possibly, indirectly via a diving bell. ...
Professional diving is diving for payment. ...
Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. ...
Two divers, one wearing a 1 atmosphere diving suit and the other standard diving dress, preparing to explore the wreck of the RMS Lusitania, 1935 A diving suit is a garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment. ...
A trademark or trade mark[1] is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by an individual, business organization or other legal entity to uniquely identify the source of its products and/or services to consumers, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. ...
Snuba is a portmanteau word formed from snorkel and scuba. In it, the swimmer uses the fins, mask, and breathing apparatus commonly used in scuba diving, but the air tanks which are usually strapped to the back are instead laid horizontally in 5-long canoe-like rubber pontoon rafts that...
Two divers, one wearing a 1 atmosphere diving suit and the other standard diving dress, preparing to explore the wreck of the RMS Lusitania, 1935. ...
Liquid breathing is a form of respiration in which someone breathes an oxygen rich liquid (usually from the perfluorocarbon family), rather than breathing air. ...
The Abyss is an award-winning science fiction film from 1989, written and directed by James Cameron, starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. ...
Artificial gills are devices that exist in science fiction only to extract oxygen dissolved in water allowing a human to survive underwater of extended periods. ...
Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...
Like-A-Fish Technologies is an Israeli business that is developing a system to extract breathable air from water. ...
Breathing sets used out of water Breathing sets operating on the above principles are not only used underwater but in other situations where the atmosphere is dangerous (little oxygen, poisonous etc). For breathing apparatus used underwater, see scuba sets and rebreather and surface supplied diving. ...
These breathing sets are nowadays called SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) (The initials SCBA have had other meanings). The first open-circuit industrial breathing sets were designed by modifying the design of the Cousteau aqualung. It has been suggested that Firefighter Assist and Search Team be merged into this article or section. ...
Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. ...
This article is about mineral extraction. ...
Rescue refers to operations that usually involve the saving of life, or prevention of injury. ...
Look up container in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
For breathing apparatus used underwater, see scuba sets and rebreather and surface supplied diving. ...
SCBA is an acronym for Self Contained Breathing Apparatus. ...
SCBA is an acronym for Self Contained Breathing Apparatus. ...
Industrial rebreathers have been used since soon after 1900. Year 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar, but a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ...
Rebreather technology is also used in space suits. A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
Apollo 15 space suit A spacesuit is a complex system of garments, equipment, and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space. ...
History A predecessor to scuba gear, the Momson lung, was used as emergency escape gear by WWII submariners. The Momsen lung was a primitive underwater breathing apparatus used in World War II by American submariners as emergency escape gear. ...
Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan invented the first commercially successful open circuit type of SCUBA diving equipment, the Aqua-Lung (often spelled "aqualung") in 1943. Among the things that prompted Cousteau to develop efficient air-breathing diving free-swimming diving gear, were two oxygen toxicity accidents that he had with rebreathers. The Cousteau Gagnan patent was licensed to Siebe Gorman of England. Siebe Gorman was allowed to sell in Commonwealth countries but had difficulty in meeting the demand and the US patent prevented others from making the product. Ted Eldred of Melbourne, Australia met this demand by developing the single hose regulator used today. Ted sold his first Porpoise model CA single hose scuba in early in 1952. Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1976. ...
Emile Gagnan (born November 1900) was a French engineer and co-inventor (together with Jacques-Yves Cousteau) of the demand-valve used for the first Scuba equipment (Aqua-Lung) in 1943. ...
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1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ...
Inspiration Closed Circuit Diving Rebreather Description A rebreather is a type of breathing equipment that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
Another SCUBA pioneer was John Haven "Jack" Emerson, who also developed the iron lung and other breathing apparatus. // John Haven Jack Emerson (5 February 1906 – 4 February 1997) was an American inventor of biomedical devices, specializing in respiratory equipment. ...
An Emerson iron lung. ...
Before 1971 all breathing sets including scuba came with a plain harness of straps with buckles like on a rucksack or spray-tank-pack. The buckles were usually quick-release. Many did not have a backpack plate, but the cylinders were held directly against the diver's back. Sport scuba usually had quick-release fastenings instead of ordinary buckles. The harnesses of many diving rebreathers made by Siebe Gorman included a large back-sheet of strong reinforced rubber. A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
Siebe Gorman Ltd was a British company which developed diving equipment and breathing equipment and worked on commercial diving and underwater salvage projects. ...
In the beginning scuba divers dived without any buoyancy aid. In emergency they had to jettison their weights. In the 1960s adjustable buoyancy life jackets for aqualung-type scuba became available; one early make was Fenzy. The ABLJ is used for two purposes, one to adjust the buoyancy of the diver to compensate for loss of buoyancy (chiefly due to compression of neoprene wetsuit) and more importantly as a lifejacket that can be rapidly inflated even at depth. It was put on before putting on the cylinder harness. The first were inflated with a small carbon dioxide cylinder, later with a small air cylinder. An extra feed from the first stage regulator lets the life jacket be controlled as a buoyancy aid. Buoyancy compensator A buoyancy compensator (or buoyancy control device, BC or BCD) is a piece of diving equipment worn by divers to provide: life saving emergency buoyancy both underwater and on the surface. ...
Neoprene is the DuPont Chemical trade name for a family of synthetic rubbers based on polychloroprene. ...
A surfer in a wetsuit. ...
Accessories In modern scuba sets, a buoyancy compensator (BC) or buoyancy control device (BCD), such as a back-mounted wing or stabiliser jacket (otherwise known as a 'stab jacket'), is built into the scuba set harness. Although strictly speaking this is not a part of the breathing apparatus, it is usually connected to the diver's air supply, in order to provide easy inflation of the device. This can usually also be done manually via a mouthpiece, in order to save tank air while on the surface. The bladders inside the BCD inflate with air from the ‘direct feed’ to increase the volume of the SCUBA equipment and cause the diver to float. Another button deflates the BCD and decreases the volume of the equipment and causes the diver to sink. Certain BCD's allow for integrated weight, meaning that the BCD has special pockets for the weights that can be dumped easily in case of an emergency. The aim of using the BCD, whilst underwater, is to keep the diver neutrally buoyant, i.e. neither floating up or sinking. The BCD is used to compensate for the compression of a wet suit, and to compensate for the decrease of the diver's mass as the air from the cylinder is breathed away. A buoyancy compensator (or buoyancy control device, BC or BCD) is a piece of diving equipment worn by divers to provide: life saving emergency buoyancy both underwater and on the surface. ...
A buoyancy compensator (or buoyancy control device, BC or BCD) is a piece of diving equipment worn by divers to provide: life saving emergency buoyancy both underwater and on the surface. ...
Diving weighting systems, ranging from 2 to 15 kilograms, increase density of the scuba diver to compensate for the buoyancy of diving equipment, allowing the diver to fully submerge underwater with ease by obtaining neutral or slightly negative buoyancy. While weighting systems originally consisted of solid lead blocks attached to a belt around the diver's waist, some modern diving weighting systems are now incorporated into the BCD. These systems use small nylon bags of lead shot pellets which are distributed throughout the BCD, allowing a diver to gain a better overall weight distribution leading to a more horizontal position in the water. There are cases of lead weights being threaded on the straps holding the cylinder into the BCD. Divers wear weighting systems, weight belts or weights, generally made of lead, to counteract the buoyancy of other diving equipment, such as diving suits and aluminium diving cylinders. ...
Divers wear weighting systems, weight belts or weights, generally made of lead, to counteract the buoyancy of other diving equipment, such as diving suits and aluminium diving cylinders. ...
Many modern rebreathers use advanced electronics to monitor and regulate the composition of the breathing gas. Electronics is the study of the flow of charge through various materials and devices such as, semiconductors, resistors, inductors, capacitors, nano-structures, and vacuum tubes. ...
Some scuba sets incorporate attached extra stage cylinders, as bailout in case the main breathing gas supply is used up or malfunctions, or containing another gas mixture. If these extra cylinders are small, they are sometimes called "pony cylinders". They often have their own demand regulators and mouthpieces, and if so, they are technically distinct extra scuba sets. 12 litre and 3 litre steel diving cylinders A diving cylinder or SCUBA tank is used to store and transport high pressure breathing gas as a component of an Aqua-Lung. ...
A gas pressure regulator has one or more valves in series, which let the gas out of a gas cylinder in a controlled way, lowering its pressure at each stage. ...
The diver may carry two or more sets of breathing equipment to provide redundant alternative gas systems in the event that the other fails or is exhausted. Modern recreational rigs most often have two regulators connected to a single tank, in case the primary regulator fails or another diver runs out of air. Some divers instead connect their backup regulator to a smaller "pony cylinder" for extra safety, and there are also emergency systems which mount a simple regulator directly to the top of a small cylinder. Rebreather divers often carry a side-slung open-circuit "bail out" to be used in the event the rebreather fails.
In technical diving, the diver may carry different equipment for different phases of the dive; some breathing gas mixes may only be used at depth, such as trimix and others, such as pure oxygen, which only may be used during decompression stops in shallow water. The heaviest cylinders are generally carried on the back supported from a backplate while others are side slung from strong points on the backplate. Technical diving is a form of SCUBA diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving. ...
Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. ...
Trimix is a breathing gas, consisting of oxygen, helium and nitrogen, and is often used during the deep phase of dives carried out using Technical diving techniques. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Standard atomic weight 15. ...
A Decompression Stop is a period of time a diver must spend at a constant depth in shallow water at the end of a dive in order safely to eliminate inert gases from the divers body to avoid decompression sickness. ...
A stainless steel backplate, wing and manifolded twinset A backplate and wing (often abbreviated as BP&W or BP/W), is a type of buoyancy compensation device (BCD) worn by scuba divers. ...
When the diver carries many diving cylinders, especially those made of steel, lack of buoyancy becomes a problem. High capacity buoyancy compensators are used to allow the diver to control his or her depth. The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ...
In physics, buoyancy is the upward force on an object produced by the surrounding fluid (i. ...
A buoyancy compensator (or buoyancy control device, BC or BCD) is a piece of diving equipment worn by divers to provide: life saving emergency buoyancy both underwater and on the surface. ...
An excess of tubes and connections passing through the water tend to decrease diving performance by causing hydrodynamic drag in swimming. Hydrodynamics is fluid dynamics applied to liquids, such as water, alcohol, oil, and blood. ...
An object falling through a gas or liquid experiences a force in direction opposite to its motion. ...
Some diver training organizations and groups of divers teach techniques, such as DIR diving for configuring diving equipment. This page lists SCUBA diver training organizations. ...
DIR, an acronym for Doing It Right, is an holistic approach to scuba diving originally developed by members of the Woodville Karst Plain Project. ...
The fundamental item of diving equipment used by divers is the SCUBA equipment, such as the Aqualung or Rebreather. ...
Open circuit trivia Normalair is a firm that is now part of the Honeywell Corporation based in Yeovil (UK). They made an early make of single-hose aqualung that had a fullface mask as standard. Normalair provided the Deep-Dive 55 rebreather sets used by James Bond 007 in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only. Yeovil is a town in south Somerset, England, on the A30 and A37. ...
A diver in a pool wearing an AGA full face mask A diver wearing an Ocean Reef full face mask A full-face diving mask is a type of diving mask worn by SCUBA divers so that they can talk with the surface or other divers. ...
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycles exhaled gas. ...
Flemings commissioned image of James Bond to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ...
For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth film in the EON Productions James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond 007. ...
Captain Trevor Hampton in the 1950s or 1960s designed an early single-hose aqualung with a fullface mask with a circular window which was a very big and thus very sensitive demand regulator diaphragm. But when he patented it, the Navy requisitioned the patent, and by the time the Navy found no use in the patent and released it, the market had moved on and he got no use from the patent. Captain Trevor Hampton was born in Birmingham in 1912 or 1913. ...
The first single hose scuba inventor was Ted Eldred of Melbourne, Australia (Porpoise 1952). The second company to make single hose scuba was also in Melbourne. It was made by Jim Ager who owned Air Dive Pty.Ltd. His regulator was the Sea Bee (1955). Jim still makes scuba regulators and is the longest continuous maker of single hose scuba in the world.
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