How do dives use scuba gear underwater?
Cause I want to be one.
When you go diving, there are four primary systems that you need to work with. The first, the exposure system, is quite simple- there’s just your wet/dry suit, gloves, hood, boots etc, as you will need depending on the temperature of the water and the depth that you plan to dive down to.
The second system is the buoyancy control system- you have a weight belt, of varying mass depending on your body weight. You just clip that on before you dive, around your waist, and you shouldn’t need to touch it again during the dive unless there’s an emergency and you need to go up to the surface as soon as you can- then you use the quick release lever to undo it and ditch the weight belt so that you ascend.
In the buoyancy control system, you also have a BCD vest full of air over your wet suit; you put that on before you dive, and then you can add air inside it from your tank, or vent air from it, by using two buttons on the end of a tube that comes off it. More air will make you more positively buoyant (you start floating up), and less air will make you negatively buoyant (you start sinking)- the aim is to be neutrally buoyant, so that you are going neither up or down, then you have more control over your movements underwater. This is also more difficult and needs a lot of adjusting since air changes density as you go deeper underwater- you’ll need to add more air as you descend, and vent air as you go up.
The third system is the air delivery system, which is also relatively simple- just your tank, strapped to your back, and two hoses coming out of it with a mouthpiece each- your primary and your emergency regulators, which you breath from. There’s a button to remove any water from them, but apart from that, they’re quite simple.
The fourth system is the information system- gauges to tell you how much air you have left and how deep you are. These are on the end of long tubes, and they’re fairly easy to read.
Oh, and apart from that, there’s your mask and your fins, but they’re also really simple.
The training is fairly easy to get into basic diving; I qualified over a weekend, having done four evenings of theory class before that. It’s quite fun though, and a great experience. 🙂
When you go diving, there are four primary systems that you need to work with. The first, the exposure system, is quite simple- there’s just your wet/dry suit, gloves, hood, boots etc, as you will need depending on the temperature of the water and the depth that you plan to dive down to.
The second system is the buoyancy control system- you have a weight belt, of varying mass depending on your body weight. You just clip that on before you dive, around your waist, and you shouldn’t need to touch it again during the dive unless there’s an emergency and you need to go up to the surface as soon as you can- then you use the quick release lever to undo it and ditch the weight belt so that you ascend.
In the buoyancy control system, you also have a BCD vest full of air over your wet suit; you put that on before you dive, and then you can add air inside it from your tank, or vent air from it, by using two buttons on the end of a tube that comes off it. More air will make you more positively buoyant (you start floating up), and less air will make you negatively buoyant (you start sinking)- the aim is to be neutrally buoyant, so that you are going neither up or down, then you have more control over your movements underwater. This is also more difficult and needs a lot of adjusting since air changes density as you go deeper underwater- you’ll need to add more air as you descend, and vent air as you go up.
The third system is the air delivery system, which is also relatively simple- just your tank, strapped to your back, and two hoses coming out of it with a mouthpiece each- your primary and your emergency regulators, which you breath from. There’s a button to remove any water from them, but apart from that, they’re quite simple.
The fourth system is the information system- gauges to tell you how much air you have left and how deep you are. These are on the end of long tubes, and they’re fairly easy to read.
Oh, and apart from that, there’s your mask and your fins, but they’re also really simple.
The training is fairly easy to get into basic diving; I qualified over a weekend, having done four evenings of theory class before that. It’s quite fun though, and a great experience. 🙂
References :
Personal experience