HISTORY

Modern scuba diving gear consists of one or more gas tanks strapped to the divers back, connected to an air hose and an invention called the demand regulator. The demand regulator controls the flow of air, so that the air pressure within the diver's lungs equals the pressure of the water. Early Diving Gear Ancient swimmers used cut hollow reeds to breathe air, the first rudimentary snorkel used to enhance our abilities underwater. Around 1300, Persian divers were making rudimentary eye goggles from the thinly sliced and polished shells of tortoises. By the 16th century, wooden barrels were used as primitive diving bells, and for the first time divers could travel underwater with more than one breath of air, but not much more than one. More Than One Breath In 1771, British engineer, John Smeaton invented the air pump. A hose was connected between the air pump and the diving barrel, allowing air to be pumped to the diver. In 1772, Frenchmen, Sieur Freminet invented a rebreathing device that recycled the exhaled air from inside of the barrel, this was the first self-contained air device. Freminet's invention was a poor one, the inventor died from lack of oxygen after being in his own device for twenty minutes. In 1825, English inventor, William James designed another self-contained breather, a cylindrical iron "belt" attached to a copper helmet. The belt held about 450 psi of air, enough for a sevenminute dive. In 1876, Englishmen, Henry Fleuss invented a closed circuit, oxygen rebreather. His invention was originally intended to be used in the repair of an iron door of a flooded ship's chamber. Fleuss then decided to use his invention for a thirty-foot deep dive underwater. He died from the pure oxygen; oxygen is toxic to humans under pressure. Rigid Diving Suits In 1873, Benot Rouquayrol and Auguste Denayrouze built a new piece of equipment a rigid diving suit with a safer air supply, however it weighed about 200 pounds.

Houdini Suit - 1921 Famous magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini (born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest, Hungary in 1874) was also an inventor. Harry Houdini astonished audiences by escaping from handcuffs, straitjackets, and locked boxes, often doing so underwater. Houdini's invention for a diver's suit permitted divers, in case of danger, to quickly divest themselves of the suit while submerged and to safely escape and reach the surface of the water. Jacques Cousteau & Emile Gagnan Emile Gagnan and Jacques Cousteau coinvented the modern demand regulator and an improved autonomous diving suit. In 1942, the team redesigned a car regulator and invented a demand regulator that would automatically fresh air when a diver breathed. A year later in 1943, Cousteau and Gagnan began selling the Aqua-Lung.

DIVING SUIT
Is a garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment.

SUIT USE FOR SCUBA DIVING

WETSUIT
Wetsuits are relatively inexpensive, simple, Neoprene suits Although water can enter the suit, a close fitting suit prevents excessive heat loss because little of the water warmed inside the suit escapes from the suit to be replaced by cold water, a processreferred to as "flushing". Wetsuits are used typically where the water temperature is between 10 and 25 C (50 and 77 F).

DRY SUIT
A dry suit or drysuit provides thermal insulation or passive thermal protection to the wearer while immersed in water . Dry suits are used typically where the water temperature is between -2 and 15 C (28 and 59 F). Water is prevented from entering the suit by seals at the neck and wrists; also, the means of getting the suit on and off (typically a zipper) is waterproof.

HOW TO USE SCUBA TANK

1
Have the tank filled from a proper air source. The tank's capacity is written in the number of cubic feet of surface-volume air it can hold. The air is compressed so it can hold quite a lot of air. A standard tank can equal the volume of air in a walk-in closet. Air can go stale so replace the air in the tank every six months. It also must be inspected once a year.

2
Turn the tank valve on to allow airflow through the regulator.

3
Breathe through the regulator. There is a purge button that allows you to purge it of water with a blast of air before you put it in your mouth. Always exhale first when putting on a regulator to clear it of water. As you inhale, a diaphragm inside the regulator is sucked inward, opening the inlet valve. When you stop inhaling the valve closes, keeping water out of the tank. When you exhale, an exhaust valve opens and vents the used air out through an exhaust tee.

4 Breathe deeply. When you inhale through a regulator, the first air taken into your lungs is air that has been left in the dead-air spaces from your previous breath. Basically that is carbon dioxide. If you take shallow breaths, each breath will have a high amount of carbon dioxide. If you drawn in a deep breath, you take in a lot more fresh air. 5
Be able to recognize when your air feels low. Although you should never run out of air because you monitor your gauge properly, you should be able to recognize the signs of when it is getting low. The effort to inhale significantly increases.

6
Regain a lost regulator. If your regulator drops out of your mouth, don't panic. Hold your breath and sweep your arms back, out and around in a circular motion. Because of the way the regulator tube is attached to the tank, your arm will hook the tube and bring it to your front. Purge, put it in your mouth, exhale, and breathe.

7
Monitor your Submersible Pressure gauge. Surface with at least 300 psi still in your tank. This is one of the things that sets a good diver apart is proper planning of her air use. You should be able to make a slow ascent, take a three minute safety stop at 15 feet while you equalize, and still make the surface with 300 psi.

SAFETY STOPS
A safety stop is a 3 to 5 minute stop made between 15 and 20 feet during the final ascent of a dive. Safety stops are required by the majority of scuba training organizations whenever a diver goes deeper than 100 feet or approaches a no-decompression limit. While not strictly necessary, most dive agencies recommend making a safety stop at the end of every dive. Here are several reasons to always preform a safety stop.

Safety stops increase the conservatism of a dive plan by allowing extra time for absorbed nitrogen to be released from a diver's body. If a diver is close to experiencing a decompression sickness, allowing a few additional minutes for nitrogen release may be the difference between an uneventful dive and a trip to the hyperbaric chamber. A safety stop allows a diver to fine tune his buoyancy before ascending through the final 15 feet of water. A diver experiences the greatest pressure change through the last 15 feet of water, which makes controlling buoyancy and the ascent rate more difficult. Allowing time for a last-minute adjustment can help a diver to maintain a safe ascent rate. A safety stop provides a short break during the ascent during which divers can check their actual dive statistics against their dive plan to ensure that they have not exceeded any planned dive parameters. A safety stop gives a diver a chance to carefully check the surface for boat traffic and other dangers before ascending.

REFERENCES http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinvent ors/a/Scuba.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_suit http://www.ehow.com/how_2126089_usescuba-tank.html http://scuba.about.com/od/scubaterminolo gy/f/What-Is-A-Safety-Stop.htm