Wednesday 20 July 2011

Exactly What You Must Know About SCUBA Gear

By Samantha Sterling Xavier


People that just start out scuba diving are intrigued by the idea of going under the water and seeing many amazing things, however they are not aware of how much you need to know about the equipment that must be utilized. Most beginners learn early on that specialized gear for different types of dives is necessary and must be mastered. Although there is much to discuss, the focus of this material will be on leisure diving and the basic equipment involved. When people go on a vacation to a seaside resort or near the ocean, they will rent scuba equipment for diving. That is fine and it can be safely done, but you really should understand what you are using and getting. It is possible to be placed in an unsafe situation when renting gear that you have never used. When situations like this arise, it is important to know a little bit about SCUBA equipment in general.

Many divers use various units of equipment, one of which includes a demand regulator which we will discuss here. First of all, there are one or more cylinders that are filled with air that you wear while scuba diving. The air in the cylinders is sent to what is called a diving regulator and is stored between 3000 and 4000 pounds per square inch of pressure. Breathing is then made possible for the scuba diver as the demand regulator provides what is needed at the appropriate pressure levels. The position of the diver also factors into how this works.

For recreational divers, the open circuit set up is the most common. Semi closed circuits, and fully closed circuits, are representative of the rebreather configuration. This particular type was the first to exist, it preceded the open-circuit, however it is not used as much as the open-circuit. Breathing back into the mouthpiece will actually reconvert CO2 mixture into breathable air using this closed circuit technology.

In order to breathe properly, each mouthpiece that you wear is configured with a second stage air regulator or demand valve built in. Another spare demand valve which is attached to a completely different host, called the octopus, is also very popular. On top of the primary regulator, located on the cylinder, there will be multiple hoses for this purpose. It is always good to have extra hoses, not to mention a spare demand valve, when scuba diving in unknown territory. This will help ease a little bit of your worries as it will provide a way for you to breathe in case things go wrong. It is easily identifiable because of its yellow color which will alert you to the fact that it is an emergency backup device.

Deep diving is usually accomplished by technical divers who enjoy going far down usually further than the average diver will go. The requirements are greater, and of course there are greater dangers involved at depth. These deep sea divers will be using special mixtures of gas, and they will carry redundant gas systems along with them for emergency back-up. It is commonplace to see pony cylinders attached to divers that do this type of diving. These are actually a completely separate unit having separate mouthpieces, demand regulators, and hoses on each unit. Because they are fully contained, they can provide the air that you need in order to resurface when malfunctions occur. Many more things can be discussed and thought about regarding the gear for scuba diving. Your diving teacher and trusted websites that have great reputations can give you many tricks assuming you are a newbie. Determining the dive area is the smartest starting place. This is a priority due to the fact that much of what will be a necessity is dependent on the condition of the water.

Regardless of where you're going deep-sea diving, you're going to need a relatively huge vehicle to transport all of your gear in. That goes double if you are transporting several passengers. Lots of people who are keen on diving have very large cars to handle all of their requirements. If you are considering stepping into the deep-sea diving habit, then you're going to need a substantial van or SUV. It'll make every little thing much easier.




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