Friday, July 22, 2011

Understanding Scuba Equipment - From Basic To High-Tech Components

By Samantha Sterling Xavier


Before you buy a single piece of scuba equipment, there are a few things you need to know. We highly recommend you have patience and avoid buying if you are unsure of what you need. Those of you that know exactly what you want, and why you need it, should go ahead and buy your equipment. Diving fins, for example, can be very diverse depending upon what area of the water you will be in and how deep you will go. Open water diving, for example, requires a completely different type of fin than deep sea diving or water spelunking in a cave. If your goal is to take underwater pics, the fins you will need must give you extra mobility. It is important that the equipment that you own or rent is helpful and reflective of the type of dive you will be doing.

There are two basic types of equipment configurations involved with scuba diving. Equipment that you need, based upon the two possible configurations, has to do with why you were diving and what conditions are under the water.

Everybody is familiar with the 'tanks' or air cylinders that are used for scuba diving. Typically, these air tanks are made of stainless steel; most of the time they are provided in different sizes to fit the various divers that will use them. There are so many different diving scenarios that are possible that there are many different styles of tanks for each possible occasion. The amount of air that you are able to breathe from each type of cylinder is directly related to how they were made and the material that was used. There are differences between cylinder designations used in the US and Europe. In the United States, for example, when the cylinder has 1 Atm of pressure within it, it is considered full. European representation of a full tank or cylinder is given in terms of internal volume opposed to atmospheric pressure.

In order to breathe properly, each mouthpiece that you wear is configured with a second stage air regulator or demand valve built in. Diving with a backup demand valve is a very safety conscious thing to do; a popular one is called the octopus. At the top of each oxygen cylinder tank, a primary regulator is attached with multiple hoses. Extra hoses, and a spare demand valve are great to have in case of problems that may arise while you are diving. This is a great idea because this set-up is for emergency situations. It is easily identifiable because of its yellow color which will alert you to the fact that it is an emergency backup device.

Diving technically is an amazing level of scuba diving, and in our opinion isn't the best for beginners. The scuba accessories of varying kinds that are a necessity for this, are different cylinders that have gases that are specific. A gas called Trimex for instance is to be used only at the deeper depths. Also, a cylinder of pure oxygen can be carried and used during ascent at decompression stops. Having excess cylinders can obviously give you particular problems for attaining buoyancy properly. For this reason you will witness technical divers dressed in high capacity buoyancy compensator (BC). Considerations and discussions abound on the subject of scuba gear. Provided you are a beginner, you can get numerous tips from websites that you trust like PADI or your diving teacher. Making a decision about where your diving location will be is the best starting point. Due to needs being dependent on the water conditions, this is very important.

One thing many individuals don't consider when beginning the superb activity of diving is how large of a car or truck you're going to need to carry all of your stuff around. Especially if you have a huge family or team. The easy solution is to get a huge passenger van or SUV to make certain all your deep-sea diving needs are met.




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