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What is a diving suit
Diving clothes provide the diver with warmth and comfort, it is made of neoprene or rubber, confirms Valters Preimanis, the instructor of the scuba diving club "Diving". Initially, people dived without special clothing, holding the air, later they used a tube (reeds), with which they could not dive deeper than a meter. Later, with the development of scuba diving equipment and also the production of glass, the first pressure-resistant underwater goggles were made. After staying in the water for a long time, the diver became cold, and there was a need for underwater suits that provide warmth.
History of diving clothes
Thanks to the invention of pressure pumps, it became possible to supply air to a diver through a flexible pipe, but to take it out through a valve. In the 16th century, people began to use a diving dome that was supplied with air from the surface, and it was also the first effective way to stay underwater for a long time. In the 16th century, diving suits made of leather in England and France were used for diving to a depth of 60 feet. The air was pumped from the surface by hand pumps. Taking a bag with air was very limited. An "underwater call" (submersible) was introduced, in which air volumes were already relatively higher, but mobility was almost non-existent. The underwater bell principle was also used in the first underwater helmets, which were later combined with a suit, and a diver's suit emerged in the form we understand it today.
Suit diving clothes
In 1715, John Letbridge (1675 - 1759) patented the "diving machine", a prototype of a solid spacesuit. It consisted of an oak tube almost two meters long and about seventy centimeters in diameter. The pipe was covered with leather, a porthole and leather cuffs were installed in the hands, the whole construction was a rope. The man entered the machine through a hatch, which was then closed by an assistant and covered with tar. The air supply was not resolved in such an apparatus. Later, solid type suits were invented in which air was supplied by a pump. Similar spacesuits are also used today in deepwater works.
Soft diving clothing
The soft diving suit with a metal helmet was created in 1837 by Augusts Zībe (1788 - 1872). Slightly changed, this suit with a hard helmet is still used now. Initially it was made of leather, later of tarpaulin and rubber, which provides durability and waterproofing. In 1943, the legendary French marine researcher Jacques Yves Cousteau (1910 - 1997) and engineer Emil Gannan (1900 - 1979) succeeded in constructing and successfully testing an autonomous type open breathing apparatus - scuba diving.
Modern diver's clothes
The diver's equipment consists of heat-retaining clothing and diving equipment - Mask with a tube, breathing regulator with a spare breathing regulator, buoyancy compensator with a low-pressure inflator, depth gauge, balloon, fins.
Other parts of diving clothing - Diving protective clothing (neoprene or dry suit), weight belt, lantern, knife (for diving in open waters and at sea).
To skillfully use diving clothing it is necessary to devote time to training underwater diving courses, in which you will gain all the necessary knowledge about diving clothes, how to properly use equipment and also safety equipment, confirms Valters Preimanis, an instructor of the scuba diving club "Diving".
