Early scuba sets were usually provided with a plain harness of shoulder straps and waist belt.

The
waist belt buckles were usually quick-release, and shoulder straps sometimes had adjustable or
quick-release buckles. Many harnesses did not have a backplate, and the cylinders rested directly
against the diver's back.[23] Early scuba divers dived without a buoyancy aid. [note 1] In an emergency
they had to jettison their weights. In the 1960s adjustable buoyancy life jackets (ABLJ) became
available, which can be used to compensate for loss of buoyancy at depth due to compression of
the neoprene wetsuit and as a lifejacket that will hold an unconscious diver face-upwards at the
surface, and that can be quickly inflated. The first versions were inflated from a small disposable
carbon dioxide cylinder, later with a small direct coupled air cylinder. A low-pressure feed from the
regulator first-stage to an inflation/deflation valve unit an oral inflation valve and a dump valve lets
the volume of the ABLJ be controlled as a buoyancy aid. In 1971 the stabilizer jacket was introduced
by ScubaPro. This class of buoyancy aid is known as a buoyancy control device or buoyancy
compensator.[24][25]

Sidemount diver pushing a cylinder in front

A backplate and wing is an alternative configuration of scuba harness with a buoyancy

compensation bladder known as a "wing" mounted behind the diver, sandwiched between the
backplate and the cylinder or cylinders. Unlike stabilizer jackets, the backplate and wing is a modular
system, in that it consists of separable components. This arrangement became popular with cave
divers making long or deep dives, who needed to carry several extra cylinders, as it clears the front
and sides of the diver for other equipment to be attached in the region where it is easily accessible.
This additional equipment is usually suspended from the harness or carried in pockets on the
exposure suit.[5][26] Sidemount is a scuba diving equipment configuration which has basic scuba sets,
each comprising a single cylinder with a dedicated regulator and pressure gauge, mounted
alongside the diver, clipped to the harness below the shoulders and along the hips, instead of on the
back of the diver. It originated as a configuration for advanced cave diving, as it facilitates
penetration of tight sections of caves, since sets can be easily removed and remounted when
necessary. The configuration allows easy access to cylinder valves, and provides easy and reliable
gas redundancy. These benefits for operating in confined spaces were also recognized by divers
who made wreck diving penetrations. Sidemount diving has grown in popularity within the technical
diving community for general decompression diving,[27] and has become a popular specialty for
recreational diving.[28][29][30]
In the 1950s the United States Navy (USN) documented enriched oxygen gas procedures for military
use of what is today called nitrox,[1] and in 1970, Morgan Wells of NOAA began instituting diving
procedures for oxygen-enriched air. In 1979 NOAA published procedures for the scientific use of
nitrox in the NOAA Diving Manual. [3][31] In 1985 IAND (International Association of Nitrox Divers)
began teaching nitrox use for recreational diving. This was considered dangerous by some, and met
with heavy skepticism by the diving community.[32] Nevertheless, in 1992 NAUI became the first
existing major recreational diver training agency to sanction nitrox, [33] and eventually, in 1996,
the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) announced full educational support for
nitrox.[34] The use of a single nitrox mixture has become part of recreational diving, and multiple gas
mixtures are common in technical diving to reduce overall decompression time. [35]
Technical diving is recreational scuba diving that exceeds the generally accepted recreational limits,
and may expose the diver to hazards beyond those normally associated with recreational diving, and
to greater risks of serious injury or death. These risks may be reduced by appropriate skills,
knowledge and experience, and by using suitable equipment and procedures. The concept and term
are both relatively recent advents, although divers had already been engaging in what is now
commonly referred to as technical diving for decades. One reasonably widely held definition is that
any dive in which at some point of the planned profile it is not physically possible or physiologically
acceptable to make a direct and uninterrupted vertical ascent to surface air is a technical dive. [36] The
equipment often involves breathing gases other than air or standard nitrox mixtures, multiple gas
sources, and different equipment configurations. [37] Over time, some equipment and techniques
developed for technical diving have become more widely accepted for recreational diving. [36]

Rebreather diver returning from a 600 ft (183 m) dive

Nitrogen narcosis limits the depth reachable by underwater divers when breathing nitrox mixtures. In
1924 the US Navy started to investigate the possibility of using helium and after animal experiments,
human subjects breathing heliox 20/80 (20% oxygen, 80% helium) were successfully decompressed
from deep dives,[38] In 1963 saturation dives using trimix were made during Project Genesis,[39] and in
1979 a research team at the Duke University Medical Center Hyperbaric Laboratory started work
which identified the use of trimix to prevent the symptoms of high-pressure nervous syndrome.
[40]
 Cave divers started using trimix to allow deeper dives and it was used extensively in the
1987 Wakulla Springs Project and spread to the north-east American wreck diving community. [41]
The challenges of deeper dives and longer penetrations and the large amounts of breathing gas
necessary for these dive profiles and ready availability of oxygen sensing cells beginning in the late
1980s led to a resurgence of interest in rebreather diving. By accurately measuring the partial
pressure of oxygen, it became possible to maintain and accurately monitor a breathable gas mixture
in the loop at any depth.[36] In the mid 1990s semi-closed circuit rebreathers became available for the
recreational scuba market, followed by closed circuit rebreathers around the turn of the millennium.
[42]
 Rebreathers are currently manufactured for the military, technical and recreational scuba markets,
[36]
 but remain less popular, less reliable, and more expensive than open circuit equipment.

Equipment[edit]
See also: Diving equipment
Diver wearing a dry suit in a lake in Finland where the water is cold

Breathing apparatus[edit]
Main article: Scuba set

Recreational diver putting on his scuba set before diving

The defining equipment used by a scuba diver is the eponymous scuba, the self-contained
underwater breathing apparatus which allows the diver to breathe while diving, and is transported by
the diver.
As one descends, in addition to the normal atmospheric pressure at the surface, the water exerts
increasing hydrostatic pressure of approximately 1 bar (14.7 pounds per square inch) for every 10 m
(33 feet) of depth. The pressure of the inhaled breath must balance the surrounding or ambient
pressure to allow inflation of the lungs. It becomes virtually impossible to breathe air at normal
atmospheric pressure through a tube below three feet under the water. [2]
Most recreational scuba diving is done using a half mask which covers the diver's eyes and nose,
and a mouthpiece to supply the breathing gas from the demand valve or rebreather. Inhaling from a
regulator's mouthpiece becomes second nature very quickly. The other common arrangement is
a full face mask which covers the eyes, nose and mouth, and often allows the diver to breathe
through the nose. Professional scuba divers are more likely to use full face masks, which protect the
diver's airway if the diver loses consciousness.[43]
Open-circuit[edit]
Main article: Diving regulator

Aqualung Legend second stage (demand valve) regulator

Aqualung first stage regulator

Gekko dive computer with attached pressure gauge and compass

Suunto submersible pressure gauge display

Open circuit scuba has no provision for using the breathing gas more than once for respiration. [1] The
gas inhaled from the scuba equipment is exhaled to the environment, or occasionally into another
item of equipment for a special purpose, usually to increase the buoyancy of a lifting device such as
a buoyancy compensator, inflatable surface marker buoy or small lifting bag. The breathing gas is
generally provided from a high-pressure diving cylinder through a scuba regulator. By always
providing the appropriate breathing gas at ambient pressure, demand valve regulators ensure the
diver can inhale and exhale naturally and without excessive effort, regardless of depth, as and when
needed.[23]
The most commonly used scuba set uses a "single-hose" open circuit 2-stage demand regulator,
connected to a single back-mounted high-pressure gas cylinder, with the first stage connected to the
cylinder valve and the second stage at the mouthpiece. [1] This arrangement differs from Émile
Gagnan's and Jacques Cousteau's original 1942 "twin-hose" design, known as the Aqua-lung, in
which the cylinder pressure was reduced to ambient pressure in one or two stages which were all in
the housing mounted to the cylinder valve or manifold. [23] The "single-hose" system has significant
advantages over the original system for most applications. [44]
In the "single-hose" two-stage design, the first stage regulator reduces the cylinder pressure of up to
about 300 bars (4,400 psi) to an intermediate pressure (IP) of about 8 to 10 bars (120 to 150 psi)
above ambient pressure. The second stage demand valve regulator, supplied by a low-pressure
hose from the first stage, delivers the breathing gas at ambient pressure to the diver's mouth. The
exhaled gases are exhausted directly to the environment as waste through a non-return valve on the
second stage housing. The first stage typically has at least one outlet port delivering gas at full tank
pressure which is connected to the diver's submersible pressure gauge or dive computer, to show
how much breathing gas remains in the cylinder. [44]
Rebreather[edit]

An Inspiration electronic fully closed circuit rebreather

Main article: Diving rebreather

Less common are closed circuit (CCR) and semi-closed (SCR) rebreathers which, unlike open-
circuit sets that vent off all exhaled gases, process all or part of each exhaled breath for re-use by
removing the carbon dioxide and replacing the oxygen used by the diver. [45] Rebreathers release few
or no gas bubbles into the water, and use much less stored gas volume, for an equivalent depth and
time because exhaled oxygen is recovered; this has advantages for research, military,
[1]
 photography, and other applications. Rebreathers are more complex and more expensive than
open-circuit scuba, and special training and correct maintenance are required for them to be safely
used, due to the larger variety of potential failure modes. [45]
In a closed-circuit rebreather the oxygen partial pressure in the rebreather is controlled, so it can be
maintained at a safe continuous maximum, which reduces the inert gas (nitrogen and/or helium)
partial pressure in the breathing loop. Minimising the inert gas loading of the diver's tissues for a
given dive profile reduces the decompression obligation. This requires continuous monitoring of
actual partial pressures with time and for maximum effectiveness requires real-time computer
processing by the diver's decompression computer. Decompression can be much reduced
compared to fixed ratio gas mixes used in other scuba systems and, as a result, divers can stay
down longer or require less time to decompress. A semi-closed circuit rebreather injects a constant
mass flow of a fixed breathing gas mixture into the breathing loop, or replaces a specific percentage
of the respired volume, so the partial pressure of oxygen at any time during the dive depends on the
diver's oxygen consumption and/or breathing rate. Planning decompression requirements requires a
more conservative approach for a SCR than for a CCR, but decompression computers with a real-
time oxygen partial pressure input can optimise decompression for these systems. Because
rebreathers produce very few bubbles, they do not disturb marine life or make a diver's presence
known at the surface; this is useful for underwater photography, and for covert work. [36]