Future Innovations in Scuba Gear?!

[TeddyDiver]

the stuff ive been learning lately how does this sound? a 1atm full suit that is made of some meta-fabric that is part titanium mesh and isothermic fabric. so thin and light that you have freedom of movement just like a neoprene wetsuit but strong enough to brave the crushing pressures of the abyss. unlike the current bulky robotlike 1atm suits we currently have?

How about the suit keeping pressure after the dive throw the decompression time. Hardest to solve how to take drinks by the pool afterdive

 

[spectrum]

Quote:
1) A wing with a ballast system that uses 'the water' as its weight/ballast ie. flood it for weight and purge it with the inflator hose for buoyancy. The dream of finally burying 'weight belts and pocket weights...' (in theory one could gauge one's weight/ballast and monitor it throughout the dive) One could precisely measure one's ballast and become a true submarine.

----> snip


As Johnythan mentioned you can't use water as ballast since you need something denser than what you're displacing since you and your exposure protection are less dense. However if you turn the concept inside out I did come across this rig. As I recall the cylinders contain either bladders or a piston to vary the displacement/bouyancy as air is added/removed. You still need to be negative to begin with, that's a given.

Looks kind of cool and the bladders are protected form abrasion.

Pete

 

[Spoon]

Quote:
1) A wing with a ballast system that uses 'the water' as its weight/ballast ie. flood it for weight and purge it with the inflator hose for buoyancy. The dream of finally burying 'weight belts and pocket weights...' (in theory one could gauge one's weight/ballast and monitor it throughout the dive) One could precisely measure one's ballast and become a true submarine.

----> snip


As Johnythan mentioned you can't use water as ballast since you need something denser than what you're displacing since you and your exposure protection are less dense. However if you turn the concept inside out I did come across this rig. As I recall the cylinders contain either bladders or a piston to vary the displacement/bouyancy as air is added/removed. You still need to be negative to begin with, that's a given.

Looks kind of cool and the bladders are protected form abrasion.

Pete

thats pretty cool

 

[Jan76]

What if we had...

- A computer integrated mask which projects the dive data on the glass.
- Regulators that somehow moisten the super-dry scuba air and prevent dehydration.

 

[MikeC]

How about the suit keeping pressure after the dive throw the decompression time. Hardest to solve how to take drinks by the pool afterdive

So, you want to become a saturation diver but at the surface in a thin flexible suit. As long as you are at pressure, the nitrogen loading continues. The helmet on your head might make eating difficult. Normal bodily functions would be more "interesting", work would be impossible.

If the system fails, you die.

 

[DrSteve]

I know! I know! A regulator that lets the air bubbles out behind your neck. Oh they already did that didn't they? Then got rid of it, now bringing it back at 10x the price, kind of like the Mini Cooper.

What I would really like to see (like everyone) is a thinner more thermally insulating suit.

A mask design that was actually comfortable - what about some kind of silicon blobby stuff around the seal? Perhaps a thin "tube" filled with silicon oil. It wouldn't compress under normal diving conditions and would provide a soft and stable seal.

Higher pressure, smaller tanks.

Cheaper rebreathers.

 

[Bill51]

What if we had...

- A computer integrated mask which projects the dive data on the glass.

Cochran actually had a good working prototype of this a few years ago but has never rolled it into production.

 

[ssra30]

What if we had...

- A computer integrated mask which projects the dive data on the glass.
- Regulators that somehow moisten the super-dry scuba air and prevent dehydration.

I thought I saw somewhere that Oceanic is coming with such computer in the near future. You can stick the little display inside your own mask.

There is also something that you can add between first and second stage that will add moisture to the air you breathe. I think I saw it on scubatoy website but am not sure.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Nope.. if just the mask is kept at 1 atm, the rest of you needs to be as well, otherwise the rest of you is going to get sucked into said mask

That'd be a heck of a christmas gift Christmas gift. Perfect for the diver who doesn't need weight because they use water for balast.

 

[Goose75]

This thread was a joy to read. As an engineer, I love running across ideas inexpensive enough for an individual to dream up and make reality. Most of what you've given is limited by the price factor but some of it sounds like it could be done. It'd be nice to work on something for the joy of it instead of to pay the bills. I may doodle a bit on the ideas that are not so expensive to not have a market.