Diving Technology: Then, Now and in the Future

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

DCBC

Banned
Scuba Instructor
Messages
4,443
Reaction score
931
Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
I was thinking about how much diving equipment has changed since I was certified in 1965. My first mask really didn't fit (or clear) very well, due to it's large internal volume. Fins didn't provide much propulsion and my first regulator (a Healthway's Double Hose, Single Stage) had me working to hard breath at 60 feet. LOL

I remember really thinking that diving technology was getting there when I purchased a Nemrod Vest. No longer did I have a 12 gram CO2 cartridge in my flotation vest, (which provided approx. 12 pounds of buoyancy at the surface). I now had a small volume of air and could now actually add buoyancy when I was underwater!!! The next step was to eventually hook this up to cylinder air. Wow! What will they think up next?

Other innovations like a SPG which allowed the diver to be able to check cylinder pressure underwater really helped with confidence (every breath I tool with the "J-Valve" always made me wonder how many breaths I had left). When I first started diving, I think I checked to make sure that my ''J was in the up (reserve Air) position every 2 minutes of the dive...

The equipment became better quality as well. When I purchased my first two-stage reg., I could breath easily even though the tank pressure was low. This did frightened me somewhat because when you were OOA, you had no warning (best to check the SPG occasionally). I went OOA on one dive (my J was down) and my SPG read 800 PSI (Buddy appreciation was really big back then)...

Now recreational divers have dive computers, mixed gas and CCRs. What has been the largest improvement in diving equipment/technology since you started diving? What would you like to be your next piece of diving equipment? What would you like to see in the future?
 
I am relatively new as far as diving so can't answer the first part. As far as next, a good quality BP/W is in my future, almost there for the funds. As far as the future, I'd love the dive tech from The Abyss where your basically breathing an oxygenated liquid instead of gas. Think that could be interesting. Also, though not directly related to Diving but Teleporting a la Star Trek, no more long flights to get to your dream dive destination.
 
...As far as the future, I'd love the dive tech from The Abyss where your basically breathing an oxygenated liquid instead of gas. Think that could be interesting.

The only part of that I wouldn't like is the drowning... :)
 
I've only been diving for eight years, but I think the three things that amaze me are 1) OLED displays on computers, 2) electrically heated dry suit undergarments, and 3) the She-P. Each one has added SIGNIFICANTLY to my comfort and ease of diving, and I wouldn't be willing to do without anything of them.

What I'd like to see would be an Aerogel undergarment. Another thing that would be very useful would be an echolocator for the anchor line (which Liquivision has just come out with!). A small, waterproof mass spec for analyzing breathing gas on rebreathers would make using them a lot more attractive, and given helium prices, that HAS to be the direction that tech diving goes.
 
-CANbus interface in rebreathers
-maybe sometime soon solid state O2 sensors with logging and self validation (only in medical field currently)
-Shearwater has a new near eye display coming out as a HUD... hopefully available in analog and CAN/ISCbus
-Silicone seals in drysuits are a good thing
-GPS.. does anybody remember Loran C? Maybe I'm old...

What I want.. a jet/flat or Wenoka reflex formed fin made from Bob Evans Delta 2 formula. My FF's are great, but not perfect for cave/frogging
 
NASDS Scuba Time Calculator -> PADI Wheel -> the PDC.......

(as to the BP/W being an innovation, nope! I still say it was the result of a divemaster being drunk, and putting on his horsecollar backwards....:shocked2:)

Outside of the electronics, honestly, the recreational gear really hasn't really evolved too much in the last 25 years (thinking regs and bc), but it has "matured" or been "refined".

Not sure what will be the next amazing innovation.....
 
new non-reactive materials for tanks that would weigh less than the equivalent sized steel tank yet yield pressures in excess of 5000 psi
maybe using graphene layers? a good CCR in the $1000 or lower range

Nice, carbon allotropes. The toxicity of the nanotubes may provide a problem with breathing air, but being 5 times(?) stronger than steel, you could sure punch up the pressure! :)
 
I would have to take it all back and think the biggest 'revolution' I saw for Diving is Dive Computers. I first tried to get certified in '92 and at the time DS's were pretty expensive and not that prevalent at the NAUI shop I trained at.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom