Two divers, one wearing a 1 atmosphere diving suit and the other standard diving dress, preparing to explore the wreck of the RMS Lusitania, 1935

A diving suit is a garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment. Construction and trials Owned by the Cunard Steamship Company built by John Brown and Company Lusitania was named for the ancient Roman province of Underwater is a term describing the realm below the surface of Water where the water exists in a natural feature (called a body of water) such as an Ocean Modern diving suits can be divided into two kinds:

• "soft" or ambient pressure diving suits - examples are wetsuits, dry suits, semi-dry suits and dive skins
• "hard" or atmospheric pressure diving suits - an armored suit that permits a diver to remain at atmospheric pressure whilst operating at depth where the water pressure is high. Pressure (symbol 'p' is the force per unit Area applied to an object in a direction perpendicular to the surface A wetsuit is a protective garment used for watersports such as Scuba diving, Surfing, Windsurfing, Kitesurfing, and Triathlon A dry suit or drysuit provides Thermal insulation or passive thermal protection to the wearer while immersed in water and is worn by divers, Main article: atmospheric diving suits. Atmospheric Diving Suit or ADS is a small one-man articulated Submersible of Anthropomorphic form which resembles a suit of armour with elaborate pressure

Ambient pressure suits

There are five main types of ambient pressure diving suits:

• wetsuits
• drysuits
• semi-dry suits
• dive skins
• hot water suits

Apart from hot water suits, these types of suit are not exclusively used by divers but are often used for thermal protection by people engaged in other water sports activities such as surfing, sailing, powerboating, windsurfing, kite surfing, waterskiing, caving and swimming. Surfing is a surface water sport in which the participant is carried along the face of a breaking wave, most commonly using a Surfboard, although wave-riders Sailing is the art of controlling a Sailing vessel. By changing the Rigging, Rudder and dagger or centre board a Sailor manages the force Power boating describes activities performed in a motorized boat. Windsurfing is a surface water sport using a windsurf board also commonly called a sailboard usually two to five meters long and powered by a single sail Kitesurfing, kiteboarding, uses wind power to pull a rider through the water on a small Surfboard or a kiteboard (which is like a Wakeboard) Water skiing is a Sport where an individual (or more than one individual is pulled behind a Motor boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water wearing Caving or spelunking is the recreational Sport of exploring Caves In contrast Speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave Swimming is the movement by humans or animals through Water, usually without artificial assistance

Ambient pressure suits are a form of exposure protection protecting the wearer from the cold. Hypothermia is a condition in which an organism's temperature drops below that required for normal Metabolism and bodily functions They also provide some defence from abrasive and sharp objects as well as potentially harmful underwater life. They do not protect divers from the pressure of the surrounding water or resulting barotrauma and decompression sickness. Barotrauma is physical damage to body tissues caused by a difference in Pressure between an air space inside or beside the body and the surrounding Gas or Liquid Decompression sickness (DCS, the diver’s disease, the bends, caisson disease is the name given to a variety of symptoms suffered by a person

The suits are often made from Neoprene, heavy-duty fabric coated with rubber, or PVC. Neoprene or polychloroprene is a family of synthetic Rubbers that are produced by Polymerization of Chloroprene.

Added buoyancy, created by the volume of the suit, is a side effect of diving suits. In Physics, buoyancy ( BrE IPA: /ˈbɔɪənsi/ is the upward Force on an object produced by the surrounding liquid or gas in which it is Sometimes a weightbelt must be worn to counteract this buoyancy. Divers wear weighting systems, weight belts or weights, generally made of Lead, to counteract the Buoyancy of other Diving equipment Some drysuits have controls allowing the suit to be inflated to reduce "squeeze" caused by increasing pressure; they also have vents allowing the excess air to be removed from the suit on ascent.

Standard diving dress, a sixth type of ambient pressure diving suit, is now obsolete but is historically interesting. A standard diving dress consists of a metallic ( Copper, Brass or Bronze) Diving helmet, an airline or hose from a Surface supplied

Wetsuits

Main article: wetsuit

Wetsuits are relatively inexpensive, simple, Neoprene suits that are typically used where the water temperature is between 10 and 25 °C (50 to 80 °F). A wetsuit is a protective garment used for watersports such as Scuba diving, Surfing, Windsurfing, Kitesurfing, and Triathlon Neoprene or polychloroprene is a family of synthetic Rubbers that are produced by Polymerization of Chloroprene. The foamed neoprene of the suit thermally insulates the wearer. ^[1][2] Although water can enter the suit, a tight fitting suit prevents excessive heat loss because little of the water warmed inside the suit escapes from the suit.

Drysuits

Main article: dry suit

Drysuits^[3][4][5] are used typically where the water temperature is between -2 and 15 °C (28 to 60 °F). A dry suit or drysuit provides Thermal insulation or passive thermal protection to the wearer while immersed in water and is worn by divers, Water is prevented from entering the suit by seals at the neck and wrists; also, the means of getting the suit on and off (typically a zipper) is waterproof. zipper (data structure A zipper ( English: zip fastener or zip) is a popular device for temporarily joining two edges of fabric. The suit insulates the wearer in one of two main ways: by maintaining pockets of air between the body and the cold water in standard air-containing fabric undergarments beneath the suit (in exactly the way that insulation garments work in air) or via (additional) foamed-neoprene material which contains insulative air, which may be incorporated into the outside of the drysuit itself. These mechanisms work in tandem; drysuits without neoprene foam require more undergarments.

Semi-dry suits

Semi-dry suits are used typically where the water temperature is between 10 and 20 °C (50 to 70 °F). They are effectively a thick wetsuit with better-than-usual seals at wrist, neck and ankles.

The seals limit the volume of water entering and leaving the suit. The wearer gets wet in a semi-dry suit but the water that enters is soon warmed up and does not leave the suit readily, so the wearer remains warm. The trapped layer of water does not add to the suit's insulating ability. Any residual water circulation past the seals still causes heat loss. But semi-dry suits are cheap and simple compared to dry suits. They are made from thick Neoprene, which provides good thermal protection. They lose buoyancy and thermal protection as the trapped gas bubbles in the Neoprene compress at depth. Semi-dry suits can come in various configurations including a single piece or two pieces, made of 'long johns' and a separate 'jacket'. Semi dry suits do not usually include boots, so a separate pair of insulating boots are worn.

Dive skins

Dive skins are used when diving in water temperatures above 25 °C, 77 °F. They are made from Spandex and provide little thermal protection, but protect the skin from stings, abrasion and sunburn. Spandex or elastane is a Synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. A sunburn is a burn to living tissue such as Skin produced by overexposure to Ultraviolet (UV radiation commonly from the Sun 's rays This kind of suit is also known as a 'Stinger Suit'.

Hot water suits

Hot water suits are used in cold water commercial surface supplied diving. Hardhat diving redirects here Often "hardhat diving" is used to specifically mean diving in the old-type Standard diving dress. Surface supplied diving (also known as Hooka diving refers to divers using equipment supplied with Breathing gas using an umbilical cord ^[6] An insulated pipe in the umbilical line, which links the diver to the surface support, carries the hot water down to the suit. The diver controls the flow rate of the water from a valve near the diver's waist. Pipes inside the suit transport the water to the limbs, front of the torso and back of the torso.

Diving suit combinations

• Some divers wear a wetsuit under a membrane drysuit.
• Some divers wear a thin "shorty" wetsuit under a full wetsuit.
• Some divers wear a "skins" under a wetsuit. This practice started with divers (of both sexes) wearing women's body tights under a wetsuit to get a bit of extra warmth.

References

See also

U.S. Navy diving dress being lowered into the water

• Timeline of underwater technology
• Space suit
• Standard diving dress
• Atmospheric diving suit

External links

• Experimental Dive Suit Flies Navy Divers Where None Have Gone Before - Development of a 1-atmosphere diving suit. This is a Timeline of Underwater Technology. The entries marked ## are about Decompression tables Pre-industrial A space suit is a complex system of Garments equipment and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space A standard diving dress consists of a metallic ( Copper, Brass or Bronze) Diving helmet, an airline or hose from a Surface supplied Atmospheric Diving Suit or ADS is a small one-man articulated Submersible of Anthropomorphic form which resembles a suit of armour with elaborate pressure
• Scuba America Historical Center - The development of the first wetsuit.
• LA Times: Surfing whodunit - The history of the wetsuit.
• Wetsuit Guide