DAY ONE BREAFING

People have little positive buoyancy. When we put the swim suit our buoyancy becomes very positive. This is because the swim suit is made from neoprene which has bubles of gas, which are separate from each other, so they can isolate us from the cold. To descent we have to put a weight belt. The weight of the belt depends on few things: a) b) c) d) The thickness of the swim suit; The weight of the diver; The salinity of sea; Size of the tank;

After we put the weight belt our buoyancy becomes negative i.e. we sink. But we need neutral buoyancy. That is where the BCD comes in help. The BCD has three main characteristics: a) To hold the tank; b) To provide neutral buoyancy; c) To keep us floating at the surface without any physical effort; The BCD is connected to the tank trough a hose from which we can easily inflate it if we need positive buoyancy. There is one more way to inflate the BCD and it is by blowing with the mouth in the inflator hose. The BCD has two extra valves which ease the deflation of the BCD. One is situated on the right shoulder, and the other is at the right back bottom of the BCD. The usage of the valves depends on the position of the body. For example if you are swimming with your head down to deflate the BCD you can easily use the valve situated at the right back bottom of the BCD, or if you are in straight position it is much faster and easier to use the valve at the right shoulder. We breath under water trough the regulator. The regulator has two stages: a) Main stage b) Second stage

We breathe by biting the mouth piece situated at the second stage, which provides us air with pressure equal to the one that surround us. Usually the regulators connected to the tank are two main regulator and octopus. The octopus is not for our usage but to provide air to our buddy in case of emergency. Usually the octopus is in bright color so it can be easily seen under water. The regulator consists of submersible pressure gauge also. There is different kind of submersible pressure. The difference comes from the information it is providing. Some give you information only about the quantity of the air that is in the tank. Others can have integrated compass and/or sea gauge. The hose that connects the BCD and the tank is also part of the regulator.

The pressure under water can be felt in two places the ears and the mask. To release the pressure in the ears we fill them with water immediately after descending. After that we catch our nostrils with two fingers and easily blow. There should be no pain involved. If there is pain the divers must ascent easily and try again in lower dept. We can release the pressure also by swallowing or moving the jaw left and right. We should keep in mind that feeling the ears with water is done once when entering the water, but releasing the ear pressure must be done every time we feel little pressure. Sometimes we can feel pressure when ascending. Then the diver must descent easily and try ascending again slowly. The pressure in the mask can be released very easily by blowing air trough the nose. Blowing air trough the nose while wearing the mask can be used also for clearing flooded mask. This happens by putting the head up, pressing with fingers in the middle of the mask and then blowing easily. Swimming under water with SCUBA gear is different from the regular swimming. The difference is that we swim only by using our legs, not our hands. The usage of the hands is not recommended because when swimming with a buddy we can accidently remove his regulator and/or mask. Our hands come in help when we need to communicate with each others. There are different hand signals : a) Okay b) Up &down c) Problem d) I m cold e) Buddy swimming f) Out of air g) Give me some air h) Swim slowly I) How much air do you have j) Numbers k) I need to go to the restroom