What was the most influential development in scuba diving?

[p_kos]

Well, hmmm, the greatest innovation:

SCUBAPRO
!




Deep down you know you want the best.

James

Even after 30 years those regs look awesome and perform on par with today’s high end stuff.

 

[Johnoly]

Since this thread got Hijacked worse than a Libyan Airliner................

I'd vote the shatter-proof " Beer Can " since every diver enjoys one on the return boat ride after a long day of diving.

 

[myself]

Came here to post this but you already posted it for me. The vast majority of recreational dives can be done without a computer, I safely and happily dived computerless for a decade. Not to say computers aren't important and useful, they are, but they're not the difference between diving and staying on land.

Without good exposure protection diving would only be possible for very short times, or in equatorial regions. The first neoprene wetsuits were a REALLY big deal. Since then the evolution of drysuits and wetsuits has been fascinating. My perspective may be skewed by being a cold water junkie though.

Obviously the biggest innovation was the demand regulator, diving did exist before that but only became common activity based on that single invention.

I believe we are very slowly approaching a point where CCRs finally, in their multi-century-long development, can become truly safe and mainstream. We're definitely not there yet, but we will see it in our lifetimes as sensor tech gets better. Perhaps we'll even see future generations of CCRs replace OC diving entirely.

The question is whether or not CCR's are going to become affordable enough to be that widespread. My entire OC dive set up has cost under $2,500 and the cheapest CCR I've ever seen was about twice as much at $5,000 not to mention exposure suits, computers etc.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The question is whether or not CCR's are going to become affordable enough to be that widespread. My entire OC dive set up has cost under $2,500 and the cheapest CCR I've ever seen was about twice as much at $5,000 not to mention exposure suits, computers etc.

it comes down to how much you dive with helium. Due to the high cost of that gas (which I don't expect to get better, only worse), I don't dive trimix on OC. As I don't neither the dives nor the skill to take mod2, I just don't dive it at all.

If it wasn't for my archaeology projects in Greece, I probably would never have gotten into rebreathers, as there is an unlimited number of enjoyable recreational dives available to me.

 

[scubadada]

I"m so surprised that more divers have not voted for mixed gases (nitrox). I have been diving since 1970, I voted for SPG (really big when I got one in 1972), nitrox (dive changing in 2002), dive computer (also dive changing in 2002), BCD, and thermal protection. I now have 52 years to look back at, nitrox and the dive computer are it.

Thank you, Dick Rutkowski, nitrox pioneer. The Mark V hardhat dive in the Key Largo canal after Dick's hyperbaric course in 2005 was an ever-standing highlight of my diving career.

 

[Bigbella]

I"m so surprised that more divers have not voted for mixed gases (nitrox). I have been diving since 1970, I voted for SPG (really big when I got one in 1972), nitrox (dive changing in 2002), dive computer (also dive changing in 2002), BCD, and thermal protection. I now have 52 years to look back at, nitrox and the dive computer are it.

Fleuss was already using a formulation of nitrox by the late nineteenth century, during his development of the closed circuit rebreather; but, it was to be over a century until it became readily available to the recreational diving community.

Regardless, I still vote for the SPG, which set the stage for many later advancements. Knowing what you had on reserve, still trumped any designer gas, in my book. Having taken up diving toward the end of the use of J-valves and other reserve manifold products -- to be tripped when your breathing became noticeably labored -- that then-expensive little gauge, held far more value to me than any Rolex . . .

 

[AfterDark]

The question is whether or not CCR's are going to become affordable enough to be that widespread. My entire OC dive set up has cost under $2,500 and the cheapest CCR I've ever seen was about twice as much at $5,000 not to mention exposure suits, computers etc.

I wondered the same thing about VCRs, cell phone, camcorders, dive computers, and many other things that over time became affordable

 

[scubadada]

I wondered the same thing about VCRs, cell phone, camcorders, dive computers, and many other things that over time became affordable

I grew up when my prized possession was a transistor radio...

 

[AfterDark]

I grew up when my prized possession was a transistor radio...

With one earphone not earphoneS or headphoneS, me too.

 

[scubadada]

I used to listen to it under my pillow so my parents would not know if they checked if I was sleeping The good old days