What was the most influential development in scuba diving?

[lowwall]

If you look at it in terms of how many people it added to the sport, then formal training has to be the most important. Without recognized certification programs, rec diving would have been heavily restricted or banned completely in many countries and would be a very niche activity even where it was allowed. Heading off such regulation was the primary motivator for establishing the first formal training programs. Without them, I think the number of active divers would have ended up similar to active cavers, which is very roughly 1% of our current numbers.

For those who have been certified, neoprene and modern drysuits are the most important in adding to diver numbers. You can (and people did) dive all over the world without the rest of the items in the list, but taking away modern exposure gear relegates it to an activity that requires expensive travel or has a very limited season for most people. Like surfing before the wetsuit.

 

[drrich2]

I said training and SPG. Without SPG functionality, diving is not only more uncertain and dangerous, but it's hard to use tables or a dive computer. In some ways, the dive computer is an evolution of the SPG, incorporating that and other functions (not unlike the cell phone gaining personal digital assistant, camera and alarm clock functionality).

Training opened up diving to people who don't live in coastal regions with good diving, and enabled people to learn about diving without having to go to such a place.

If I couldn't take snapshots, I don't know whether I'd go 'just to dive,' since my memories aren't that clear. I need the photos to take home a fuller measure of the experience I paid for. And I don't know how I'd deal with an old horse collar instead of a BCD.

But training and knowing how deep I am seem pretty critical.

 

[Subcooled]

The most influential developments were
1. The Aqualung
2. The wetsuit
3. CMAS
4. Single hose regulators
5. The horse collar BCD

 

[lowwall]

How about this for a thought experiment. What order would you give the following things up? Is there a point where you'd draw the line and stop diving?

For me, I'd get rid of these in the following order

Nitrox
Photos/videos
Dive Computer
Octo
BCD
SPG
Depth Gauge (why isn't this on the original list?) [Edit - because it is earlier than the cutoff date]
Wetsuit

That would leave me a warm water only diver with a buddy, a j-valve and a dive watch, but I'd be OK with that.

 

[archman]

I don't even know what a pee valve is. It's not for... peeing is it?

 

[lowwall]

I don't even know what a pee valve is. It's not for... peeing is it?

Yep. In a drysuit. Remember that tech divers can do multi-hour dives. It's a pee valve or a diaper.

10 Things You Wanted to Know About “Pee”- valves, but Were Afraid to Ask

 

[MtnDiverColorado]

I said PDC. Makes diving, safely, a lot more feasible for the bulk of folks who don't just want to dive.

 

[Pressurehead]

I'm surprised at all the votes for a PDC. We got along just fine with tables in the day...
SPGs are really nice, but J-valves worked just fine.

But NO ONE could take being cold; so I think exposure suits were a major step forward.

Exposure suits was my choice also.
The wetsuits, drysuits, gloves, hoods, boots, vests [heated and not] today are fantastic, expensive, but what price not being cold.
Edit: The underwear for drysuits now, something I could only dream of having years ago and a pee 'do dad' is a given, so many names for it .

 

[Angelo Farina]

The correct answer is missing.
The fundamental breakthrough was the invention of the regulator, done by Cousteau and Gagnan just after the end of WW2
This allowed to use compressed air tanks, in replacement of the usage of oxygen tanks, which were employed widely for scuba diving in CC rebreathers.
It did take more than 10 years before the regulator effectively replaced the CC rebreathers, also because it was a very expensive device, and the resulting system, requiring large and heavy air cilynders, was heavy and bulky, unfriendly for females and youngsters.
Without the regulator, indeed, scuba diving was limited to very shallow depths, and was quite more dangerous.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Aqualung. I have dived without all of the items on the list.