The world under water is a mysterious and at the same time breathtakingly beautiful world. If you want to get to know this world full of life and richness of species, you can do it through a fascinating sport - diving. The sport of diving has a long tradition and today there are different types, such as recreational or scuba diving.
Today, scuba diving is a popular sport and more and more amateur divers are exploring the colorful world underwater. Sport diving is divided into very different areas, which refer to the scope and type of diving, but also to the equipment.
Apnoea divers are something like the freeclimbers among divers, because they do without all aids such as mask, fins, suit, weight belt and especially oxygen. Apnoea divers dive with held breath and are connected to a boat only by a rope. This is the most dangerous variant of diving.
Most recreational divers are scuba divers who need special diving equipment. In addition to the diving suit and a so-called buoyancy jacket, the diver also needs ABC equipment, lead weights and, of course, a rebreather with breathing mask or compressed air diving apparatus, which supplies the diver with the necessary oxygen under water, for his stays under water of varying lengths.
Tec diving, or technical diving, is a special type of diving that goes beyond normal recreational diving in terms of equipment and dive profile. With more advanced equipment, including redundant systems, a backplate with harness, the rebreather and full face masks, these divers can set their goals further than the recreational and hobby diver. The difference is evident even in the form of oxygen. Recreational divers usually use compressed air, which is purified and compressed "surface air," rather than pure oxygen as many people assume. Oxygen has a toxic effect on the central nervous system at a partial pressure of 1.4 - 1.6 bar and the diver gets a dangerous "oxygen poisoning". A professional diver, on the other hand, uses different breathing gas mixtures in Tec-Diving and during a single dive the diver may have up to seven tanks with him. These different breathing gas mixtures allow the diver to descend to great depths, which is not possible for a recreational diver. In contrast to a recreational diver, a Tec-Diver needs a profound and special training to be able to dive with the elaborate technical equipment.
Sidemount diving is a new approach to sport and technical diving. In this method, the diving cylinders lie on the side next to the upper body and are fixed with bungee cords. Unlike the backmount configuration, no tanks are attached to the back. The sidemount configuration provides less water resistance, greater safety, and improved comfort in confined environments. The scuba tanks can be easily detached from the body, allowing overcoming extreme confined spaces. Sidemount diving is especially popular with wreck and cave divers.
