Diver - what a profession. Diver clothing and equipment

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Not so long ago, a newfangled word "diving" appeared in our vocabulary - scuba diving. If before the population associated scuba diving with diving work at the bottom of reservoirs - a profession that is not very paid and not the most pleasant, now diving is one of the most popular entertainment, prestigious and well-paid professions.

Diving: profession or entertainment

Diver is not only a vocation, but no less interesting, however, at the same time, and the most difficult profession. Scuba Diving

to the bottom of the sea has become commonplace for tourists visiting tropical and subtropical countries - Egypt, India, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and others. But diving is not only an excellent opportunity to see the amazing underwater world with your own eyes, but also a good way to earn money from your hobby. As for the tourist industry of popular destinations, here a dive instructor is just a gold mine, especially if you own 2-3 foreignlanguages. The income of a diving instructor directly depends on the country, skills, promotion of the company, knowledge of languages and other factors. So, in Egypt, a dive instructor earns an average of 1-2 thousand dollars. But at the same time, it should be borne in mind that the instructor may have an irregular working day and a rather large workload.

Industrial diving

In addition to entertainment, there is also industrial diving. It's not like that at all

fun and exciting, like diving in the tropical seas for colorful fish and swimming among the corals with pretty tourists. The work of an industrial diver is associated with a number of difficulties, but at the same time it is quite well paid. It consists in raising sunken ships, repairing underwater equipment, cleaning work at the bottom of reservoirs and other nuances.

Types of industrial diving

The divers whose photos are often seen on the Internet or billboards are, as a rule, instructors employed in the field of entertainment. But resort dive clubs for everyone, of course, are not enough. Therefore, it would be useful to know in what other areas submariners can be employed. So,

• scientific diving (underwater archeology and marine biology are incredibly interesting and exciting sciences, but their funding leaves much to be desired);
• military diving (ship repair, underwater engineering work in the military-industrial complex, etc.);
• police diving (search for evidence, investigation, recovery of victims);
• technical diving (engineering and construction and repair work during the construction of bridges, oil platforms, cleaning the bottom of reservoirs, etc.).

Diving suit

As in any profession, divers have their own dress code. A diver's clothing is called a wetsuit. The choice of a wetsuit should be approached very responsibly, as it is your second skin. Your comfort, safety, and sometimes even life depends on how well you choose a wetsuit. Modern Wetsuit

should protect you from cold water, dangerous marine life, sharp corals, contact with harsh chemicals, etc.

Diver equipment

In addition to a quality wetsuit, you will need a considerable amount of special equipment. First of all, these are fins - best of all, not too long so that they do not interfere with you, with a closed boot. Then choose a mask. The mask should fit as tightly as possible to the face, not press on the bridge of the nose and not let air through. It is best to test it in water. When choosing a tube, it is better to give preference to the so-called "dry" tubes, which have a valve that prevents the reverse flow of water. A mouthpiece is also a necessary attribute for diving. It protects the cheekbones from overexertion. It is best to choose an anatomical mouthpiece. It is also important to choose the right regulator - a part that regulates air pressure. Ideally, it should be two-stage. Another necessary piece of equipment is a buoyancy compensator. It exists in two modifications - a wing (forprofessionals) and a vest (for amateurs). In general, a full diving suit will cost you from 50 thousand rubles, depending on your needs and the quality of the equipment.

Divers insurance

It's no secret that a diver is, first of all, a risk. A huge number of divers around the world are injured daily due to decompression or attack by the most dangerous marine predators. Less often, the cause of injury can be the failure of low-quality equipment or the diver's lack of professionalism. In any case, it is advisable to take out insurance, especially since divers' insurance is a mandatory procedure abroad. Optimally, the insurance policy should provide a guarantee for the provision of a full range of services: the availability of specialist doctors, contracts with hyperbaric centers, life insurance, possible disability, and even damage and loss of equipment. Please note that in the event of an insured event, the cost of the service is more than justified!

How to become a professional diver

As we have already said, diving is an interesting, exciting and well-paid profession. But where can you learn this skill? Where do divers come from,

the best of the best, if there is not a single university that issues a diploma of a submariner? The answer is obvious! You need to sign up for diving courses. And then there are several ways. Firstly, you can choose courses in your hometown, and secondly, at a resort (the same Crimea or Sochi), or go to distant lands like Egypt and get trained here. Each solution hasits positive and negative sides. So, training at home is most often classes in the pool as part of a large group and one instructor who physically cannot devote enough time to you. In addition, the pool will never compare with the open water. The cost of such classes will be an order of magnitude lower than the "resort", but in the end you will receive a "defective" certificate, which will have to be confirmed in an open reservoir.

As for foreign resorts, it's quite expensive, but in the end you get a full-fledged certificate of international level. However, in this case, there are also negative sides - courses are most often held in broken English, and you may simply not understand many of the nuances. In addition, keep in mind that learning to dive is not just about diving 2-3 times and looking at the charming fish in the Red Sea, it is also about learning theoretical information. You will be handed a textbook in bad English with 200-300 pages of obscure but very important text. Another disadvantage is the lack of suitable diving sites - no matter how strange it may sound. The Red Sea has a lot of shallow water where corals on the bottom will bother you, and in suitable places, again, there is a ban on damaging the local underwater flora (and a huge fine!), Plus there is always the danger of attack by marine predators.

But training at domestic resorts, perhaps, is the golden mean. The cost of the courses is quite reasonable, the Black Sea is well suited for practicing all the necessary skills, there are no dangerous seaanimals, the instructor conducts classes in your native language for both of you, and as a result you will receive a certificate that does not differ from the Egyptian counterpart. By the way, one of the best places for learning to dive is Cape Tarkhankut of the Crimean peninsula.

Pros of being a diver:

• If you happen to be an instructor at an Egyptian dive center, you will love your job!
• Decent salary.
• Prestige and originality of the profession.
• Good physical shape.

Profession Disadvantages:

• The need to work in all weather conditions.
• Injury risk (high pressure at great depths, marine predators, risk of hypothermia, equipment failure, sometimes - the need to work with toxic waste - industrial diving).
• High equipment cost.

Nuances of the profession

Traditionally, diving is considered a male profession, as it requires physical strength, endurance, high concentration and courage. However, female divers have become more and more common in recent years. This is most likely due to the change in gender roles in modern society.

Diving should be treated as responsibly as skydiving, as decompression sickness has claimed as many lives as accidents in other, at first glance, more traumatic sports.

A diver is, first of all, an athlete. And this sportrequires considerable physical effort, perseverance and diligence. You will have not only a fascinating dive into the depths of the sea, but also a long study of the theoretical foundations of diving.

Depending on the specialization, the diver must have a number of additional skills: foreign languages for a dive instructor in the field of tourism, technical skills for gas welding (underwater construction, ship repair, etc.), deep scientific knowledge (with research work), knowledge of the basics of medical care (during rescue work), etc.

Diver is, perhaps, one of the professions, covered with a veil of romance, which is absolutely

doesn't fit with reality. Whether you dive into tropical seas with beautiful underwater world or repair oil rigs in the far North, all divers have a certain set of personal qualities that determine suitability. This is a calm temperament, poise, the ability to quickly make adequate decisions in an unexpected situation, high concentration of attention, scrupulous observance of safety regulations, responsibility. Do not forget that diving has its own age limits - the retirement age comes, on average, at 45-50 years. And the divers whose photos you see on numerous advertisements are just a beautiful picture…