What if my scuba diving equipment failed?
Diving equipment failure, yikes! While we all agree this would be a frightening experience, it’s usually not as dire as it sounds. When you hear about a diving incident, it most often involves a malfunctioning regulator or a tank low on air. There are two things you need to worry about if your equipment fails: • Your lungs • The bends Typical recreational SCUBA divers breathe either compressed air (78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen) or an oxygen-enriched, nitrogen-oxygen combination called Nitrox (64 to 68 percent nitrogen, 32 to 36 percent oxygen). The gas is contained in a cylinder that you carry on your back. You can’t breathe directly out of the tank because the high pressure would damage your lungs. Therefore, the cylinder is fitted with a regulator. The regulator does two things: It reduces the pressure from the tank to a safe level for you to inhale, and it
