Foundation Stone of Diving

I haven't blogged on diving of late, largely because I've not been diving. I don't know how to use a drysuit, largely because I have neither the money to buy one nor to afford the training course to learn how to use it properly. I rely on 7mm of neoprene all round to keep me warm under the waves, and the North Sea is getting a little cold for that.

Still, I feel the need to blog on diving, so I'll use this post for a piece of knowledge that I'd call the foundation stone of diving knowledge. (Anyone with a working knowledge of physics will probably laugh themselves silly at this point.)

Gas compresses under increased pressure, and expands when pressure is decreased.

From this physical fact comes so much of what we learn when we dive: don't hold your breath, breath out into your mask if it squeezes on your face, the deeper you go, the more gas you consume (and the greater the risks of the narks and the bends), do a Valsalva manouevre to stop your eardrums popping, don't hold your breath.

Doesn't make sense?

It will.