What do divers use to breathe underwater

At first, I did exactly what Jared and Bob told me not to do—I held my breath. It's like I had forgotten how to breathe out of my mouth, but once I made a conscious effort to take big breaths from the regulator, it was OK. It also felt a bit unnatural not to pop my head up for a breath; I could stay face down and still get all the air I needed.

Next, it was time to go underwater. Amy was my diving buddy and she gave me a thumbs down which meant it was time to dive. Using a button on my BCD, I deflated the vest, allowing me to sink to the bottom of the pool. At the same time, I had to blow short puffs of air out of my nose, while pinching it, to keep my ears from popping. It took just a few seconds until we reached the bottom of the pool, and Amy made a signal for me to kneel and then another to ensure I was OK.

On the pool deck, before we dove, the instructors taught us a couple of skills. These skills help determine a diver's advancement in a certification course. Because this was an introductory class, we would learn just two—taking the regulator in and out of our mouths and clearing our mask from the inevitable water that would leak into them.

In the water, kneeling, Amy asked me to perform the first one. I was scared to take my regulator out and losing my constant source to air, but I had to do it. So, once I had the signal, I took it out and demonstrated that I was not holding my breath—still a no-no—by blowing a bit of bubbles. After two seconds, I put the regulator back in and cleared it of water the way the instructors showed us. It was easy enough.

I wasn't gasping for air, and once I had the regulator back in, I returned to my normal breathing. Clearing the mask was a bit harder, but after a few attempts, I did it.

Then came the part I had been waiting for—swimming. For the next 20 minutes, I followed Amy around the pool, touching the bottom and scooting past other divers. Like I said, I had been in pools before, but this was much different. It felt like I had never really experienced water before. I could swim from corner to corner and breathe like I would if I was on land.

Looking up to the surface, even in the old pool, I could see why people would travel to remote corners of the earth to do this. Again, upon Amy's signal, we resurfaced. I wasn't gasping for air. Log in. See Answer. Best Answer. Study guides. Q: What do divers use to breathe underwater?

Write your answer Related questions. What do scuba divers use to breathe underwater? How do scuba divers breathe underwater? Why is oxygen used by deep sea divers? Why do scuba divers breathe compressed air? What organisms use gills to breathe? How to breathe underwater in Minecraft? How do fish breathe underwater? What is an aqualung?

When do frogs use their mouths to breathe? What kind of gas do divers use? How long can newts breathe underwater? What does harry potter use to breathe underwater?

Can bats breathe underwater? What does a diver use to breathe underwater? How was Cleopatra's palace found? How long can sharks breathe underwater? Can the Arctic fox breathe underwater? Practicing diaphragmatic breathing on the surface can help improve your air consumption underwater. A real concern, though, is divers coming up too fast and harming the lungs.

Gas is more compressed the deeper you go, so it takes more air to inflate the lungs. When you take a hot shower the temperature will increase the volume of the air bubbles which can cause decompression illness. A diver holding their breath during an ascent risks air not escaping naturally. Air volume in their lung expands due to less pressure at shallower depths. This is a Lung Over Expansion Injury. If you feel pressure in your ear or sinuses while ascending from your dive, you are experiencing a reverse block.

Reverse block is what happens when that expanded air is trapped inside your ears and cannot be released. You place your regulator in the water at the surface with its mouthpiece face-up, and the next thing you know, your reg is wildly free-flowing.