Professional divers rely on the best equipment around to make their job as safe as possible. There are many lurking dangers, and so it is important to be able to have good, reliable equipment. For this reason, the professional diving helmet is adaptable for several adverse conditions should they await divers. The diving helmet provides not only physical security for the diver, but provides a lifeline via voice communication with other divers and the team above the water should anything go wrong. If anything went wrong with the diver underwater, being knocked unconscious for example, then the diving helmet will automatically continue to pump air to the diver until he reawakens. This is unlike standard scuba gear which requires a conscious effort of using a breathing apparatus. It goes without saying that a scuba diver is more at risk of drowning if they are knocked unconscious.
Augustus Siebe created the
diving helmet and is considered to be the father of diving. Siebe was German born, and when living in England during the 19th century he devised the diving helmet. This early diving helmet was equipped with a watertight seal and an air-containing rubber suit. This was connected via an air pump on land and became the first useful application of the diving helmet and suit. The diving suits created by Siebe Gorman & Co. are even seen in the modern day technology of diving suits. Unlike earlier diving helmets, Siebe's was sealed to the diving suit making it perfectly air tight. Siebe's innovation in diving helmets was a truly great innovation. Siebe's diving helmet and suit would go on to revolutionize 1830s undersea exploration. While Siebe received all of the credit, Alexander McKee believed that the designs were made by the brothers John and Charles Deane.
Outside of the water, the diver's helmet also had much significance. Due to the air tight compartment of the diving helmet, such devices were used during the First World War to protect the British Army from the horrors of the notorious mustard gas.
Originally deep sea diving helmets were available with two to four bolts. Joe Savoie created what was known as the neck dam in the 1960s. This neck dam played a pivotal role in the introduction of lighter weight helmets to be introduced. The future of diving helmets was based on these lighter weight functioning diving helmets. However, Savoie did not pursue a patent for his innovations because he only wanted to improve the safety of divers. Find out more about this generation of diving helmet
beach decor here.
The full face diving mask became the next innovation in diving equipment. The full face mask covered the entire face of the diver using straps to hold it in position that were adjustable by the diver.
The next invention in the evolution of the diving helmet was the Kirby Morgan Superlite-17 in 1975. The Kirby Morgan Superlite-17 was built with materials such as fiberglass shells and fitted with chrome-plated brass. As such, the Kirby Morgan Superlite-17 became the new standard in modern commercial diving operations. The diving helmet endured many long years of innovations in order to become the safest possible experience for divers.