There are a number of items that are critical for scuba diving. Of all the items, the tanks are the most important. After all, without the tanks, you aren’t really scuba diving - you are either snorkeling or holding your breath! Worst of all, you are doing so in a seriously overdressed manner!
Scuba diving tanks are critically important and they are somewhat complicated in the manner in which they are hooked up to the scuba suit and they additionally require specialized handling. Sometimes, so much time is spent on the various specialized aspects of diving; other critical basics are often ignored. One area is the safety associated with scuba diving tanks.
The Negative Influence of Television
Television has been wrongly blamed for a number of ‘bad influences’ on people’s behavior and if there one area where TV was a bad influence it would be on the safety issues surrounding scuba diving tanks. This is a serious point as when you watch a television program or a movie; you will notice the scuba diving tanks pointing upwards. This is a serious no-no! The reason is that the tanks contained compressed air and, as anyone who remembers the famous scene in JAWS where Robert Shaw admonished Roy Schieder about haphazard scuba tank handling know; scuba diving tanks contain compressed air.
If the tanks are mishandled, serious damage can occur. (The shark learned this the hard way in the famous ending of the film) When you stand a tank up, there is always the serious danger of the tank falling over. If this occurs, it could dislodge the apparatus on top of the tank. This could lead to the compressed air “shooting” the apparatus off as if it were a cannon ball. Needless to say, this could easily cause a fatality if it makes impact with someone. Instead of following the misguided notion of letting a scuba diving tank standing upwards (or worse, standing upwards unattended), it is best to lie the scuba diving tanks on the ground.
With scuba diving, as with any other sport, safety should always be a major concern. It is too high a price to pay for neglect. Considering the serious potential for injury when it comes to the mishandling of a scuba diving tank, it is important to make sure that a person properly understands the need to handle those tanks properly; as otherwise the consequences of not doing so can be cataclysmic.
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