The Exosuit Diving Suit Stays Flexible Underwater

Want to swim with the fishes? Try this swimmable submarine. The Exosuit Swimmable Atmospheric Diving Suit lets divers go down to 1,000 ft while breathing regular air at atmospheric pressure for up to 3 days. U.S. Navy history of submersibles U.S. Navy tests the "hard suit" (video) Apart from space, deep water is perhaps one of the most hazardous environments human beings work in. And just like space exploration, working there requires special equipment, extensive training, and careful preparation. One way to protect divers from high pressures at great depths is to put them in atmospheric diving suits (ADS) that function like person-shaped submarines. , North Vancouver, B.C., is on the cutting edge of ADS development with its Exosuit Swimmable ADS, due for beta testing later this year. Dr. R. T. "Phil" Nuytten, the company's founder and chief researcher, has been involved in deep-water diving since the 1960s. In 1987, for example, he developed the "Newtsuit," an ADS which permits dives of 8 hr down to 1,000 ft. In the past 20 years, Nuytten has been improving the Newtsuit and putting those innovations toward the Exosuit. The new product is more flexible, capable of longer dives, and applicable to more industries. Like all ADS, the suit's rigid structure withstands immense water pressure. More importantly, it lets occupants breathe air with the same pressure and content as the air at the water's surface. Saturation dives, in which divers acclimate to underwater environments, change the way gases dissolve in the divers' blood. Higher pressures below the surface force breathing gases into solution with the blood and body tissues. That's why deep divers need to surface slowly. As they ascend and pressure around them drops, dissolved gas comes out of solution. If the ascent is slow enough, reformed gas bubbles leave through the lungs.