Scuba equipment is absolutely critical to keeping divers protected and alive. Today, I want to talk about the one piece of gear that we divers need and is often overlooked—the scuba cylinder. Scuba cylinders supply air, enabling us to explore the underwater world that we have come to love. They come in many different shapes and sizes to serve different needs.

Back when the sport of scuba diving started, many innovative divers would actually take, used fire extinguishers and convert them for diving purposes. Today, we know this is not the best option, but just 40 or 50 years ago there was not much in the way of “dive shops” to go to. In fact back in those days a person could just walk into a local department store and buy most of what he or she needed to dive. It wasn’t until the creation of the first dive training and certification agencies that the sport started to become a little more like what you may recognize today.

Modern scuba cylinders come in two main materials: steel and aluminum. Each of those has their place within the industry. Steel is really the preferred choice of technical divers that go into the darkest reaches of the underwater world. It is more durable, has a better weight balance and can be more easily filled to higher pressures–all the way up to 5000 PSI (pounds per square inch).

Aluminum on the other hand is lighter and cheaper, so for the recreational diver or for the dive operation that needs a large supply of them, this becomes the better choice. Aluminum is not as forgiving when it comes to its durability and cannot be filled to as high a pressure. Aluminum cylinders can be bought in almost any color your heart desires. While, steel are usually galvanized dipped and look just like your neighbor’s chain link fence…lol.

Cylinder capacity is dictated by several factors. First, divers have to consider just how long you intend to stay underwater and the depth, since the deeper you are the more air you will use. Your breathing rate is the last piece of information to consider. Cylinder capacity is measured in cubic feet, and they can range from 3 cubic feet to more than 120 cubic feet. An average recreational aluminum scuba cylinder has a capacity of 80 cubic feet and generally weighs about 35 pounds and more than 42 pounds when full.

What do we put in scuba cylinders? That’s actually a bit of a trick question. Many people think that cylinders are full of oxygen but that is relatively unusual, most cylinders have air. What is air? Air is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% trace elements. It is very important for a diver to know what is in his or her scuba cylinder because diving with a gas mixture different from air can have consequences. Diving pure oxygen at depth can be a fatal mistake! One alternative gas some divers use is nitrox, which is similar to air but with less nitrogen and more oxygen. Using nitrox in our cylinders allows diver to stay at depth for longer and we divers love that.

So next time you are thinking “awwww . . . it’s just a cylinder,” you may want to ponder just a bit longer. Cylinder purchases and fills are important and if you are buying the lime green cylinder because it’s cool, there may be more to think about.

– Matthew Ballish

Written by: Halle Minshall & Ray Danner

There’s more to Lake Erie than meets the eye. We talked to one of the Greater Cleveland Aquarium’s divers about his experiences exploring this Great Lake’s hidden depths while surveying historical shipwrecks.

Lake Erie has a long history of shipping traffic and ideal water conditions for preservation. Still, you might be surprised to know that there are an estimated 1,400 shipwrecks in Lake Erie alone. With an average depth of just 62 feet and a maximum depth of 210 feet, the wrecks of schooners, barges, tugs and sidewheel steamers are mostly accessible to SCUBA divers.

How did you get involved in Lake Erie shipwreck diving?

Ray: I am always looking for interesting dive opportunities. I began volunteering with the Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST), a nonprofit group founded in 2000 and dedicated to documentation, study and education pertaining to the underwater resources in the Great Lakes. MAST trains divers of any skill and experience level in the finer points of underwater surveys so that they can join the field teams in Lake Erie. We use a lot of the same skills to survey a shipwreck as we do diving at the Aquarium.

How many shipwrecks have been surveyed?

Ray: So far ONLY five have been surveyed and registered as official archaeological sites with the State of Ohio, meaning there are lots of unrealized survey opportunities. The freshwater of Lake Erie aids in the preservation of these shipwrecks so there are a good number yet to be located and identified.

What do you do when you survey the wrecks?

Ray: We lay a tape measure as a baseline running the length of the wreck. From there, we use a method called trilateration to nail down the distances from one object to another and determine the relative position and size of all items on the wreck. It can be challenging to do underwater measurements in three dimensional space, especially in cold water with low visibility. Learning underwater communication techniques and task-loading strategies is very important for all of the divers. Each dive team is assigned a small section of the wreck to survey and it can take several dives to cover even a 5-foot section of a shipwreck. After each dive all of the diver teams come together to input there new data onto a working map and sort out what data points are of priority for the subsequent dives. Through this tedious process an image is slowly formed of the bits and pieces of shipwreck lying on the lake bottom.

That sounds really interesting can I get involved?

Ray: Yes, MAST hosts a workshop every spring at the Great Lakes Museum, which trains local divers and non-divers alike. During the classroom training workshops, you’ll practice using mock surveys and the trilateration method for measuring and mapping a wreck. A final lesson is held in the waters of the White Star Quarry where divers put their new skills to the test.

Why is this important?

Ray: Lake Erie is closely tied to the lives and livelihoods of many Ohioans and it is a great resource. I think it is extremely interesting to take a look at how we used this resource in our past with the shipping and transporting of goods along the lakes shores. In learning about these shipwrecks we also learn how much we need to protect the lake they rest within.