Air An Water Essay, Research Paper

1Air and Water To fly at one hundred and twenty miles an hour or to float to the bottom of the ocean ? When you are trying to decide between skydiving and scuba diving, you may ask yourself that question. Skydiving and scuba diving both have diving in the name but that is where the similarities end. The equipment differences between skydiving and scuba diving are dramatic. The parachute in skydiving is shaped like a backpack. The weight and size are also comparable to a backpack. You would put a parachute on just like a backpack, but it is a good idea to tighten it as much as possible. If you do not tighten the parachute, it may end up around your ears. In skydiving jump suits are what most people wear, because they help stabilize your fall. Jump suits are optional; however, in scuba diving you need a wet suit. A wet suit is essential for keeping you warm; even though you are in very warm water, you can still get hypothermia. Scuba diving requires air tanks. Air tanks have a very awkward shape and are heavy. It takes you and another person just to put these tanks on your back. Once you have them on your back, you have to walk hunched over so you do not fall down. As you can see, the equipment varies a lot between skydiving and scuba diving. The actual diving part is notably distinct in the two sports. The environment alone is a big distinction. Skydiving usually begins at fourteen thousand feet above ground level, and scuba 2diving takes place under the surface of the water. Fourteen thousand feet is only a starting point, some people have jumped from as high as seventy thousand feet above ground level. I feel that the most exciting kind of skydiving is night jumping. There is something extra blood pumping about it. When you jump off that airplane, into the pitch black night, it feels as if you will fall forever. Skydiving at night is exciting, but scuba diving at night is just plain spooky. I will never forget when I was scuba diving at night just off of Rota. I saw a six foot reef shark swim by and to see a shark at night it has to be really close. Then there is seaweed; which at night feels like an octopus that is trying to wrap its tentacles around your leg. In the cold dark night water, everything that brushes up against you feels like a sea monster. I will always be able to make clear distinctions between the two sports.

The cleaning and proper prep work is what makes your next dive survivable. The great thing about skydiving is that there is little clean up and less prep work. To clean up after skydiving all you have to do is pick up your canopy. Parachute riggers are the only qualified people who pack your canopy back into your canister. All together I did about five minutes of clean up and prep work. Scuba diving is a very different story. First you have to carry your tank back to wherever you came from. Second you have to rinse everything with fresh water so that the salt does not eat all of the metal parts away. The last thing you have to do is recharge your tank. This is a mundane process that takes several hours. It is almost as fascinating as watching the grass grow. Whichever sport you participate in, the prep work will be a task necessary to stay alive. I have enjoyed both sports, but I prefer skydiving. I feel that skydiving is more simplistic than scuba diving. So as you can see, skydiving and scuba diving both sound a like, but that is where the similarities end.