Worn & Wound
A History and Guide – How to Use a Dive Bezel
John Scott Haldane had a problem. Britain’s Royal Navy had commissioned the Scottish physiologist to find a solution for a unique problem facing their divers: decompression. Known since the mid-19th century, decompression sickness (DCS) posed a serious risk for divers and laborers working in pressurized environments, such as caissons. It was his job to develop a set of decompression tables for safe diving operations. It boils down to how gases act under pressure. When breathing a gas mixture at depth - for the sake of simplicity, we will say compressed air, or approximately 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with the rest being inert gases - the oxygen is used up by the body, and the nitrogen is absorbed into the bloodstream. This build-up will dissolve as it is effectively off-gassed, as it does when each of us breathes here on the surface. Enter pressure. Should a diver undergo a rapid change in pressure, such as by ascending too quickly, the nitrogen will separate from the blood and form bubbles in the tissues and joints. The resulting pain has a habit of contorting its victims, giving DCS its more readily-known nickname of “the bends.” John Scott Haldane had a problem. Britain’s Royal Navy had commissioned the Scottish physiologist to find a solution for a unique problem facing their divers: decompression. Known since the mid-19th century, decompression sickness (DCS) posed a serious risk for divers and laborers working in pressurized environments, such as caisso...
