Glossary of Scuba Diving Terms (B)

Understanding That Strange Scuba Language

Welcome to our glossary of scuba diving terms. Diving, like many sports, has its own language. Our scuba glossary is for anyone interested in understanding the scuba diving definitions, scuba diving terms or scuba slang found in this strange scuba communication that divers use.

Our glossary of scuba diving terms is easy to use. Just click on the letter that corresponds to the first letter of the word that you are looking for. All the words that begin with that letter will be displayed.

We will be constantly adding new terms to our scuba glossary. If you think we have missed a term or you can not find the word you are looking for, please let us know. We will add it and the best definition we can find to our glossary of scuba diving terms.

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B

Entering the water in SCUBA gear from a sitting position. This type of entry is commonly made from the side of a boat. The diver, while securely holding his mask and checking for an all clear in the water behind them, leans backward and rolls into the water.

An injury due to unequal air pressure between a space inside the body and the ambient pressure outside the body. This injury can also occur when air pressure is unequal between two spaces within the body. Two examples of this are arterial gas embolism and pneumothorax.

BC or BCD

See buoyancy compensator.

See decompression sickness

A rotating, marked, luminous outer ring on instruments, such as on a watches or on a compass, and are used to mark key points such as a bearing or lapse time.

A piece of foot protection usually made of neoprene, worn inside an open-heeled fin. A bootie protects the diver's feet while walking to and from the dive site and prevents blisters from the fins while swimming. They also provide warmth and come in a variety of sole thickness.

The time between the start of descending below the surface to the star of a direct ascent to the surface.

The front end of a boat. (pointy end)

At a fixed temperature, the volume of a gas is inversely proportional to the pressure exerted on it (while one increases, the other decreases).

See free diving.

Diving partner who assumes an informal duty of watching out for the other member of their buddy team.

Two or more divers sharing the same air supply. This is an emergency technique used when a diver is low on air or out of air or when they have their equipment malfunction.

A safety line used to connect a buddy pair together.

The upward force exerted on an object immersed in a liquid. This force is equal to the weight of the water that has been displaced by the object. Objects that float are positively buoyant, those that sink are negatively buoyant and those that stay where placed are neutrally buoyant.

An inflatable vest worn by the diver that can be automatically or orally inflated to allow the diver to control their buoyancy( abbreviated BC or BCD-Buoyancy Control Device).

Controlling buoyancy with the use of a BCD, weights and the divers breathing cycle.

Thin copper disk held in place with a vented plug. Designed to rupture if tank pressure is greatly exceeded.