A Dive into The Last Breath: Sink or Swim Scuba’s Movie Night Experience

Brent Clevenger   Mar 10, 2025

DONE Diving Helmet Last Breath Dive Family Movie Night

At Sink or Swim Scuba, we’re always looking for ways to bring our dive community together, whether it’s through training, underwater games, or special outings. Recently, our store group took a trip to the theater to watch The Last Breath, a thriller that dives into the intense world of commercial diving. While I was initially hesitant about taking a group of newer divers to see such a high-stakes survival story, the experience turned out to be both thrilling and educational.

The Last Breath: A Quick Overview

The Last Breath follows the harrowing true story of a commercial diver who finds himself stranded on the seafloor with only minutes of breathing gas left. Unlike recreational scuba diving, which prioritizes controlled, safe, and enjoyable underwater exploration, commercial diving is an entirely different beast—one that involves extreme depths, heavy equipment, and prolonged stays underwater.

Commercial Diving vs. Recreational Scuba Diving

While both commercial and recreational divers explore the underwater world, their methods, equipment, and objectives differ significantly:

• Depth and Duration: Recreational divers typically stay above 130 feet and plan dives to avoid decompression stops, while commercial divers, particularly saturation divers, work at extreme depths for extended periods.

• Equipment: Recreational divers rely on standard scuba tanks, while commercial divers use surface-supplied air, complex breathing mixtures, and full-face helmets.

• Decompression: Recreational divers follow standard safety stops, whereas commercial divers often spend days or weeks in a pressurized environment to avoid decompression sickness.

How Does a Hot Water Suit Work?

One of the questions that came up after the movie was about hot water suits, which are commonly used by commercial divers working in frigid environments. Unlike a traditional wetsuit, which traps body heat, or a drysuit, which relies on undergarments for insulation, a hot water suit actively pumps heated water through a network of tubes integrated into the suit. The water is supplied from the surface, ensuring the diver stays warm even in near-freezing temperatures. This system allows commercial divers to work comfortably for extended periods in harsh underwater conditions.

What is Saturation Diving?

Saturation diving is a specialized form of commercial diving that enables divers to work at great depths for long durations. Instead of surfacing after each dive, saturation divers live in a pressurized environment, such as a diving bell or hyperbaric chamber, for days or even weeks. This technique eliminates the need for multiple decompressions and allows divers to work more efficiently at depth. When their job is complete, they undergo a single, carefully controlled decompression process to return to surface pressure safely.

Why Do Commercial Divers Talk Funny?

In a real-world situation, divers working at extreme depths would sound very different from what was depicted in the movie. This is because they breathe a gas mixture containing high percentages of helium to reduce the risks of nitrogen narcosis and oxygen toxicity. Helium is much lighter than nitrogen, and as a result, it causes the voice to take on a high-pitched, distorted quality—a phenomenon often referred to as "helium speech." While it might sound amusing, this effect is a normal part of deep commercial diving and is counteracted with specialized voice communication systems.

Real Commercial Diving Equipment at Sink or Swim Scuba

At Sink or Swim Scuba, we have real commercial dive helmets and surface-supplied diving equipment available in-store. For qualified dive teams, we can arrange demos showcasing surface-supplied diving and underwater communications using Ocean Technology Systems (OTS) Guardian Masks and communication systems. The helmet used in The Last Breath appears to be a D-ONE. While we aren’t as familiar with this model, we do have several Kirby Morgan SuperLite 37 helmets, which are widely used in commercial diving. You can check out the SuperLite 37 here: Kirby Morgan 37.

We regularly use the OTS Guardian Mask, similar to this model, to enhance underwater communication and training experiences.

Final Thoughts

Watching The Last Breath with our dive group sparked some great conversations about the differences between commercial and recreational diving. While the movie dramatized certain aspects for cinematic effect, it provided valuable insights into the challenges faced by commercial divers. For our newer divers, it was a fascinating look at a world that, while vastly different from recreational scuba diving, still shares the same core principles of safety, training, and respect for the underwater environment.

At Sink or Swim Scuba, we love bringing our dive community together for experiences like this. Whether it’s exploring the underwater world firsthand or learning about different diving disciplines, every opportunity to expand our knowledge makes us better and more prepared divers. If you’re ready to continue your scuba journey, visit us at www.sinkorswimscuba.com and dive into your next adventure!