What is "Negative Buoyancy" anyway?

A lot of people get confused over the concept of negative buoyancy, especially when considering the usage of WFE (wearable flotation equipment.) But it's quite simple.

Objects in an atmosphere, whether liquid (water) or gas (air) either rise or sink. Unless, of course, they have neutral buoyancy, in which case they float. But NB is rare in nature, because of the infinite micro-changes in pressure and gravity that are acting on us at all time, beyond our notice. Things tend to rise or sink, even if we think they are floating.

In a negative buoyancy condition, a device will sink while displacing the matter around it, causing that matter to "fill" the space above the object, thereby rising. By taking advantage of the simultaneous falling (of the object) and rising (of the surrounding matter), the LifeSink WFE products can provide both flotation and descent.

Watch this site for an upcoming White Paper Negative Buoyancy and Its Application in Deep Water Mining and Safety written by our VP of Engineering. Sandy Drucker -Botoomes.