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[Sheezy]

They would be very useful for making underwater forts, plus who doesnt want an underwater fort with an epic airlock to let your divesuited workforce out to build your mega underwater city?

[Krakow Sam]

Indeed, and then you can turn on the economy and watch as your dwarfs go mad and kill each other because they're hopped up on magic potions your alchemists made because they were freed from the restraints of normal dwarven morality...

*Andahr Ryggan (mayor) cancels action - head caved in with dwarven polo mallet*

[Quift]

This has been mentioned before. The discussion ended with a brief calculation on how many dwarves that would die because the pump operator went of to have a snack.

[Salbrismind]

Who says you need dwarves for pumping? Just hook that baby up to your wooden nuclear reactor incase in lead bars, and fueled with pitchblende. 

My problem with this, is that it is beyond the technology of the time.

On the other hand, potions and/or magic could be used to give your dwarves temperorary water breathing, then they become fearless underwater. That is until the carps attack...

[Mikademus]

Who says you need dwarves for pumping? Just hook that baby up to your wooden nuclear reactor incase in lead bars, and fueled with pitchblende. 

Ooh, this goes so well in hand with this thread!

Also, the divesuit concept could be generalised to environment or encounter suit, and allow for colonising other planets (see above thread)!

[Salbrismind]

You lied! There is no space arc... 

[Neonivek]

I think it would be better if you could give dwarves swimming leasons and increase the ability to hold your breath by your swimming skill and Endurance making them epic

Ohh and Artifacts!

[Virex]

Diving suits wouldn't fit with the time's technology, but diving bells would.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_Bell

[Derakon]

Diving suits wouldn't fit with the time's technology, but diving bells would.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_Bell

Took the words right out of my mouth. A diving bell would require:

* Glass/metalworkers to make the bell itself
* Rope, to hang the bell from
* Leatherworkers or clothiers to make the breathing tube
* Fat, to grease/waterproof the tube
* Mechanisms, to allow for raising and lowering
* A dwarf, to man the airpump and provide water to the divers.

[MuonDecay]

I happen to have seen scans of a medieval German book containing a couple practicable plans for smallish air bladders to use for breath while crossing moats... and several ones which were decidedly not practicable.

Then again as far as I know nobody felt experimental enough to try any of them during a siege. You tend to not throw away men and resources on the hunches of some bored scribe.

[MaxVance]

Even though a diving suit would be beyond the time's technology, I think dwarven engineering combined with dwarven lust for gold, gems, and ores (to be found under the ocean, obviously) could crank out something that serves the same function.

[Jetman123]

Probably horrendously unreliable, of course.

Actually, the first real dive suit was made sometime around the first (wooden) submarine, using rennisance technology. It was basically a rubber suit with a glass helmet, with a hose leading to the surface where air was manually pumped in. The rubber suit was a shortie, basically, and only went to the guy's upper arms and legs. There it was tied off with rope, thick cord or twine, or a rubber tie, so water wouldn't get into the suit. It couldn't go very deep, but it was quite the technological marvel.

Though as others have pointed out, all it takes is for a dwarf to go off and get a drink instead of pumping, or for that watermill to suddenly stop pumping!

Not to mention that the tech level in DF is midevial, not renissance. Still, dwarves are crafty little buggers, and as the previous poster said would have quite a bit of drive to get to the bottom of the sea for metals!

[qwertyuiopas]

Dwarves are very crafty, just lok at how they can connect a lever and a floodgate that are across the map from each other with only 2 mechanisms!

[Virex]

The advantage of a diving bell over a diving suit is that a bell contains air for about 20 minutes. So even if the pump oprator takes a stroll, there's enough time to raise the bell from the inside before everyone drowns.

[Align]

20 mins in dwarftime = ?