Turtle Shell

"Turtle shells are a wearable item that let players breathe a little longer underwater. Wearing a turtle shell in a helmet slot, while out of water or in a column of bubbles, will give the player a "water breathing" status effect, which only starts counting down when the player submerges. I guess the extra air is stored in the top of the shell somewhere, but who knows how those turtles weave their bubbly magic?"

- Duncan Geere

Turtle shells are items that are used for brewing or as a helmet to give the player the Water Breathing status effect.

Usage
Like helmets, turtle shells can be placed in the top armor slot of a player's inventory for activation.

Equipping
If a player is wearing a turtle shell in their helmet slot while out of water or in a bubble column, they receive the Water Breathing status effect for 10 seconds. $$, Water Breathing is only given while in air, not in bubble columns. This effect starts counting down when the player goes underwater, effectively gives the player 10 extra seconds of breath underwater for a total of 25 seconds. Combined with the Respiration enchantment, this time can be increased to 70 seconds.

Equipping with a turtle shell also provides the player with defense points, the same amount of defense that golden, chain, and iron helmets offer. This means that for damage done to the player while wearing a turtle shell, 8% of the damage is absorbed by the turtle shell.

Turtle shells have 276 durability, which is more than any type of armor except for diamond.

Repairing
Turtle shells can be repaired with scutes using an anvil.

Enchantments
The Turtle Shell is capable of being enchanted with the following enchantments:
 * Blast Protection
 * Fire Protection
 * Projectile Protection
 * Protection
 * Aqua Affinity
 * Respiration
 * Unbreaking
 * Thorns
 * Curse of Binding
 * Curse of Vanishing
 * Mending

Trivia

 * It is the only armor piece in the game that provides a bonus effect to the player other than armor points.