Air consumption and (separately) suction-y fins

[Tollie]

Great sugestions here.

two more...

Make sure you are properly weighted. Too much weight and you will throw off your trim plus you will expend energy pushing the extra lead thru the water. I mentioned trim. Good horozontal position in the water on decent, during the dive and on ascent. During the dive you will minimize drag thus reduce effort and increase air consumption. On decent and ascent... you will maximize drag thus allowing better control... so no running air in and out of yout BC.

Sugestion two... if you have not purchased a bc check out the BP/W systems. They are streamlined and reduce drag thru the water and also suport great trim and boyency control. I'm not saying you cant have great trim and boyency with a conventional jacket... its just a bit harder (IMO).

I love the sugestion of holeing the fins.

BTW... 40 minutes at 60 feet is not that bad especially for a new diver.

 

[budgy]

Regarding air consumption it will all change and come right when you finally learn to relax. Relax, relax, relax, let yourself go. When your really relaxed, you will stop breathing deeply and start breathing naturally then you can start to get that excess ballast off your belt. Take your time, all things will improve with regular practice. Slow down in the water, move like the sloth. A runners breathing rate is very high and the high breathing rate continues long after they stop running. Wait on the surface and catch your breath, if your breathing is faster than it should be for a person just floating. Check your horizontal trim, your body goes through the same imaginary ring made by your head. Use a shorter fin stroke, if you flutter, keep your fin stroke inside the diameter of your torso. Keep your arms by your sides don't swim with them underwater. As for fins, I use jets, the holes are suitable for fingers so its easier to pull them off. If you still need to guild the lily, do regular aerobic exercise in addition to diving regularly.

 

[Summer06]

I literally went from a SAC rate of .6-.7 to a rate of .35 - .45 overnight by learning to frog kick and staying horizontal with my knees bent. Within 2 days of learning the frog kick my SAC rate dropped dramatically and has stayed that way.
Learning to relax your body and not tense up helps too.

Please explain the frog kick? Thank you)

 

[scubafool]

Extremely simplified explanation is that you try to "clap" the soles of your feet together. The effect of this is that you are trying to compress the water that is between your fins. Since you can't compress the water, it is pushed out behind you, and in the process, you are pushed forward. The kick directs it's force backward, instead of down, backwards, and up, like a flutter kick does. This causes less disturbance of particulates on the bottom. Also, the flutter kick is a continuous effort, whereas the frog kick has a effort section and a rest section.

There are several video clips around demonstrating the kick, hopefully someone who has some of the links will post them.