Question Air consumption

[Klopo]

Hello together

I have the following situation :
When I dive with others, they need less air.
So often at the safety stop I am at 70 or 80 bar and my buddies are at 100 or 110 bar.
I make sure that I am always at about the same depth as my buddy. I dive dry and so do my buddies, they have between 500 - 1500 dives.

I have always tracked my AVM the last few dives.
It's always between 14 and 16 (I can't judge whether that's a lot or a little because I still don't have enough experience after only about 25 dives. )
Is it possible that I am using a lot more air because I am not yet so experienced with buoyancy?

Pascal

 

[Blackcrusader]

I would not say buoyancy only but the way you dive. Some people move a lot chasing things. Less movement less need for air.
I also found if you can sneak your reef hook into a diver and let them pull you along that helps too.
If you are finishing a safety stop with 70 or 80 bar after an hours dive you are doing fine. You can be at shallow depths and finish with 30 bar safely.

I've sort of not bothered to worry about my sac rate anymore. It's not as good as it was when I was doing 250 dives a year. I need to do regular dive vacations where I do 40 - 50 dives in 2 or 3 weeks and get really settled. Also hard to tell what your max depths and average depths are without seeing your dive logs.

 

[Salacia2023]

Depends on a lot of things, to be honest. Experience does play a part, because they'll move less and be more relaxed.

I practically sip air compared to other divers my size that are more experienced, but I naturally have a lower heart and respiration rate. You can work on breathing techniques to help improve and make sure you stay in good cardiovascular shape, but some of it is just plain ol' genetics.

 

[Klopo]

I would not say buoyancy only but the way you dive. Some people move a lot chasing things. Less movement less need for air.
I also found if you can sneak your reef hook into a diver and let them pull you along that helps too.

That makes sense. however, i am always relatively close to my buddies, so i don't have to move much more than them.

Does the heel have to go through the drysuit or is it enough to attach myself to the fins ?

 

[Blackcrusader]

Hello together
I have the following situation : When I dive with others, they need less air.
Pascal

I am a wee chap 185cm tall and weigh around 125kg. On this dive max depth around 21m. But after an hour back up to shallower depth where I will do a lot of video or photography. You can see my SPG where is says Range. That is the time at current depth remaining to 50 bar. So I could stay shallow and do a 100 minute dive which is too long for most people even if they can do the time they simply don't want to dive that long. This was on a dive vacation where I did 32 dives and 38 hours of dive time. Value for money.

You could ask your guide or other divers if you can extend your dive time as obviously you still have plenty of air remaining.

 

[Brett Hatch]

Have one of your buddies film you diving for a few minutes on a dive. You might be surprised at how much more you move than you think you do (I know I was). Experienced divers tend to move a lot less than newer divers, and that's a part of it. Moving less can be improved upon by focusing on it during your dive. Over time, it will feel more natural and won't take as much focus.

Another part that comes with experience is breathing less, for the same amount of movement. You can find advice online that will tell you to skip-breathe; this is bad advice. I would say that focusing on your breathing technique is not a great use of effort, because it tends to come down all on its own, and intentionally breathing less can be unsafe.

By the time you have 500-1500 dives, your gas consumption will be a lot lower than it is today . Probably it will be substantially lower by 50-100 dives. In the meantime, focus on having a good time, and go slow. Slower than you think. Really, really, really sloooooooow.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Depends on a lot of things, to be honest. Experience does play a part, because they'll move less and be more relaxed.

I practically sip air compared to other divers my size that are more experienced, but I naturally have a lower heart and respiration rate. You can work on breathing techniques to help improved and make sure you stay in good cardiovascular shape, but some of it is just plain ol' genetics.

Yup how I dive as well, with breathing techniques one should be aware not to build up CO2. At my extreme best sac rate of less than 8 but normally around 8 - 9. But that is in warm water drifting if possible with slow or no currents.
When resting my heart rate drops to around 52 - 55 bpm. I try to rest a lot on my dives. Some people think they caught me napping as I close my eyes to see if I can feel and depth change with eyes closed.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Have one of your buddies film you diving for a few minutes on a dive. . Really, really, really sloooooooow.

Here's one of my guides I dive with. We both go slow he doesn't even use fin straps lol.
Third video a buddy took a video of me at the back of a group.

 

[Brett Hatch]

You should tell the DM in the second video to secure that DSMB a little better, so they don't snag on things

I think @Blackcrusader is a bit of an outlier on this. But, these videos are a perfect example of how slow a diver can go, when they really put their mind to it. @Klopo after you have some footage of yourself diving for a few minutes, compare it to Blackcrusader and his friends. If you're moving more than this, then you could move less and use less gas. And if you're not moving more than this, well... color me surprised!

 

[Redtwo]

If you mean by 14-16, 14-16L per minute than thats perfectly normal i think (and for only 25dives pretty good). There is a poll here somewhere where you can get a feel for different numbers.