Every breath you take ...

[theskull]

I try not to inhale or exhale. When you inhale you take air out of the tank, and then it's gone. And when you exhale it leaves the mouthpiece as bubbles expelled into the water, and then it's gone.

So I just try to relax and "be the water".

theskull

 

[Blackwood]

Same as I breath when I'm asleep

You breathe through your mouth while you're sleeping?

 

[Crush-Depth]

Breathing through mouth and mouth open, especially the inhale part was one of the weird things for me in first scuba lessons. I still notice that during inhale I have sucked mask onto my face, so I am unconsciously inhaling a bit through my nose nearly all the time.

I have the same problem. Mouth breathing feels very unnatural. I'm getting more used to it, but instead of trying to breath in through my nose, I find myself exhaling through my nose. My mask seems to deal ok with it, as I don't end up with a ton of water, but it sure buts my defog to the test.

 

[Santa]

I try not to inhale or exhale. When you inhale you take air out of the tank, and then it's gone. And when you exhale it leaves the mouthpiece as bubbles expelled into the water, and then it's gone.

So I just try to relax and "be the water".

theskull

Do you mean you skip breathe or you just take smaller sips?

Either way I'm thinking that if one "underbreathes" slightly to save air one may feel ok but ones muscles would still be relatively low on ox which could be bad if something unexpected were to happen. Also the dead air space in your lungs would possibly be bigger affecting efficieny.

I have this idea that efficiency is more about "milking" a given volume of breathing gas for as many oxygen molcules as possible before exhaling than about how much or how little you inhale. The body wants the oygen it wants at any given moment so I imagine there's a point during a breath where you've milked so much oxygen out of the gas that holding back further would only cause a debt that would have to be paid through subsequent breaths.

(Of course this would have little to do with whether you felt a need to breathe or not seeing as the breathing reflex is triggered by nitrogen buildup and not the presence or lack of oxygen).

 

[RLarsen]

I'd like to continue this discussion about breathing underwater.
During my first trip to Cozumel on a deep dive I was a bit nervous but thought my breathing was ok. The friendly dive master wrote a note to me on his slate,
"breathe deep, breathe slow"
I changed my breathing style and it served me well but I welcome comment on the DM's advise.
I'm returning to Cozumel for my second visit there so I'm thinking about things that will improve my dives
Thanks
Rex

 

[Don Burke]

I'd like to continue this discussion about breathing underwater.
During my first trip to Cozumel on a deep dive I was a bit nervous but thought my breathing was ok. The friendly dive master wrote a note to me on his slate,
"breathe deep, breathe slow"
I changed my breathing style and it served me well but I welcome comment on the DM's advise.
I'm returning to Cozumel for my second visit there so I'm thinking about things that will improve my dives
Thanks
Rex

I strive for about normal depth and a bit slower than normal, especially on the exhale. Every once in a while I take a deep breath and exhale a bit deeper than usual to better flush the dead spaces.

If I am working on something, I just breathe at whatever rate it takes. If I run low, I probably need the break anyway.

 

[serambin]

I think about a 4 second inhale and 4 second exhale works as good as anything. I think it helps to breath deeper than normal during a dive (it also probably would help us to breath that way all the time). At that rate you get enough air to prevent the 'panting' effect caused by CO2 build-up.

Stan

 

[tangfish]

The best way I've found is to breathe in normally but exhale extremely slowly. This way, you're not holding your breath but each extra second you're breathing out is the lack of a second breathing in and therefore your air will last longer. Practicing this technique leaves me with rediculous amounts of air. Last night, dive to 106' for 40 minutes and came back with 1300 psi. Now I just need a smaller/lighter tank so I can quit carrying around the extra weight.

 

[Scuby Dooby]

Wow, guys & gals, I think i'm a bit abnormal then.

On land my breathing at rest is usually:

a slow inhale - brief pause - slow exhale - break until i feel the need to breath again.

Underwater (restful) it is different:

Inhale - hold (with air space 'open' ie no glottal stop) - exhale maybe 1/4, keep rest in - seconds later let another 1/4 or so out - seconds later let another 1/4 or the rest out in a bigger blow - l pause (a bit shorter i'd guess than the pause after inhaling on land) - deep breath.

After all of that i guess i could summarize to say that while on scuba i pause my breathing after inhaling rather than on the exhale as I would on land. Before I receive any weird complaints know that I'm very comfortable under water and my air consumption is quite good, usually one of the last 'up' or with most bar. No headaches, etc as with skip breathing.

Interesting question and even more interesting responses.

 

[Xanthro]

Same as I breath when I'm asleep

You breathe through your mouth while you're sleeping?

My breath pattern is the same when I dive and when I sleep. I don't sleep with a regulator in my mouth nor do I wear a wetsuit to bed.