How to conserve air.

What are some methods to making your air last longer while diving.

Get your bouyancy dialed in so you can hover horizontally without effort and move with gentle fin kicks, keep your hands still, be physically and mentally comfortable... my air use is best on the days I do best at these things.

Or, pick a buddy with great air usage and breathe some of his.

time...... you will get better with time.

also, work on a rhythm. One diver I know used a counting method to help him get better. He would breathe in slowly counting 1, 2, 3. Then hold and out 1, 2, 3. He would do this for the whole dive. After several dives he found himself doing it by natural reflex. He said it improved his air consumption by double. I have tried this for the first few minutes of a dive, especially if I feel like I am breathing too fast. It does help.

robin

My girlfriend apparently doesn't like my air consumption rate. She says that I have only one bad habit: "You breathe," she says.

Seriously, buoyancy control is key. Proper weighting is the crucial before you can dial in your buoyancy. On the surface, I let out a bit of air to get down, and then add a bit more air to my BC once I get to depth to account for wetsuit compression. After that, I never touch my inflator again except to dump air as my tanks get lighter.

If you're buoyancy control isn't good, you'll spend your dive with your hand on the inflator, adding air, dumping air, adding air, dumping air....

Dive a lot. You gotta be comfortable in the water and relaxed. If you're having troouble holding the reg in your mouth 'cause your so relaxed that you keep falling asleep, your air consumption will probably be very low!!

Finally, pay attention to every single breath. Do not let your mind wander from your breathing. It requires multi-tasking. If your mind wanders and you start breathing rapidly, you'll suck down a lot of air in a hurry. :shocked2:

Good luck!

Experience (just keep diving).

Relax.

Go slow.

Proper weighting.

Proper trim.

"Clean" rig (get rid of danglies).

Work out.

cranstonjdc:

What are some methods to making your air last longer while diving.

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1. Weight check at 10' with 500 psi to assure that you are diving with minimum necessary weight (the more unnecessary weight you carry means more air will go into your bc at depth to attain neutral buoyancy).

2. Adjust placement of tank, weights, equipment, etc so that you can maintain buoyancy in a horizontal position and swim in a horizontal position.

3. Swim slowly with minimum movement (no hand sculling, minimal kicking). Learn modified kicks to maximize energy/air use.

4. Select streamlined equipment that fits properly and don't allow octo's, regs, gauges, etc. to dangle freely in the water. Try to create the tightest, most streamlined profile possible. Only carry with you what you are likely to need on that dive - not the kitchen sink.

5. Practice yoga breathing - slow inhalations, slower exhalations. For example, inhale to a count of four and exhale to a count of eight, picking a cadence that is comfortable for you. Use breath control to achieve minor changes in depth - large inhale to go over obstructions, exhale to sink. Breathing in a controlled fashion can be practiced on land, sitting, jogging, etc.

6. Relax and dive a lot. You can go only so far with this as you are ultimately limited by your personal physiology. It always miffs me that I can't match my wife's SAC but it just ain't gonna happen. Don't measure yourself against females.

Every one above hit the nail on the head! The best thing I can recommend is after peaking your buoyancy just do a dive and monitor your breathing. I always use soft gentle kicks and at first you may not even seem to be moving but continue to kick softly and just be patient.

The best way to do it though is practice!

cranstonjdc:

What are some methods to making your air last longer while diving.

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It may sound simplistic but.......use a bigger tank.

Exhale through your nose.

robint:

time...... you will get better with time.

also, work on a rhythm. One diver I know used a counting method to help him get better. He would breathe in slowly counting 1, 2, 3. Then hold and out 1, 2, 3. He would do this for the whole dive. After several dives he found himself doing it by natural reflex. He said it improved his air consumption by double. I have tried this for the first few minutes of a dive, especially if I feel like I am breathing too fast. It does help.

robin

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I teach a smilar style - first off, breathe as if you were sucking a slurpy through a straw; long slow and deep and I suggest the diver coutns five seconds in and 5 seconds out - this means one breath cycle every 10 seconds, 6 times per minute, etc. etc.

Of course it is not always practical to breathe like this constantly - but all other things being equal it really works.

As mentioned previously, fine tuning your buoyancy will also help. Weighting and weight distribution, body position and finning technique may all have an effect on your diving.

Practice makes perfect - dive more!

Cheers,

C.