reducing air usage

[regul8r]

Okay. I understand that the more you dive.. the more comfy you get and the less air you use. However, what I want to know is other ways to reduce air usage. I know the first time I dove with a 7m over my 3m for a deep dive I had my bcd to tight and felt like I was being squished. so in what seemed like no time I went through 3000 psi of air. Next dive I loosened the bcd and was much more relaxed.. used 1000 psi less air.
But during regular dives.. the more experienced divers.. 100+ dives are using on avg 900 psi less than I am for the same dive. Now I try to breath slow and deep. Any tips.. and please no one say don't breath....I just can't see that as a option

 

[MarkUK]

Well, you've hit the nail on the head when you say that as you get more experience, and thus more relaxed and comfortable underwater, you will use less gas.

You have already got the slow and deep breathes worked out.

You could also look at your weights and see if you really need them all – if you are overweighted, you will have more air in your BCD, which means you aren't as streamlined in the water, and thus will use more gas pushing yourself through the water as you move about.

Get yourself properly weighted, breathe nice and deep and slow, and just relax. Don't fin about everywhere like crazy, and you will start to see your air consumption drop as your dives rack up.

I recently had a friend on a liveaboard with me. He had 67 dives when we boarded the boat. 24 dives later, he was using 40 bar less per dive, and had shed 3kgs from his weightbelt.

Mark

 

[regul8r]

First dive I started (in the pool) with 22lbs on. I have sense reduced to 6lbs. Now I am considering going back up to 8lbs since when the tank gets low on air and I am <15' I keep going up. Eventually I should be able to drop back down to 6 or less..

 

[Cacia]

Aerobic fitness helps too.

 

[REII]

Proper weighting, and slow deep breaths. Try counting while you inhale and exhale. I try 4 to 6 count going in and the same going out. Of course never holding your breath.

TOM

 

[Puffer Fish]

There are several air users that you can do something about in the short term:

1. Relax - No, I mean really relax. Make a point, before going down of getting all the tension out. And take a bit of time during the dive to go limp and just float.

2. Don't spurt around. Most new divers are over here, over there. You can still see all the neat stuff, but do in smooth and easy.

3. Catherine is right, get in better shape, but be careful, that may just allow you to suck air faster (if not doing one and two).

4. Get weighted correctly. The amount is not important, just that at the end of the dive, you can just relax and stay stable during your safety stop.

5. Stay warm. Even a little cold will use a lot of air.

6. Make sure your reg is working really good. Breathing resistance can use a lot of air.

Oh, and have fun and laugh a lot. May not reduce air consumption, but you will care less about it.

 

[Firefyter]

Be properly weighted, and most importantly after that, Learn to be still. By this, I mean, don't use your hands, don't kick incessantly, and don't make a bunch of unnecessary movements. Once you achieve neutral bouyancy, try to move no more than necessary, go slow and easy, learn to kick and glide.....

 

[Jibeho]

The squeeze on your lower ribcage will leave you with very up tight feeling. As you noticed. Being up tight will cause you to use more gas. On drift dives my SAC is in the low .4s and .5 when I'm kicking. My high was .7 on the Duane with a 2+ knot current.

 

[wallacm]

SING!!!! i know it sounds weirds but you will always be breathing and mostly exhaling.

 

[cbborromeo]

Learn breathing techniques through yoga, meditation, martial arts, etc.. At first, you will count as you inhale and exhale. When it becomes second nature, you won't need to count and you'll see a substantial increase in your ability to use air. One thing I've learned is to hold my breath for a few seconds before exhaling. Increasing aerobic excercise allows you to take deeper breaths, but you need to learn to process oxygen in your lungs and not just exhale right away. Best part is that you can practice anywhere.