How to reduce air use?

[rufous]

I went through my air quicker than the other divers on my recent trip to Puerto Vallarta. What are some basic tips for me to try to reduce the rate of my air consumption? I was calm and having fun but just went through the air too fast and had shorter dives as a result. Rufous.

 

[diver_paula]

Rufous,

Basically, you need more time underwater. Practice, practice, practice. Better air consumption will come with time. It also helps if you are in good shape, so try cardio above water.

Paula

 

[Pez de Diablo]

Buy a rebreather

 

[gj62]

Being in shape (decreasing your surface air consumption) is a big part of improving if you've been diving for awhile. If not, you will see your biggest gains just by getting used to the equipment and breathing calmly underwater. Here are some keys (in the order of the most bang for buck, so-to-speak)

1) If you are not in shape - get in shape, do cardio exercises, etc.
2) If you are new to SCUBA (or even if you aren't), dive, dive, dive, then dive some more
3) Learn how to breathe (more later)
4) Optimize your trim and finning (good bouyancy control, good fin use)

The best breathing style is as follows -

Take a SLOW deep breath, from your diaphram, if you know what/where that is. The easiest way to explain in writing is if you are standing up, try to breath air down to your stomach (inflate the lower 1/2 of your abdomen). We are taught to breath with our chest (at least most guys are), but the most efficient breathing will be from the diaphram.

After breathing in as slowly and deeply as you can, pause, with your airway open (this is NOT skip breathing, which you should not do), then exhale slowly and calmly.

Practice this during your dives whenever you think about it. If you get headaches after diving, chances are you are not breathing deep enough, or you are pausing too long (holding your breath) which is contributing to CO2 buildup. The pause is momentary, a heartbeat or so.

Hope this helps!

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

GJ62 makes very good points, one thing I would add is move slowly. Don't fin at top speed to get somewhere. Pace yourself, move at a slow relaxed pace. The two biggest gains in sac rate I saw as a newbie came from concentrating on the breathing styles GJ outlines and moving slow through the water. When you start working hard, whether your chasing a buddy, trying to figure out what a hose is caught on, etc. you'll notice you can easily slip into panting like a dog.

I like to track the psi before and after (read used during dive), depth and time. There are calculations for determining your sac rate. Chart them over time and you'll see improvements.

 

[ScubaFriend]

Hi

it will come with more time underwater and remember relax

 

[Rick Murchison]

Dive, dive, dive, dive...
Learning to relax and use less air is a function of experience and planning. The more detailed a plan you make, the more you can visualize the conduct of the dive in advance and the more relaxed a dive you can make, enjoying the sights.
Going diving as much as possible will get you there quickest.
Rick

 

[Hallmac]

I would also add : Slow down, learn to frog kick and get away from the flutter kick as soon as possible. The more you fight under water the higher your sac rate. Just as you breath harder when jogging the consistent movement of the flutter kick increases heart rate and air consumption.
2nd work on proper weighting and trim. This will decrease the amount of playing with the power inflator (letting air out and putting air in). There is a lot of air waisted by new divers which leads us back to the earlier posts.

Hall

 

[Seuss]

I am fairly new to diving and was going through an al80 about twice as fast as the divemasters were. I did a lot of research, asking around, and reading on the forums to figure out what I was doing wrong. A few simple changes to my technique on my last few dives have made a drastic improvement in my air consumption.

The biggest mistake I was making came from the 'never hold your breath' rule. Being very careful to never hold my breath, I went the opposite direction and was contintually breathing quick and shallow. The divemaster explained to me that there is a difference between holding my breath and not breathing. Once I started taking deep breaths, and allowing a bit more time for oxygen exchange, things really started to improve.

The second mistake I was making was lack of relaxation. By the time I got to the bottom of a dive, I would already be down to 2500 psi. Now, I actually start to get into the dive mindset before I get in the water, working on staying calm and relaxed. When underwater, I work on staying trim with nice slow movements rather than racing about with arms flailing every which way. It took me a bit to realize that I wasn't in an underwater race with the other divers.

The third mistake I was making was using way too much air for my BCD. I was like a yoyo down there, dumping air and adding air without thinking. I now let my lungs control/fine tune my ups and downs intead of trying to use my BCD for the task. It takes practice to get used to, and being slow and relaxed helps a lot as well. This has almost become second nature, done without thinking about it anymore.

I am sure that proper weighting, balance, trim, and all the other stuff people have mentioned is important as well. For me, the single largest factor was to relax. It seems that every aspect of my diving has improved as I have become more relaxed in the water. Relaxation is more than being calm and comfortable in the water... something else that took me a while to figure out.

 

[Kim]

By the time I got to the bottom of a dive, I would already be down to 2500 psi. Now, I actually start to get into the dive mindset before I get in the water, working on staying calm and relaxed.

When I was first learning to dive I soon realized that I was using about a third - 50 bar - of my air in the first 5 mins or so - Seuss makes a good point - start your dive breathing while you are still on the boat - and maintain a slow calm pattern - especially at the beginning of the dive.