Increasing bottom time

[hockeydad]

I need help! I have done about 30 times, start with 200 bar, but my dives only last less than 30 minutes, every time! I want to stay down much longer. My 13 year old son is very frustrated because he has to come up with me with more than 120 bar left in his tank. We just received our AOW. Our dives have been in warm water, between 20 to 15 meters depth. I am 6 ft tall, about 190 lbs and exercise regularly. Are there any breathing techniques you can recommend for me to practice? Appreciate all the help I can get. Thanks!

 

[bfisher]

Seeing your profile I see you have only a few dives under your belt. You just need to learn to relax more----and you probably will in time. I know being in shape always helps, but using your air quickly is almost always a matter of not being totally relaxed. And this always starts between the ears.

Try concentrating on how you breathe. Inhale slowly and deeply. Exhale slowly and deeply. Do this and in time you should notice that it takes about 5-7 seconds to exhale completely. Many people don't know it, but when they exhale they just give a short blast. Next thing you know they are inhaling again. Think about it. Increasing your breathing cycle by a couple seconds on the inhale and 4-5 seconds to exhale really mounts up. How many breaths do you get out of a tank? Mutilpy that by about 5 seconds and you'll see.

 

[redacted]

Look into a larger tank and stop worrying about it.

 

[Cave Diver]

I need help! I have done about 30 times, start with 200 bar, but my dives only last less than 30 minutes, every time! I want to stay down much longer. My 13 year old son is very frustrated because he has to come up with me with more than 120 bar left in his tank. We just received our AOW. Our dives have been in warm water, between 20 to 15 meters depth. I am 6 ft tall, about 190 lbs and exercise regularly. Are there any breathing techniques you can recommend for me to practice? Appreciate all the help I can get. Thanks!

Try slow steady breathing, exhaling fully. Shallow breaths can cause you to have dead air space which can build up C02, and trigger your reflex to breathe.
Instead of breathing in deeply, instead try focusing on exhaling fully and then slowly letting your lungs fill back up.

You might also examine your movements. A lot of finning, paddling with hands, struggling with bouyancy can cause you to go through air quicker. Try clasping your hands in front of you if you don't already do so. You might be making movements you're not aware of.

Check your trim and weighting as well. If you're not horizontal, you may be creating uneccessary drag. If you're over weighted it could be causing you to keep too much air in the wing to compensate giving you a larger profile. Look at hose routings also. Big loops and danglies can create drag and increase consumption. Streamlining is your friend.

Finally, some people just use more air than others. If this turns out to be the case for you, perhaps looking at different tanks that allows you to match times while still maintaining safe reserves will help.

 

[alcina]

In addition, you might want to think about doing some dives without your 13 year old son. You are, no doubt, spending a lot of energy on making sure he's doing fine - whether you realise it or not - and this is not helping you to relax and become a confident diver in your own right.

You need some "me" underwater time

Try to find another set of buddies - someone you trust to take your son and someone to buddy with you. Or just go when he's got something else on.

Go very very slowly, don't try to cover ground, just relax where you are and enjoy being.

I'm assuming you are using a 95 cuft tank (or 12L), if you are using something smaller, you might want to think about trying a larger tank.

Are your weights right? Not too heavy, not to light? You want to make sure you aren't actually working harder than you need to and incorrect weighting and trim are big culprits here.

How's your wetsuit? Comfy? Restrictive? Warm enough for what you are diving?

 

[wedivebc]

Seeing your profile I see you have only a few dives under your belt. You just need to learn to relax more----and you probably will in time. I know being in shape always helps, but using your air quickly is almost always a matter of not being totally relaxed. And this always starts between the ears.

Try concentrating on how you breathe. Inhale slowly and deeply. Exhale slowly and deeply. Do this and in time you should notice that it takes about 5-7 seconds to exhale completely. Many people don't know it, but when they exhale they just give a short blast. Next thing you know they are inhaling again. Think about it. Increasing your breathing cycle by a couple seconds on the inhale and 4-5 seconds to exhale really mounts up. How many breaths do you get out of a tank? Mutilpy that by about 5 seconds and you'll see.

This is good advice. I can't emphasize the benefits of a complete exhale enough. Your breathing rate is controlled by CO2 buildup in your bloodstream. When you are diving, many new divers don't feel completely confident in the equipment and subconsiously "reserve" part of their lung capacity by not exhaling completely. This leads to CO2 buildup and causes a feeling of air starvation which makes you breath harder.
The other big thing you can do to reduce air consumption is conserve your movements in the water by moving slowly and deliberately.

 

[spectrum]

In addition to all of the other good advice be patient with yourself. Find time to skin-dive and sing between scuba outings. Not everyone's diaphragm is conditioned to breathe effectively wile diving.

Pete

 

[Papa_Bear]

When you breath normally and forget about your air consumption is when it will get a lot better! The best thing you can do is just dive and dive some more! It is like Zen, if you have to think about it you can't accomplish it, as Yoda said "Do or don't do, don't try!"

I like the advice about the bigger tank, then you will forget about it!

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Dive Dive and then Dive some more. The more you are in the water the better you will air consumption will be. The other suggestions are great too.

 

[hockeydad]

Guys, great advice, thank you so much. I willdo, I will not try. I will report back in 6 weeks, after our next trip. Looking to take the Peak Performance Buoyancy Diver specialty course then as well. What a great community! Glad to be part of it. Thanks again.