How to conserve air???

[rehmwa]

This last week, dives number 5 through 30. Yes, I VERY new. A liveaboard is a great way to get more dives and practice....

first day dives 5 through 9 - about 33 minutes on the tank
the last few days of dives? about 70-80 minutes per tank and more left over than the first couple and a LOT deeper dives too

at first
1 - I was breathing normally - inoutinoutinout.....regular pace, no pauses - just like the OW course materials state
2 - I was doing my personal buoyancy control way too much with my lungs so I wasn't using the air I did have very efficiently

Fixes and advice I got:

calmness was huge - I found a point where I was hardly burning any energy to move around - that zone (once I knew what it felt like) was easy to find within a few minutes of the start of each dive.

Breathing - a long breath cycle (8 seconds in full breath, pause about 10-12 sec (not during ascents though just when level and descending), exhale completely about 12 secs - the full cycle where I didn't get 'breathless' was over 30 seconds, and under 40 - any longer, I'd be a bit breathless, any shorter and I'd be wasting air) - use all the oxygen, that means a very slow cycle and complete exhale - this seems like a long cycle, but I also have low capacity lungs from asthma and I still could manage.

I was worried about personal buoyancy control with taking in and expelling the full lungs, but it all dialed in as I reduced my total ballast (6 pounds in 2/3 mil in salt water - I can likely go another 2 lighter maybe), and used that long pause (fully filled lungs) as my neutral point with the empty lung portion just needed VERY light foot wave to stay on level. It was great - I'd touch my BC twice in a dive, empty BC at the surface just excel to start the descent, tap it once at depth (1st touch), empty it usually just past the halfway point (2nd touch) and just use the lungs the rest of the dive.

I don't know if this is per the approved SOPs (and I'll likely get blasted for the long "pause"), but it worked for me really well and I suspect there is a lot more time to be found in those tanks as I get more experience and learn even more from my friends.

One guy also noted that if you are very fit (even for a REALLY big person.... ; ) ) one uses more air - I don't know if that's true or not, but it's likely minor to just being calm and efficient...

IMHO - and I'm very new, your mileage may vary

edit: one other thing, if you are new and diving with people that use more air, most of the good visuals are very likely sitting about 10 or 15 feet above the 'other' divers..... ; ) if you want to last with them, it helps to just stay shallower than them when you can. 2/3 of the tank outbound (60-80 feet), and then return in the shallows (40 feet or so) and there's always a good amount of reserve remaining....... and I do my safety stop (20 feet) on the return trip too, better than just hovering under the boat playing rock paper scissors....

 

[Web Monkey]

Just finished my first two open water check out dives today and man did I suck a lot of air. I am a big guy, that might have a little to do with it but I am in shape. I'm 5'11 weigh 337, work out at the gym and quit smoking (one month). What are some good techniques to use to train yourself to be more efficient with your air supply. Thank you.

You can't "train yourself to be more efficient with your air supply" any more than you can train your car to use less gas.

Your air consumption will improve when you use less air.

Anxiety causes rapid breathing, which wastes air. It's going in and out and bubbling away, but you're not getting anything from it. Being less anxious will reduce your air consumption.

Moving muscles requires energy, which requires oxygen, which means you need to breathe (technically, the drive to breath isn't cause by O2 usage, but that's a story for another day). However, the more you work, the more you need to breathe.

If you do less work by moving slower, being more relaxed, kicking more efficiently, maintaining horizontal trim, not being overweighted and a number of other "tuning" type improvements, you'll use less air

So, to use less air:

1. Be less anxious
2. Do less work
3. Relax.

Avoid any techniques that specify a particular number of seconds for an inhale or an exhale or any odd breathing patterns that involve anything except breathing in and then out. Just relax and breathe normally. Once you get your anxiety and energy usage under control, your breathing and air consumption will follow. Screwing with your breathing can cause all sorts of annoying blood chemistry problems that can lead to headaches, anxiety, panic or even losing consciousness.

The other side of the story is that you're a big guy. No matter what you do, you're never going to match SAC rates with a 100 pound teenage girl. If you find you're always getting cut short by available gas, you can just get bigger tanks.

I sometimes dive with a guy who's easily in the 300 Lb range, and he always has more air left than me at the end if the dive. He's simply better at diving (thousands of dives) and uses a 118CuFt tank.

Terry

 

[Blackbeard 69]

Congrats on quiting! The stress of testing uses more air than you will when your on your own. Just dive, dive, dive.

 

[Limoges Diver]

Unless that's all muscle, you're not "in shape." If it is all muscle, your air consumption is naturally going to be very high.

When I first started diving an AL80 lasted only 30 minutes at 25 feet. Now it lasts over 2 hours at 25 feet.

1. Weight loss and exercise
2. Dive more, get relaxed in the water
3. Always concentrate on controlling your breathing, easy in and out
4. If you get distracted from breathing, even for a few minutes, you can puff through your air rather quickly
5. Move slowly, everything should happen in slow motion
6. Never work so hard that you start breathing hard
7. Get properly weighted so that you're not always hitting the BC inflator
8. Inflate your BC with your exhaled breath, don't use the BC inflator button

I never thought about oral inflation - I didn't think there was that much air used in the BCD.

 

[Limoges Diver]

just for everybodys curiosity, yes i am a ex football player and ex ranger, spent 9 years in the army and loved everyminute of it, yes i do have a beer gut from living in germany but belive me i am solid.ggrrr

he he he!

 

[CaboJim]

If you're diving w/ an air integrated computer, its easy to monitor your consumption.
Focus on slowing down your consumption by watching the computer.
But, for most part, as has been stated, it comes with experience, the more dives the less consumption. You will probably start noticing a difference after about 25 dives. & above all just relax....

 

[vjanelle]

I never thought about oral inflation - I didn't think there was that much air used in the BCD.

You're better off just not ****ing with the inflater. If you touch it other than after descending to achieve neutral buoyancy, you're doing it wrong. Use smaller bursts of air and control yourself in the column with tidal volume of your lungs.

Take some time to practice hovering, practice some fin pivots if you have to. If you're constantly dumping air and then hitting the button, use smaller increments and watch your breathing. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[Limoges Diver]

You're better off just not ****ing with the inflater. If you touch it other than after descending to achieve neutral buoyancy, you're doing it wrong. Use smaller bursts of air and control yourself in the column with tidal volume of your lungs.

Take some time to practice hovering, practice some fin pivots if you have to. If you're constantly dumping air and then hitting the button, use smaller increments and watch your breathing. Practice, practice, practice.

I don't have problems with the inflation of my vest - that was a pretty easy one for me to figure out.
I was just wondering about orally inflating the vest when you're finished descending - I think I'll skip that air-saving tactic. And for when I'm at the surface ready to go out, I don't care if I use a bit of air since I'm done diving.
I just bought some gear, and with it an 80 CU In tank. I'm going to look into a larger tank. I'm thinking 130 cu in, but they can be quite pricey...

 

[farsidefan1]

All this talk of practice is certainly true. My SAC rate went from .6+ something to .5 and .4 something from my 33rd dive. One reason was just getting used to diving and the other was that I was at cocoview where I got lots of diving in a concentrated time and also Dee took me under wing and helped me get my trim in line. Dee, if you see this thanks again, the difference was striking.

 

[Hammerhead]

As far as elemental percentage make up is concerned, I pretty sure that I could stay down longer on a full AL 80 with EAN36 than I could with a full AL 80 with 0 % O2.

You are free to offer your personal experience as well.

I'm delighted to say that I do not speak from personal experience, but I'd be prepared to hazard a guess that if you took an AL80 (or any other tank for that matter), with 0% O2 underwater for more than a couple of minutes, you might stay under for a lot longer than planned.

Unless of course you've mastered anaerobic respiration, in which case your mileage may vary...