Went diving today with a friend at a quarry. We mostly were between 15-20 feet and the dive lasted about 40-45. When we finished I had 300PSI left and my buddy had 1600 psi left. I was almost embarrassed. Are they just really good or do I suck at breathing? I do have slight asthma but use my inhaler before diving. We were both diving with Aqualung Legends.
Wow am I that bad with air?
- Thread starter Howie411
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Just keep practicing. Concentrate on your breathing and relax. I was diving 100's to extend bottom time, but Jimw let me borrow an al80 for a week. I got in the water every day with it and increased my bottom time to over 2 hours. I didn't surpass 2 hrs, my last dive was 1 hr 56 min and had 750 psi left (and had the lowest fill that day too). I was pretty stoked. I also worked on getting my weights right so my buoyancy was spot on and it helped a lot.
The day before my 2 hr dive, I had a bottom time of 90 min. So large increases are possible.
The day before my 2 hr dive, I had a bottom time of 90 min. So large increases are possible.
tanksforthememories
Contributor
What was your start pressure?
Howie411 looks like your SAC/RMV is about 0.96 cubic feet per minute. That's about twice what you would like it to be.
First, make sure you have your buoyancy/trim in order. If you are over weighted you will work too hard and will be constantly adding/releasing air from your wing to maintain desired depth (waste of gas.) Next, relax. Lay in the water, be comfortable, breath normally. It will get better.
First, make sure you have your buoyancy/trim in order. If you are over weighted you will work too hard and will be constantly adding/releasing air from your wing to maintain desired depth (waste of gas.) Next, relax. Lay in the water, be comfortable, breath normally. It will get better.
You don't say in your profile, but I assume you are a fairly new diver. First, relax and move slowly. Pretend you are in slow motion. You will move over the landscape slower, and see more things- although often not in a quarry. Next, make sure you are weighted correctly, and TRIMMED properly. Horizontal trim will do wonders for your SAC rate. Last, breath fully and deeply. Most new divers don't understand this concept. We often work with our students to get 10-15 second breathing cycles. Slowly breath in fully, then slowly breath out fully. With practice, you'll be amazed how your SAC improves.
Also note that in cold water, your SAC rate will be higher.
Good luck, and with experience it will get better.
Terry
Also note that in cold water, your SAC rate will be higher.
Good luck, and with experience it will get better.
Terry
Michael Guerrero
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Did you guys do a bubble check for a leak?
flots am
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Our tanks started at 3200 PSI. I wouldn't say I'm a new diver (been certified for 5 years) but living in Northern VA there isn't a lot of places to Scuba dive, so I've maybe only been diving 20 times since I've been certified.
I don't have bad Asthma, (ie out of breath all the time) I just use it to help, for instance when I go to my Asthma doctor and they do the breathing test with and without the inhaler there is a huge difference in lung capacity, so that why I always take it prior to diving.
There was definitely no leaking from what we could tell. As for being correctly weighted, I'm sure that could be a big issue. I was wearing a 7mm and using 16 pounds of weight (I weight 170). Anywhere between 1-10 feet I had issues staying down and after 11 feet I was fine.
the 20 dives is more relevant than the 5 years, making you a new diver, and your SAC rate is normal. It will get better with practice.
Please correct me if I'm wrong. But I don't think being correctly weighted was the major problem. Even if you over weight yourself, it just means you will need more air in your BC to compensate your buoyancy. If you had perfect propulsion technique and trim, judging by also the depth of only 15-20feet (not a lot of room for air expansion / compression to mess with buoyancy) there shouldn't be a lot of air wasted there.
You can also try putting air in BC through your mouth instead of the virgin air in the pump. But I digress.
I don't think we can judge a diver's experience by "how long since they certified." Especially with only 20 dives in the span of 5 years. There probably is a problem in terms of trim and propulsion techniques. These take a lot of dives to perfect.
Like other's suggest, go slow, watch your trim, and kick slow with the right techniques. you'll find your sac / rmv to improve quite dramatically. Practice your buoyancy with lung shouldn't need to touch the BC for your dive profile after you get the right amount of air in.
You can also try putting air in BC through your mouth instead of the virgin air in the pump. But I digress.
I don't think we can judge a diver's experience by "how long since they certified." Especially with only 20 dives in the span of 5 years. There probably is a problem in terms of trim and propulsion techniques. These take a lot of dives to perfect.
Like other's suggest, go slow, watch your trim, and kick slow with the right techniques. you'll find your sac / rmv to improve quite dramatically. Practice your buoyancy with lung shouldn't need to touch the BC for your dive profile after you get the right amount of air in.
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