Beerkowski
New
Okay, first of all, total n00b, first post, so please be kind.
I'll save the geekout about being hooked on diving and how I am completely blissed out and why for another post.
I tried to search and didn't find a thread specifically devoted to air conservation. I can't believe there isn't a sticky on it!
I am an air hog. I only have 8 dives (all in Cozumel) under my belt since getting my card.
My first dive was only 32 minutes, i didn't have enough weight so I couldn't do a safety stop and I hit the surface with maybe 150 lbs of air. I gave myself a VERY stern talking to about all the safety protocols I learned but didn't follow and everything I did wrong on the dive and then decided to focus on being a SAFE diver, not just an excited one.
For the rest of the week I tried to really focus on my buoyancy and air consumption (while my facial muscles ached and my mask leaked from my HUGE grin). I'm a big guy (5'11" and 250 pounds) so I'm working on the weight problem as a way to use less air, but here's the other things I have been focusing on:
I spent 34 of my first 41 years on earth as an enthusiastic snorkeler. I played trumpet and was in choirs in high school (all those years ago) I was VERY proud of having a big lung capacity and being able to hold my breath for minutes at a time, so deep breaths were what I took when I got near water. It seems like having big lungs is a BAD thing in SCUBA. I'm working on my breathing technique, but I really don't know what I should try to do... take fewer breaths? take more shallow breaths? try to exhale as long as possible... I have tried all of these and nothing really seems to be THE answer. By my last dive, I was following all my internal safety rules and I was up to 50 minutes (although it was a pretty shallow dive).
WOW I am really rambling here, sorry.
I'm off to Maui in two weeks for round two of dive obsession, and I really want to have a plan. Any advise here would really be appreciated.
I'll save the geekout about being hooked on diving and how I am completely blissed out and why for another post.
I tried to search and didn't find a thread specifically devoted to air conservation. I can't believe there isn't a sticky on it!
I am an air hog. I only have 8 dives (all in Cozumel) under my belt since getting my card.
My first dive was only 32 minutes, i didn't have enough weight so I couldn't do a safety stop and I hit the surface with maybe 150 lbs of air. I gave myself a VERY stern talking to about all the safety protocols I learned but didn't follow and everything I did wrong on the dive and then decided to focus on being a SAFE diver, not just an excited one.
For the rest of the week I tried to really focus on my buoyancy and air consumption (while my facial muscles ached and my mask leaked from my HUGE grin). I'm a big guy (5'11" and 250 pounds) so I'm working on the weight problem as a way to use less air, but here's the other things I have been focusing on:
- Conservation of movement (buoyancy helps alot here, I know)
- trying to breathe more shallowly?
- Hydrodynamics -swimming in a horizontal position without dangling, dragging equipment
- THINKING better -relaxing, thinking ahead, relaxing, reading the reef and the water conditions so I don't have to exert as much physical effort and also trying to relax
I spent 34 of my first 41 years on earth as an enthusiastic snorkeler. I played trumpet and was in choirs in high school (all those years ago) I was VERY proud of having a big lung capacity and being able to hold my breath for minutes at a time, so deep breaths were what I took when I got near water. It seems like having big lungs is a BAD thing in SCUBA. I'm working on my breathing technique, but I really don't know what I should try to do... take fewer breaths? take more shallow breaths? try to exhale as long as possible... I have tried all of these and nothing really seems to be THE answer. By my last dive, I was following all my internal safety rules and I was up to 50 minutes (although it was a pretty shallow dive).
WOW I am really rambling here, sorry.
I'm off to Maui in two weeks for round two of dive obsession, and I really want to have a plan. Any advise here would really be appreciated.