Air consumption

[mridude]

Are you using the same size tank as they are?

Y'know the same question entered my mind and I do not know...probably will never know now!

 

[Frosty]

Y'know the same question entered my mind and I do not know...probably will never know now!

er um er ummm--taint hard to figure out. an AL60 looks different from an AL80 etc.
But honestly the best advice I could give is relax-forget it. It aint worth stressing over.
A thought I had--they had their own tanks and topped them off at 220 then were happy to hit the surface with 30 whereas you might have started out with 200 and were on the surface at 50 that extra "air" and being happy to stooge with low gas levels in the tank might explain the 15 minutes.

 

[gcarter]

I am a self-admitted air hog. I am happy my average is down to the 0.70 range. I was talking to a guy on Saturday who averages 0.35. *shrug*.

I moved from 80's to 100's to 117's. Now I can *almost* keep pace with my 20 yr. old son when he is on an 80 - he doesn't breathe. I was impressed with myself on Sunday - 1st dive on the Keystorm to 107 FFW with some work in current @ 0.73. 2nd dive to 77 FFW on the America @ 0.59.

My son likes to mock me because it amuses him. I don't care. I have enough gas to do the dives I want and as a buddy who doesn't breath he is OK with following my gas plan. So I really don't sweat it.

FWIW, on the colder dives I use more gas. I don't know if it is the temperature or the lower level stress of the greater constriction / restriction of 2 x 7mm layers and a hood. I do know my consumption noticeably improves in warm water.

 

[archer1960]

14 to 21 is about a 50% increase.
Your air bubble shouldn't be that much bigger and unless you're doing sawtooth profiles it shouldn't be that significant. You're in Norway so in metric.

1l of water =1kg
For the Americans, 1cf of water weighs 62.4lbs
...

Or, 1 pint of water is 1 lb.

 

[mridude]

er um er ummm--taint hard to figure out. an AL60 looks different from an AL80 etc.
But honestly the best advice I could give is relax-forget it. It aint worth stressing over.
A thought I had--they had their own tanks and topped them off at 220 then were happy to hit the surface with 30 whereas you might have started out with 200 and were on the surface at 50 that extra "air" and being happy to stooge with low gas levels in the tank might explain the 15 minutes.

Yes you are 100% right it is easy to tell tank sizes, but I didnt think to look at the time and now I am back in the good ole USA!

 

[Storker]

Or, 1 pint of water is 1 lb.

That depends on whether it's an Imperial pint or a US pint...


(Proper pints are Imperial. I'd hate to buy a pint and be served less than half a liter of beer.)


--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[tbone1004]

That depends on whether it's an Imperial pint or a US pint...


(Proper pints are Imperial. I'd hate to buy a pint and be served less than half a liter of beer.)


--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

that and pint isn't really something used in scuba so I didn't use it.... We think in lbs of lift and CF of gas, vs L of gas and kg of lift....

Storker I wasn't attacking your profiles, merely commenting that it is highly unlikely for the increased air consumption to be due to the increased bubble size of your suit, but more an actual increase in your SAC rate due to the conditions, which is perfectly normal

 

[vman]

If your regulator comes with an air flow setting, then try setting it on low.

 

[Hintermann]

As others have said, experience. It is difficult to explain to even yourself, but it works. I started diving in my 51st year and 9 years down the line, my air consumption has improved a lot even though I have got older. I recall that on my earliest dives I reached 50 Bar in 25 to 30 minutes (!) being horribly overweighted and working too hard. Now, I can come close to doubling those times with the same kit and with little effort.

 

[RJP]

If your regulator comes with an air flow setting, then try setting it on low.

Please understand that this will not effect your air consumption in the least, it simply changes the ease of breathing of the regulator. It does not change the amount of gas you breath.