Any tips for better air consumption/regulation?

[mikeycanuk]

I found myself to be a bigger air sucker on my most recent trip. I was colder than usual with a new Thermoprene explorer and top being useless in Turks and Caicos late Dec/early Jan. So it became an expensive layer under a rental 3mm. Next time Thermoprene and my 7mm! I was still cold with the layering. It turned out ok as my 11yr old used the same air as he's a kid and simply keeps moving and darting around (within comfortable range of either of us). My wife surfaced usually with over 1000+psi.

As for fitness I've been a bodybuilder more or less for the last 20yrs being smaller once I had our son, but still training the same way. Essentially more muscle, less efficient metabolism, = lower body fat. I also went down with single digit bodyfat %. Odd thing, well maybe not, is that when I was younger I ran hot and never owned a sweater until I was 26 or so. Being a runner will be a big plus as far as oxygen consumption goes but I'm too vain for that....lol


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Doomnova]

This thing with fitness is a bit of the old "PADI is full of people who want to punish people who don't explicetly excercise" deal. Personally, most of the people I know who use very little air are very very accomplished divers. And can't run even 1km on land worth a damn.

See the thing is the basic fundamentals are there. Physiologically being in better shape does help. One of the guys I know same size and overall body mass as I have literally can do 2 dives on a single AL 80 for the same 2 I use. He doesn't run but he hits the pool a few times a week. I'm not saying run a marathon but what I am saying is swim bike ect. a few times a week will help out by one simple fact that the more efficient your system is at using air the lower your air consumption will be when running into currents/doing regular movements while diving and avoiding kicking your body into the need to use aerobic respiration. This is the basics of physiology not something PADI dreamed up. You don't need to run a 20k marathon or anything like that but beingi n decent shape will help you vs someone who sits on a couch all day and does nothing. But it is clear your mind is made up so I'm not going to argue with you as I don't waste my time with walls.


@mikey
again some people think muscle mass=fitness the key is your cardiovascular system as that is what effects your bodies ability to utilize oxygen efficiently. As for the first point pretty much that sums it up about cold water, But diving on Vancouver island (never been tropical) I know that whole song and jazz. bUt I also know when I've been diving alot at the end of this last summer I spend about a 50min dive at and average of 50ft repeatedly. So it can be done. That was with an Al 80. if I had steel 100's who knows.

 

[Bigd2722]

I use to be an Air Hog also.

I was discussing this with a co-worker who was in the U.S. Navy. To help their divers lower air consumption a trick they used was to have the diver (diver candidate) wear his mask and snorkel in the day room watching TV. This helps acclimate the diver to the new breathing style.

For an entire TV season, I would watch the new Hawaii Five-O with my mask on and breathing thru the snorkel. On my next diving vacation my air consumption was about 30% lower. I cannot explain all of the science or physiology behind this tip...but it worked for me.

Wow what a great idea! I'm not an airhog, but I wanna try that one on and see if I can improve

 

[Lee Taylor]

Minimize the use of your thigh muscles. gas consumption will drop significantly

 

[scubadada]

A lot of good information in this thread. One other thing that has helped me is following my SAC and using the information about the dive to gain insight into the factors that resulted in lower or higher air consumption than normal. This is particulary easy for me to do as my AI computer and download software (Oceanic in my case) calculates my SAC for me automatically. Most of the variables contributing to air consumption have been mentioned in this thread. My dive reviews, including SAC, have given me a much better understanding of how these factors affect me. Some of these factors can be modified to improve air consumption and have been discussed in this thread.

Good diving, Craig

 

[Soakedlontra]

I didn't notice any errant hand movement at all on Sunday -- of course, holding the camera helps break that habit! And you can get rid of the constant kicking if you play around with where you have your weights until you can balance without the tank pulling you anywhere you don't want to go. I use 4 lbs on my cambands to balance out my 100s.

Yes the camera helps to keep my hands steady. I find myself moving them in certain situations when,somehow, my regular buddy is so close that I don't have room to manoeuvre or on walls. I have been trying to fix it by using a back kick or telling my buddy to leave more me more room especially when I try to take pictures.

---------- Post added January 23rd, 2013 at 08:00 AM ----------

My experience is similar. If you are gonna float around and drift with the current or not move much, the type of fins won't make a big difference. However, if you are going to be fighting a current, say when diving from an anchored boat or trying to chase after a fast moving turtle or ray for a photograph..cheap, inefficient fins could be terribly detrimental to your air consumption (if you allow yourself to become exerted).

I use large freedive fins for 99% of my scuba diving. Not because they are "fast" but because they are EFFICIENT! They push me at a steady pace with little exertion at a pace that would cause me to get terribly out of breath with Scuba Pro jet fins for example. I use them for the same reason freedivers use them... they are better for swimmng underwater.

If the diver is new, the topics that TSM listed in her first post are where the real benefits will be attained.. Conditioning is obviously good, and useful, but good fins can make a difference if you are doing any real swimming or cruising. Of course, a dive scooter may work wonders for your air consumption too.

Ok! I guess it's the combination of both: the type of fins you use and how you use them

Diving in current is one of the instances when my air consumption goes to the roof so I am not sure how I could fix that a part from having fins that are efficient, as you mentioned, learning how to kick more effectively, building up stamina with physical exercise and keeping the level of anxiety low.

 

[Soakedlontra]

I didn't notice any errant hand movement at all on Sunday -- of course, holding the camera helps break that habit! And you can get rid of the constant kicking if you play around with where you have your weights until you can balance without the tank pulling you anywhere you don't want to go. I use 4 lbs on my cambands to balance out my 100s.

Now that you mention it taking pictures can make you use more air too. At the beginning I was so excited and impatient to snap away at any possible creature that I would see that my body would go all over the place and I would fin like a maniac to hold a specific position. Now I am trying to be less excited but more focused and rational about what I am trying to achieve every time I take the camera underwater. I force myself to swim slower and be more gentle with my movements.

 

[Johanan]

Found an article that proposes an impact of the fins on the air consumption:

"Situation: 20, 25 feet of water, temp’s about 45, an incoming current running about 1.5 knots on a flood tide in a harbor channel. My buddy Art and I are wearing single tanks, 6.5 mm suits; he’s wearing Force Fins ... Generally we consume about the same air on dives. We stay next to each other during the entire dive, most of which is spent working into the current.

Result: This is my partner’s third or fourth dive this season, I’m working on number 60 or 70 or some such, and his air consumption is 300 pounds better than mine. Art says he wasn’t working real hard against the current, and since I was always behind him trying to stay even, I have to assume it’s the fins; just about everything else was equal."

 

[Soakedlontra]

Found an article that proposes an impact of the fins on the air consumption:

"Situation: 20, 25 feet of water, temp’s about 45, an incoming current running about 1.5 knots on a flood tide in a harbor channel. My buddy Art and I are wearing single tanks, 6.5 mm suits; he’s wearing Force Fins ... Generally we consume about the same air on dives. We stay next to each other during the entire dive, most of which is spent working into the current.

Result: This is my partner’s third or fourth dive this season, I’m working on number 60 or 70 or some such, and his air consumption is 300 pounds better than mine. Art says he wasn’t working real hard against the current, and since I was always behind him trying to stay even, I have to assume it’s the fins; just about everything else was equal."

My regular buddy and I both use Force Fins but when I began to dive my air consumption was higher than his, his has been diving longer than me , though. Now we more or less use the same amount of air. I am wondering if the person who wrote the article felt more uncomfortable in the current than Art did even if she/he has more dives, she/he doesn't mention it. Recently we did an 'underwater race' (it's a long story but it did have a purpose) he was head of me even if we both use Force Fins (but two different models). Other times it was him who struggled and I was fine. I noticed that the times when he struggled he was feeling uncomfortable about something and was a bit stress out. What am I getting with this? Uuuhm... well that in my experience there are multiple factors that contribute to the fluctuation of air consumption.

 

[tphelps]

Quick question out there for you guys.

New diver, been diving for under a year.. my question is "Does anyone have any tips or tricks for better breathing techinques, air consumption?" I want to be able to enjoy my dives, but usually don't get to stay down that long because I'm an "AirHog" (so affectionally named by my diving buddies).
Now when I'm under doing training, I try to work on slow steady calm breathing but it doesn't seem to be helping. Any pointers from anyone who's been there greatly appreciated, or from anyone else also greatly appreciated.

Like a lot of the other divers have posted, the best breathing rate (or Surface Air Consumption rate as we say in tec diving) is the one that is most comfortable to you. If you like breathing (and who doesnt?!) then I would suggest investing in a larger cylinder (100s or 120s). Over time as you dive more, then you will notice your air consumption will naturally improve. Staying warm and have good buoyancy control (using your breathing pattern to control buoyancy versus using your BCD a lot) will also help. This is because diving becomes more habitual and stress-free after you have done it a while. You can also get a new pair of fins. I have the Atomic split fins and I can kick for hours in them, they dont get me tired at all.

One more thing that I wanted to say, not just to you but to any new divers reading this, do NOT be ashamed of your air consumption rate. I read a story last year from a DAN magazine, a couple guys were going to dive a deep wreck together. One of the guys was an "AirHog" and used a lot of air quickly. He was too embarrassed and did not signal his buddy. They proceeded to enter the wreck, the other guy comes out and cant find his buddy so he looks for a minute, then notices he is low on air and surfaces. A team came down later to find his friend had ran out of air in the wreck and drowned.
If you are low on air say something! It is okay!! A couple times I have dove with new divers and they purposefully do not tell me when they hit 700 psi because "i have more air than they did." Bottom line, always dive safe and within limits. Happy safe diving!