How conserve air when necessary

[Bert van den Berg]

In a hypothetical situation because of some problem such as entanglement you find yourself getting low on air without a buddy are there any techniques one can use to make your air last longer?

Would skip breathing help?

I'm looking for fact based answers other than the obvious (stay calm, move slowly, etc.).

 

[TMHeimer]

Not much help, but I imagine you just breath as slowly as humanly possible? Probably really can't do that because you'd be expending energy trying to get untangled. That's why even when solo diving very shallow I stay well away from even tall seagrass or kelp, and never swim under anything--always over or around.

 

[flyboy08]

Never hold your breathe unless there is absolutely no other way to survive.

There are special breathing techniques one can employee but they take months to perfect...it has a name that I can not recall at the moment, but Google should find it...practice it before needing it. Lastly, buy a PONY or two...under duress, you'll breathe much heavier anyway, so all this may be moot.

 

[eelnoraa]

No, don't skip breath. Then only way is to keep calm. You consume less when you are calm. And keep in mind, the urge to breath is not driven by lack of oxygen, but build up of CO2. You skip breath will cost CO2 built up, which may cause worse problem.

 

[Diver0001]

I'm looking for fact based answers other than the obvious (stay calm, move slowly, etc.).

Sorry but your best bet is still to stay calm and move slowly. I took a freediving course once and it amazed me how much relaxing reduces your body's need for oxygen. I notice the same on scuba. When I am relaxed I use less air.

Obviously your situation is kind of a nightmare scenario and it would be hard to stay relaxed but my bet is that skip-breathing would only make things worse because the CO2 buildup in your system will make it hard to concentrate clearly on getting yourself untangled.

R..

 

[Kharon]

+1 on getting a pony and practicing using it. The other suggestion is to watch where you are going and don't get entangled in the first place. Also, watch your air and don't run low. Both of those problems show a lack of situational awareness.

 

[TMHeimer]

He did say hypothetical.

 

[ReefHound]

If you're entangled and alone, conserving air only means you die a minute or two later, unless you get yourself free. So I say your focus needs to be on solving the entanglement issue rather than the breathing techniques.

 

[cmburch]

Northern California Kelp Diver. I solo SCUBA sometimes, but mainly solo freedive. I can usually hook up with someone on the weekends, but if the ocean looks good I ask my boss for the day off and make up for it on Saturday. Do not panic! Do not hold your breath. Look around at see what you are hung up on and calmly untangle yourself. Never carry your knife on your leg because it can be hard to reach for a person that panics and is striving to go to the surface rather than backing up and seeing what is tangled. On SCUBA a calm slow relax breathing. Leg knives can also become entangled. Freedivng can not breath anyway. Just remain calm untangle and break individual stipes with hands. My knife is for gutting fish and cutting my speargun line. I have never used it on kelp. I have used it on mono once or twice. I can easily hold my breath for 2 min more than my normal dive.

 

[Rred]

I wouldn't call it skip bresthing, but you CAN intentionally slow your breathing and your heart rate considerably. Call it biofeedback or call it Zen, both require some practice and sometimes a mentor to get you started.