How do I improve my air consumption?

[DiverBuoy]

Spectre once bubbled...


I disagree. Much like reg switching and OOA drills; Oral inflation of a BC is probably a good skill to practice. Making safety procedures familiar is always a good thing.

However on those lines... be aware of your BC control. If your dumping and inflating a lot in a dive; you have a lot of bouyancy skills practice to do.

Spectre practice is one thing. However, even in an out of air emergency you're typically using this method at the surface to establish buoyancy - not below the water. The latter is typical for an equipment failure. And practicing this once in a while as preparation is a good idea.

However I completely disagree with the original notion presented - using it to control your buoyancy throughout your dive especially thinking this will have some significant reduction on your air consumption. That is not sound advice.

bobafett21 you are completely welcome glad to help.

 

[jimisurf]

Thank you for the advise!

My buddy and I looked at the responses today and were able to discuss each others profile and other activities in the water. We both agreed that I could use the folowing:

- Better boyancy checks (our equipment configuration changes often and we seem to over compensate in the weight department).
- Take time to relax before decent and breifly at depth before exploring.
- Work on our finning techniques
- Monitor our exhales
- Dive More (only 13 dives logged so far)
- And concentrate on becomming boyant immedaitly at depth (we both tend to be negitive for the first couple minutes while we slowly add air to the BCD and Dry Suit)

We both commented that we find ourselves rushed by the other divers on our recent dives. They are usually more experienced and can ready themselves faster. This has us scrambling to get out of the boat at the last second to join the group. We will try to be better prepared and take our time no matter what the other are doing.

Thanks again!!

Jimi

 

[Popeye]

jimisurf once bubbled...
Hello,

I tend to be the first to pull the plug during my dives. Not by a lot, but I wish it could be someone else calling it from time to time. As I think that I have my set-up and weighting in control, I'm quite physically fit and usually very comfortable in the water, is there any Zen like advise out there to cut the breaths back a little?

Thanks,

Jimi

Lotsa good ideas here, Jimi.

I'm a pretty big guy, 5'10", 290.

My air consumption is better than average.

This is what works for me.

1) Make sure your weight and trim are correct. I know you think they are, but a head up, feet down postition is how we go through most of life. Ask a friend to observe if you're truly horizontal, or better yet, slightly head down (keeps the fins out of the silt). You should be able to stay that way motionless, which is the true test of horizontal trim.

2) Make sure you're truly venting all the air out of your BC. This one got me. Many BCs trap air unless you really do an acrobatic roll while venting. Have a friend check that too, maybe on the platform or a sandy bottom. If you have air trapped in your BC, you have to haul the weight to counter it. I lost about 8# off my BC by having that shown to me.

3) Set your buoyancy at 2/3rds or 4/5ths of a full breath. If you're slowing your breathing, this will make a difference. Inhale slowly, and exhale fast. But always be breathing. Watch your buddy breathe.

4) Follow the other guy. Let your bud pick the route. Be easy and relaxed.

5) Make sure you have efficient fins. I compared several kinds by timing myself in underwater pool lengths, with mask, without gear (which helps your consumption as well). If you have Tusa Liberators, -immediatly- cut them into little wedges and use them for door stops- get Quattros (If you have the older Dacor fins that look like Jets, -burn them-, they're not good enough for door stop wedges). Everybody will tell you how great their fins are, primarily since they just bought them. Compare for yourself and see. The only fin in the same class as Quats are Jets, and I find them too heavy for me. Some guys like Free Diving fins, too long for me.

6) Here's a zinger- clear early and often. Start seeing how much air you use to get down to depth, and it may amaze you. You use a ton of air when you're having trouble clearing. I clear the first time on the boat.

7) Get bigger tanks. This will help abate the stress of your consumption difficulty, and soon enough you'll be back to a smaller tank (if your dive bud doesn't get a bigger one to keep up with you).


You should write down everbody's ideas and try them. See what works best for you, and stick with it.

 

[MASS-Diver]

Like everyone said the name of the game is nice long exhales, but, don't get inot any weird ways of trying to save a little air like not using your power infaltor to add to your BCD. Oral infaltion is a very important skill, but, you practice it for if you run out of air. Oral inflations should never be used as a "normal" way of adding to your BCD.

I read all the time on this board about new divers who would rather sink to the bottom negative than add a little air to the BCD because they belive this is conserving air. A burst from your power inflator is only a breath or two air and the effor of being negative or orally inflating will easily negate this tiny ammount of air.

 

[DiverBuoy]

Popeye
2) Make sure you're truly venting all the air out of your BC. This one got me. Many BCs trap air unless you really do an acrobatic roll while venting. Have a friend check that too, maybe on the platform or a sandy bottom. If you have air trapped in your BC, you have to haul the weight to counter it. I lost about 8# off my BC by having that shown to me.

With jacket style BCs usually hugging yourself while venting helps push the air out. Many new divers also forget about the fact that on many designs the low pressure inflator and deflator assembly is a pull dump. The diver can pull down on the entire assembly and release air from the valve. Typically this is valuable if your descending in a head up vertical position. DIR proponents of course recommend a horizontal descent. However, this isn't lost on that method. My BC has the valve set back on the shoulder so I can still use this pull dump even in a horizontal positon. The rear (butt) dump also works in the horizontal position. But the one way above all others that you can gaurantee the highest point is to hold up the deflator hose - just make sure its position is as high as you can get it.

Here's another key to not overweighting and thus conserving air. The most significant thing newbies can remember to do at the surface to descend is to exhale completely to get past the first few feet of water. Doing this you will begin to descend more quickly and then momentum is on your side. Many newbies don't appreciate the effect their lungs have on this critical part of their descent. They fail to exhale completely at the surface to start their descent. When they struggle trying to get down with a normally inflated lung, they complain that they are underweighted and then make the mistake of adding more weight. This further exacerbates the issue discussed in this thread of air consumption.

In my experience nothing is more effective for air consumption than a breathing rhythm which must end with a complete exhale.

 

[NurseShark]

from a fellow cold water diver (north van, canada): at the surface before you descend on your dive, put your face in the water (no mask) for a little while to help your body adjust to the cold. This helps to keep you from making that first big "ohmgoshthisiscold" breath when you start your descent & helps you to get a slower breathing rate going from the start. It also helps prevent struggles trying to descend with a lung full of air, as Diverbuoy mentioned trying to descend without a proper exhale can lead to overweighting, but also struggling at the surface to get down & using up a lot of air.

 

[jimisurf]

I like your suggestion of putting my face in the water before decent. I do seem to gasp when I start my decent. Well, I have many things to check out next time I dive (2 weeks away).

Thank You all for the help!!

Jimi

 

[Aquabella]

Hmmm...never thought of that, NurseShark, I'll have to give that a try!

So...ah... newbie moment here...

I know skip breathing is bad and I don't think that's what I'm doing but...

I'm still at the point of trying to perfect my buoyancy control. When I'm down there I find that I'm constantly doing the

breath in...tick tock...go up
breath out...tick tock...go down

Up, down,up down ahhhhh! Unless I'm finning.

I do come up with more than the average amount of air left though, that's why I bring it up.

Someone said a pause in your breathing pattern was ok, right?

 

[scuberd]

a pause can be good, just do NOT close the airway as you would when holding your breath. I find that I pause after I inhale, I don't know why but I do and it seems to work.

 

[sailnj]

I've had the same problem. I'm a big guy 6'3" 210lbs so I'd like to think I just have big lungs but I would go through air twice as fast as the rest of my open water class. I think I am pretty fit for my age but I guess I probably need like three tanks or something.