How Much Air?

[Neilwood]

@NWGratefulDiver Glad to see that post.

As you say there are so many ways of reducing air consumption other than artificially reducing your breathing rate.

In addition to the ones you mentioned, I found the biggest (for me anyway) was relaxing. By getting comfortable with being underwater and on scuba (luckily for me I have always been good in water so it feels fairly natural), my breathing rate automatically reduced.

The sentiment that @NetDoc always comes out with of "take whatever speed you are doing and slow down" also works wonders - there is a hell of a lot underwater to try to see so why stress and try to get it all in one go? You won't manage it so take it easy and enjoy it.

 

[diver_girl_tn]

@NWGratefulDiver Glad to see that post.

....

The sentiment that @NetDoc always comes out with of "take whatever speed you are doing and slow down" also works wonders - there is a hell of a lot underwater to try to see so why stress and try to get it all in one go? You won't manage it so take it easy and enjoy it.

Exactly, @Neilwood! Better to enjoy the underwater life and relax, not to hurry and not to compare the SAC rates with buddies like no tomorrow - SAC will improve on its own, pretty much as soon as people stop thinking of it and counting seconds when breathing in and out. In fact @xSandman3 had a good point - singing through a phrase is a great idea (and fish may like it too).

Yes, it is extremely important to control the breathing and having skills to do so - for the sake of the safety as well as it makes the whole thing way more enjoyable. But after all, an OW diver who dives once or twice a year will hog O2 on the first dive or two like no tomorrow, practice makes better (or perfect) in lots of things. And for every diver - frequents and less frequents, the SAC rates will improve by relaxing and following the points that @NWGratefulDiver listed above.

 

[Derffie]

OP here.
This is very, very helpful (as are many of the other comments.)
Lots of good tips to improve my efficiency.
I don't think there's any real danger in my doing any 30 second breathing cycles. But, I think that I can slow down my rate of breathing, in particular, exhalation.
I found this site on yoga and scuba helpful as well:

Use Less Air Through Yoga

One question: wouldn't protracted exhalations lead to a lot of buoyancy control issues?

 

[TMHeimer]

Yes. At times I will be on the surface and exhale continuously down to the bottom at maybe 20 feet. Then when bottom is in view, inhale lots to prevent hitting the sand. Just to see how that works....At times things can get boring....

 

[diver_girl_tn]

OP here.
This is very, very helpful (as are many of the other comments.)
Lots of good tips to improve my efficiency.
I don't think there's any real danger in my doing any 30 second breathing cycles. But, I think that I can slow down my rate of breathing, in particular, exhalation.
I found this site on yoga and scuba helpful as well:

Use Less Air Through Yoga

One question: wouldn't protracted exhalations lead to a lot of buoyancy control issues?

Yoga is always the answer .... In fact I have found yoga to be a great addition to my exercise regime not only for diving but also triathlon stuff, mountaineering and such.

And yes, the air in your lungs will impact on your buoyancy but once you figure out how breathing controls your buoyancy, it will become a really handy (and fun) tool. Kudos to TMHeimer

 

[KevinNM]

You don't have to breath super slow, but you shouldn't be breathing fast, much less super fast. If you are breathing fast (like more than 12 times a minute) you should slow down your breathing. If you are breathing super fast (20 or more times a minute) you need to stop and regain control of your breathing or terminate the dive if you can't. You probably won't effectively exchange oxygen and CO2 breathing like this. That rate is where EMT's get taught to be thinking about putting an oxygen mask on you.

 

[Derffie]

emulating my scuba breathing I get about 8 breaths per minute. I do not feel anxious underwater. I do need to work on buoyancy control and swimming efficiency.
One issue I struggle with is the recommendation to dive more. I look at the number of dives for many of the folks posting and think, "wow, I'll never get there." I live in Chicago. We take a couple of week long trips per year. That's about 10 days of diving. Which is about 30 dives per year

 

[Neilwood]

emulating my scuba breathing I get about 8 breaths per minute. I do not feel anxious underwater. I do need to work on buoyancy control and swimming efficiency.
One issue I struggle with is the recommendation to dive more. I look at the number of dives for many of the folks posting and think, "wow, I'll never get there." I live in Chicago. We take a couple of week long trips per year. That's about 10 days of diving. Which is about 30 dives per year

Although you don't feel anxious, are you completely relaxed underwater?

With regards to the lack of trips, have a look at local clubs or shops that are doing trips or pool sessions. Having done a quick search there appears to be a lot of Scuba organisations active in the Chicago area.

 

[diver_girl_tn]

emulating my scuba breathing I get about 8 breaths per minute. I do not feel anxious underwater. I do need to work on buoyancy control and swimming efficiency.
One issue I struggle with is the recommendation to dive more. I look at the number of dives for many of the folks posting and think, "wow, I'll never get there." I live in Chicago. We take a couple of week long trips per year. That's about 10 days of diving. Which is about 30 dives per year

You have to get your 7mm wetsuit for summer & dry suit for winter Lake Michigan is not too bad for diving! While cold and with not so great viz, you can actually improve your skills a lot in the environment like that, and diving in somewhere sunny, warm and 100ft viz will be a real treat.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

emulating my scuba breathing I get about 8 breaths per minute. I do not feel anxious underwater. I do need to work on buoyancy control and swimming efficiency.

Eight breaths per minute is about 7-8 second breathing cycle. As you get more relaxed, that will slow down even more to 5-6 breaths per minute. But don't force it ... as your skills improve and you relax more it'll happen without you even making a conscious effort to do so.

One issue I struggle with is the recommendation to dive more. I look at the number of dives for many of the folks posting and think, "wow, I'll never get there." I live in Chicago. We take a couple of week long trips per year. That's about 10 days of diving. Which is about 30 dives per year

Many of us are lucky to live in places where access to local diving makes it easy to dive a lot. I live in a place where shore diving is relatively plentiful ... there's a nice dive site just a couple miles from my house. So like a lot of folks who live in coastal areas, I can dive pretty much whenever I feel like it. Sometimes it's needful to remember that not everyone has that kind of access, and that vacations are often the only time some folks get a chance to dive. That said, having the knowledge shared by those of us who dive a lot can help you make the most of your limited opportunities.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)