Stuck with beginner diver who runs out of air in 20 mins?
- Thread starter ange2014
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I tend to dive with my hands out in front, tend to teach that way as well... helps maintain a horizontal pose when hanging...
My wife's and my air consumption rates are average, perhaps even on the low side, and yet we requested 15L tanks on an upcoming liveaboard, which offered the larger tank as an option. We simply prefer to have a larger reserve in case of unforeseen events requiring one of us to donate gas to the other.
Hoag
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I just got back from a week on a live aboard. I had not dived in about a year and a half. After the first dive, the crew asked me if I wanted to switch to a 100cf tank. I politely declined. They asked again after the 2nd dive and I told them it has been a while since the last time I dove and I just needed to "knock some rust off". I was not cutting anybody else's dives short, but simply coming up with less air than others. By the 3rd dive, my air consumption was on par with the middle of the pack, and by the end of the 2nd day, I was typically one of the last on the boat. (My "insta-buddy" was diving air and I was diving NITROX. We were limited by their NDL more than we were by my air after the 1st couple days.)
The moral of this story is for the OP to keep in mind that if this was a short live aboard, perhaps then "newbie" should have taken a larger tank, but also maybe they were just a little rusty and were trying very hard to correct their problem themselves but there simply wasn't time on this trip to do it.
The moral of this story is for the OP to keep in mind that if this was a short live aboard, perhaps then "newbie" should have taken a larger tank, but also maybe they were just a little rusty and were trying very hard to correct their problem themselves but there simply wasn't time on this trip to do it.
scbaNE2179
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Could you not have buddy'd up with another nitrox diver in this case? I've been on many LOBs and from what I discovered, the majorly of folks dive nitrox anyways. Personally I would never dive air on a livaboard that offers nitrox but that's just me. 5 dives a day on air is just so limiting with each subsequent dive.
Hoag
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Everybody else was buddied up, and we were the only two who were not, so we became buddies for the trip. It all worked out.
Hoag
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scbaNE2179
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On all of the livaboards that I have done, I used the AL100s exclusively. I'm not sure if they are a PITA-its just a larger tank to deal with. The benefits here is that you get 20% more gas and it's a little heavier so that reduces the amount of lead you have to carry. I dive with a SS BPW with STA so I rarely use weights while on vacation.
Of course steel is my preferred choice but it's super rare for any livaboard vessel/Caribbean destination to have steel tanks.
I do have to say that standard AL80s are a true and real PITA when empty as they are so darn buoyant. I try and avoid using AL80 tanks as much as possible.
How is this a problem? Are you not weighted correctly? Yes, they become about 5 pounds lighter when empty, due to the air that was used up. ALL tanks have the same problem.
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