Sucking air

[TheDivingBear]

Actually I've seen a diver who can suck a 12 liter tank (about 85 cu/ft) down in around 20 minutes at those depths, in good tropical conditions (Tioman, Malasia), with no current. Suffice to say he wasn't very popular on the boat as he'd told everyone he had around 80 dives.
There were several other things about him that made you want to be somewhere else as well.

This was a quote from another post, but it begged a question. I am new, having only one dive in the ocean (cozumel was GREAT!), and that was from shore. Our dive was 35ft ,80 degree water, strong current and lasted just 33 minutes. I ended the dive with 500 in the tank, after starting with 3000 in an AL80. I knew I was sucking air; I am not in the best shape, but got along fine under water (when I kept myself streamlined). As the dive continued and as I got more comfortable in the water, I became more conscious of my breathing and calmed or slowed it.

Anyway, being new and reading this, I ask why he was not popular on a boat dive. I mean, his buddy was probably a little pissed, but does the factthat a person sucks air like that affect the rest of the divers? Am I going to be the one that no one likes on their boat? I know my limits, or am exploring them now and pushing them slowly. But this makes me want to think that I should be doing plain old shore dives until I get more experience.

Your thoughts?

Peace

Bear

 

[Brand0n]

I seem to have the same fear, i was recently out for a shore dive with my instructer and another diver, he told the other diver the dive was planned around me becouse i use the most air. so there dive was shortend becouse of me... i had around 300 psi left when back to shore they had around 1000, so i shortend up there dive alot. Would people not want to dive with me becouse of this?

 

[Wayward Son]

Brandon, this is normal for a newbie. When planning for a small group, if it's an evryone or no one plan (which it will be for 3 people) you plan around the person who hoovers the most. In your case, this will just about always be the newbie, simply bc you haven't done enough to improve your consumtion rate for a variety of reasons.

Now, if it's a resort boat with, say, 20 divers, the entire group led by the DM, and the dive will be called for the group when the 1st person gets low on air, you can imagine that a person who is cutting the dive in half is going to be noticed. Especially if he's supposed to have 80 dives, he should be doing somewhat better than that.

Some people may prefer to not have a brand new diver in a group situation like this, but don't take it personal. They spend a lot of money to make those dives, it makes sense that they simply want to be in a group that has similar consumption rates so they get the most out of the dives.

As you get some bottom time & your breathing improves, your gas consumption will become a bit more "normal" and you will no longer be the limiting diver.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Part of it is that someone like that shortens the dive. I don't have a problem diving with hoovers, but if I'm paying for boat dives, I'd prefer to extend my bottom time according to my limits. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about that because I dive with my wife. She's the one that has to worry about it! Actually, we now breathe about the same. It took me a while to get that way, though.

From the original post, it seems more like an attitude thing than a hoover thing. My guess is this diver kept bragging about his dive numbers, experiences, etc. Add to that the hooverness, and it's just one big turnoff.

I'll typically dive with anyone who has the right attitude.

 

[spectrum]

Like the others said it's normal and yes it does put a kink in group dives or the dive of your buddy.

The solution is simple, dive, dive, dive. Live locally from shore for the price of air fills, not just on occasional trips. A significant improvement could be weeks away with regular diving activity. Gee this sounds like a diet commercial. Seriously it's all about comfort, configuration, practice and polishing of skills. If you can find a local mentor to take you under his fin that can be a huge help from the releaxation as well as the coaching side.

Pete

 

[Brand0n]

well i was out yesterday and notice my air consumption is improving, with time i will be up to par, but one thing that makes me suck air like crazy is when i hit around 40 feet i cant seem to get streamline im pointing up with my head slitly and trying to swim around is much more difficult i belive i may be over weighted, but without this weight i cant get down this deep. soon as i hit 30-40 feet i sink like a rock and have trouble staying of the bottem.

 

[DiveMaven]

On our recent trip to Maui, we had 2 guys on our boat who sucked through their tanks in about 20 minutes. Considering that the rest of us had at least 2000psi left, it was shocking how fast those guys hoovered the tanks. The DM took them back to the boat, sent them up for their safety stop, and we continued the dive for another 25 minutes.

The boat crew was really great though, they switched the Hoovers to AL100s for the next dive, and they managed to get 35 minutes out of those! Again, they went back up early while the rest of us enjoyed the reef for another 10 minutes.

 

[CUunderH2O]

I used to be the one who ended dives for my buddies, but they were all pretty understanding, and these were all boat dives. When we were in Cozumel doing boat dives, I used to run out of air before my buddy, so the DM would often buddy me with another hoover to do our safety stops. But usually my buddy stuck with me. After all, what are buddies for? After about 70 dives my air consumption improved dramatically, and this summer I've had to cut short my dives because of new buddies who are hoovers. I guess what goes around, comes around

I wouldn't worry too much about air consumption, it will improve if you keep on diving.

 

[RonFrank]

Anyway, being new and reading this, I ask why he was not popular on a boat dive. I mean, his buddy was probably a little pissed, but does the factthat a person sucks air like that affect the rest of the divers? But this makes me want to think that I should be doing plain old shore dives until I get more experience.

Your thoughts?

Peace

Bear

First be up front. Tell the DM you are a potential hoover so they can hook you up with a similar air sucking individual

It also depends upon where you are diivng. If you are doing drift diving, then it depends upon the dive op. Many DM's will send up buddy pairs as needed. Just stay above the group as much as possible, and the Capt. will pick you and your buddy up. Some even send up singles.

For non-drift dives, the only person that should be affected by your hooverism is your buddy. On non-drift dives, the DM will brief you on BT's. In the keys for example most said 1hour, or 500psi. They may also suggest times like explore until you hit 1000psi, then head back to the boat. 700psi surface and do a safety stop and surface with 500psi or better....

I certainly would not avoid boat diving, however try and hook up with someone with similar air consumption because as other have pointed out, when divers go on vacation they may pay $1500 total and get in 10 dives. Those be expensive, and they want to get the most out of them.

 

[spectrum]

well i was out yesterday and notice my air consumption is improving, with time i will be up to par, but one thing that makes me suck air like crazy is when i hit around 40 feet i cant seem to get streamline im pointing up with my head slitly and trying to swim around is much more difficult i belive i may be over weighted, but without this weight i cant get down this deep. soon as i hit 30-40 feet i sink like a rock and have trouble staying of the bottem.

There may be something fishy with the part of you post I put in bold. If you can get down 10 feet then the world is your oyster. You should need no more weight to get down to 40 feet or deeper for that matter. As soon as you leave the surface you suit and any trapped air starts getting compressed and you become less buoyant. Remember that a light (high) head probably means a heavy belt. Move a little weight up to your trim pockets if you have some. While you're at it do a propper end of dive buoyancy check to see if you can get rid of some weight all together. There is a host of current threads about getting down, sucking air and proper weighting. Happy reading.

Pete