joel smith
Contributor
what is the best way to surface without surfacing to fast.
surfacing from bottom
- Thread starter joel smith
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Paladin
Contributor
Slower than your slowest bubbles. That's the traditional method.
mikemill
Contributor
Mr Carcharodon
Contributor
Stop every 10 feet as you ascend. Hang out for 30 seconds to a minute and then take 20-30 seconds to go up 10 more feet and repeat to the surface.
There is some practice involved in controlling your buoyancy. Try to observe how much you rise and fall on each breath. You will get a larger variation as you get shallower. If you have a line or kelp you can use that as a depth reference. Or try looking at matter that is floating to judge if you are rising or falling. I find it easier to use the rear dump valve during ascents, and to stay horizontal. Go just a bit chest up and inhale to rise, and the reverse to sink. Dump air if you are not controlling you ascent with your breath. Repeat and practice. Be well.
There is some practice involved in controlling your buoyancy. Try to observe how much you rise and fall on each breath. You will get a larger variation as you get shallower. If you have a line or kelp you can use that as a depth reference. Or try looking at matter that is floating to judge if you are rising or falling. I find it easier to use the rear dump valve during ascents, and to stay horizontal. Go just a bit chest up and inhale to rise, and the reverse to sink. Dump air if you are not controlling you ascent with your breath. Repeat and practice. Be well.
Paladin
Contributor
Horizontal? You can't swim up if you're horizontal. Ya just dump the BC (if you're using one) and swim to the surface. Stay slower than your slowest bubbles.
DevonDiver
N/A
If you ascend slowly, releasing air from your BCD when needed, you can maintain neutral buoyancy from the bottom to the surface. If you are neutrally buoyant, then you can use your breathing control to enable a very slow and controlled ascent.
Remember that you are not using the BCD itself to ascend. Your journey from the bottom to the surface is essentially just one long 'hover'... you should only be gently using your fins to propel you slowly upwards.
Most novice divers find it difficult to predict the expansion of air in their BCDs as they get shallower. This expansion of air is more dramatic if the diver is heavily (over) weighted, as they will have more air in their BCD to compensate for the weight... and hence more air to expand.
For this reason it is vital to achieve proper weighting. Any surplus weight carried equates to more air in the BCD...and a more difficult to control ascent.
The typical BCD carries 13kg (30lbs) to 20kg (45lbs) of buoyancy. Most experienced divers rarely use a fraction of that capacity during the dive itself.
Make sure that you are familiar with the direct correlation between pressure (depth) and the volume of gas in your BCD. You can Google/Wiki 'Boyle's Law' to get a better understanding of this principle.
Basically, pressure is directly proportional to volume. Any air in your BCD at the bottom, will expand on ascent...as its volume increases proportionally in line with the reduction in pressure. Also be aware that the pressure reduces more and more dramatically as you get nearer the surface. This can catch novice divers out...especially in the final 5-10m (15-30ft).
During the final 10m (30ft) the volume of any air in your BCD wil double. If you are over-weighted, this can mean that you will have to dump a substantial amount of air.
For instance, if you were at 10m (30ft) and had 5 litres (approx 5kgs/11lbs buoyancy) of air in your BCD - that air would expand to 10 litres (approx 10kgs/22lbs buoyancy) by the time you got to the surface. It is hard to resist the 'pull' of 22lbs of positive buoyancy! You must dump that extra air as it expands.
Obviously, you can see that the benefit to proper weighting here... because if you only had 1 litre of air (approx 1kg/2lbs buoyancy) in your BCD, then it would only expand to 2 litres (approx 2kg/4.5lbs buoyancy) by the time you surfaced. The impact of air expansion is minimized and you have to dump less volume of air.
Basic tips:
1) Get your weighting perfected. Any surplus weight needs to be compensated by more air in your BCD, which exagerates the impact of air expansion on ascent.
2) Start your ascent in proper neutral buoyancy. Briefly pause your ascent every 5-10m (15-30ft) to confirm that your are still neutrally buoyant.
3) Be aware that air expansion in your BCD becomes more pronounced the shallower you get.
4) Be aware that expansion in your wetsuit material also contributes to your increasing buoyancy as you get shallower.
5) Use lung/breath control to fine-tune your buoyancy. Breath deeper to move upwards. Breath shallower to slow your ascent.
6) Only dump air from your BCD when necessary. At any given moment on your ascent, you should be able to stop and hover effortlessly.
7) Dump air slowly, and only when necessary, to maintain neutral bouyancy. Release air from your BCD in tiny increments and allow a pause, because the change in buoyancy can take a second or more to happen.
8) You should never have to add air to your BCD on ascent. If you accidentally dump too much air, then use lung/breath control as your first response. Fin slowly upwards until the air expands sufficiently to achieve neutral buoyancy again.
9) Utilise a safety stop to ensure that you have achieved neutral buoyancy in the final stages of ascent. This is the perfect time to ensure that you can hover effortlessly. Be aware that air expansion is dramatic once you leave your safety stop to journey those final 20ft to the surface.
10) Relax and enjoy. If you are tense and apprehensive during your ascent it will make your lung/breath control more difficult.
Remember that you are not using the BCD itself to ascend. Your journey from the bottom to the surface is essentially just one long 'hover'... you should only be gently using your fins to propel you slowly upwards.
Most novice divers find it difficult to predict the expansion of air in their BCDs as they get shallower. This expansion of air is more dramatic if the diver is heavily (over) weighted, as they will have more air in their BCD to compensate for the weight... and hence more air to expand.
For this reason it is vital to achieve proper weighting. Any surplus weight carried equates to more air in the BCD...and a more difficult to control ascent.
The typical BCD carries 13kg (30lbs) to 20kg (45lbs) of buoyancy. Most experienced divers rarely use a fraction of that capacity during the dive itself.
Make sure that you are familiar with the direct correlation between pressure (depth) and the volume of gas in your BCD. You can Google/Wiki 'Boyle's Law' to get a better understanding of this principle.
Basically, pressure is directly proportional to volume. Any air in your BCD at the bottom, will expand on ascent...as its volume increases proportionally in line with the reduction in pressure. Also be aware that the pressure reduces more and more dramatically as you get nearer the surface. This can catch novice divers out...especially in the final 5-10m (15-30ft).
During the final 10m (30ft) the volume of any air in your BCD wil double. If you are over-weighted, this can mean that you will have to dump a substantial amount of air.
For instance, if you were at 10m (30ft) and had 5 litres (approx 5kgs/11lbs buoyancy) of air in your BCD - that air would expand to 10 litres (approx 10kgs/22lbs buoyancy) by the time you got to the surface. It is hard to resist the 'pull' of 22lbs of positive buoyancy! You must dump that extra air as it expands.
Obviously, you can see that the benefit to proper weighting here... because if you only had 1 litre of air (approx 1kg/2lbs buoyancy) in your BCD, then it would only expand to 2 litres (approx 2kg/4.5lbs buoyancy) by the time you surfaced. The impact of air expansion is minimized and you have to dump less volume of air.
Basic tips:
1) Get your weighting perfected. Any surplus weight needs to be compensated by more air in your BCD, which exagerates the impact of air expansion on ascent.
2) Start your ascent in proper neutral buoyancy. Briefly pause your ascent every 5-10m (15-30ft) to confirm that your are still neutrally buoyant.
3) Be aware that air expansion in your BCD becomes more pronounced the shallower you get.
4) Be aware that expansion in your wetsuit material also contributes to your increasing buoyancy as you get shallower.
5) Use lung/breath control to fine-tune your buoyancy. Breath deeper to move upwards. Breath shallower to slow your ascent.
6) Only dump air from your BCD when necessary. At any given moment on your ascent, you should be able to stop and hover effortlessly.
7) Dump air slowly, and only when necessary, to maintain neutral bouyancy. Release air from your BCD in tiny increments and allow a pause, because the change in buoyancy can take a second or more to happen.
8) You should never have to add air to your BCD on ascent. If you accidentally dump too much air, then use lung/breath control as your first response. Fin slowly upwards until the air expands sufficiently to achieve neutral buoyancy again.
9) Utilise a safety stop to ensure that you have achieved neutral buoyancy in the final stages of ascent. This is the perfect time to ensure that you can hover effortlessly. Be aware that air expansion is dramatic once you leave your safety stop to journey those final 20ft to the surface.
10) Relax and enjoy. If you are tense and apprehensive during your ascent it will make your lung/breath control more difficult.
Bubbletrubble
Contributor
Buoyancy control is the key. If you are having problems achieving neutral buoyancy during other phases of the dive, you're going to have serious issues during the ascent.
As with most things, the more you practice your buoyancy control skills, the better your skills will become. Mr Carcharodon's recommendation to stop at every 10 ft. mark during the ascent is a good one. You can do the same exercise during the descent, too.
Some tips for better control during ascents include:
As with most things, the more you practice your buoyancy control skills, the better your skills will become. Mr Carcharodon's recommendation to stop at every 10 ft. mark during the ascent is a good one. You can do the same exercise during the descent, too.
Some tips for better control during ascents include:
- Ensuring that you are properly weighted. Overweighted divers have to manage a larger bubble inside their BCDs.
- Maintaining close to neutral buoyancy.
- Being in horizontal trim, which will create more drag while changing depths.
- Dumping gas from your BCD in frequent short bursts to stay ahead of gas expansion.
- Paying attention to how your breathing (depth of each breath) affects your buoyancy. If you begin to get a little positively buoyant, decrease the air inside your lungs by exhaling. If you are neutrally buoyant and desire to move up in the water column, simply inhale a little more deeply.
Mr Carcharodon
Contributor
diver 85
Contributor
S--L--O--W...........& Paladin, we were taught 'your smallest' bubble, long ago.....& it works, too!!!(@ least the 1st 20 years it did)......Now days, I just eyeball everything..........
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