How to conserve air???

[kenbert61]

Getting your own gear creates more comfort also if you are renting.

 

[islanduni]

Buy a sea scooter!

 

[Limoges Diver]

Buy a sea scooter!

Groan...

 

[mainediver8169]

I have the same issue and have been told the same thing dive often and it will improve or at least should. I was given some advice about a 6 count inhale and 8 count exhale and if that did not work then try 5 and 7 till it feels comfortable, what induced your inhale is the CD in your lungs so I was told and so if you exhale it all or most all of it out you will not be taking as rapid or deep inhalations. It has worked some but I am using like a 4 6 count. Anyhow I am a newbie and of course and just repeating what I have learned but it does seem to help...my wife still has 1000 PSI in her AL80 When I am down to 700 on a 100. I cycle and am in pretty decent cardiovascular shape so I doubt that makes a huge difference. I agree with the dive more input...plus its more diving

 

[RJP]

1.) Slow down
2.) Get your weighting right
3.) Slow down
4.) Get your trim horizontal
5.) Slow down
6.) Don't use your hands/arms
7.) Slow down
8.) Use more efficient propulsion techniques
9.) Slow down

Then, when you've done all that... slow down some more, you're still going too fast!

 

[Togalive]

I've been using military scout sniper breathing techniques for awhile when getting ready for the hunting season, and it has shown some drastic improvements, although I would advise you to NOT use it while underwater. Its pretty simple, 4 seconds to breathe in, hold it without tension in your face or body for 4 seconds (1 one thousand 2 two thousand, etc...) then breathe out completely over the next four full seconds, then wait for a full four seconds with empty lungs without tension in your face or body. The goal is meant to increase your overall time between breaths by lowering your heartrate, and I have experienced a huge decrease in my overall "breathing rate". Like I said, dont practice this in the water as it involves holding your breath, but by all means give it a try out of the water, and eventually you'll find it is incredibly useful in stressful or high adrenaline situations. Personally, I've been able to lower my heart rate from a normal 60 bpm, to a sustained low of 46 bpm (I'm 5'7'' 150 lbs, Max bpm when mountain biking is 205), and I have been able to increase my breath in/breath out (no hold between) time to a comfortable 12-14 seconds once a lower heart rate is achieved. Its done wonders for me in the water, and when on the hunt looking through a rifle scope (not to mention anytime I get stressed!) I hope it does the same for you!

 

[kaerius]

Another thing that has helped me is a fairly simple one, breath in through the mouth as normal, but exhale only through the nose. It reduces dead air space ever so slightly, but more importantly I find it easier to exhale slowly through the nose than the mouth. As a side effect bonus, you'll never get mask squeeze.

 

[knowone]

Kaerius. Will you please re think what ever it is you are thinking.

 

[fjpatrum]

I have the same issue and have been told the same thing dive often and it will improve or at least should. I was given some advice about a 6 count inhale and 8 count exhale and if that did not work then try 5 and 7 till it feels comfortable, what induced your inhale is the CD in your lungs so I was told and so if you exhale it all or most all of it out you will not be taking as rapid or deep inhalations. It has worked some but I am using like a 4 6 count. Anyhow I am a newbie and of course and just repeating what I have learned but it does seem to help...my wife still has 1000 PSI in her AL80 When I am down to 700 on a 100. I cycle and am in pretty decent cardiovascular shape so I doubt that makes a huge difference. I agree with the dive more input...plus its more diving

There are probably several other factors as to why your wife has more gas than you do:
First, men, especially newbies like us, tend to swim faster and move more under water than women do. That extra speed and movement will make you use gas faster, even if you're generally in better cardiovascular shape than your wife.
Second, being in trim is difficult for most of us to accomplish as newbs. For some reason the few women I've seen learning often have it easier than men do, but I'm not sure why or if that's just anecdotal and my observations are completely wrong. Either way, your specifics may be that your wife just stays in better trim than you do.
Third, if you're over-weighted you're going to work harder and "bounce" more which leads back to the first point. If your wife's weighting is matched better she'll automatically have an easier time of 1 and 2 than you will.
Fourth, maybe she just has less anxiety in the water than you do. Most of us think we're comfortable as newbies but I suspect (I don't know because I haven't had enough dives) that real comfort comes somewhere between the 20 and 30 dives count and we have subconscious concerns that are affecting our breathing rates. I know for a fact that I have them (only 7 dives) because I can tell when my breathing changes and I actively think about slowing down my breathing and not biting so hard on my mouthpiece.

As far as I can tell, as a newb, the best advice is to practice slow breathing on land and dive more. There are too many other factors, as a newb, affecting things for you to actually do anything better than those two things until you've gotten a fair number of dives under your belt.

 

[JTinSD]

All this talk of practice is certainly true. My SAC rate went from .6+ something to .5 and .4 something from my 33rd dive.

I just went through my log looking at SAC rates, and it seems, like magic, my air consumption improved dramatically starting with my 35th dive. A lot of things came together - my weighting was dialed in, I had been diving with some very experienced divers, but I think mostly it was that I was very focused on buoyancy.

I am 5'10" 250lb, muscular (but fat, too). I have not lost any weight in the seven months since certifying, but my conditioning is much improved. In addition to diving I am back in the gym on a regular basis.

I had some advice after diving with a very experienced diver as to weighting, economy of movement and buoyancy focus, and combined with just diving more, it began to pay off at dive #35. That was a week ago, and it continues to improve. I now have 45 dives, and as I continue to focus on perfecting buoyancy, my air consumption is improving as well.

But really, as others have posted, it is all about dive, dive, dive and dive some more.

IMHO, of course.