New Diver, and apparently quite an Air Hog. Tips on reducing air use?

[OttoDog]

Recently OW certified, along with my wife. Our few dives, I'm blowing through my air while she's coasting.
I was a smoker for 20+ years, but have been smoke free for 4-5 yrs now.
I'll reach 1000 psi while she's still at >1800 psi, and the dive's cut short.
We travel to dive, so I don't know if using HP100's is an option, since I understand most dive shops overseas don't offer them(?).
Any tips/ideas on what I can do to stop being the weak link?

 

[mainedvr]

While it may not always be the case but, as you dive more and get more relaxed and learn how to control yourself in the water, get your weighing correct if it is not. You should find that your air consumption goes down, again may or may not be the case. Oh and my wife and I have a definite difference in air consumption she has always been better than I but I have closed the gap....

 

[boulderjohn]

In many cases women, especially small, fit women, will have better air consumption, often by a lot, than do men of pretty good ability. As an instructor, I have pretty good air consumption for a guy my size, but I have had female students do better than I right from the start.

The most important thing to do is relax, breathe slowly and easily, and minimize movement. Make sure your buoyancy is correct--many divers are not buoyant and are constantly wasting air as they kick to maintain their depth. Stop kicking and see what happens. If you start sinking right away, you need more air in the BCD (and you might be overweighted). A typical dive should be a very relaxing experience. Try to get the image in your mind that you are about to fall asleep. Breathe that way. Move that way. Get into a Zen-like state. Be one with the dive.

 

[Cave Diver]

Women almost always have much better air consumption than men do. It's something you might as well get used to.

As far as reducing your consumption, a few things may go a long way.

1. Dive! Even if you thing you're comfortable, you'll likely find with experience that you relax more and as your buoyancy and skill improve, you'll use less gas trying to maintain your position in the water column.

2. Streamline your gear. Big loops of hoses, dangly items, loose fitting BCD, etc all increase your drag in the water, take more effort to move and increase your consumption.

3. Stop moving your hands. Newer divers tend to fin with their hands a lot due to lack of proper weighting/buoyancy. Practice clasping your hands in front of you to reduce this tendency. You'll also find that the more you dive, the more this will go away.

4. Learn to control your breathing. Long slow inhales, a brief pause, then long slow exhales. Try counting slowly to 5 as you breathe in and out to develop a regular breathing pattern. Especially if something excites you or causes you stress.

5. Dive!

 

[ianr33]

Agree with all the above.

Get someone to video you in the water. Are you horizontal,or are you head up at 45 degrees like a lot of new divers? If so you are probably overweighted.

 

[jar546]

Buoyancy control, Buoyancy control, Buoyancy control, Buoyancy control

 

[SnorkelLA]

Take a PPB class and dive a lot. You'll notice once you get your weighting correct and become more comfortable in the water that our SAC will drop tremendously


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[BabyDuck]

s l o w d o w n...

and when you think you're going slow, then slow down some more. lots of new divers want to see the whole ocean in one dive and burn through lots and lots of air trying to achieve that. yes, check your weight even if you checked it 3 dives ago - there's a spot where new divers (or divers using new gear) can shed lots of lead quickly & maybe you're there. yes, make your hands still - put them in your cummerbund, your armpits, cross them, clasp them. yes, check that you aren't trying to swim at a 45 degree angle. all these things are important, but so is slowing down.

 

[Starcruiser]

Agree with all of the above... RELAX and stop worrying about your air consumption. As was stated above, the whole idea is to relax and enjoy the trip. Worrying about being an air hog will contribute to being one. Check your weighting, slow down, and relax.

 

[supergaijin]

Jump in a pool, go down to the bottom and try to get your body in a catatonic state. (If you're doing this in a public pool- best tell the staff before hand).

What we a retrying to do underwater is to reduce our heart-rate and breathing to only just support our minimum functions. A bit like Star Trek when they shut down all non-critical parts of the Enterprise to conserve power.

Right now, try to imagine breathing air through a straw. As an ex-smoker this should be easier for you, especially if you've watched Cheech and Chong movies and got all the jokes.

Try to extend your inhalation so that you're breathing in for around 4-5 seconds, breathe out for the same.

Once you can do that, the next trick is to do it underwater.
After that, the next trick is to do it before you even jump in the water.

The relaxation that people talk about comes from experience, knowing the procdures for descents/ascents, neutral buoyancy, equalising, communication etc etc. Knowing it well reduces anxiety, which reduces breathing.