how did you lower your air use

[ladyfishdvr]

When I dive I am more relaxed than at any other time even when I am asleep. I feel like a fish and my gills grow. I always have lots of air in my tank at the end of a dive when everyone else is ready to go up.

 

[tplyons]

For me it was SLOWING DOWN.

I'm from New Jersey, in a hectic job. I'm rushing everywhere on the surface and it translated underwater too. My regular buddy was a speed demon too, so we never noticed. When we started our DM program, it really hit us how hurried we always were. We realized this, slowed down, and now enjoy our dives more, seeing more, and lasting longer.

 

[tracydr]

For me it was SLOWING DOWN.

I'm from New Jersey, in a hectic job. I'm rushing everywhere on the surface and it translated underwater too. My regular buddy was a speed demon too, so we never noticed. When we started our DM program, it really hit us how hurried we always were. We realized this, slowed down, and now enjoy our dives more, seeing more, and lasting longer.

Slowing down makes a big difference. I've found out how much lately by practicing breath hold swimming. By going slower, I can actually go much farther than if I try to hurry.

 

[Doc Harry]

how did you lower your air use

I left my camera at home

 

[mathauck0814]

I bought a rebreather Suddenly I use ~6ft^3 of gas in about an hour. But seriously, you got all the good advice you need - better trim, more time in the water to get more comfortable, etc. It just comes with time.

---------- Post added October 4th, 2013 at 01:29 PM ----------

We use Air Integrated (AI) dive computers as a tool to improve air consumption.

If only there were a Scubapro dealer on Scubaboard to sell us one of these miracle devices!

 

[tdtaylor]

For me it was SLOWING DOWN.

I'm from New Jersey, in a hectic job. I'm rushing everywhere on the surface and it translated underwater too. My regular buddy was a speed demon too, so we never noticed. When we started our DM program, it really hit us how hurried we always were. We realized this, slowed down, and now enjoy our dives more, seeing more, and lasting longer.

Another plus is you can outlast your students.

Last weekend I severely outlasted several new guides in training, and did they hear about it from their trainers after the dive (they almost ran out of air on a 50 minute, 45 foot deep dive on 3kpsi 80's).

Terry

 

[kneptoon]

I noticed that I was using a lot more air at the beginning of the dive than at any other time. I figured that in the gear donning and entry period we are more task oriented and just busier than once we are 10 minutes into the actual dive. I have tried to focus on relaxing, not hurrying and getting ready sooner before getting into the water. This seems to help.

 

[Doomnova]

When my SAC dropped down a bunch it was after a well taught Peak Performance Buoyancy class. That got me weighted smack on (but for comfort I wore a few lbs of extra weight since I was still getting used to my drysuit). The biggest things I found that changed were the following(not in order of importance as I see it all as a package).

1) slowing down and not racing since I could hover and control my fine buoyancy with my lungs. After setting my coarse buoyancy with my BCD.
2) my trim was worked on a bit but I never have had bad trim. Mainly it was shifting weights around to make keeping my trim easier.
3) relaxing. I knew after the class that I could just hover over something and look at it without moving a ton or in the case of currents just drift along till I decide to look at something.
4) Learning more efficient kick styles. With your buoyancy control and trim taken care of you can easily open the door to using more effective kick styles such as the frog kick and helicopter turn(back kick is still a work in progress here) that don't waste as much energy as the free style (which I only use when i have to get somewhere in a rush or deal with a heavy current both rarely occur) or using your hands to turn.
5)calm breaking, breathing rhythmic fashion which becomes easier when your relaxed and a calm.

I think almost all this come down to air you use air by struggling to keep trim and buoyancy(adding and removing air from BCD and drysuit), and becoming stressed increasing metabolism and thus upping air consumption rate on top of loosing control of the above and well there goes your sac rate out the door.

---------- Post added October 5th, 2013 at 01:55 PM ----------

I noticed that I was using a lot more air at the beginning of the dive than at any other time. I figured that in the gear donning and entry period we are more task oriented and just busier than once we are 10 minutes into the actual dive. I have tried to focus on relaxing, not hurrying and getting ready sooner before getting into the water. This seems to help.

Saw this after I posted. Thats due to putting air into your BCD and I think a tinge of excitement as well as mammalian diving reflext not kicking in. For me in my gear which is a drysuit and about 36 lbs of weight (4 I don't need but incase someone needs them I take em off the top of the tank valve where I keep em). It takes about 200ish PSI to get neutral at my usual 60-80ish ft of depth.

 

[LanceRiley]

I was obsessed with lowering air use. as most of my buddies have at least 10years behind them.
Now after 2 years of diving...

I moved on to using backplates. (Aluminum)
got myself weighed right... remove all excess weights.
remove all excess stuffs that make me float... like wetsuit..

 

[TONY CHANEY]

I have not read the entire thread but believe it or not it was obtained by getting smaller tanks. I was using double 120's for more gas and I got them at a great price. What it really did was creat more drag and I needed extra air in the BC to float them not to even say anything about the walk to the entry point carrying that much extra weight. I went to 104's and it has made all the difference in the world. The 120's are now set up with H valves and are perfect for single tank off the cost wreck dives that are not too deep. I also get to use a smaller BC which reduces drag.