So really I am that good? And those others are fabulous? I never knew we were THAT good. Those numbers just seem low?
On this thread:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/65982-sac-rate-what-normal.html almost 45% report better than .5 SAC, so it makes me wonder. Are half the people in the basic scuba board discussion liars or expert divers? Seems unlikely.
Of course if I am wrong, where can I get my expert patch for the old BC?
When determining what is considered to be average, expert, etc., a poll on ScubaBoard is not exactly the best source of information. A similar poll will indicate that 50% of all divers wear back plates and wings. Furthermore, you are citing a thread that can only be responded to by people who have measured their SAC rates. The majority of divers probably don't even know what SAC rate means let alone know what their actual rate is. I would expect that the overwhelming majority of divers who have actually measured their SAC rates to be at the expert level--I am frankly shocked that those results are so low.
Measuring SAC rates is something I do with all AOW students, all deep dive students, and all students in a couple of Distinctive Specialties I teach. I find that with not too much coaching, it is not all that hard to get a full sized adult male to the 0.5 range. I would fully expect someone who dives as much as you do to be in that area. It is much harder, though, to get much lower than that.
Some divers are significantly worse than that. I once had an AOW student measure at well over 1.5, and he did not improve all that much with the limits of the time I had to coach him. I told him that if there was anything he learned from the course, it was that he should not be doing deep dives without a whole lot of gas. Another student I had was an exceedingling fit adult male with an expert SAC rate when we did dives above 100 feet. When we did a dive to 130 feet in very dark conditions, though, he leaped to well over 1.0 because he suddenly got anxious about the depth and darkness.
Some people are good right away, with very little coaching. I certified two old friends earlier this year, and later did their AOW and dived with them in Australia a couple of weeks ago. The husband was not far from 0.5 when he did his OW dives, and the wife (who is fit and petite) was well below 0.5 from her first OW dive on.
My own rate varies. I am a big guy with pretty a pretty decent rate, but lots of people my size do much better. When I dive the Yucatan caves, meaning I have to swim continually while wearing a wet suit and double AL 80s, I am at about 0.55, which is pretty good but nothing to brag about. When I dive Florida caves while wearing a dry suit and heavy steel doubles, I jump over 0.7. Again, that is nothing to brag about at all--very experienced cave divers do much better than that.