Advice to get lower SAC?

[scubadada]

As per @mi000ke, I believe your breathing pattern significantly contributes to your RMV. Rather than playing saxophone, I attribute my breathing to having been a competitive swimmer for many, many years.

I also diaphragmatically breathe. My pattern diving is the opposite of breathing on land. On land you generally inhale, immediately exhale, pause briefly, then inhale again. While diving, I more slowly inhale, pause briefly (open glottis), slowly exhale, and then immediately inhale again. The depth of breathing is the major control of depth. This breathing pattern came naturally to me while diving. It was quite a while before I paid enough attention to be able to describe it to others. To be clear, this is not breath holding/skip breathing. My breathing cycles are slow, continuous, and relaxed. I can easily increase the rate as the need arises, the pattern remains the same.

So, what do I get out of this? I'm a nearly 65 year old man, in very good, but not phenomenal, shape, a little overweight, a nonsmoker. For the last 1200 dives, my average RMV is 0.36 cf/min, 95% of them between 0.28 and 0.44. My RMV today is a little better than it was 15 years ago and has a slightly narrower range. For no stop diving, with an AL80, my dives are rarely limited by gas and I am able to take advantage of the NDLs allowed me with nitrox.

Pay attention to your weighting and buoyancy, trim, efficient swimming, and relax. Get as much practice and experience as you can. It may help some of you to take a look at your breathing.

Not that Scuba Diving Magazine is the ultimate source of information, but this 12 year old article still offers some good advice Dive Training: Save Your Breath

Good diving, Craig

 

[Clayton122]

-stop smoking
-relax and dive
-take up cycling

- your description of sac is unusable without relating it to cylinder size and average depth. What’s your surface RMV?

This is just on an AL-80.

RMV, is .565, and say an avg depth of about 60-70 ft.

I do cycle.

 

[Clayton122]

Frogkick: You might play with frog kick, its kick glide rhythm is very efficient for me. At low speed it is super efficient, and I can do a distance covering hurry in it with calmer breathing than with flutter kick. And my fins are sweet but not optimized for frog kick.

Fins: I don't know which ones, but they're your interface to the water.

Streamlined BP/W: your profile pic shows fairly bulging integrated weights up front, BP/W might help. Possibly challenging if you're DMing depending on shop.

Dive.

Two recent threads on RMV:
- Controlling and reducing air consumption
- Breathing

That pic is a bit old. That was a rental BC I was using at the time. My bcd is a scubapro hydros pro.

My fins are wither SP Novas, or jet fins. Depends on what I am doing.

I use frog a lot also.

 

[scubadada]

This is just on an AL-80.

RMV, is .565, and say an avg depth of about 60-70 ft.

I do cycle.

Hi @Clayton122

Your RMV is not bad, somewhere around average. RMV takes your cylinder (size and operating pressure) and average depth into account, one of biggest advantages over SAC. With less than a year of diving and less than 100 dives, I would imagine that your gas consumption will improve.

Out of interest, have you ever dived in warm, clear water to compare to your usual diving in the Great Lakes?

 

[mi000ke]

I'm a nearly 65 year old man, in very good, but not phenomenal, shape

I'm a year older, but I find that an hour on the elliptical every morning helps keep me upright, and is probably good for the lungs as well.

 

[scubadada]

I'm a year older, but I find that an hour on the elliptical every morning helps keep me upright, and is probably good for the lungs as well.

I'm with you, walk a couple miles with the wife and dog, elliptical, and weights every day. Swim May-Sept, bike in Florida when not diving

 

[jstrang]

Take up swimming. 60-120 lengths of the pool will do 3 things:
1. It will improve your cardiovascular fitness.
2. It will improve your comfort level in the water
3. It will improve your control of the breathing

While swimming focus on a good breath in, then breath out slowly and take another breath every 3rd stroke.

Enjoy!

 

[TooManyHobbies]

What I learned from watching my DM last week in Cozumel was

1) Breath slowly, but not so deep it affects buoyancy
2) Pause on inhale and exhale
3) Blow tiny bubbles

I increased my bottom times by about 10-20% depending on the dive over one week.

 

[Clayton122]

Hi @Clayton122

Your RMV is not bad, somewhere around average. RMV takes your cylinder (size and operating pressure) and average depth into account, one of biggest advantages over SAC. With less than a year of diving and less than 100 dives, I would imagine that your gas consumption will improve.

Out of interest, have you ever dived in warm, clear water to compare to your usual diving in the Great Lakes?

I have been fortunate enough to dive in nice warm waters a few times. A couple times down in Mexico, once in Florida, and once in the Dominican Republic. But the vast majority of my dives are in either the great lakes, or deep cold dark quarries.

 

[scubadada]

I have been fortunate enough to dive in nice warm waters a few times. A couple times down in Mexico, once in Florida, and once in the Dominican Republic. But the vast majority of my dives are in either the great lakes, or deep cold dark quarries.

How was your RMV in the benign environments?