New Divemaster air consumption

[KitHuff]

If I was like that was then I would not be diving with a lot of dive centers in Asia. There are always people doing DM courses with less diving experience than I have. I have dived with DM's that are newly certified. I never ask to see their log books. You as a diver should not rely on the DM but be happy they are there to assist if you have an issue. Real life experiences I have those but many new DM's do not. The DM would have rescue cert and have recent EFR.

I have dived with new instructors who have less experience than I have. New DM's I have seen some tend to over monitor the dive group and then find out they are the one running low on air as they have done too much checking of divers.

I would dive with this chap doing his DM course now. The dive center would say hey we are doing very shallow dives with a new DM and OW certs would you care to join that dive. I've done this many times. Then the DM can pair me up with a diver. This does not bother me at all. If I want to do deeper dives to say 35m then I ask to be assigned to a group doing deeper dives.

I believe the OP should really do some more diving and gain experience. His high air consumption is a worry as he has to be able to have enough air to share with other divers in an emergency.

The OP has found a passion for diving. That's great as he will be wanting to learn things and he wants to improve his skillset. To do that he needs more diving. Working as a DM will get him a lot more dives than maybe he can afford to pay for as a customer.

You mention diving with a new DM and being okay with it when they do not have much experience. Was that when you had 100 dives, 200, 300, more? I have less than 20. I do not believe it would be the same situation for me as it is for you. I am sure it is okay when you have a lot of experience. It is not okay when you do not and you are paying for the DM having that experience. How can I count on a DM to help if they do not have the experience? I understand why he wants to be a DM. If he is going to be a good DM, then I expect him to understand why I am not comfortable diving with him.

 

[BlueTrin]

You mention diving with a new DM and being okay with it when they do not have much experience. Was that when you had 100 dives, 200, 300, more? I have less than 20. I do not believe it would be the same situation for me as it is for you. I am sure it is okay when you have a lot of experience. It is not okay when you do not and you are paying for the DM having that experience. How can I count on a DM to help if they do not have the experience? I understand why he wants to be a DM. If he is going to be a good DM, then I expect him to understand why I am not comfortable diving with him.

It’s because the difference between a guide and a DM is thin in some places.

What you want is not a DM but a guide.

In some places the DM act like a guide in some others the DM is less likely to be a guide. If you do not have enough experience say something to the dive op and ask them if you should hire a guide or if you need to bring a more experienced buddy.

It’s understandable you may want a more experienced person with you.

 

[johndiver999]

Didn't read too many posts... but if the guy is 240 and large he is going to use more air. He should be strong enough to carry a bigger tank.

Doing yoga on the couch is silly. He needs to have enough gas to provide meaningful support for customers/students and can't be a professional cutting the dive early or not having sufficient reserves. Get a bigger tank

 

[scubadada]

,,,He needs to have enough gas to provide meaningful support for customers/students and can't be a professional cutting the dive early or not having sufficient reserves. Get a bigger tank

Hi @Orenda

...Following your RMV will give you an idea of progress you have made in your gas consumption. Once you know your average RMV, you can use the information to estimate the gas you would need to execute any profile you will be diving. Say you want to execute a 50 min dive with an average depth of 50 ft and that your RMV is 0.8 cu ft/min (on the high side of the distribution). This dive would require a touch over 100 cu ft of gas. You would probably want something like 120 cu ft of gas, a HP120 steel tank would work for example....

 

[yle]

Will I encounter problems as a DM? Ive never been the diver that required the group to turn around because of low air, but worried I’ll lead a dive and have to turn before a paying customer needs to. Is there anything I can do to decrease my air consumption?

A few thoughts:

After ~100 dives, you should find that your air consumption has improved. Keep diving, there's nothing you can really do to force your air consumption to improve sooner. It's a gradual process... just keep diving.

More important: DO NOT GUIDE divers until you have reached the point that you are confident your air consumption will be better than 99% of the people you guide. (There will always be some that are better... but that just means you and your guest get a nice long dive.) The problem with guiding divers while you are concerned about your air consumption is that the concern will distract you from the task of taking care of your guests. Any distraction to a guide, assuming you have a duty of care for your guests, can be dangerous. It would be tragic on many levels if that distraction led to an accident... not only do you have an injured (or worse) guest, but your career as a dive guide would take a serious hit.

Don't rush it. Far too many enthusiastic new divers want to rush ahead to become DM's or instructors. Take a moment to appreciate that a long career as a dive pro should start with a long time developing a level of comfort in the water.

 

[Damselfish]

Didn't read too many posts... but if the guy is 240 and large he is going to use more air. He should be strong enough to carry a bigger tank.

Doing yoga on the couch is silly. He needs to have enough gas to provide meaningful support for customers/students and can't be a professional cutting the dive early or not having sufficient reserves. Get a bigger tank

I don't think doing "yoga on the couch" is silly. Is it likely to be the whole solution for a big guy - no. Get a bigger tank - sure. But there is much to be said for yoga and yogic breathing in diving, and it would probably help.

 

[johndiver999]

He weighs more than probably 75-90% of the divers and you expect him to have air consumption that is better than 99% of divers? That is ridiculous, especially if you allow children and women to dive.

Chasing a lower RMV is not particularly productive in itself. If someone says (said) get off your aZZZ and hit the bike, pool, or treadmill and improve your actual aerobic conditioning, that might be somewhat productive and beneficial.

My advice would be to get freedive fins as well. They will improve mobility, speed and should reduce air consumption if moderate activity is involved.

It is ridiculous to think that a person who is literally twice as large as another, should necessarily use the same tank, especially if they are working and chasing crazy customers around who are doing stupid and unpredictable things that often can not be foreseen or prevented. He will ALWAYS be venerable to influences he can not control and is actually responsible for.

You want a divemaster be a strong diver, good situational awareness and also have more than enough air to handle things. And OK, he can do yoga, if he wants. LOL

 

[Wibble]

Technique counts probably more than fitness. Someone who does one good kick can go further than someone flapping away and using loads of energy in the process.

 

[Damselfish]

You mention diving with a new DM and being okay with it when they do not have much experience. Was that when you had 100 dives, 200, 300, more? I have less than 20. I do not believe it would be the same situation for me as it is for you. I am sure it is okay when you have a lot of experience. It is not okay when you do not and you are paying for the DM having that experience. How can I count on a DM to help if they do not have the experience? I understand why he wants to be a DM. If he is going to be a good DM, then I expect him to understand why I am not comfortable diving with him.

As an experienced diver I don't want to be guided by an inexperienced DM either. True, I don't expect a DM to have more dives than me at this point. (And in most situations I want a guide, if anything.) But I do expect them to be competent.

I was on a trip once to a resort in Utila with all of 2 DMs - one very experienced and one that I'm sure had just barely finished her DM. (She was asking people to sign her logbook after dives, never seen that before.) The resort was mostly filled with a group. The experienced DM went with a bunch of macho guys in the group that just wanted to dive deep. The rest of us got stuck with the newbie. It took us a couple 2-tanks of giving her the benefit of the doubt before we stopped being puzzled by her actions and realized she had absolutely no clue what she was doing or where she was going. We mostly blew her off after that, probably would have done it sooner but we'd made friends with the other divers, and for various reasons they were inclined to stick with the DM. She wasted our time. (And had there been a problem, I'm skeptical she would have been useful.)

 

[Tracy]

I started diving less than a year ago, but I immediately fell in love with it and went all in. I’ve started my divemaster course and intend to do the IDC after 6 months as a divemaster. I’m confident and comfortable with my skills, except air consumption. I’m 6’2” 240 lbs so I suck a lot of air. 20-30 ft I average an hour but at 50 ft it’s more like 35-40 mins (with 3 min SS and coming up with 5-6 bar). Will I encounter problems as a DM? Ive never been the diver that required the group to turn around because of low air, but worried I’ll lead a dive and have to turn before a paying customer needs to. Is there anything I can do to decrease my air consumption?

Dive more. Seek guidance to work on trim and buoyancy. Swimming divers burn air, resting divers floating peacefully use less.
Don't use your size an excuse, it really has very little effect on your consumption. The size typically goes in hand with aerobic fitness which has a lot to do with breathing. I have lost a massive amount of weight in the last couple of years, but prior to the pandemic, I was 6'1" 320 pounds. My SAC rate was on par or better than 90% of divers. It comes from comfort and relaxation.
It isn't a sprint to the end, it is a progression. Dive a lot. Seeking fundies training is usually the fastest path to good trim and buoyancy. I did it the hard way and spent years and years figuring it out on my own, then I took fundies and I was incredibly annoyed with how much I progressed in less than a week.