Air Consumption Issues

[Schwob]

I think there is a difference between not feeling anxious and actually being calm. Even if you are slightly stressed your sac will probably be way higher than if you are in a really calm state. I am very conscious about my state of calmness (or lack thereof) just based on the timing of my breaths. You might try doing a count (1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, etc) to see how fast your breathing is when you first descend and start your dive, then measure again once you feel you have really calmed down during the dive and see what the difference is. Just to compare, when I'm zenned out, my breathing is about 7 counts in and 8 out (unless I am changing depth then I adjust the count to whatever I need - or if I see a shark approaching ). My sac is usually about .40 on a normal warm water high visibility rec dive.

I can barely breathe that little laying in bed... maybe another kind of anxiety alltogether...

But I get it... and for some reason it just takes me quite a while to reallt calm down. The airintegrated DC is telling me the story pretty clearly. And then of course, thinking about using less air does not help at all.
I will try some BAT (big as tank) dives with my son on an AL80 and see if that in itself let's me calm down faster.

 

[Schwob]

Yep, and he wants to sell the book on Kickstarter. Why would anyone even consider buying a book that way?

Edit: somehow the post I replied to / quoted vanished.

 

[scubadada]

Yep, and he wants to sell the book on Kickstarter. Why would anyone even consider buying a book that way?

You can sell anything...

 

[NYCNaiad]

If the book was well reviewed, I might be interested if it were available electronically. (I often pick up dive-related books just to keep my knowledge fresh & see if there are any new methods for things.)

But Kickstarter isn't needed & I wouldn't fund such a project there. These days, you can publish books yourself fairly easily. And most Kickstarter projects fail. Even if they don't, they are a lot of work unless you get really, really lucky.... but that normally only happens with niche items, not books.

 

[CaveDiverJD]

i agree with all those points. And I agree that good education should cure a lot of it. This is all stuff that most divers figure out after a while. The idea here is the help front-load that info to early stage divers to help them learn earlier what experienced divers learn over time and experience. it's probably not of interest to experienced divers.

 

[tbone1004]

i agree with all those points. And I agree that good education should cure a lot of it. This is all stuff that most divers figure out after a while. The idea here is the help front-load that info to early stage divers to help them learn earlier what experienced divers learn over time and experience. it's probably not of interest to experienced divers.

so what is in there that wouldn't be taught in a properly conducted OW course?

 

[CaveDiverJD]

Here's a very, very general summary - physiology and physics beyond the basic open water stuff, concepts from Peak Performance Buoyancy, exercises to aid in breathing, more advanced concepts as to ALL the places and reasons some use more air than others, fine tuning tips for breathing, gear, technique, exercises to help measure and chart progress, common mistakes that lead to more air consumption both in and out of the water, and more. When I wrote the course and submitted it to PADI, they accepted it as a distinctive specialty and made PPB a pre-req for the class.

 

[CaveDiverJD]

@tbone1004 - I note your level of experience. As I was suggesting, this is not something someone of your level of experience would be interested in. And as we all know, unfortunately, many to not get a properly taught open water course, and we all know that many of the concepts don't "stick" with divers so they don't often get improved upon, or at least not intentionally. And we also all know that many divers never continue their education so they lose out on that knowledge that could assist them through coned. That's the concept behind this idea. I've trained many divers with the course I wrote and consistently see measured improvement of 15 to even 40% over a few dives after the course. Just thought others may benefit from it too.

 

[CaveDiverJD]

Yep, and he wants to sell the book on Kickstarter. Why would anyone even consider buying a book that way?

Edit: somehow the post I replied to / quoted vanished.

If the book was well reviewed, I might be interested if it were available electronically. (I often pick up dive-related books just to keep my knowledge fresh & see if there are any new methods for things.)

But Kickstarter isn't needed & I wouldn't fund such a project there. These days, you can publish books yourself fairly easily. And most Kickstarter projects fail. Even if they don't, they are a lot of work unless you get really, really lucky.... but that normally only happens with niche items, not books.

concept here: i have plenty to do with my normal job. it's something i'd write if people were interested and wanted it. if not, there's not a lot of reason to do it. kickstarter seems an efficient way to sort that out.

 

[TMHeimer]

A lot of good stuff here about improving gas consumption--probably all or most having been said before here on SB as well as in countless publications. I like the "relax" point a lot. When I purposely go like Hell to get somewhere I like to watch my SPG needle--the difference is still amazing. Even in 20' or less of water.