Air consumption

[gitmo234]

Hello,

I'm working on my AOW cert now and today I went out diving in Panama City Beach, FL. I found that I went through air very rapidly. I'm wondering what techniques anyone has for reducing the speed. I know there are a lot of variables such as depth, experience etc. So here's what I think Influenced it:

1) This was only my second boat dive and the first one was in January..so its been awhile.
2) When I hit the water today for some reason (on the first dive) I had a lot of anxiety and felt like I couldnt catch my breath the second I went under. I knew it was mental so I calmed myself down a bit and once I hit about 40 feet I relaxed
3) I had a terrible week in military training and had almost no sleep every night and little food. I rested on friday after we were released and ate/napped a lot but I think I'm still kinda tired from it.

Would these play a factor at all? I went down to about 90 feet on both dives today. On the second one I got a bit narc'ed when I was navigating. I completely forgot what I was doing and let go of my compass and started taking video/photos. The instructor gave me a tap and I realized what happened, looked at my compass and I was way off. So that was the end of that one.

Lessons learned: Plan better. I didnt know I had this kinda week ahead of me before I planned the trip. Had I of known I wouldnt have taken the trip immediately after.

Now to my original question..here's a video...you can hear my breathing pattern. Does it seem too quick or irregular?

Panama City Beach Sunken Ship SCUBA Dive - YouTube

 

[Dr Dog]

The tip I got which I follow, is exhale twice as long as you inhale. I do it everywhere now, especially while walking the dog, where it is alot easier to count your breath, and my dog wont look at me like I am crazy.

But I checked your video, it it would seem it was perfectly normal for someone who was breathing very fast, most likely anxiety. I was doing the exact thing on my second dive, I was on the boat after about 25 minutes, while the guys I suspected were in worse shape than me lasted 45 minutes

 

[KD8NPB]

Slloowwwww doowwwnnnnnn.
Get comfortable.

Don't be afraid to stop for a second and get control of your breath. I have found myself to be overexerted sometimes while moving...when that's the case, I just slow down or stop. I do not have an adjustable regulator, so it's slightly negative pressure to breathe. If I find this is hindering my ability to gain control, I depress the purge button VERY slightly to decrease the breathing resistance. With modern adjustable regulators, it may be easier just to crank the knob until gas pressure is slightly positive.

I breathe deeply and exhale slowly until my pulse goes down and the feeling of anxiety goes away.

It's that simple!

The best solution though? Dive more! It'll all be second nature eventually.

 

[BDSC]

If I were you I'd leave the camera at home until you had more experience diving and felt more at ease underwater. You mentioned you were narc'ed and forgot what you were doing. Add to that you are trying to shoot video and I can easily see you forgetting to check your air. depth, etc. You have plenty of time to do video in the future. Get the basics down first and then move on to doing video later. No need to rush things.

Just my opinion of course.

 

[gitmo234]

Thanks for the suggestions! All were great. I dont know why I felt anxious with the dives today but I'm going to remember to stop and relax my breathing. I'm also ditching my camera tomorrow (not what I want to do, but I need to do it).

I have a feeling that averaging 45 minutes of sleep per night and about one meal a day and lots of physical stuff had a lot to do with contributing to me to getting narc'ed. I rested, but not enough. Once I was off the boat for the day today I've been resting and it's now 8pm local and I'm about to hit the sack again to rest up.

I'll report back if there are any changes in progress.

 

[BDSC]

I have a feeling that averaging 45 minutes of sleep per night and about one meal a day and lots of physical stuff had a lot to do with contributing to me to getting narc'ed.

Absolutely! I think you'll see quite a difference with plenty of rest and food. You'll do just fine! Good luck.

 

[gitmo234]

It was quite an experience. He signaled for me to nav at 180 degrees. I start off and about halfway through I remember realizing I had let go of my compass and was focused on pictures and looking around. The instructor tapped me, I grabbed my compass and looked down, I was heading 270 degrees. He asked where the line was and I had no clue. He lead me back to the line and that was about the end of that. Laughs and lessons were had at the surface

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I'll echo the suggestion to forget the camera until you've got a lot more experience (e.g., maybe at least 30 dives) and can do all the required skills decently without much effort (e.g., buoyancy, navigation, etc.). Also, it's probably not a good suggestion to go diving with a week of 45min sleeps per night, and if you're going to do that, leave the camera at home. Your body was still trying to catch up with the REM, even with the naps from the previous day.

As for your air consumption, you nailed the reasons right on.
1. Anxiety - regardless of where it came from, anxiety always increases air consumption,
2. Your second boat dive - still a nervous, new experience,
3. Narc-ed - strange new feeling, maybe a little panic (note that you should ascend a bit when narc-ed to decrease it),
4. Camera and navigation - too much task-loading,
5. Mistake on navigation - causes nervousness/embarrassment or mild panic,
6. Depth - 90ft is still pretty new for you

As your body gets more comfortable with all aspects of diving (only possible with more dives), your air consumption will decrease significantly to a stable level. So keep diving!!! :cool3:

 

[arthurmnev]

Tired -- means you might kick a bit lighter but more frequently = more air
Relaxing is important.
reduce weight as much as possible -- even though you might be balanced with BCD your MASS goes up, hence the power needed to propel it forward, hence the air
Streamline....

One of the things that helps me to relax is to know that as long as I'm with NDL limits and no overhead, I can pop up and time I want with no side effects.
On the topic of being tired -- I did 4 dives today: dry suit, hood, 14 lbs of weight, flashlights etc... by the last dive I was going through air about 2x the speed of the first one and that is on 32% nitrox, 21% air would probably be worse.

 

[supergaijin]

Again, leave the camera behind on at least the first dive of the trip. If you were doing a course with me, unless it was Photography or Fish ID, I wouldn't allow cameras while doing training dives.

Practice breathing on land. Lie down, hand on stomach. Breathe out completely and start to inhale. If your chest rises before your stomach, you'll need to concentrate on breathing more efficiently- your belly should rise before the chest. Practice while going to sleep, then practice while sitting, then walking etc. This is how divers 'should' breathe.

Stay shallow- no need to start hitting depths just yet. There is the normal relationship between depth and gas use, but depth just adds to nerves and nerves starts a bad breathing rythmn.

4 secs to breathe in, 4 secs to breathe out. As if you're sipping hot drinks or sucking air through a straw. Some people can control their diaphragm alone, me I use the back of my tongue at the top off my mouth and suck air around it. This doubles as airway control.

Mentally prepare for the dive- don't over think and work yourself up, but understand and visualise what you're doing. It sounds a bit new-age, but having a mental picture of the steps you take gearing up, doing entry, descent, achieving buoyancy, releasing air upon ascent and then surfacing is a very good way of calming yourself down. A minute or so before entry, with your gear on etc. just focus on slowing down your breathing and heart-rate. Hit the water, turn, swim away from the boat, and again, give yourself a few deep breaths. Don't take your mask off or tread water unnecessarily, reg out, mouthpiece down, take a few deep breaths and prepare for descent.

Descend to the minimum that you need to- some reefs/wrecks are deeper than others. Go to the shallowest part where you're protected and stop. Fine tune buoyancy, get in trim. Look around, know where your buddy is, check gauges, if using a camera, turn it on and find the right settings, get aware and start your dive in the right frame of mind.

Stay shallow! Just because you're presenting an AOW card, doesn't mean you have to go deep. Ge tthe most out of your dive time by staying shallow. It takes some discipline for sure, but you'll learn more by maximising your time underwater. If the operator persists in planning deep dives- either get firm or find another shop/guide.