Air hog - need advice pls

[Sandtiger Steve]

I admit it - i'm a huge air hog. i don't understand why, and i am looking for any tips out there as to how to fix this. not only is being the first one up embarassing and unsafe (usually i am just down for about 25 minutes and really push the limits of the air gauge), but i risk missing the best part of the dive.

A little about me: I'm 40 years old, very healthy, in good shape (certainly more so than most of the folks on a given dive boat who stay down forever). I have AOW, about 100 dives, many in challenging places (like galapagos, jupiter, fl, etc). i have good buoyancy control (i almost never use the inflator). i feel very well trained and very comfortable and relaxed under water.

I usually rent regulators and it doesn't seem to matter what brand.

I've tried some advice - pretend like you're breating through a straw, holding my breath in intervals, etc. nothing is working. The only thing i've realized lately is that i do not breath "normally", ie like i breathe on land. On land, i pause after exhaling on each breath. During scuba, i am continually exhaling and inhaling, even though it's steady and calm breathing (like one would be doing on a slow jog).

Any advice pls? I am particularly interested in hearing from anyone who used to have this problem and then overcame it.

thanks!
Sandtiger Steve

 

[dave4868]

How big are you?

How active are the dives (for you)?

Using your hands a lot?

Are you leading the dives or following?

"Steady and calm breathing", but how fast, how deep? Maybe you're anxious. Is that a possibility?

Dave C

 

[DivingPrincessE]

This doesn't help your -how do I improve my air consumption- issue. There will be divers far more experienced than myself who will address that.

I do have a possible solution for your problem about being the first one up, well before everyone else. You should look into buying or renting bigger tanks. I dive with a steel 100, and my BF dives steel 120s and 130s and we have tons of air. They are a bit heavier than an AL80, but you mentioned being in shape...so it shouldn't be an issue. I'm a tiny 5'4 petite thing and I have no problem carrying the 100s around...so if I can do that, you can probably do the 120 or 130.

Plus with the steel tanks, you get to take weight off the weight belt or out of weight pockets.

 

[TSandM]

Steve, it sounds as though you are past the big hurdles for new divers -- anxiety about being in the water, and poor buoyancy control. At this point, how much gas you use is likely to be directly related to the effort you are expending while diving.

If you swim fast, you will burn gas.

If you use your hands a lot, you will burn gas, because hands are very inefficient methods of either propulsion or fine-tuning of position, but moving them around burns energy, creates CO2, and increases your need to breathe.

But the biggest culprit for a lot of people is inefficient propulsion. If you are perfectly horizontal in the water, no matter what kick you are using, the propulsive force is directed behind you, and all of it goes toward moving you where you want to go. If, on the other hand, you are diving at a 45 degree angle to the bottom (feet down), each time you kick, you are driving yourself upwards. In order to avoid ascending, you have to dive in a perpetual state of negative buoyancy*, and this means your net displacement from the component of the kick that is aimed upward is zero. That's all wasted energy, and every bit of it creates CO2 and increases your need to breathe.

The less you move, the less gas you burn. Horizontal trim helps. Using a kick like the frog kick, with a glide component, allows rest time and reduced gas usage. Going slowly also reduces gas usage, and permits you to find a lot of camouflaged creatures. Being balanced enough to STOP in the water to look at something, without any continued finning or hand movement, allows conservation of gas.

Efficiency, more than trying to correct your breathing pattern, is the way to use less gas. That said, if you are a large person with a lot of muscle mass, you are ALWAYS going to use more gas than someone smaller. My favorite dive buddy is one of the most beautiful, quiet, efficient divers I know, but his gas consumption is half again what mine is, and always will be.

Anyway, hope this helps.

*(she says, cringing at the memory of the thread where somebody pointed out that "negative buoyancy" is a contradiction in terms)

 

[Jorgy]

In my early days I used to blast through air.............I once did a 95 LP steel tank in 21 minutes at a 52 foot average depth.........

I never listened to my darling bride who would repeatedly tell me that I was racing around underwater............I wanted to see everything............and never stopped moving............

I wasn't until a DM in Roatan said..........man you are crazy fast underwater, slow down you'll see more...........

In my own mind I was just fining along...........that is the issue with being a runner in decent cardio shape, I never felt like I was swimming hard or putting real effort into it.............but the truth is I was really moving.........

So I switched to the kick and glide method.......with arms folded across chest.......every movement is in slow motion........I also make it a point to hang in the back of a dive group to make myself to go slow............

TSandM said in post long ago - diving is about floating around underwater not swimming................

Now my longest and deepest average depth dive was 57 minutes at 51 foot average depth (max 65 feet) and still came out of the water with 1050 psi on an AL 80...........

Hope this helps..........M

 

[scubafanatic]

I admit it - i'm a huge air hog. i don't understand why, and i am looking for any tips out there as to how to fix this. not only is being the first one up embarassing and unsafe (usually i am just down for about 25 minutes and really push the limits of the air gauge), but i risk missing the best part of the dive.

A little about me: I'm 40 years old, very healthy, in good shape (certainly more so than most of the folks on a given dive boat who stay down forever). I have AOW, about 100 dives, many in challenging places (like galapagos, jupiter, fl, etc). i have good buoyancy control (i almost never use the inflator). i feel very well trained and very comfortable and relaxed under water.

I usually rent regulators and it doesn't seem to matter what brand.

I've tried some advice - pretend like you're breating through a straw, holding my breath in intervals, etc. nothing is working. The only thing i've realized lately is that i do not breath "normally", ie like i breathe on land. On land, i pause after exhaling on each breath. During scuba, i am continually exhaling and inhaling, even though it's steady and calm breathing (like one would be doing on a slow jog).

Any advice pls? I am particularly interested in hearing from anyone who used to have this problem and then overcame it.

thanks!
Sandtiger Steve

.....check out this link: Neptune Dive and Ski - Links

(Diving With Ricardo and Careyitos:Secrets for Improving Air Consumption)

I found (and printed out hard copy of this article) 5 years ago and found it to be very helpful !

Karl

 

[thanksforallthefish]

Listen to TS&M ...

Diving is not about how fast you can go or how much distance you can cover (although i have dived with some that disagree about this ) ... relax, and take it easy ... you will see a lot more as well as using less air.

 

[under water]

It has pretty much been said.
three things to do to conserve air.
1. sloooowww way down.. don't even move .. stop.. flick the fins.. stop .. look around..
2. big tanks are my friend and probably yours too (this doesn't conserve air.. just gives you more).
3. try an easy breathing regulator. My air consumption improved (I'm still an air hog) when I got an Atomic reg (it's one of the 'cheap' ones). If your body thinks it isn't getting enough it will make you breath more.

4 .. OK 4 four things..
dive shallow.. If possible don't go down to the bottom as much and stay above the crowd in the light. You use less air the less deep you are.

and 5 .. OK five things.. listen to what TS&M said about how you are positioned. Are you really horizontal or are you at an angle finning up all the time.

relax

 

[pittyyofool]

What everyone has said is correct. There is one more thing that can effect ones breathing rate; That is the oxygen absorbtion efficiency of your body. On land Air has 21% O2 when inhaled, and upon exhalation most peoples breath has 15-18% O2. As you can see most people use a small percent of the inhaled O2 (14-28%). This is a generalization for most people, some humans are ODD. I have a friend that exhales only 11% O2 so he absorbs 48% of the inhaled O2. His body is almost twice as efficient than most. (I swear he takes one breath for every 2 of mine) This guy can say down for incredible amounts of time at 100FSW on a steel 65. Most people diving a 95 surface before him. On the other hand my dad exhales about 19.5%O2 and can blow threw a steel 95 in no time. My dads been diving for 40 years and his technique is good. He just breaths fast and deep, but he has to in order to get the required amount of oxygen in to his blood so his body can function. It is just a thought but you might be like my dad; and if so, I do not know of anything that can be done. Or it could be just needing an improvement on technique.

 

[AndyNZ]

As well as the other advice - take up yoga, it help you learn to control your breathing.