Air Usage by Teenagers

[HowieDean]

Both from my experiance with my own son and the young guest I dive with that they tend to be allot more active and usually a bit more excited.

I think we sometimes get confussed when we talk about be comfortable and relaxed in relation to diving....

People who have no fear of the water still will get excited about other things.

Just being excited about going to a way cool place will up your air consumption.
Add to that usual lack of patience which leads them to DART here and there and it's easy to see why they use air.......

If you need to prove it get in about 15ft of water and race one of these kids to a spot about 100 yards away and see who uses the most air. You'll find your going to loose every time.

Like I said just cause you aren't relaxed doesn't mean you are necessarly SCARED.
I don't know how many people I've met who are totally confused on the issue and get a little defensive when you tell them they should relaxe........

 

[bluesbro1982]

I think that SAC has more to do with breathing technique than activity. When you are on the surface just breathing, you only process about 1/3 of the oxygen in the air that you inhale.

Want to improve your SAC? Take a Tai Chi class and learn some qigong (a form of standing meditation). When you are diving, breath like you are doing qigong.

What he said ^^

I can also add that learning to play a wind instrument is another way to learn this type of breathing, along with buddhist and / or hindu style meditative techniques. Playing woodwinds for 12 years, I can outlast most DM's with 10x my experience because I'm used to having to wait 20-45 seconds between breaths for a long phrase. The only people I've seen with longer breath times than people that meditate and / or play are physical therapists and distance runners who have pulse rates in the 50's and are used to timing their breathing longer under pressure...

 

[dive_lover88]

I'm 18.i can make an AL80 last for more than an hour and still get back with more air than some other divers. Maybe it's becoz i dont move about much and have a longer break between breath. But it really depends on the teenagers themselves on how they want to make their air last.

 

[TavernierBob]

I have been reading this thread with interest and feel that I wanted to inject some thoughts based on my experiences. I've been actively teaching divers for over 18 years and operating a dive operation in the Florida Keys for over 12. Having dealt with and witnessed divers from all levels and age groups most people don't seem to have much of an idea on how to deal with young divers. They don't like to be called children but in reality they are. Teens and specially pre-teens are children. They are not developed physically, mentally or emotionally enough to deal with the issues that divers have had to deal with since we started diving. Most tables and dive "rules" have been developed for adults with the assumption that children have the physical abilities, emotional stability and mental capacity to handle the stresses and concepts of being in an environment that is foreign to the human body. There have been several, actually very few, really good studies and papers written about the effects on younger divers. Some of the reasons being the certifying agencies have found a new market and don't want to miss out on the income. Some well intentioned parents feel they want to spend more time with their children and have not been informed well enough about the hazards, having been told that diving is safe and for anyone. The reality, based on my experience, is that young divers are at a much greater risk for injury because on their lack of physical and emotional development. Many parents that "learn to dive" with their children don't have the abilities to adequately and properly supervise their children while they're still trying to "learn" how to dive themselves. Supervisors of our local chamber have stated they treat a disproportionate number of children with diving injuries and in most cases very few if any "rules" of divng had been violated. They simply weren't prepared to be in the environment. There are a number of things that parents and dive leaders can do to decrease the chances for injury of young divers.
1. Children under the age of 16 should be tested for PFO and have a thorough physical exam prior to diving by a physician versed in hyperbarics.
2. Younger divers should have greater limits placed on them such as smaller tanks (whether they suck air or not), shallower depths (whether Mom or Dad want them to see the great wreck or not), shorter bottom times (whether they're finishing the dive with extra air or not), and closer supervision (not letting the younger divers zoom around 20, 30 or 50 feet away, and taught to have better techniques).
Realize that most training agencies and dive operations aren't going to put many restrictions on young divers, so it's up to the parents to be educated and foster the proper supervision necessary to help prevent younger divers from sustaining problems. We all know young people feel they're invincible and it's quite a shame when they find out they're not. Then it's usually too late.
Back to the title of the thread. Air usage is usually an indicator of poor technique, immaturity and inability to make adequate decisions.

 

[dive_lover88]

We all know young people feel they're invincible and it's quite a shame when they find out they're not. Then it's usually too late.

Sorry but that not true about that. There will always be a few rotten apples around to make the rest look bad. For me,safety is always 1st, and my friends call me safety freak because of me carrying safety equipments like a dive alert and spare air on every dive and also considering a strobe light.

Back to the title of the thread. Air usage is usually an indicator of poor technique, immaturity and inability to make adequate decisions.

With all due respect to you,that does apply to adults too right? If not then i would think that it's a wrong generalisation about teenage divers.

Sorry if i'm wrong, but i'm tired of people looking down on us teenagers just because we are young and energetic and suck air down just because we move around more. And also the generalisation of teenager that we are immature, however not all are that,i also have seen a fair share of very matured teens and also very immatured teenaged divers who treats everything as fun and put themselves into danger. My apologies to all for ranting.

 

[Boat Chick]

Cynde:

That would make me crazy. I can understand your frustration. He is basically solo diving and making his buddy do the same.

My son knows if he did that he would be on the boat for at least the next dive. I would basically eat him a new one for doing that and then let everyone else jump. I agree with your opinion.

Make Dad dive with him and let him experience the frustration you feel, then laugh at Dad when he comes up all out of shape over it.

But as you know, most kids think their parents are stupid.

He has been given the "riot act" by several folks (even instructors) but it just doesn't sink in. My husband has also told him that until he get's a handle and perspective on the situation we won't be diving with him.

I also agree about the DCS. After our first dive the last trip we took him on he had a horrible headache. It was "do we take him to the hospital?" Had several knowledgable divers involved with the discussion at the time as well....sigh...he does do better diving locally with us...hard to bounce when you are in thick kelp

Now back "on topic"