Breathing styles?

[BlueTrin]

If of any interest, this helped me a lot to reduce my SAC.

I breathe a bit fast if I don’t think about it or if I am task loaded.

At some point I got an AI transmitter and was able to see my real-time SAC. I had a few dives where I have tried different breathing patterns until I could get a lower SAC and now I am working to make this pattern my natural breathing.

The pattern that works for me is to breathe slowly in, wait a bit and breathe slowly out, a bit like sipping when breathing in.

My SAC tend to be very high at the beginning and also high at the end of the dive, possibly when I forget to not revert to my ‘natural’ breathing.

 

[Celt]

There’s a lot of hype in diving where breathing is concerned. It should be totally natural as on land. I’m totally unaware of what way I breath when diving.

 

[Subcooled]

as an experienced sidemount cave diver, he'd probably tend to do the breathing cycle as an exhale then inhale to keep the buoyancy bang on.

Let us make that "as an experienced diver".

A swift exchange of gas without change in volume is certainly a good thing on OC.

Wearing a band mask & breathing surface supplied air changes the best pattern, though.
Now deep and thorough is good.

Deep breathing is also good if you encounter problems! It can help you stay calm even if your depth would undulate slightly. Nobody is filming you.

 

[Subcooled]

EXTREME minority.

And yet there are people that call themselves "free" divers.
The effects of breath holding can actually be pleasurable, too!

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

You people are all crazy. I was taking a class and no matter how I would breath it did not affect my buoyancy AT ALL. What was this class you ask? Prism 2 Mod 1.

 

[Subcooled]

You people are all crazy. I was taking a class and no matter how I would breath it did not affect my buoyancy AT ALL. What was this class you ask? Prism 2 Mod 1.

I have found the same to be true with pee valves.
Closed circuit is the best.
No changes in buoyancy!

 

[Wibble]

I have found the same to be true with pee valves.

Second best invention for diving after the Aqualung.

Closed circuit is the best.
No changes in buoyancy!

Funny how new finning techniques get developed for tweaking vertical position with CCR. At first hanging around at 6m/20' meant loads of tweaks to the BCD/drysuit. Later, as the skills developed, it's making minor adjustments with one's fins to literally scull upwards and downwards.

Would be pretty straightforward to do that reel and backfinning task with CCR without a care in the world regarding breathing control.

 

[BlueTrin]

Second best invention for diving after the Aqualung.


Funny how new finning techniques get developed for tweaking vertical position with CCR. At first hanging around at 6m/20' meant loads of tweaks to the BCD/drysuit. Later, as the skills developed, it's making minor adjustments with one's fins to literally scull upwards and downwards.

Would be pretty straightforward to do that reel and backfinning task with CCR without a care in the world regarding breathing control.

I am mot familiar with CCR, but from reading your post, is the correct technique to fin slightly downward or upward to correct the depth with a CCR?

 

[Wibble]

I am mot familiar with CCR, but from reading your post, is the correct technique to fin slightly downward or upward to correct the depth with a CCR?

With CCR, breathing has no affect on buoyancy as you’re breathing in and out of a bag so the overall volume remains constant.

When hovering motionless at a specific depth you’ll find that you will slowly drift up or down, possibly because of the affects of current or waves. If you catch it early enough you can use your fins to lift yourself up or down using a sculling motion or even a ‘dolphin kick'. After a while this becomes almost second nature.

Regarding that exercise, you need to backfin at the correct angle to be flat, or adjust the next kick to compensate.

 

[George Simmons]

When a diver is essentially resting or static and is primarily focused on neutral buoyancy, it may be advantageous to breathe shallowly. Large variations in lung volume are going to affect lift.

If your intent is to breathe efficiently and presumably support some degree of activity, then the breathing pattern described by the OP is probably more advantageous.

My advice is generally deeper inhales and slightly more degree of exhalation than you would normally use on land, but the manipulation of the breathing pattern needs to be subtle and not drastic or it will feel unnatural, stressful and will make you nervous and this will make things worse, rather than better. Don't try too hard to conserve air, it just isn't worth it.

Concentrating on being relaxed and calm and limiting unnecessary activity are generally far more productive than trying to over modulate your breathing pattern.