Breathing tips?

[nannymouse]

Besides in and out,
and don't stop.

I appear to be an air hog, and I am still working on Bouyancy.

Any tips on refining technique would be appreciated. -N

 

[spectrum]

Relax not just in your diving but in concern about air usage.

Continue to work on buoyancy and keep an eye on wasted motions, slow and gentle will get you there.

Have you done a good weight check?

Pete

 

[Doc]

That and streamlining your dangly gear.

I agree, it will come.

 

[nannymouse]

I don't have my own BC and weights yet, and am running a little heavy.
My buddy chortles about running 16 lbs when I have 28.

I find myself with irregular breathing patterns, shallow, then deep.

 

[Web Monkey]

Besides in and out,
and don't stop.

I appear to be an air hog, and I am still working on Bouyancy.

Any tips on refining technique would be appreciated. -N

The trick to controlling your breathing is that you can't control your breathing.

Although breathing is somewhat voluntary, the important parts are automatic, and if you consciously modify your breathing, eventually you'll have problems.

The trick to using less air is to use less energy, which will require less oxygen, which will let you breathe less. Using less energy is accomplished by streamlining your entire profile in the water by minimizing danglies and anything that catches water, maintaining a horizontal orientation and moving slowly.

Staying horizontal is made much easier by being correctly weighted, and having the weight distributed properly so you can maintain a horizontal orientation without expending a lot of effort.

So . . . . Get your gear secured, get properly weighted and trimmed, relax and go slow, and you'll be all set.

OTOH, "air hog" also depends on who you're comparing yourself to. I've seen short skinny girls who routinely do hour dives and come up with 2000 PSI left. In the end, it's just air, and if after trying everything, you still come up short, just get bigger tanks. There's nothing magic about an 80 cu Ft tank.

Terry

 

[don Francisco]

One of the perversities of air consumption is that the more you worry about how much air you're using, the more air you'll use. It's all new to you, you're excited, nervous, awed by the sights, thinking about all that you need to remember, etc. Even if you did nothing physical, you'd still breathe fast. This will get better as you get experience. Try to improve your basic dive skills: bouyancy, trim, weighting, etc. but don't try to do it all at once. Work on one thing at a time, so you can enjoy the dives too.

I'll pass along the best air saving advice, I got as a new diver:
Stop using your hands to swim or maneuver. To break this habit, try to do as much of your next dive as possible holding both hands clasped behind your back. I was a real hand user before this tip, after a few dives like that both my hand & air use dropped dramatically.


Meanwhile, relax, it takes 20 or so dives for all the skills to come together & become second nature & 10 dives from now you'll be using lots less air.

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

The most significant improvement in my air usage came when I focused on setting my bouyancy at the beginning of the dive. I started doing fin pivots at the beginning of the dive to establish neutral buoyancy and found that I only needed small adjustments based on depth changes as the dive progressed. Now I'm getting pretty good at setting my buoyancy "on the fly".

You should also test your SAC (surface air consumption). End your next dive a tad early and after doffing your BCD, sit in a comfortable position (BTW, you're out of the water now). Check the tank pressure and start breathing with the reg. It helps to wear your mask so you dont "cheat" and breathe through your nose. Do this for 10 minutes and note the change in pressure. Divide the differance by 10 and you have your SAC in PIS/Min. The reason I mention the SAC check is so you can see if you're burning a lot of air adjusting your buoyancy or if you truely are an air hog.

And the most important thing is to be as relaxed as possible. Swim slow, move slow.

 

[munkee_gurl]

i was once told that "it's all in your mind." just relax, enjoy your dive. i hum a song once in a while.. if all the tips doesn't work, invest w/ a bigger capacity divetank. hehe =)

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

The best breathing pattern for minimal air use is not always the easiest breathing pattern for neutral buoyancy. There are gains to be had from getting more comfortable and finally not thinking too much about many different things, air consumption being one of them. Once you are comfortable with the easy parts, you are less distracted and can focus better on the tougher parts. IMHO, the best breathing pattern for optimum replenishment/expulsion is a long slow inhalation to ~75% full lungs then even slower exhale (twice the time of inhale). Unfortunately for our buoyancy, that is a considerable time with lift coming from the lungs and even longer time negative from the lungs.

It's not just breathing though, it's multiple elements in a 3-dimensional space, unlike walking. Timing is everything; perhaps I'm angling downward a little when my lungs are positive and back up just a hair when I'm negative. As a surge pushes against me angle my body to get pushed up a little when I'm negative, let it push me down a little when I'm positive.

No need to worry about trim at that point, because if you can do the above, you have got trim!

 

[alphonsis]

You should also test your SAC (surface air consumption).The reason I mention the SAC check is so you can see if you're burning a lot of air adjusting your buoyancy or if you truely are an air hog.

That was a great suggestion. I never thought to compute my sac rate when I'm not diving. At least now I know that when I'm really calm and relaxed I can achieve a sac rate of just shy of three times less than on my worst dives.