Buoyancy and air consumption

[RLarsen]

I'm a new diver focused on improving neutral buoyancy while minimizing air consumption. As I practice breathing to control buoyancy I'm concerned how inhaling deeply to ascend and exhaling hard to descend throws off my breathing rhythm and causes me to use excessive air. I'm trying to use breathing technique more than BC control to adjust my position in the water and seek the advice of experienced divers
to be more skillful and efficient.
Thanks,
Rex

 

[Far_X]

Not too sure what you are exactly asking. If you are motionless, then inhaling and exhaling is more likely to affect your position in the water than if you are moving. Propulsion through your legs, once you have achieved neutral buoyancy, will minimize the effect of exhaling and inhaling upon your depth. I guess

 

[JeffG]

I'm a new diver focused on improving neutral buoyancy while minimizing air consumption. As I practice breathing to control buoyancy I'm concerned how inhaling deeply to ascend and exhaling hard to descend throws off my breathing rhythm and causes me to use excessive air. I'm trying to use breathing technique more than BC control to adjust my position in the water and seek the advice of experienced divers
to be more skillful and efficient.
Thanks,
Rex

Its very simple....Dive more

 

[asmith5]

Are you sure you are weighted correctly? I am also new to diving (take that into account) and I can maintain a neutral buoyancy without breathing/exhaling too deeply. Once I worked out my weight requirements and learned that you don't ascend or descend immediatly after and inhale or exhale it became easy to stay in one place. The more you dive the easier it will become.

Just my experience,
Andrew

 

[opiniongirl]

Well, a few things to keep in mind-

Breathe deeply and slowly, but normally - you're not blowing up a balloon. If you are breathing in too deeply and forcefully exhaling it will throw off your buoyancy.

Second, I find that the more folks worry about their air consumption, the more air they use - don't worry about how quickly you use your air - just check it frequently, and realize that it will come down with experience.

Third - try to relax...and go slowly, and be aware of depth changes as they will change your buoyancy. Congratulations for working on this - we all start at the same place - and buoyancy is a skill that is worked on constantly!

 

[jbd]

The posts by asmith5 and opiniongirl (#4 & #5 respectively) are dead on target.

Proper weighting is imperative and includes proper placing an distribution of the gear to give you proper trim i.e. horizontal. Your breathing should be relaxed and fairly normal. Each respiratory cycle will cause you to descend and ascend slightly with the end result that they cancel each other out so you maintain your chosen depth.

The more you dive and practice the more relaxed you will become and the easier this will become. Once you have this down pat, you find that divng is very enjoyable.

 

[Kim]

...........proper trim i.e. horizontal. ..........

This is particularly important as horizontal your body creates the most resistance to movement up or down and the least resistance to swimming. People who do safety stops in an upright position, for instance, will have far more problems maintaining their correct depth as opposed to if they did it horizontal.

 

[theskull]

Good replies so far. If you are properly weighted and neutrally buoyant your breaths will not affect your position in the water by more than a foot either way. So - use your fins to get where you want to go. To descend, swim down. To ascend, swim up. And be aware that changing your depth by more than a several feet either way will change your buoyancy enough to require an adjustment in your BC to regain neutral buoyancy. Your breathing can be used to fine tune your buoyancy once your BC has you very near neutral at any depth.

theskull

 

[tedwhiteva]

JeffG had it right also - dive more. The more time you spend underwater, the more relaxed you'll be. Take time at the end of a dive soon to really check your weighting - with 500# in the tank at 15-20 feet, are you neutrally buoyant with no air in the BC?

 

[ScubaPilot]

I'm new to scuba too and I know what you're talking about.

One thing you may want to check. Do you have a dive computer that you can hook up to your PC? If you do print our your profiles. There is a slight chance you may not be as neutrally buoyant as you think and your actually trying to use your breath to compensate. One guy on this board said he thought he'd had buoyancy master until he got a computer and printed out his profile.

Another thing I was taught, breathing is only one way to manipulate your depth. If you're neutrally buoyant, then one good kick up or down (by moving your head) should also change your depth in the water. I've heard, perhaps one day I'll find out, that good divers use a combination of things to manipulate themselves in the water efficiently, and that only comes with practice.

But these guys have hit on two key components, if you think about your breath, then you are going to consume more air without a doubt, and dive more, get more comfortable with how your body positions control your depth.

Good luck - I need it too. And if the need for practice gives you just that much more of an excuse to dive, then why fight it? Thats what I say.

Dive safe.