Can anything be done to lessen air consumption for a beginner scuba diver?

[Kilili]

Interesting. As an aside, I once thought similar practice breathing a reg would help. I can stay underwater for 3 hours with a reg in my mouth and have no problems. Out of the water, I start gagging after a minute and must remove it.

There are many really good suggestions by some very experienced divers. A tool that I used to reduce my consumption is a "Navy" tool for their new divers. When watching TV wear your mask and snorkle. This helped me to relax signifigantly. I started out watching the new Hawaii 5-O series once a week. Then progressed up to full length movies a several times a week. Once my body and I got use to breathing a little bit differently then how our body was designed for, my state of relaxation increased, my air consumption has improved greatly and my overall enjoyment elevated. Now that I no longer work 7/12+ hours per week, I am looking into the Yoga and other physical improvement opportunities as well.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

So from the foregoing posts, plus a few additions of my own, here are 8 ways to reduce air consumption:
1. Dive a lot. The more you dive the more comfortable you will be, and calmer, and use less air.
2. Move less. The more you move the harder you breathe and the more air you use.
3. Move efficiently. That's what the comments about proper trim and kicks are talking about.
4. Be weighted properly. Too much or too little weight will cause you to undergo greater exertion during a dive.
5. Maintain good health. This is a double edged sword, however. If you do aerobic training and increase lung capacity, you may actually increase air consumption. Here on land, the supply is unlimited and a large lung capacity is a plus for athletes. Not so under the water with a limited supply. However, on balance, a healthy cardiovascular system is a plus ( as is carrying as little extra body weight and having as small a body profile as possible. I do not have a small profile. It's just one of many factors.
6. Trim your buoyancy often. If you stay neutral, you will be kicking less throughout the dive. (see #2)
7. Breathe regularly. Don't "skip breathe."
8. Don't over think air consumption. Individual physiology varies a lot, and impacts air use rates. It improves with experience, for sure. Just relax and enjoy the diving.

My first dives I got 40 minutes on an aluminum 80 at 40 feet. Now I can get twice that. My wife could probably stay down half again as long as I can. She has about 1/3 the number of dives I do, and I am the professional. Go figure.
DivemasterDennis

 

[rhwestfall]

I'll bet your buoyancy/weighting is off, your arms are flailing, your kick is inefficient, and you are all excited about what you are doing. GOOD! Enjoy it. Slow down, get your weighting correct (review it in your text). Don't focus on air consumption. Instead, get something else on your mind... Try to dive with as little movement, and see what happens.

Experience is a wonderful educator and trainer. Have fun, be safe, and grow with it. It will happen. Sometimes, it is what it is. I am always the first guy low on air. I'm 6'7", lean, and still in some decent shape (former collegiate athlete). I'm never going to match the 5'-3" DM from the shop..... that is life. Do the best you can do, and enjoy it.

More diving will help.

 

[Oldbear]

All else fails...go to a larger tank.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

Well, I go through a tank about 50psi/min at 15-20 feet.

Any advice on how I can work to lower the consumption? How to breath properly.

If I will try to hold the breath a tad longer than it feels natural to breath, will I be building excess of CO2 in my body?

Doing cardio and working on buoyancy really help my air consumption.

Scuba Buoyancy Masterclass 1of9 - Buoyancy Control for Scuba Divers -

 

[ADeadlierSnake]

One thing that I neglected to mention in my first post and that no one has mentioned so far, is the frequency at which you change your rig around. My first 60 or so dives were all in pretty much the exact same gear. However now I am at >150 dives, and my sac rate is probably worse than it was when I was at 60. This is because my gear setup has drastically changed lately (backplate/wing, doubles, can light, long hose, etc), and I add new stuff as I can afford it. My SAC has increased because I still havent been able to line up 60 dives without changing anything.
The less you change your rig around, the more comfortable in it you will be, and the better your SAC will be.

 

[00wabbit]

Interesting. As an aside, I once thought similar practice breathing a reg would help. I can stay underwater for 3 hours with a reg in my mouth and have no problems. Out of the water, I start gagging after a minute and must remove it.

I want to try this too. Have you figured out yet how to eat doritos with a snorkel?

 

[Paladin]

I want to try this too. Have you figured out yet how to eat doritos with a snorkel?

Crush 'em into a powder and use a funnel!

 

[drrich2]

On the issue of skip breathing, I tried it on a 2-tank charter boat trip in Grand Cayman. Dive #1.) Modestly improved SAC. A problem commonly associated with skip breathing is head ache. I got a severe one. So severe I almost opted out of dive #2, but it improved over the surface interval. Dive #2.) Went back to 'normal' breathing. If you end up calling off dives because you're debilitated with pain, your computer may calculate a better SAC, but you are NOT getting in more dive time. Richard.

 

[BearGrizzle]

Alot of good advice here. I'm fairly new, got 24 dives and originally I was getting about 30-35 minutes on an AL 80 at 30-50 ft. The more I have dove and become comfortable with my gear, I have been more relaxed and my air has increase significantly. I'm now up to around 50-60 minutes. Just takes time, I used to let people know that I was an "air hog" and would buddy up with folks who were roughly the same consumption as I was. I have also lost some weight and been exercising regularly, so that has probably helped as well.