Descending...

[Erik Il Rosso]

Can someone try to explain how to descend correctly ???

During the last dives I noticed that I make a mess when I start descendig but once I reach the requested depth everything goes really well...

Assuming that I was correctly weighted (and I was) when I empitied my lungs I started to descend but after a while I needed to breath and I started to go up again...

Next time I will take extra attention to what my hands are doing and I will cross my feet so that I will be sure I will not fin towards the surface, any another suggestions ???

I feel stupid because I think I am the only diver who is not capable of descending correctly...

Ciao, Erik Il Rosso

 

[FLArmyBrat]

Descending is always the hardest part of my dive. It usually comes down to one of two things...either I don't have all the air out of my BC yet or I am kicking out of habit. Once I let all my air out and remind myself not to kick I am ok.

Laurel- The Frog Queen
:royal:

 

[torbaydiver]

Erik Il Rosso once bubbled...
Can someone try to explain how to descend correctly ???

During the last dives I noticed that I make a mess when I start descendig but once I reach the requested depth everything goes really well...

Assuming that I was correctly weighted (and I was) when I empitied my lungs I started to descend but after a while I needed to breath and I started to go up again...

Next time I will take extra attention to what my hands are doing and I will cross my feet so that I will be sure I will not fin towards the surface, any another suggestions ???

I feel stupid because I think I am the only diver who is not capable of descending correctly...

Ciao, Erik Il Rosso

Easy solution; just use an extra 1 kg of weight !
The correct way to descend is to fin up at the surface and then point your fins downwards and breathe out, maybe try this before adding extra weight !

 

[Arnaud]

Erik, you need more than the volume of air in your lungs to sink.

1. You need to make sure that you are properly weighted. Have you done a weight check with a near-empty tank?

2. You need to fully deflate your BC on the surface.

3. No matter what the book says, you'll always be better off descending slowly in an horizontal position, adding small bursts of air to your BC as your depth increases.

4. You should relax your legs and not use your fins. Let gravity do its magic.

 

[fgray1]

Take the peak bouyancy Class.
I took it and it's the best couple of hours I ever spent in the water.
It's not exspensive and most times the class is small one or two divers. In the class you will learn to set your perfect weight on an almost empty tank. As well as control your breathing.
Which also helps your SAC rate.
You will learn to hover 6" to 1 ft off the bottom with little change.
It does require a good instructor.
Good luck
Fred

 

[Warren_L]

Erik, if you are ascending when you take a breath as you are trying to descend (and assuming you are doing nothing else to make yourself ascend otherwise) it probably means you are underweighted. You may want to be a little negatively weighted at the start of your dive (approx 5 lbs depending on the tank you use) since it will help you get down easier if you are having trouble, but more importantly, you won't be underweighted towards the end of your dive with an empty tank, as there will be a buoyancy increase with the lower amount of air in your tank. This could make things dangerous if you cannot control your ascent rate as easily.

 

[paulwlee]

If you are correctly weighted and are not finning, you shouldn't float back up once the top of your head submerges. If you are diving 80cf tanks like most people, you will be 5lb negative at the beginning of the dive, and this will really sink you if you empty your BC. (Once you get better, you won't even empty your BC. You just vent enough air until you can descend with an exhale. You will still have some air in the BC at this point, as you are 5lb negative to begin with.)

If everything is right but you are still floating back up, you may be inhaling too much because of anxiety. Try breathing in only half of what you would normally do before exhaling again. This way, your lung volume will be low on average and you will stay negative.

 

[NickR]

Erik, I would have to agree with paulwlee. I used to find that when I exhaled I started to descend, but then I got to a point where I needed to inhale again. Being conscious of your breathing and only breathing in half the amount should help you to descend that bit further. Then you can breathe "normally" after that.

Over my brief diving career (and in other areas of life) I have noticed that there are some things I am slow to pick up and others where I learn quickly. You just learn things at you're own pace and you'll be alright.

Keep practicing, it does get easier.

Nick

 

[d33ps1x]

Practicing descending with breath control is much preferred to adding an extra kg or two. If you are able to break the surface by breathing out then you're well on your way.

Only a proper buoancy check will truly determine things though. Lots written about it here and other places already.

In my opinion there is no need for a peak performance buoancy class to learn to do something you can do on your own.

 

[Warren_L]

d33ps1x once bubbled...
Practicing descending with breath control is much preferred to adding an extra kg or two. If you are able to break the surface by breathing out then you're well on your way.

Only a proper buoancy check will truly determine things though. Lots written about it here and other places already.

In my opinion there is no need for a peak performance buoancy class to learn to do something you can do on your own.

True, but adding more weight in Erik's situation may be necessary to help assure neutral buoyancy at the end of the dive since he seems to be neutrally buoyant at the beginning of the dive. Adding more weight would aid in helping him descend, but that would not be the main reason adding the weight, and does not preclude him from mastering breathing to control his descents (being negatively buyoyant at the beginning would probably mean having some air still in the bc on descent). Not having to fight to stay down for a safety stop would be one big reason to add more weight.