Getting down

[Snowbear]

...the day after I have a nice bean dish.
...and I float more for a day thereafter.

Now THAT was funny!!

 

[Rick Inman]

before entering the water, I actually physically suck all of the air out of my BCD.

I don't need to. My BCD already sucks...
Actually, if you really do this, you will eventually end up with a mouth full of something you wish you hadn't.

You must be the same guy who advised me to leave my dry suit zipper open 1/2 inch for easier venting...

 

[paolov]

Asking for help with what feels like a .... But it is mysterious to descend easily on Tuesday and not be able to get down Wednesday with no alterations (other than a slightly different spot in the ocean.) I sometimes have difficulty clearing my ears, and on the days I pop down easily, my ears don't give me any issues. A connection of any kind? Ideas anyone? Thanks!

Thsi is easily solved by Diving more :ditsy:

 

[Matthew]

Asking for help with what feels like a dumb question. I went diving in Aruba and Cozumel over christmas. I've got my own gear, real comfortable, no issues there. Here's the query. With the SAME amount of weight and gear, some dives I pop right down on descent, some dives I cannot seem to descend. I'm neutral at 15 ft at the end of the dive, no prob there, in fact probably slightly heavy. I don't actuallly believe I'm underweighted. But it is mysterious to descend easily on Tuesday and not be able to get down Wednesday with no alterations (other than a slightly different spot in the ocean.) I sometimes have difficulty clearing my ears, and on the days I pop down easily, my ears don't give me any issues. A connection of any kind? Ideas anyone? Thanks!

I used to experience the same things. I never really figured out for sure the reasons, they just ceased happening after sometime. At that time I also had a gas theory similar to DandyDon's, which seemed to be aggravated by not being fully relaxed. I also read somewhere that equalizing vigorously can cause one to unconsciously swallow air, further worsening things.

Whatever it is, I agree that it disappears as you dive more.

 

[ebbdiver]

It's a zen thing. Calm you mind and will yourself below the surface. Once you're 10 feet under, then you can get excited!

 

[dc4bs]

Hi there,
I do all of the above tricks, but before entering the water, I actually physically suck all of the air out of my BCD.

Good luck to you.

How?

Pressing the manual inflation valve and breathing in?

If so, that may not be such a good idea. A BC bladder is a great place to grow nasty stuff (damp & generaly prety dark) that could easily end up in your lungs. I suppose if you seterilize the inside of the BC bladder between dives...

This is not good for the same reason we don't train to breath off the BC in an out of air situation. Having a redundant/alternate air source (budy/pony/doubles with isolator) is a much, much better/healthier solution.