how did you lower your air use

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I noticed that I was using a lot more air at the beginning of the dive than at any other time. I figured that in the gear donning and entry period we are more task oriented and just busier than once we are 10 minutes into the actual dive. I have tried to focus on relaxing, not hurrying and getting ready sooner before getting into the water. This seems to help.

One other thing I found may contribute. I find my SAC, which my computer calculates every 20 seconds, would be high the first few minutes of a dive. Well, usually it was warm outside, 80s or 90s, and I was jumping into 40 to 60 degree water. The change in temp of my cylinder lowered the pressure until the cylinder was cooled down. I confirmed this by some dives in the Fall where the water and air were about the same temp, and did not see this high SAC at the beginning.

Terry
 
I know all the basic answers, but there has got to be more cause I've met some divers that don't breathe during a dive.
meaning doing a 45m 30 meter/95 feet dive
And then coming up with 90 bars.
On a 200 bar tank.


I stopped breathing with my lungs and started using my gills :)
 
One other thing I found may contribute. I find my SAC, which my computer calculates every 20 seconds, would be high the first few minutes of a dive. Well, usually it was warm outside, 80s or 90s, and I was jumping into 40 to 60 degree water. The change in temp of my cylinder lowered the pressure until the cylinder was cooled down. I confirmed this by some dives in the Fall where the water and air were about the same temp, and did not see this high SAC at the beginning.

Terry

For years and years I really sucked down the air fast and often had to end dives early which was a bit frustrating for my husband (and me!) I tried doing all of the recommended methods to reduce air consumption but nothing changed until I bought a new regulator.

My original regulator was an oceanic and I never had any major problems with it, except I would often get a little "salt water spray or mist" in my mouth - but I don't know if that means anything. We always have our equipment serviced before a dive trip and there were never any concerns about my regulator.

When I switched to my current main regulator - Scubapro - the salt water spray stopped and magically I stopped using up air so quickly! I have had this current reg for years and my air consumption has been very good all the time I've been using it. Now I frequently come up with more air than my husband! I wasn't expecting the regulator change to make a difference so it was a very pleasant surprise.

I don't know if this was just a coincidence, but I'm convinced in my mind that the regulator made all the difference in the world. Next time you dive you might try renting a different brand of regulator to see if it changes anything; good luck!
 
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I know all the basic answers, but there has got to be more cause I've met some divers that don't breathe during a dive.
meaning doing a 45m 30 meter/95 feet dive
And then coming up with 90 bars.
On a 200 bar tank.

Some people just have smaller lung capacity then others, nothing you can do about that. The more time you spend in the water, the more comfortable you will get and that will lead to you using less air. Some of these so called breathing tricks will not help as you body needs as much air as it needs and trying some of these methods could end up causing you problems. I use a three, four count breathing method in high stress situations but that is used to lower my heart rate not to save on air.
 
I think it is a wrong question altogether. The proper one would be, how can I enjoy scuba even more?
 
I know all the basic answers, but there has got to be more cause I've met some divers that don't breathe during a dive.
meaning doing a 45m 30 meter/95 feet dive
And then coming up with 90 bars.
On a 200 bar tank.

There isn't much more to it than the basics. the more you dive, the less air you will eventually need for the same time/temp/depth of dive.

You will slowly learn your body and eventually come up with tricks that work with you.
 
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