How do I improve my air consumption?

[King_Neptune]

Mario,

I couldn't have said it better myself ...

And I'm not talking about any kind of Mob rule either, but just because it's the most financially productive does not make it right. Especially where matters of safety are concerned, we should all do our part to assure that the Industry as a whole constantly improves its procedures.

=-)

 

[Dee]

This thread has shifted abit from the original question about air consumption and I can't remember now who asked about air integrated computers but...

I had an Oceanic Data Trans Plus for about 2 years. I got rid of it because it would lose the connection. I knew to expect periodical lapses in transmission due to receiver and transmitter positions but over that two years it would stop receiving for several minutes at a time. Started first with just a minute or so. Over time that lapse period got up to 9 minutes! Not only were all betteries changed several times but both the computer and transmitter were replaced by Oceanic 3 seperate times, either together or independantly. There never was a conclusive reason for the malfunction other than it was suggested by several people it could possibly be my bodies own magnetic field or something interfering. Whatever...I sold it to a fellow in our dive shop who was aware of the problems I had and he's never had the problem. He's still using the unit today. So maybe it was just my magnetic personality!

And to Sue Ellen about air consumption...
Just relax! Every diver was a newbie at one point and we all started out as 'air hogs'. As your bouyancy skills improve and your comfort level rises, your air consumption will get better, I can promise you that. You've gotten lots of good tips and advice already and I'm sure you'll put them into practice and learn from them. One thing you do have to look forward to is as women, our air consumption is generally always better than the men's. It's a girl thing!
I'm sure there's all kinds of reasons for it...smaller lungs is one of them. So just hang in there, and stop worrying about it..you'll get there!

Dee

 

[glidingray]

I don't know what page, I just don't want to start a new thread with similar topic.

Okay, one : air consumption

I've never paid attention too much on my air consumption. As long as it's still normal and I enjoy the dive though it's probably a short one, that's okay. Sometimes I ended the dive when I've only breathed about a third of air in my tank because the dive was boring. There is always next time.

Anyway, I breathe slower through my nose and skip a breath or two in deep dive. I believe it results lower oxygen percentage in my body (mostly brain) and it causes me dizziness. Once it's happened, I inhale lot of air several times and the dizziness gone. I've never ignored the dizziness because I have experienced vertigo after dizziness caused by skipped equalization. My last vertigo was almost a year ago - I'm glad I'm getting more confidence in scuba diving. But I still have a minute or two dizziness sometimes.

What about it Doc?

Two: lifting heavy stuff after diving

A friend visited Draeger office, said Draeger is working on a lighter tank. If I'm not mistaken the weight is about a third of normal tank weight. Not for scuba, mind you. It's for their other line of product. Sorry, I don't know the details. I just think this might be a revolution in diving industry as well.

Ray

 

[Dr Deco]

Glidingray:

As regards the dizziness, I would suspect that the problem lies with the accumulation of carbon dioxide because of shallow breathing. Since one is breathing compressed air, the oxygen should be sufficient, and I doubt it to be the cause of the dizziness.

Regarding the lighter tanks, whatever will contribute to less of a strain on the back before and after a dive, I would suspect would reduce work and therefore micronuclei generation in spinal cord tissue.

I do not have any laboratory data on this form of DCS, but that would be my guess. There will not be any lab data collected on spinal decompression sickness in humans as no laboratory would deliberately test gas bubble formation in a subject’s spinal cord by making them lift weights with their back.

I doubt that any animal studies could be performed, as most animals are quadrupeds and, they do not have the same strain on their back as do humans.

______________
[sp] Dr Deco

 

[King_Neptune]

Dr Deco said ...
Regarding the lighter tanks, whatever will contribute to less of a strain on the back before and after a dive, I would suspect would reduce work and therefore micronuclei generation in spinal cord tissue.

Here could be yet another reason for the shift towards diving "Rebreathers" like the Steam Machines units. I remember reading where they stated that the largest increase of divers buying and getting certified for rebreathers is women due to a major advantage of these rebreathers is they are much lighter, smaller and thus more comfortable than traditional tank setups.

=-)

 

[dlwalke]

Anyone know the answer to this? Apart from external factors such as size, streamlining, how much you flail around while underwater, etc., air consumption must also be a function of the effectiveness of your respiratory system in extracting oxygen from air, the effectiveness of your circulatory system in delivering it to your muscles, and the efficiency with which your muscles utilize the available oxygen. Are any of these things meaningfully modifiable (e.g., by aerobic exercise). Also, to what degree if any are these things a function of age?

As an aside, do back inflate BCs provide any noticeable improvement in air consumption in that your chest/abdominal muscles are not doing as much work expanding against the BC? For the same reason, I'm wondering if thin layer or otherwise stretchy neoprene confers an advantage w/respect to air consumption. Do people notice a change in air consumption when they switch from a wet- to a dry-suit? I realize that there may be other factors that come into play so perhaps it is not an answerable question.

Dave

 

[voidware]

Your air consumption can be improved best with increased practice and bouancy control. You aerobic capacity and physical size also play a modifyable role in SAC. As far as age go, I am sure that it doesn't have a direct implication on SAC. It probably only goes so far as to imply diminished aerobic capacity. I believe equipment only affects SAC by increasing work of breathing (tight fitting wetsuit or BC, low performance regulator) and increasing drag. Factors such as temperature, metabolism, and comfort also come into play. There are lots of myths that come into play as well, such as nitrox affecting SAC, but this is unfounded, even though I swear that I use air faster than nitrox.

brandon

 

[100days-a-year]

It is my experience that SAC is most impacted by the comfort level emotionally and phyically of the diver,then there is size and conditioning.Athletes are tested to see their ability to utilise 02. It is affected by aerobic exercise.Biking and swimming are very good lo-impact ways to improve your condition.My SAC is 20% ~less with heavy neoprene.In summer diving lo stress I can get less than .35 .Winter diving ,spearfishing in current is .65 and up.Many new divers are over 1.0 but after a few dives to become acclimatized most start to use less air.There is no need to compete in that arena tho.What you use, you use.Seeking to improve vs. myself is OK .Competion diving loses it's charm real quick.

 

[Hoppy]

Hi all,

As a newly PADI AOW with not too many dive hours behind me, I find my air consumption rate to be frighteningly high. OK I know I'm comparing to DM's and Instructors with a lot more hours in.

My question is are there any "techniques" that I can use to get my breating rate under control ?

I would give my SAC rate but I'd die of embarrasment !

All suggestions gratefully received.

Hoppy

 

[Arduous]

The basic formula for reducing your SAC is Dive, Dive ,Dive.
The more your dive, the more experience you’ll have, the more relaxed you’ll become and like magic your SAC will drop. This is not an over night event. This takes time and experience. So dive, have fun and don’t rush it. It will come to you on it’s own, in good time…………………..Arduous