How to Master Buoyancy?

[azhar]

Hi..I am new OWD and bought a MARES Pegasus back inflation BCD. The problem is that I get depth variation of 1 to 1.5 meters on breathing cycle. I want to perfectly stay stationary and hover with variation of only few inches max.
I rent out tanks and a friend of mine says that I need to buy my own tank and stick with it if I want to master buoyancy. Any advice from experienced divers on things I need to check and correct will be very helpful.
Thx

 

[ermaclob]

getting good buoyancy isnt that hard. you just need to practice a bit. one of the big things that could effect your buoyancy in a bad way is not being weighted properly. this can have you all over the place when in the water. also your "breath cycle" should really not be noticeable. just breath as comely as you do when your out doing an every day task. if you stop to think right now on how your breathing. u may notice u barely take a breath. im thinking your over thinking how u breath when in the water and taking big ol' lung fulls of air that make u go up and down.

the tank thing would kinda also be a nice way to make sure your weight is the same for all dives you do. tho you dont need it 100% just do a weight check and rent the same type off tank if u can.

If you really want to get into having really good buoyancy and trim to get that inch by inch control, you might want to start looking up some of the videos on youtube one alternative fin kicks like this one. DIR Modified Frog Kick - YouTube Or DIR Skills 1 - YouTube and practice getting that 0 degree posture.

 

[azhar]

Thanks ermaclob will look into the videos. One more thing. When I get that perfect neutral, how will I change my depth to compensate for upcoming reef, buy adding air in BC or purely by lung volume?

 

[ermaclob]

Thanks ermaclob will look into the videos. One more thing. When I get that perfect neutral, how will I change my depth to compensate for upcoming reef, buy adding air in BC or purely by lung volume?

generally if properly weighted, you should only need to touch your bc like 2 -3 times in the dive to put air in or out while doing your decent and ascent. your lungs should be what you use to do small depth changes.

 

[Insta-Gator]

Thanks ermaclob will look into the videos. One more thing. When I get that perfect neutral, how will I change my depth to compensate for upcoming reef, buy adding air in BC or purely by lung volume?

You are over thinking this whole depth control issue. You are not an airplane. Once you get your buoyancy under control when you are very relaxed, you will find that your breathing will slow and be more like when you are sitting in your chair at home and you will navigate up/down/left/right very naturally, without giving it much thought. When you walk through your house, how much thought do you give foot placement, weight distribution, left turn, right turn? Not much, I'm sure. Because, over time you have learned to trust your ability to walk and navigate without conscious thought. The same will happen with your diving, once you have tuned your buoyancy (so it is not fighting you) and you gain the relaxed confidence to just see where you want to go and you naturally just go there (without thinking 'how'.)

There's no substitute for experience.

 

[steveharriss]

Just go diving. Make sure you're properly weighted when your cylinder has only 50 Bar in at the end of the dive rather than at the start. Relax and don't over concentrate on one aspect of your diving. It's meant to be fun

 

[o2dependant]

I found that initially I too was over thinking this. Found my self regularly adding air to my bcd only to then be dumping it minutes later. After a little practice and checking my weights both before and after a dive I was able to trim my weight down.

As my breathing got better I could see that the difference in my weight check before and after a dive were closing in on each other because the more air you use the more buoyant you will become.

If you are over doing the BCD adjustments you will also use your air quicker. I have found that coming up after an hour with 120 bar of air was a much smoother dive than when I used to come up because I was down to 50 bar. I would say that soon you will find your breathing, and buoyancy will come together. It just takes time.

I am more into my air consumption rather than buoyancy as I belive your buoyancy comes with time and fine tuning your gear and the way you get around underwater.

Look at the clips on you tube and find what works for you.

 

[AfterDark]

Dive...alot. Use small adjustments especially when adding air. As others mentioned get your weight right. Shallow breathing has less effect than deep breathing, breathe slow and shallow. Monitor your depth and air. Compensate as you go deeper not after you get there, as you use your air you'll become negative, compensate in small increments. Dive.....alot.

 

[azhar]

Thanks all of you for your advice. In nut shell practice till it becomes a second nature! thx guys!

 

[Absolutbill]

I felt I made more progress in controlling my buoyancy when I was able to make multiple dives in a row. These would always be shallow water in key largo. My wife and I would go down do two dives, stay overnight and do four more the next day and then drive home. You can really get comfortable in the water with the first dive or two and on the next ones I felt that I was able to slowly improve and felt better after each dive. So if it is possible for you to dedicate an entire day, weekend or even week dive, dive, dive!


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