I just can't breathe right!

[ScubaMarine]

I missed a dive this weekend because I ran out of air on the previous dive. I know, I know its my fault for not monitoring close enough and probably working a little to hard for my breathing to keep up with. Story in a second but Ive noticed I sometimes have trouble conserving air even in shallow water. Ive been experimenting to try to find the right breathing method to conserve air better. However, I still have some dives last in less than 30ft last 40minutes or less because Im getting low on air. I would appreciate some advice on things to try or way I can practice slowing my breathing down so I can stay down longer.

So I know some people are going ot respond and chew me out for this next story but I would like to learn from this incident and Im sure someone reading this probably has some good advice. Yesterday I dove the Speigel down off Key Largo, dive report in Fl Conch divers forum. I was tagging along with an instructor and two students as I didnt bring a buddy. Everything went as planned until the end. We descended maxing out at 80ft. We swam along the wreck slowly ascending and descending until we got up to about 50ft. We swam away from the bouy line until our tanks read 1500lbs. No problems yet. We started back at the same pace and check my gauge at 1200lbs and this is when the DM had said you should see the bouy line. Vis was about 50ft and I didnt see it. We kept moving in the same direction and shortly thereafter the instructor, my buddy, asked about my air. Well I had only 500lbs left. They want you back in the boat with around 500lbs for saftey reasons, that makes good sense to me. Well we started swimming faster the instructor had the other speed it up as well. When we started up the line I had 200-300lbs of air left. Once we hit 15ft the instructor grabbed my BC and we waited the 3 minutes. I ran out of air after 2 min and we shared hers for the remaining minute. Apart from some awkwardness at the surface that ended the dive. For saftey reasons I was asked to sit the next dive. Which was fine I understand why.

Now I know I should have monitored my air closer, especially toward the end. On the six dives following that one I hit the deck of the boat with min 500lbs every time. however, sometimes it took 50 min and other times 40 minutes. I probably should have communicated my air at 1200lbs and watched much closer after that. I understand buddy breathing is a rescue skill and shouldnt be used to extend dive time.

I am asking for some intelligent advice on how I can improve my breathing skills. Anyone?

 

[Charlie99]

Even more important than breathing skills is having good judgement and the ability to plan your gas usage. It would probably be a good idea to avoid deep dives until your air consumption is lower.

It doesn't sound like the DM and instructor realized how high your air consumption rate is.

As seems to be the norm in incidents like this, there seems to be a big reluctance to sharing air. You started up the upline with only 200-300psi. The DM and the instructor both had much more than that. It should have been easy to share air on the way up, leaving you a bit as a safety reserve in case something else went wrong. A couple hundred psi would also make it easier for you to do the short swim from the upline to the boat ladder and board the boat.

 

[diver_paula]

To me it seems you are thinking too much about your air consumption. It is NORMAL for newer divers not to have the best air consumption. Improvement comes with time and experience.

If I were you I'd stop experimentng with different ways to "conserve" air. The purpose of diving isn't to conserve air. Your gear is designed to deliver the air you need to survive when diving not deliver the minimal amount.

Relax, have fun, take deep steady breathes. Stop thinking about bettering your air consumption. Just breathe!

As you know, but obviously need to make a higher priority , you need to check your air pressure more often while diving. Especially until you have a bunch more dives under your belt and a fairly consistent air consumption. Until then, keep an eye on that pressure gauge to better judge turn times and when to call a dive.

Be honest with anyone you buddy up with so they aren't surprised if you breathe a tank down faster than they do. There are many people out there willing to dive with newer divers and won't care as much about the dive time. This will help you enjoy your dives and you will hopefully worry less about you being the one to need to surface first.

We were all new divers at some point in time and many of us had less than optimal air consumption. IT NORMAL!!!!!!!

 

[Randy43068]

can cause you to 'hog' down the air.

A little stress from the dive
You could have big lungs (big person) (my problem)
Lack of physical conditioning. Out of shape people usually use air faster. (my problem)
Lack of optimum weighting
Equpment not exactly correct causing you to work harder (drag, ill fitting)

No doubt there are other reasons but it's what I can think of at this moment

Good luck,

Randy

I missed a dive this weekend because I ran out of air on the previous dive. I know, I know its my fault for not monitoring close enough and probably working a little to hard for my breathing to keep up with. Story in a second but Ive noticed I sometimes have trouble conserving air even in shallow water. Ive been experimenting to try to find the right breathing method to conserve air better. However, I still have some dives last in less than 30ft last 40minutes or less because Im getting low on air. I would appreciate some advice on things to try or way I can practice slowing my breathing down so I can stay down longer.

So I know some people are going ot respond and chew me out for this next story but I would like to learn from this incident and Im sure someone reading this probably has some good advice. Yesterday I dove the Speigel down off Key Largo, dive report in Fl Conch divers forum. I was tagging along with an instructor and two students as I didnt bring a buddy. Everything went as planned until the end. We descended maxing out at 80ft. We swam along the wreck slowly ascending and descending until we got up to about 50ft. We swam away from the bouy line until our tanks read 1500lbs. No problems yet. We started back at the same pace and check my gauge at 1200lbs and this is when the DM had said you should see the bouy line. Vis was about 50ft and I didnt see it. We kept moving in the same direction and shortly thereafter the instructor, my buddy, asked about my air. Well I had only 500lbs left. They want you back in the boat with around 500lbs for saftey reasons, that makes good sense to me. Well we started swimming faster the instructor had the other speed it up as well. When we started up the line I had 200-300lbs of air left. Once we hit 15ft the instructor grabbed my BC and we waited the 3 minutes. I ran out of air after 2 min and we shared hers for the remaining minute. Apart from some awkwardness at the surface that ended the dive. For saftey reasons I was asked to sit the next dive. Which was fine I understand why.

Now I know I should have monitored my air closer, especially toward the end. On the six dives following that one I hit the deck of the boat with min 500lbs every time. however, sometimes it took 50 min and other times 40 minutes. I probably should have communicated my air at 1200lbs and watched much closer after that. I understand buddy breathing is a rescue skill and shouldnt be used to extend dive time.

I am asking for some intelligent advice on how I can improve my breathing skills. Anyone?

 

[H2Andy]

ScubaMarine, on the way back, was there more of a current fighting you?

sounds like you had to spend some serious energy to get to the line. just curious
if current was an issue.

 

[ScubaMarine]

ScubaMarine, on the way back, was there more of a current fighting you?

sounds like you had to spend some serious energy to get to the line. just curious
if current was an issue.

First of all thank you all for your responses they are excellent. A couple of things, Paula greaty answer! I do spend a lot of my dive worrying I am going to run low on air to soon and wreck the dive for the others. Its not easy always being a tag along or buddying up with someone you just met.

My equipment is borrowed and yes slightly large for me. I do sometimes need to pull the BC around or move the tank to feel comfortable. My BC only fits snug about half full of air. In order to remain neutrally bouyant I never have it half full. Neutral bouyancy isnt a problem but keeping my BC from turning sometimes is.

Finally, I did'nt feel much of any current. However, I may have began the dive with 3400lbs which doesnt really justify 1500lbs as half. But I do notice that I usually get to 1500 or just above in about 30min, so it seems my major use of air is on my return.

 

[Bill51]

There are many reasons a diver will use more air than average or use more air on a particular dive than usual.

Diver is cold – maybe not bone chilling cold, but chilly enough to keep muscles tensed up.

Diver is anxious – they don’t feel comfortable with the dive for some reason, internally or externally.

Diver is flailing with their hands – either they don’t feel comfortable controlling themselves with their arms relaxed or they are improperly weight trimmed and are using their hands to maintain attitude. Swimming with your hands is not only inefficient, it’s not very streamlined. As a rock climber you probably have well developed upper body strength and you may feel you should try and use it underwater.

Improperly weighted – both total weight and trim weight can cause a diver to swim head up or head down and not swim streamlined and horizontal. Over weighted and diving with a half full BCD all the time increases drag also.

Improper fins for your strength, swimming style, or type dive. This one might start a flame war, but I have 3 sets of fins that I pick from depending on how I feel and the type dive I’m on. I’ve seen strong new divers start out with one fin that works fine for them at first, but as they gain confidence or speed in the water they find a different brand works better for them as they mature into their own personal style of kicking.

The list could on, but given your age and interests you are probably in good enough physical condition that it’s diving technique that’s causing your problem. Spending some time in a pool with an instructor watching how you move through the water might be a big help.

 

[theskull]

Two very important tips for you, and any criticism lies more with the instructor with whom you were buddied than you, since you probably wrongly assumed s/he knew what to do and trusted too much.

1. Gas management. If you start with 3000 and turn around at 1500, you will end empty--unless the return is shallower and with the current. Your turn pressure should be half of your "available" gas, not counting the 500 you want to end with. So for a 3000 start, you will turn at 1750.

2. When you are low on air, you end the dive. When you are seriously low on air, you share air and end the dive. Out of air is a BAD thing! If you are very low and an alternate air source is not offered to you . . . you reach over and take it! That's why we are all equipped with them.

Dive safe and have fun,
theskull

 

[Ayisha]

Your life is worth more than the cost of well-fitting equipment. I know SCUBA gear's not cheap, but your life, comfort, and enjoyment are worth buying at least select equipment for, like the BC that you know is causing issues. You could accomplish this by doing more shore dives and skipping some of the boat dives, and using that money toward a BC. It will add up quickly.

When diving anytime, and especially when you are running low on air, the last thing you should do is exert yourself. Remember: stop, breathe, think. By rushing and trying to find the line, you are using way more air. Slow down, and look calmly - you'll use less air. I used to concentrate on breathing slooowly, until it became second nature.

Remember to check your gauges often. Even if you know your air consumption, there could be a problem that you would be unaware of unless you check your gauges.

Maybe for now, you should use 2000 psi (or whatever 2/3 may be) as your turnaround pressure. It is after all, the rule of thirds and is safer for deep dives, especially since you say you use more air returning. Later, as you manage your air better, you can think about going back to 1500 as a turnaround point. Many people like to return to the surface with 1000 psi rather than 500 psi, since it gives you more air to work with if you or your buddy need it. Imagine if everyone aimed for 500 psi. If one person accidentally runs out of air, what then? If you get separated, what then?

 

[Ber Rabbit]

By trying so hard to "breathe-right" you may subconsciously be skip-breathing which is going to cause a build up of C02 and cause your body to breathe faster to satisfy its need for oxygen. Focus on taking long slow inhales followed by long slow exhales making sure to purge as much C02 from your system on the exhale as you can.

I agree with the others who say to get equipment that fits you. Ill-fitting equipment can make diving unpleasant and you may not have enough experience yet to realize how much fun you are not having. You won't know any better until you give a good set of equipment that fits you well a try. There are plenty of Florida divers on the board and you can probably find someone who has something that would fit you and would be willing to dive with you and let you try it.

Get your body horizontal. Improperly placed weights can make you move through the water like a jogger with the front of your body causing all kinds of drag and driving your air consumption through the roof. You want to move like a torpedo, streamlined with only your head and shoulders meeting the resistance and the rest of your body following the path they forge through the water. Make sure all of your gear is close to your body, no dangling gauges or octopus. Getting the best air consumption possible is summed up by the phrase "low speed, low drag." You want to fin in a slow relaxed manner and keep drag to a minimum.

Glad to hear the incident ended well. Hopefully you learned some valuable lessons from it.
Ber :lilbunny: