SAC Rate Poll What is normal? MALES ONLY

[pasley]

I agree that is a very good way. Self assesment can be good to.

Merry Christmass to all, and may our service men and women around the world find peace, joy and happiness in the new year.

 

[StSomewhere]

Well I just completed the PADI Peak Performance (e.g. bouyancy) course, and if I learned anything it was how much air I was *wasting* dumping gas in and out of my BC during a dive (too bad I don't get miles for all the up/down/up/down through the water column!). My SAC stinks but I think at least part of that is gas that was never breathed...

 

[msandler]

somebaody give pasley an award so we can get on with other things.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Lot of dreamers responding to this poll...
Rick

 

[Diver0001]

Lot of dreamers responding to this poll...
Rick

And their fish are bigger too....

R..

 

[FIXXERVI6]

SAC is also greatly affected by speed, I chase some of my buddies around and push my SAC up over 1.X and if I go at a nice slow pace and relax and take my time it drops to .5 - .55 pulling doubles

In my opinion SAC is killed by not being relaxed, poor bouancy, and going too fast!

for planning I use a conservative figure, .6 - .7

 

[TekRefugee]

Lot of dreamers responding to this poll...
Rick

What I want to know is, if there are so many air sippers out there, how come I never see you on any of you on the boats I'm diving? It must be the case that the kind of divers I see on boats are not well represented in this poll. It seems to me that many, many of these divers get only a half hour or so on an 80 on routine, 60' or so dives in the NW. I know this because I'm nosy and ask how much time other people on the boat get, and also from being assigned many partners over the last few months that have called our dive at half an hour or so.

My SAC rate is terrible (often .6 or .7, according to Suunto). I usually get just 40-45 mins or so on an 80 and 60-65 mins on my 120. I know I've got a long way to go, because I have a partner that usually gets my the same 60-65 mins on an 80 (and I'm sure there are many people out there way, way better than that.)

But according to this poll, I should almost never be the last guy out of air, because most people have a SAC rate that's half of mine! I should be seeing lots of people staying down an hour or so on 80's, and it just doesn't happen. A few do, but not a large percentage of the divers out there at all. Something is wrong somewhere.

 

[gcbryan]

What I want to know is, if there are so many air sippers out there, how come I never see you on any of you on the boats I'm diving? It must be the case that the kind of divers I see on boats are not well represented in this poll. It seems to me that many, many of these divers get only a half hour or so on an 80 on routine, 60' or so dives in the NW. I know this because I'm nosy and ask how much time other people on the boat get, and also from being assigned many partners over the last few months that have called our dive at half an hour or so.

My SAC rate is terrible (often .6 or .7, according to Suunto). I usually get just 40-45 mins or so on an 80 and 60-65 mins on my 120. I know I've got a long way to go, because I have a partner that usually gets my the same 60-65 mins on an 80 (and I'm sure there are many people out there way, way better than that.)

But according to this poll, I should almost never be the last guy out of air, because most people have a SAC rate that's half of mine! I should be seeing lots of people staying down an hour or so on 80's, and it just doesn't happen. A few do, but not a large percentage of the divers out there at all. Something is wrong somewhere.

Several things are going on here. You are probably hanging out with mainly newer or infrequent divers. In addition some of the low SAC rate posters don't move or cover very little ground and some aren't very adventurous in their choice of dive sites. They dive the same sites over and over. All these things are reflected in this poll.

Keep in mind that people are putting their best foot forward in this poll. They aren't posting what their SAC rate is when there is current, they are task overloaded, or when they are covering a lot of ground underwater. After 400 dives my SAC rate has come down to around .45 for a relaxed dive in a familiar place with little current and a slow pace. That's the number I would post in this poll. Under other condtions it would be higher.

On a dive boat it's deceptive also. Many divers on charters are newer divers. You also may not be aware of how much air everyone has left. Many people may only stay down for 30-45 minutes because they are getting cold or bored. They may have more air left than you think.

As far as the .35 SAC rate people it's mainly those who move very little and are short in stature (small bodies need less oxygen and therefore have smaller lungs).

 

[Charlie99]

What I want to know is, if there are so many air sippers out there, how come I never see you on any of you on the boats I'm diving? It must be the case that the kind of divers I see on boats are not well represented in this poll. .......

My SAC rate is terrible (often .6 or .7, according to Suunto). ..........

But according to this poll, I should almost never be the last guy out of air, because most people have a SAC rate that's half of mine! I should be seeing lots of people staying down an hour or so on 80's, and it just doesn't happen.
.........
Something is wrong somewhere.

The problem is a self selecting sample. SB users tend to be more serious, active divers than the average diver you will see on a boat. The subgroup of SB users that answered the poll is another level of self-selection.

You can also see this same sort of selection at work when comparing the percentage of BP/wing users on SB with what you see on resort boats.

Your "terrible" SAC of 0.6 or 0.7cfm is about average for the divers I see on boats. The typical diver I see on the boats also doesn't have anywhere near the number of diver/year as the posts on the "2004 Dive Stats" thread.

Are there any dive guides/DMs/boat operators out there that can jump in with some info on what they see as the typical SAC range in their customers? Average # of dives would be interesting also.

Charlie

 

[Uncle Pug]

SB users tend to be more serious, active divers than the average diver you will see on a boat.

comparing the percentage of BP/wing users on SB with what you see on resort boats.

The typical diver I see on the boats also doesn't have anywhere near the number of diver/year as the posts on the "2004 Dive Stats" thread.

... is that the more serious, active diver with much higher than average number of dives per year will also most likely be using a BP/wing.