SAC rate question (Um i mean another SAC rate question)

[Jaydubya]

It was a SKILLS DIVE..........I was not practicing under water basket weaving skills.

That could explain a lot. I really recommend working on those underwater basket weaving skills. If you do it mid water it will do wonders for your consumption rate on other skills. One skill that that I used to work on is stacking small rocks. It helped my diving immensely. I have no reason to doubt that underwater basket weaving would do the same for you.

 

[Ozwald]

While I was in Mexico my buddy and I went on a few dives. We would up with this British fellow, maybe 5'5 and 165 lbs at best. This guy I swear didnt breathe while underwater. His air consumption was non existent. Throughout the course of the day he also told us that for a living he would sandblast the insides of these huge smelting pots....sometimes without a respirator because it was just too hot inside.

Later that evening on the resort we met up with him and his wife for a few cocktails. Much to my surprise this guy must have fired up a package of smokes over the course of 4 hours maybe.

His claim to his extremely low air consumption was just being relaxed.

I still think about this......

 

[larry mckinnon]

I have two sons, the three of us would go diving in the Sea of Cortez together when the only place to get a tank filled was Ensanada, then Mulige, next would be Loreto. We would go out for a dive, the oldest son was like your brit, he just didn't use air under water. The second dive, he would use my tank with 800 lbs left, I would use his with 2200 lbs, we would do a complete second dive. My younger son was better then me, but not as good as his older brother. We did a lot of buddy breathing in those days to stay out as long as we could The difference was one son was very relaxed, didn't swim very much, and was almost diving on his own. I could never do it and after scuba diving for 35 years I still use a lot of air. I just accept that as my penalty for smoking when I was a kid.

 

[Puffer Fish]

I just dove with a group of military divers... as fit a group as I have ever seen...they sucked air at a rate higher than .85. Being really fit also means you can move a lot of air if you are not relaxed. (for some reason spear fishing at night with sharks made them nervous...)

I believe being relaxed, moving smoothly and not being over task loaded is the best way to improve one's SAC rate. I vary between .85 and .4, depending on conditions, how much I work and how relaxed I am.

While I was in Mexico my buddy and I went on a few dives. We would up with this British fellow, maybe 5'5 and 165 lbs at best. This guy I swear didnt breathe while underwater. His air consumption was non existent. Throughout the course of the day he also told us that for a living he would sandblast the insides of these huge smelting pots....sometimes without a respirator because it was just too hot inside.

Later that evening on the resort we met up with him and his wife for a few cocktails. Much to my surprise this guy must have fired up a package of smokes over the course of 4 hours maybe.

His claim to his extremely low air consumption was just being relaxed.

I still think about this......

 

[daz88]

RELAXED is what it's all about. I know a guy that runs triathlons and is in great shape and is a regular diver (not a new diver), and SUCKS his tank down! He is used to breathing for running races and not for relaxing under the water. We were talking about it one day after a dive, how I use only about 1/3 or the air he used on the same dive. And that he's young & in shape, and me....not so young & in shape. {well, hey...round is a shape isn't it?} Relaxed, long & slow breaths is how you make a tank last. being in shape helps if you're covering a lot of distance or working hard during a dive, but for having a relaxing dive and just enjoying being underwater the water (not working hard), it's all about being relaxed to get your SAC rate down.

 

[The Kraken]

I'm going to hazard a guess here and guess that you were pretty much pumping in and out a lot of air trying to get used to the dry suit.

That's going to affect your SAC rate considerably.

Don't worry about it. Go dive. Relax. Have fun!!! It'll come down.

the K

 

[101recon]

For me being relaxed and comfortable is the key.I smoked for 35 years before I started diving.Still do though I have cut down.My SAC averages about .6. I get down in the .5 range often and have 3 dives with a SAC of 4.2.
I know all those years of smoking took their toll so I fully expected to be an air hog when I started diving.Luckily this was not the case.