Saving air

[love2godeep]

I was looking through an old dive magazine recently, and it had an article on conserving air. One of the hints was to quit breathing for several seconds at the end of every inhalation.

Of course they told us in diving school that one of the cardinal rules of diving is to NEVER stop breathing. The article said that it would be ok if you held your breath with the lungs full.

Has anyone tried this? Did it help save air? Do you think it's safe?

L2GD

:thinkingo

 

[Mo2vation]

I was looking through an old dive magazine recently, and it had an article on conserving air. One of the hints was to quit breathing for several seconds at the end of every inhalation.

Of course they told us in diving school that one of the cardinal rules of diving is to NEVER stop breathing. The article said that it would be ok if you held your breath with the lungs full.

Has anyone tried this? Did it help save air? Do you think it's safe?

L2GD

:thinkingo

I do this. I get mad bottom time. I also get mind numbing, incapacitating headaches from time to time... Doing the third dive is a lot more fun when I'm not diving with a jack hammer to the forehead. I recommend regular, deep breaths with a short pause (not a breath hold...) and then a full exhalation. Then another deep breath.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

K

 

[Dee]

L2GD...what you're describing is called skip breathing and is a very bad habit to get into. Photographers have a tendacy to skip breath in the process of taking pictures in an effort to control your bubbles, maybe to creep up on a creature. As Mo mentions, you'll get a killer headache from CO2 build-up doing this. Holding your breath, as is mentioned in all OW classes, usually means to take a breath and hold it.

There are ways to accomplish the same thing without getting headaches or a danger of expansion injuries. It's all a matter of timing.

For instance, after I have composed my photo I'll quite breathing for a few seconds to stop my bubbles, to steady the camera and to stay in position, then I'll press the shutter. I'm not changing depths, I'm not taking a breath, I simply cease to breath, only holding maybe a half lung full of air for a few seconds......no more. It's hard to explain...

You never, under any circumstances, use this method to conserve air! As you gain experience, get more skilled and more comnfortable in the water your air consumption will drop. Alot also depends if you are man or woman. Men use more air. Their lungs are bigger, they have more muscle mass to move through the water and those muscles burn more energy, hense more air. People always comment on mine and other womens AC. It's nice but it's really no talent...it's a girl thing! If you honestly need more air, look into using larger tanks. Don't compromise your health and safety for a few more minutes underwater.

 

[d33ps1x]

There is a few articles in the training section of Rodales on this but I know Rodales isn't too well thought of on here.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Get a bigger tank... better yet get two tanks and double them... even better get two bigger tanks and double them... and of course if you really love2godeep then you need to save the air for your tires and get trimix certified.

 

[Scubatooth]

Dee and Mo have covered pretty much of what needs to be said, but i looked in your profile and noticed that you have aOW cert, and welcome to the wonderful world of diving. as you dive more you will notice that your AC rate drops, in some cases dramatically, i went from hoovering a 80 in 20 feet of water in about 30 minutes to going well over 90 minutes at 30 feet on a 80, and MO you are right about the jack hammer, i did that on my first coz trip and paid for it.

to reduce the C02 retention there are a couple of things that i do. 1. is o make sure that that im fully hydrated and that my ears, head, and sinuses are clear before i dive, as these being blocked or restricted can make for a bad dive and increase AC, next is that i take slow deep breaths and exhale the same way, now if im composing a shot (and this applies to land or water) i always take in a deep breath, and let it out and compose and take the shot, then breath again, but i always make sure that the time where from when i have fully exhaled to the time that i inhale again is only about 3-4 seconds because beyond that you will begin to sink, and your body will be reminding you to breath.

i know that some people do it the other way around but thats how it has worked for me for the longest time on land (photography and rifle shooting) and has worked for me so far underwater so far.

just remember that the more you dive and the more comfortable you are in the water your AC rate will drop, as mine is proof of that

tooth

 

[queentrigger]

Good bouyancy control where you keep your hands off the BCD, and use your lungs(!?) instead is a key factor. But many factors lead to this.

 

[d33ps1x]

When I first was getting the hang of diving I probably didn't notice but I did notice when I first started using a dry suit that I ended up using a noticable amount of air while getting used to buoancy in it.

I ended up recently trying and preferring using it only to take the squeeze off.

But lack of good buoancy control in it definately cost me air consumption and I imagine a BC probably would do the same.

 

[h2omammal]

I read something once a few years ago that made a difference for me when I tried. The idea was to sip the air from a regulator as you might sip a fine wine -- savoring each breath.

As said elsewhere in the thread, ac rates improve with experience and with equipment familiarity -- in other words, as your comfort level and confidence improve, so does your ac rate.

 

[DandyDon]

There is a few articles in the training section of Rodales on this but I know Rodales isn't too well thought of on here.

They have their agendas - profitable business and all, but I think they do much to promote the sport and industry. This may the article noted...

http://www.scubadiving.com/article/0,7424,3-39-42-71-3-4X6-3,00.html

From that article in particular... (emphasis mine)

Exhale completely. This reduces the "dead air" volume and eliminates as much carbon dioxide as possible, thus delaying the urge to take another breath.

Pause after inhaling. Use your diaphragm to hold air in your lungs a few extra seconds while keeping your throat open. This allows even more time for gas exchange. Your breathing pattern should be: Exhale, inhale, pause. Exhale, inhale, pause.

Note: Every time we describe this breathing pattern, someone writes us, "Isn't this skip breathing?" It's not. Skip breathing involves holding your breath by closing your epiglottis (like when you grunt) and holding it for much longer. Closing your throat creates a closed air space that is vulnerable to embolism if you ascend. Keeping your throat open avoids that risk.

Besides, skip breathing doesn't work. Holding your breath too long means retaining too much carbon dioxide, triggering the urge to breathe sooner than necessary and resulting in rapid shallow breathing. The net result: You use more air by skip breathing, not less.

I pause a bit with full lungs, keeping my throat open, to get just a little more O2 / CO2 exchange in my lungs, and it helps. I would not suggest it to a newbie, but for someone who feel comfy in the dive - sure!

don