Sucking down a tank quickly

[AlwaysBeachin]

Just got back from my week in the Florida Keys completing 4 great dives (now up to 9 dives total). My dad was my dive buddy, and he used a lot less air than I did. He's 58 and I'm 31. He was certified back in 73 and just took a refresher but has not gone on tons of dives. Why, after each 45 min dive, did I suck my full tank down to 500psi while he had 1200 left? This really old dude came up with 1500 left. Is it because I'm too wound up down there being new? I tried longer, deeper breaths on the last dive, but it made no difference. Still working on buoyancy but overall a fun time since the while dive wasn't performing OW class skills. Just wish I don't have to thumb the dive with 5-10 min left because I was low on air. The captain did call us 2 out as the swimmers of the group. He told us how far each direction we'd swam from the boat. Since the dives were shallow (35ft or less), we surfaced a couple of times because I wanted to make sure we didn't wind up a mile away from the boat. We still ended up pretty far. I hate surfacing and going "where's the boat", then see it way off in the distance and think "awww $@#*"! That swim back sucks when the dive is over.

 

[fjpatrum]

All of the factors you mentioned are combining to make you still a gas burner. Working on bouyancy, being new and excited, and being a swimmer. It's also possible, if you have a higher metabolism (by virtue of being younger) you may just be burning air faster to feed your muscles.

So far I only have about 30-35 dives over 3 years. I still burn gas faster than I feel like I should, but I enjoy the dives I get. Relax and take it as you get it... the bottom time will start to add up and you'll dial in your skills such that before you know it you'll be getting just as much time out of the tank as your dad. Or not, it's still fun either way. You can always get bigger tanks to equalize the time if you're still a gas hog after 100 dives, which is about the time most more experienced divers seem to see a noticeable difference, apparently.

 

[John_B]

The key to lowering air consumption is to relax. If you're not neutral in the water, you'll use up a lot of air kicking with your feet and sculling with your hands, and that's a recipe for a short dive. If you watch experienced divers in the water, notice how they almost move in slow motion, with no wasted effort. Also, time how often they breathe vs. how often you breathe, you probably take two or possibly even three breaths to their one. The two thoughts I always share with new divers is "quiet hands, quiet feet". If you cross your arms across your body and cross your fin tips, do you sink?

 

[AlwaysBeachin]

My dad said he just breathed normal; did nothing special. He told me I must have been wound up. I am a very high strung person by nature, so I'm sure it was all of the items above combined, as just mentioned. The captain said it was not unusual that I used up that much air swimming like I did as he saw us surfacing periodically to find the boat.

 

[Adventure-Ocean]

Nine dives is not a lot. The more you dive the more you learn to relax and the steadier your breathing gets. In time you'll develope a very relaxed breathing rhythm and your air will go much further. As far a getting too far away you'll have to practice your underwater navigating. Try swimming in large squares and circles. It's also good to make note of physical things you can recognize on your way back. You cannot just swim off without thinking of the boats location.

ADVENTURE-OCEAN - Home

 

[fjpatrum]

My dad said he just breathed normal; did nothing special. He told me I must have been wound up. I am a very high strung person by nature, so I'm sure it was all of the items above combined, as just mentioned. The captain said it was not unusual that I used up that much air swimming like I did as he saw us surfacing periodically to find the boat.

If you're popping up periodically to find the boat, you're definitely spun up and not relaxed. Sounds like you might also need some extra help with navigation (not a criticism, just something to consider. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and navigation is a very common weakness.)

The best feedback I got from a dive buddy was that I was swimming too fast (though I was trying to go slow for his sake) and I re-evaluated my diving style. It was an eye-opener to get that feedback at that particular time to show me how much I was finning and "moving" even though I didn't realize it.

 

[Crass3000]

As people have mentioned, you just started diving and there are plenty of things that you will learn to help conserve air. 1) Going up and down is going to make you use more air (whether to find the boat or just poor buoyancy). 2)Stressing about how to get back to the boat is going to be less relaxing and increase your breathing rate. 3) Almost all new divers are over-weighted which will cause you to use more air. 4) Using your arms to swim is going to make you use more air (watch other more experienced diver's). 5) Not having your body streamlined and kicking inefficiently is going to cause you to use more air. 6) Breathing inefficiently is going to cause you to use more air. 7) Once you feel better about your buoyancy you can use your lungs to make bigger increases/decreases in depth to follow the bottom than one might think without wasting any air. 8) .....probably lot's of other reasons that I might not be aware of that others might bring up.

It takes almost every new diver a while to get a lot of these things ingrained in their head. I've basically quit smoking but smoked for 20+ years so I don't think there is anything I'll ever be able to do to use air as efficiently and will probably always be somewhat of an air hog but these things can help. It takes everybody time to learn. For now, don't sweat it and just understand that you will likely improve with time. Taking a navigation course is a very valuable class that I think can save plenty of lives. For shore diving, I always take a compass reading so that I always know the shore will be somewhere on the reciprocal heading. Boat diving is not quite as easy but taking compass bearings and looking for natural features on the bottom helps a lot. I also ALWAYS go to where the boat line hits the bottom and take a quick depth reading. The Captain may tell you its 25 feet deep when the rope actually hits the bottom at 35 ft. When you know the proper depth to look for the line it takes a lot of the uncertainty out of it.

 

[freewillie]

As above, relax while diving. Check your buoyancy. Most new divers are overweighted when they first start. Formal buoyancy check before dive, and then another at the end with empty tank. Streamline your gear, not good form in general to have guages and octo hanging, but increased drag also affects air consumption.

Also, slow down!!! If you are swimming all over the place you will use significantly more air than someone cruising along the reef. I notice my air consumption increases when swimming hard. It is much better when I slow down, take nice easy kicks, glide as much as possible after kick. I can also see more small animals like nudibranchs when swimming slowly. On my last dive found a small octopus in the cracks when I was taking it easy along the reef.

Size matters. Now, you can't change how big you are, but in general the larger you are relative to your buddy the more air you will use. If there is a significant size difference then you will usually have a higher SAC and although it can improve with practice and experience you may just find yourself having a slightly higher SAC. At that point you might consider diving slightly larger tank.

Stay shallow. The light is actually better, colors better, and plenty to see 35-40 feet. Air consumption increases the deeper you go. All things being equal your air will go quicker the deeper you dive due to physics.

Stay warm. Adequate exposure is a must. Your body will need more oxygen just to stay warm. Use appropriate thickness wetsuit, and consider hood and or gloves if necessary. If you felt yourself getting a little chilled you might add some extra exposure gear next time.

And have fun. It is not really a contest to see who's air lasts the longer. It just matters what your air is and can you get a little better relative to your own diving.

 

[Frosty]

All the advice above is good. But the main and most important one is RELAX. And again--RELAX.
Take your time and smell the flowers. RELAX

Ohh did I say --RELAX


Not saying for a moment Good boyancy,good weighting,deep breaths etc etc aren't important but you'll make the biggest gains by relaxing

 

[Carlos Danger]

The key to lowering air consumption is to relax. If you're not neutral in the water, you'll use up a lot of air kicking with your feet and sculling with your hands, and that's a recipe for a short dive. If you watch experienced divers in the water, notice how they almost move in slow motion, with no wasted effort. Also, time how often they breathe vs. how often you breathe, you probably take two or possibly even three breaths to their one. The two thoughts I always share with new divers is "quiet hands, quiet feet".

As above, relax while diving. Check your buoyancy. Most new divers are overweighted when they first start. Formal buoyancy check before dive, and then another at the end with empty tank. Streamline your gear, not good form in general to have guages and octo hanging, but increased drag also affects air consumption.

Also, slow down!!! If you are swimming all over the place you will use significantly more air than someone cruising along the reef. I notice my air consumption increases when swimming hard. It is much better when I slow down, take nice easy kicks, glide as much as possible after kick. I can also see more small animals like nudibranchs when swimming slowly. On my last dive found a small octopus in the cracks when I was taking it easy along the reef.

Size matters. Now, you can't change how big you are, but in general the larger you are relative to your buddy the more air you will use. If there is a significant size difference then you will usually have a higher SAC and although it can improve with practice and experience you may just find yourself having a slightly higher SAC. At that point you might consider diving slightly larger tank.

Stay shallow. The light is actually better, colors better, and plenty to see 35-40 feet. Air consumption increases the deeper you go. All things being equal your air will go quicker the deeper you dive due to physics.

Stay warm. Adequate exposure is a must. Your body will need more oxygen just to stay warm. Use appropriate thickness wetsuit, and consider hood and or gloves if necessary. If you felt yourself getting a little chilled you might add some extra exposure gear next time.

And have fun. It is not really a contest to see who's air lasts the longer. It just matters what your air is and can you get a little better relative to your own diving.

This is all good advice and well stated. The term "less is more" definitely applies to many aspects of diving. Along with all-important safety, buoyancy control is one of the marks of a good diver, and is directly related to comfort and efficiency in the water. A lot of new divers get over weighted trying to compensate for being over equipped too, resulting in higher energy usage and shorter dives. In addition to slowing down and learning to relax, your equipment profile is an important part of the equation and should ideally be optimized for the conditions and type of diving you're doing. You really only should take what you need to dive safely and try to limit inherent buoyancy in your rig where possible. Fortunately developing more efficient diving skills comes along pretty quickly as you get more dives under your belt.