Tips To Conserve Air In Scuba Diving

Found this while surfing, thought will be useful to the people...thanks to Chris (whoever that is)

Tips To Conserve Air In Scuba Diving
By chris - Posted on March 26th, 2009


Man has a natural inclination towards being one with his surroundings. Everything is interconnected and each person feels the need to be able to feel every medium that intertwines between the complexities of his being. This is the reason why so many people are going crazy about scuba diving.

Scuba diving has attracted the attention of many enthusiasts all over the globe. It seems to be a very fulfilling and enjoyable activity. Some people have made careers out of their passion for scuba diving. The world has sensationalized scuba diving in such a way that it has helped preserve the environment and greatly contributed to the awareness regarding the environmental issues that are associated with our aquatic resources.

One of the major and popular issues that are continuously being discussed in the scuba diving arena is the conservation of air under water. An emerging scuba apparatus design is called a rebreather, which can help people address the concern about rapid air consumption. The apparatus functions in such a way that the exhaled air by the diver is stripped of carbon dioxide and is re-circulated to the air chamber. This way, one can enjoy the deep seas much longer. However, in most cases, divers don’t have such an apparatus.

Having insufficient air under water poses grave risks for the diver. One of the major causes of brain damage from scuba diving activities is the prolonged lack of oxygen that flows into the brain. Our brains rely on oxygen to deliver the necessary nutrients for it to function and if a diver doesn’t know how to properly manage his air, he is exposing himself to the risk of running out of breathable air.

So, what are some of the ways by which a scuba diver can conserve air while diving? One of the most controversial suggestions regarding the issue is to hold one’s breath during dives to be able to conserve air. In real life, one shouldn’t make breathe holding as a diving habit. A simple analogy for holding one’s breath is it is like killing the chicken to be able to get the eggs. It’s really a matter of priority. Do you want to conserve air from your tank while risking yourself to the negative effects of carbon dioxide saturation? The build up of carbon in the brain is dangerous because it pollutes the blood stream and deprives all the parts of the body from the much needed gas that is oxygen.

However, holding one’s breath has some useful applications. It can be used to be able to control one’s buoyancy under water. It is usually used by professionals to ascend a maximum of one foot, but nothing more than that. One should also remember that it is a “no-no” to hold one’s breath while ascending rapidly.

A more accepted way of conserving one’s air under water is to practice slow breathing. When you inhale and exhale, you should do it in a way that you fully go through the process. Breathing completely and slowly is the way to go if you really want to conserve air under water. It makes the whole process of respiration more efficient and effective as compared to taking short inhales and making short exhales.

Another tip (which is related to the one given above) is that it is more advisable to make big kicks as compared to making tiny ones. The concept behind this is that it is a more efficient way to move under water, therefore, you conserve your energy and less oxygen is needed by your body.

Sometimes, divers usually do all the things that are mentioned above and they still find themselves consuming too much air. For all the air hogs out there, the problem might not be under water. Being physically fit is very important in scuba diving. A diver who smokes would most definitely consume much more air much rapidly than a diver who is in good physical condition. Looking at the issue of air conservation under water from a more holistic point of view is perhaps the best tip that one can imbibe.

I don't like it at all. The only safe way to conserve air while diving is to dive more often. The more often you dive, the more comfortable you will be underwater and the less air you will consume.

I remember when I had just started diving, I would burn through my air in no time while others I was diving with would still have plenty of air to continue diving. Now that I dive on a regular basis, I find just the opposite to be true. I recently did a shallow dive and was able to get 1.5 hours out of a standard AL80 cylinder!

Be safe while diving, don't try to alter your breathing by holding your breath or anything else like that. Like anything else, practice, practice, practice, and you will find you have plenty of air for nice long dives.

Holding one's breath is certainly potentially a bad idea, especially in swells.

Seasoned divers tend to use far less air as they are not all worked up when diving.

Shallow breathing is inefficient, but deeper breathing is more efficient as there is a certain volume if air needed to fill the airways that are not part of the oxygen/c02 exchange system.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Publisher

Shallow breathing is inefficient, but deeper breathing is more efficient as there is a certain volume if air needed to fill the airways that are not part of the oxygen/c02 exchange system.

---

Thus allowing a buildup of CO2 in the lungs. That is one of the reasons why they always tell you in SCUBA class to breathe normally, with full breaths.

Oh, by the way it only costs $5 for a refill on air, just take more dives. Your log book will like that better too. ;)

Carry larger cylinders,
Skip breath
stay fit*
wear less weight
dive as often as possible
** breath off buddys octo when not looking ** :-)

My rebreather is the only way to go. 6hr+ of air supply no matter what the depth is.

I used to dive with steel 105's and steel 120. Beuchat now has steel 150's.

At some point you are going to run into NDL's if you are at depth with cylinders that size.

Rebreathers are comparatively a pain compared to the low logistics of open circuit and large steel scuba cylinders, and they are a royal pain to travel with on airlines, BUT, I have yet to run into a no deco limit when diving 4-5 dives a day at resorts when everyone is doing open circuit profiles.

Once in Micronesia we were at 90 feet and the dive guide had to ascend to 40 and just stay looking down at us as he was up against his NDL from repetitive dives. We sure weren't!

But what I wouldn't give for the traveling ease and low logistics of open circuit for traveling!

I wonder how well the new Cis-Lunar Mark 6 travels as they are now shipping.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lars2923

Carry larger cylinders,
Skip breath
stay fit*
wear less weight
dive as often as possible
** breath off buddys octo when not looking ** :-)

---

SKIP BREATH???? Are you serious? Are you really certified?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by acelockco

SKIP BREATH???? Are you serious? Are you really certified?

---

Some tech divers still do this. I have been told that it can be difficult to "unlearn" this when moving to a rebreather.

Pretty bad article! I'm guessing it was written by someone who wasn't a diver or very inexperienced. Breathe normally and have fun. If you're fat and out of shape get a bigger tank. Dive more and more and all of a sudden your SAC rate drops down. Mine is half of what it was but it took well over a hundred dive! Like everythig practice makes perfect.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dsix36

Some tech divers still do this. I have been told that it can be difficult to "unlearn" this when moving to a rebreather.

---

I guess some "tech" divers need to take a step back and go learn or relearn the basics. Maybe they are buying their c-cards instead of really learning/earning them. It just blows me away when I see someone with a Dive Master Certification and only 50-60 dives logged.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by acelockco

It just blows me away when I see someone with a Dive Master Certification and only 50-60 dives logged.

---

I agree and all the top of the line brand new equipment to go along with everything to look good

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dsix36

Some tech divers still do this. I have been told that it can be difficult to "unlearn" this when moving to a rebreather.

---

When I first started using my rebreather, I caught myself skip breathing.
i had to tell myself, It's OK to breath on a rebreather.. Breath breath...
Ahhh.. that feels really good...

I'm new to diving, but that "less weight" idea looks wrong to me. On a couple of early dives, I used the minimum weight I needed get down, thinking it was somehow safer. As my tank emptied, I had to fight to stay down (using more air), and on my safe ascent I corked to the surface from about twenty feet with an empty BC because of tank buoyancy.

Doing things wrong to "save air" is foolish. Dive more and get better at it!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lorenzo

I'm new to diving, but that "less weight" idea looks wrong to me. On a couple of early dives, I used the minimum weight I needed get down, thinking it was somehow safer. As my tank emptied, I had to fight to stay down (using more air), and on my safe ascent I corked to the surface from about twenty feet with an empty BC because of tank buoyancy.

Doing things wrong to "save air" is foolish. Dive more and get better at it!

---

Lorenzo,

I've done the took too much out thing before and ended up underweighted.
At that point I knew the amount of weight I needed to carry, (A little more
obviously) wearing an 80 AL in a wetsuit.
I've moved on since then, diving a dry suit and 95 LP Steel and went back to
a weight belt vs. integrated and everything changed. I had to learn the
proper weighting and positioning of those weight (trim) again. Each time
a variable changes, it affects the weighting.

Like you said, dive more and learn. Since you are new, it would be good for
you to record some data that I will offer, you may find useful in the future.
That data being: Starting Pressure (ie. 3000 lbs), ATA (Atmospheres Absolute), time at ATA, ending pressure. This information along with a
base line (same time spent breathing from your cylinder), starting/ending
pressure and all that on the surface.. and watch how your rate of
consumption changes with time, configuration, current, weather, colds, etc..
what ever you collect data on.. With this information, you may now plan
dives knowing how much air you should have to support all obligations. There
is a pretty good article I read that goes into the details. I'll see if I can find
the link and post it here.

A thought just occured. Remember that skill in your open water class
where they taught you how to perform a bouyancy check? Some fail to
mention that that skill should be done with an almost empty cylinder.
If done of a full, add a few pounds to your system to compensate for the
loss of weight of the air by the end of your dive. On an 80AL, that could be
as much as adding 4 more lbs.

Great job on trying things out and observing the results. Experience is what
makes a diver a safer diver in the end. Do things in moderation and talk it
out with your buddy. Dive safe my friend and welcome to the world of diving.

Hi,
Here are very few more frustrating occurrences in scuba diving as having to abort the dive due to lack of air, while everybody else is still having fun down there. Being able to save air as you dive is one of the most important steps to become a good diver. Here are some tips that can help us improve our diving skills:

1. Proper Weighting Carrying extra weight makes a huge difference on air consumption- you have to inflate your BCD more thus increase drag, and your body's lower part tends to sink down, while upper part rise up- which increases drag furthermore.

Simple buoyancy check before diving with a new gear, at a new area, or after along time without diving should do the trick.

2. Buoyancy Try to achieve and maintain neutral buoyancy as soon as you reach your desired depth. Simple trick is to try hover - breath normally, add minimal amount of air to the BCD, inhale fully to elevate yourself off the bottom and return to normal breathing.

3. Move Slowly There's hardly ever a need to dive fast- you use up energy and air a lot quicker, and probably scare marine creatures as you do so.

4. Avoid Using Your Arms Arm muscles are weaker than those in our legs, plus, arms and hands don't propel us as much as our legs and fins do. Use your hands for signaling, snapping photos rather than swimming.

5. Streamline Keep all hoses secured, arms tucked, and try to swim as horizontal as possible, thus minimize drag, keep yourself and the equipment off the bottom and avoid damaging the marine environment.

6. Breathing Don't skip a breath. Breathe at the same tempo, long inhalations and exhalations.

It's recommended to inhale and exhale as if whistling or sucking air. You can also pick a nice tune to help you breath at the same rhythm.

7. Use Familiar Equipment To be more relaxed and feel in control, buy your own equipment. You'll also need to make very few changes on estimating weights as mentioned in paragraph 1.

8. Relax Easy to say, but some newbie diver have a natural fear when diving. The more you dive the more confidence you gain, and the more you realize there's nothing to it.

9. Practice It all comes down to it. The more you dive the better you get. Consider participating in a Pick Performance Buoyancy Course that fine tunes you buoyancy skills.

10. Dive Shallow If you still use up air a lot quicker than your buddies, dive slightly shallower, where the air you breathe is less dense and allows you to dive longer.

ignatiusmael said.

I am going to add that the breathing trick I use is when
inhaling, inhale what you need, then keep inhaling, slowly
until you can feel you can't inhale any longer, then slowly exhale.

Breath in, continue sipping to help relieve the feeling to need to
breath (dilutes the CO2) until your lungs can't take in any more,
then exhale slowly. Do this rythmatically. This along with
your bouyancy (horizontal as much as possible), streamlined,
trimmed and weighted correctly, have a good performing regulator
and time will do the trick.
Also, sleep well the night before, eat a healthy breakfast and lunch,
drink plenty of water and you should be good to go.

Regards,
L

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by acelockco

I guess some "tech" divers need to take a step back and go learn or relearn the basics. Maybe they are buying their c-cards instead of really learning/earning them. It just blows me away when I see someone with a Dive Master Certification and only 50-60 dives logged.

---

Hey,
When I finished my 100th pool dive, I became an Instructor!!!
Doh!!

Well, different strokes for different folks is all I can say! I will tell you what almost 5000 dives have taught me:

1. Be comfortable in the water and with your gear!
2. Breath off the top 1/3 of your lungs, you will have better buoyancy control and not waste air. Breath normal for the work your doing!
3. The less you move the less air you need! DON'T move your arms around and find a steady comfortable kick!
4. Be warm, even in warm water use a beanie or whatever it takes to stay warm. I did a 2 hour dive starting at 105ft and ending in 30ft. Most at 30ft in 84* water.
5. Forget about it! The more you concentrate on your usage the faster it will go! (Comfort thing)
6. DIVE DIVE DIVE Nothing takes the place of burning a lot of tanks under a lot of different conditions.
7. the better shape your legs and general condition the longer your dive.
8. NITROX!

I just got back from Bonaire where my avarage dive was over an hour at depth. The only reason it was not longer is my female buddy ran out first and I only have 130lbs on her! And that's pushing a camera that uses up 20% more are.

Also I would rather be 2lbs heavy than 2lbs light, but I would most like to be right on! Less weight means less air! Less mass to push! This is physics and every action has an equal and opposite reaction!

NO SPLIT FINS! Too much movement! Trim: less hoses, less dangles, less drag, and the right attitude! Horizontal!

If you think you can beat me on air consumption your welcome to come along and dive with us to prove it! I am usually the first in and last out, it's not bragging if you can do it;););)

Oh the brown eyes.

Created an article for beginners on how to develop the basic scuba skills http://www.scuba-snorkeling-adventur...cuba-dive.html. Any suggestions would be appreciated

This reminds me of a dive guide who I was with a couple of months ago...the first part of the dive was in waters 50 feet deep, ending in maybe 30 foot deep waters....his tank lasted him 90 minutes...

When you dive enough and are relaxed enough, your air lasts far longer....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Publisher

When you dive enough and are relaxed enough, your air lasts far longer....

---

My SAC (Surface Air Consumption - Equivalent) rate can drop as low as 8.5LPM (Litres per minute) or 0.3 cuft per minute.

If you keep fit and dive a lot you will be able swim around, even against a current, and still use very little air. Trim is very important.

I remember when I experienced just began diving, I would melt away by means of my oxygen in no time even although other people i experienced been diving with would nonetheless have lots of oxygen to hold on diving. Now which i dive on the frequent basis, I arrive throughout just the opposite getting true. I recently do a shallow dive and was in a location to acquire 1.5 several hours away from the traditional AL80 cylinder!

Breathing oxygen, you must dive shallow then :D

Diving 4-5 diving resort, everyone in the open sections of the day, there was no encounter a decorated restrictions.