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Thread: Tips To Conserve Air In Scuba Diving

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    Registered Users greenturtle's Avatar
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    Default 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.
    "And God created great sea-animals, and every living soul that creeps with which the waters swarmed after their kind..." (MKJV) Gen 1:21

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    Wreck Diving Moderator acelockco's Avatar
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    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.

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    SMN Publisher The Publisher's Avatar
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    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.
    SMN Publisher

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    Wreck Diving Moderator acelockco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Publisher View Post

    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.

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    Default What I do

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

    Explore, understand, protect
    "Let's go Diving"

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    Registered Users Dsix36's Avatar
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    My rebreather is the only way to go. 6hr+ of air supply no matter what the depth is.

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    SMN Publisher The Publisher's Avatar
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    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.
    SMN Publisher

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    Wreck Diving Moderator acelockco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lars2923 View Post
    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?

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    Registered Users Dsix36's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by acelockco View Post
    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.

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    Registered Users hbh2oguard's Avatar
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    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.

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