Conserving precious air and making the most of your limited supply on a dive is a constant pursuit for divers the world over. It’s definitely one of the most coveted scuba skills among divers and helps greatly to extend their bottom time to the maximum allowed time without having to cut short a dive because they ran out. You’ve probably heard of hundred tips of ways to conserve air when diving, and while some of these are nothing you haven’t heard of before, we’re bringing you Our Top 10 Tips to stretch your next tank of air-
1. Stop losing out on air before it even reaches your lungs. Check your o-rings, inflator hose and connection points carefully for any leaks before a dive. Even a tiny stream of bubbles from an O-ring or an inflator swivel can add up to a significant amount of minutes, and in dive time that can be a lot. Ask your buddy to take a closer look once you’re in the water to spot any leaks. Have all your Scuba equipment serviced regularly and by professionals. It’s a simple but important way to stop unwanted wastage of air.
2. Dive Slow. Slow and steady does it when you dive. Scuba diving isn’t about how fast you can swim, nor how much ground you can cover. In fact, divers tend to compete on who surfaces with the most air. If that’s the case the only way you’ll win those bragging rights is to slow down, relax and take the sloth approach when you dive. Avoid darting around, go with the flow and enjoy every minute.
3. Breathe slowly- both inhale and exhale deeply, but comfortably. Don’t consciously try to lower your intake, hold your breath or expand your lungs beyond their capacity. Practice breathing deeply at home (yoga style) to get used to this kind of breathing, as natural as breathing seems when you get underwater paying a little attention to this can go a long way.
4. Scuba diving is all about creating less drag and streamlining both your scuba gear and body for better hydrodynamics. By minimizing any resistance underwater you automatically minimize exertion and in turn reduce your air consumption, both important factors of diving.
5. Buoyancy, Buoyancy, Buoyancy. Not being able to control buoyancy during a dive results in a diver using extra energy, either fighting to keep of the bottom or from continually floating to the surface. The energy spent doing this directly relates to the consumption of air. Another reason that good buoyancy control helps make your air last longer is that you tend not to inflate and deflate your Buoyancy Compensator or BCD, which uses air from your tank, as much during a dive. (Read our Scuba Tips on Fine Tuning Your Buoyancy)
6. Dive Stress-free. Be well rested before a dive day. Fatigue is stress. If you start the dive tired, your body tends to work harder to overcome the extra burden, so you breathe harder. Pay attention to the dive briefing you are given before a dive so you are better prepared and calmer. Stree-free diving also includes diving with a dive buddy whom you trust and share good communication which includes everything from understanding each others hand signals, to facial expressions, gestures and feelings through eye contact automatically builds up your own confidence and comfort on a dive. Dive within your own comfort zone and limits.
7. Dive Shallower. It’s physics. Remember what you learned in your first Scuba course? – The deeper you dive the more air you consume and the shorter the dive. You can easily dive a few feet apart from the rest of the group or just above the coral shelf and see just as much, to conserve a bit more air.
8. Use the proper amount of weights and distribute them properly. If you’re over-weighted, you have to put more air into your BC to float it and be neutral. An inflated BC is larger and requires more energy and oxygen to push it through the water, not to mention can play havoc with your buoyancy control. Weight distribution however is not just limited to the weights you wear, it also includes the all the scuba gear and equipment you use on a dive and how it’s worn. It’ll determine your profile underwater and a horizontal swimming position which is always recommended will reduce drag and help in streamlining.
9. Were the right kind of exposure suits (wetsuits or drysuits) to stay warm enough underwater. Heat is energy that has to be replaced by metabolism, using oxygen to make it. Getting cold also creates mental stress which, often without your noticing it, increases your breathing rate.
10. Physical fitness is often overlooked as important for diving but actually it can make a big difference even in buoyancy and air consumption. Your fitness levels can affect how strenuous a dive is and your exertion levels which directly influence your breathing rate. A diver in better condition will have less increase in breathing rate when the workload goes up cause he’s in better shape, so he will use less air.
And lastly, if you are the first one to end a dive because of air consumption, don’t beat yourself up about it. People are different and each have their own metabolisms which dictates a persons need and use for oxygen. Being obsessive about air consumption can often lead to a diver’s downfall of the very same. Dive slow, calm and most importantly have fun and enjoy your dive and forget about the rest. That alone may spare you the extra air you crave for a longer dive.
*Photo Credits: photos by riandreu, tab2space and Nataraj Metz on flickr
