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Safely reducing air consumption when divingIt is a well-known fact that all new divers will over breathe, while this generally doesn't cause any severe problems it can mean that you let your buddy down due to having to call off the dive early because of your high air consumption. Reasons that cause more air consumption are as follows:* Problems with buoyancy - excessively pumping or dumping air. * Inappropriate weighting - if you are too light then you will have to work harder to stay down and if you are too heavy you will have to work harder to stay up. A diver that is over weighted will have to make sure there is extra air in his dry suit in order to maintain a natural buoyancy, this alone isn't really that significant but it will cause problems with your balance and swimming to maintain balance will require a greater effort due to increased water resistance. * Anxiety - most new divers will at some time suffer from anxiety, those suffering from anxiety find that their rate of breathing doubles at this time. * Working too hard - swimming too fast or working hard against a current can all cause a bigger consumption and consumes a lot of energy, co2 levels will also increase which make you pant and this also consumes more air. * Incorrect finning - poor use of fins uses more air as techniques such as the bicycle kick will just waste energy. The safest way to use less air is to learn to relax, breathe normally and evenly and use less energy by not wasting it. The following tips will help to reduce anxiety and effort when diving. * Don't hold your breath, skip breathing or breathe too shallowly, by doing any of these you run the risk of damaging your lungs, building up the levels of co2 and developing a severe headache. * Try to maintain a neutral buoyancy at all times, the simplest way to determine this is stop still and see if you ascend or descend, if you have correct buoyancy then you should remain level. Maintaining good buoyancy will also reduce drag which in turn reduces unnecessary effort. * Slow down, if you are using unnecessary energy to go too fast you will not only use more air and energy but you will also miss out on a lot of scenery. * Make sure you use the correct finning technique, incorrect techniques use too much energy and therefore too much air. * Do not use too much arm movement, the experienced diver will mainly rely on their legs for movement. * Whenever you can, gently pull yourself along rather than finning as this is a much more efficient way of moving around. * Take advantage of any current that is going with you. * Always check your equipment making sure it is stream lined and well balanced, make sure you keep drag to a minimum and avoid carrying bulky items. * Use buoyancy control to ascend or descend not finning. * Always stay warm and use a hood and gloves. |
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