(From My Inbox Today...)
Source: Various

One of the popular topics divers discuss is Air Consumption. We often hear divers asking, "hey, how much air do you have?" at the end of the dive, and compare who has more air left in the tank. Not to compete or anything, but have you ever thought the difference between you and your dive buddy who always has more air in his/her tank than you do, while you both had the same size tank? What are they doing so that they are not sucking the air out of the tank??

Well, here are some tips you can try this dive season:

1. Breathe normally, but Inhale deeply and slowly, and exhale slowly
   One of the things I ask during Buoyancy class or exercise is if my students have ever tried Yoga before. Yoga and SCUBA have something in common - continuous breathing. In the teaching of Yoga, conscious breathing plays a big role in maintaining the posture. One of the things you can do during SCUBA is starting by Inhaling deeply, then exhaling slowly. When exhaling, try counting "1, 2, 3, ..." - if you can get to 8 seconds, it's pretty good. You can also try making sounds while exhalation as this extends the exhalation significantly. (remember Emergency Swimming Ascent Exercise??) Keep trying this method until this becomes like your second nature - this builds conscious but continuous breathing.
   
   
2. Check your weighting... Again.
   Weights you use during the dive seem like just a way to let you sink so that you can go diving, but it has a lot to do with your breathing. More weights you use, the more air you need to move around underwater to maintain your buoyancy. MORE WORK for you!! This means that you need more air to move around. Get an idea?
   
   Although checking your weighting at the beginning of every season is recommended, try checking it every dive if possible. If not, make sure you check it every time you have something new or add equipment to carry. For example, try checking your weighting on the first time you use new wet suits or dry suits. Even tanks, Aluminum or Steel give you a bit of differences.
   
   By checking it and recording it in your logbook helps divers to understand the importance of trimming weights. Trimming the weights does not mean you have to remove too much weights to end the dive. MINIMIZING the weight may be the right words to be used here. Just enough so that, with this correct amount of weights, you can continue and do the comfortable diving.
   
   
3. Buoyancy...
   Poor buoyancy skills give you more work = more air. Practice your buoyancy. If you need to tune up, speak to your instructor or take (my) SSI Advanced Buoyancy Control specialty course.
   
   Often seen in new divers, probably out of their excitement, they are not fully exhaling. Read above - Breathing section so that you can improve your breathing. The residue of air in your lung also makes you a bit positively buoyant. This means, constant buoyancy changes = more work = more air.
   
   
   
   
4. Stop, Breathe, and Think if necessary
   This is important, not only to improve air consumption but diving in general. Knowing how your dive is supposed to be conducted and what's involved give you a great peace of mind. Having anxiety underwater is not the way to dive, and we all know that! For example, constant buoyancy changes by dumping too much air out of the BC or constant sculling with hands (or poor kicks) can give you a bit of anxiety some times as you want to maintain your buoyancy at constant depth.
   
   If things come across during the dive, it's okay to stop, breathe, and think.
   
   
5. Equipment... or show-off?
   There is a reason why you carry additional equipment, and the most important of all, it's a life-support equipment you are carrying, not the way to show-off your newest and greatest dive light. Often, in advanced diving, it requires you to carry certain equipment for a reason, and this needs practice so that not only will you know how to use them but also how to handle them underwater. Try it in the pool once or twice to get an idea of how you can handle buoyancy. If your equipment is going to be a work for you to carry, keep practicing. Just don't give up.
   
   
6. Fin Kick