Realized I was breathing wrong after 8 years of diving

I was doing a deep inspection on a bridge piling near Seattle last Tuesday when my air started feeling weird. Not low, just off. My buddy Dave tapped my tank and gave me the cut sign. On the surface he said I was holding my breath between breaths, like I was scared to exhale all the way. I thought I was just being careful but apparently I was building up CO2 without knowing it. Got to talking with an old timer at the shop the next day and he told me half the divers he meets have the same bad habit from their first training dives. Now I'm trying to retrain myself to breathe like I'm sleeping, slow and steady. Has anyone else caught themselves doing this or am I the only one who spent years being an idiot?

2 comments

2 Comments

samjohnson10h ago

Last Thursday I actually measured my sac rate against a buddy who breathes like a normal person and I was burning through 30% more gas for the same depth and duration. @charles_kelly43 might be right that some people get away with it, but it means shorter dives and more money on fills. The old timer showed me how to exhale like I'm blowing on hot soup and it cut my breathing rate in half by the end of a single pool session.

charles_kelly4310h ago

Nah, I think you're overthinking it. Lots of people have weird breathing habits underwater and it works fine for them. If you weren't passing out or getting headaches, you were probably fine.