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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, 28 July 2007 02:48 |
| Air Management | | One of the most important rules of diving, Don't Run Out Of Air | If you can manage to do that your scuba diving will be a success. The problem is, diving presents many opportunities for distraction. It might be a beautiful fish, a beautiful woman, a shark, who knows, but there is always something down there that scrambles for your attention causing you to leave your pressure gauge dangling forgotten at your side.
One good way to avoid running out of air is to plan to always be back on the boat with 500 psi remaining in your tank. Air management is a skill you will learn over time. Here are some basic ideas to help you get started. | Avoiding empty tank syndrome starts with your dive planning. Some folks call this the 2 A's of dive planning so let's not confuse them and just call it that. The 2 A's of dive planning are - "Air Return Point" and "Air Ascent Point". Neither concept is too awfully difficult and either or both could save your life.
Air Return Point - This is something you decide on before the dive, usually with your buddy during the predive check. It is the pressure indication on your gauge that says "time to turn around and go back to the anchor". Two things about the air return point, you've got to look at your pressure gauge and you've got to do what you said you were going to do during you planning session.
What you said you and your buddy were going to do was this. The first run to reach the air return point indication and their gauge would tell the other one and both of you would the return to the anchor in preparation for the ascent.
Do what you said you were going to do, provided you set the air return point high enough, and you have no air supply problem. if one of you forgets to tell the other one when they hit the air return point you are setting yourself up for a problem.
Air Ascent Point - The pressure indication on your spg that tells you it's time to head for the surface regardless of where you are. If you didn't follow the air return point or have lousy navigation skills this may mean a free ascent of the anchor line.
The air ascent point takes a little calculation and since everyones air consumption is different you may need to adjust the calculations to fit your air consumption rate.
| Remember the second premise - 500 in your tank when you get on the boat gives us a starting point. Then multiply your depth by 5 then add another 100 psi per dive to account for safety stops. | 500 | | 5 x depth | | + 100 per dive |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 20 April 2009 22:31 )
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