Is there an art to taken breaths while scuba diving?

Question

when scuba diving because you have limited amount of air, how is the air inhaled in regards to the rate of breathing? is it done at a rate which is normal to that of being out of water like everyday breathing? or do you have to control your breathing and hold your breaths before inhaling again? does a person who is scared of water or deep seas use more air than a normal diver? lastly what is a rebreather is this different to scuba tank air? and if it is which method gives more time underwater?

Answer 1

You should breathe normally--whatever is comfortable but it does help to know that most of us have a shallow breath and we automatically take a deep breath periodically without noticing it.  When diving, I concentrate a little more on this and now breathe deeper more regularly.  This way, you don't build up a higher level of CO2 deeper in your lungs which you'll do with shallow breaths and "waste" air.  You don't want to intentionally hold your breath when scuba diving but you do momentarily pause before you breathe in and out which is normal too.  You'll use more air if you're excited or nervous and newer divers tend to use up their supply of air faster than seasoned divers.  Depth has a lot to do with how much air you have available to you.  Rebreathers enable a longer time because they scrub the CO2 from the exhaled breath and replenish the O2.  They are very different from a scuba tank in that they are complete systems that are expensive and require lots of training to use and is not for the casual diver.  Also, time underwater is constrained by depth, warmth, and pee-factor in addition to air supply.

Answer 2

I'm not an expert, but I took a scuba class and learned the number one rule of diving is to NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH!

Answer 3

breath normally well as normally as you can...

Don't skip breath ie. take one  and then hold your breath then take one

or shallow breath you'll only end up using it faster

And yes virginia a person who is inexperienced or nervous or unfit goes through a whole lot more air

the depth you are working at affects how quickly you air is consumed as well,that is to do with the air being delivered at ambient pressure....I am not going into that here ok

With practice you end up using less air

A rebreather is a little too technical to go into here...so follow this link http://www.rebreather.com/RBFAQ.html

and both systems are subject to certain conditions so try not to compare them too much

Answer 4

Regarding breathing...

You want to breathe as normally as possible.  I tell my students to try to breathe as if they are on laying on the couch watching TV.

Breathing normally will make your air last longer.  If you try to alter your normal breathing pattern only while scuba diving, you will actually use more air because you are "thinking" about breathing.  Just breathe normally.

If you are nervous, scared, anxious, etc. you will use more air.

Dive more often and you will be more relaxed.  The more relaxed you are, the longer your air will last.

Regarding a rebreahter...

On normal scuba (open circuit), you inhale from the tank and exhale into the water.

On a rebreather (closed circuit), you inhale from the tank and exhale back into the tank.  A little more specifically, you exhale into a scrubber and some oxygen is added back to the exhaled breath.  You inhale this new mixture.

There is also a semi-closed rebreather which some of your exhale goes to the tank and some goes to the water.

Rebreathers will give you more time underwater, but they are very expensive to purchase as well as very intensive to maintain.  

If you want more bottom time, dive more.  If that does help, take bigger tanks.