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SAC rates

12K views 59 replies 42 participants last post by  infernalzen 
#1 ·
I am just curious about people SAC rates and how much they change from warm waters to cold.
I was at 17l/min while on holiday in Malta but now I seem to be hanging around 29l/min and it just seems a bit high.
 
#4 ·
SAC after a lot of diving was at 25 on the bottom, 20 on deco. I found out quite early on that worrying about my sac put it up to 30-35. I started planning my dives for gas consumption on V planner and adding 1/3rd as reserve (even single cylinder no deco dives). Once I knew I had plenty of gas and I wasn't worrying about it then my SAC leveled out at the current figure.
HTH
Simon A
 
#9 ·
I'd imagine experience can have implications on SAC rate too, so don't take it out of context. I've had a similar experience to you in that mine dropped to 17 in Malta when i was there in Feb, 15C in water. Got home, jumped to 22. After another 10 dives at home it started coming down to about 19. I always plan with 20.

I've 80+ dives. Dry suit, mostly UK diver, all seasons. ;)

12 and 13 is amazing, i can't imagine that at all. Gits.
 
#10 ·
I only got reliable sac rates on my last 30 odd dives all in cold water. It seems to be much more influenced by the stress encountered during the dive than anything else. I was changing a lot in my kit during these dives and for a while 30+ lpm was quite normal. As I'm getting grips with the kit and the last 8 dives were all around 19-20. I still plan for 25 l in ideco.
 
#11 ·
Obviously I do a eck of a lot of single cylinder diving, and my SAC is 7.5lpm, but when I throw a twinset on it goes up to 10lpm - don't know why as I feel just as comfy.

When I'm teaching PADI OW students I look into their SAC rate and if its over 20lpm I try to work with them to get it down as I think thats a little high.

Regards
 
#14 ·
My sac seems to be hovering around 11l/min for cold water diving. Never worked it out when in warm water but it was something stupidly low but then i was diving everyday at the time. Ive found as soon as i stopped worrying after my sac and just breated normally dueing a dive it dropped massivley. I plan dives for a sac of 15, used to do it with 25 but got sick of using twins when a single 12 was more than enough
 
#20 ·
I am not really worried about it, I was more curious. I have just seen a few changes to my set up and I was wondering how it compared with the experiances of others.
I carry alot of stress from work, learning a new language and new house, new country new equipment (New drysuit, wing, doubles....hell, even my torches and reals are new) so maybe in time as my bouyancy gets better and I relax a bit more I will see my rates fall.
 
#23 ·
My SAC has increased to about 20 due to my lack of exercise and poor fitness level. :( Last year when I was weight training and running bit's of marathons it was about 16 in the UK but in Egypt if dropped to around 11.

Have started training again so hopefully that will have an effect.
 
#24 ·
Comfortably in single figures in warm water. My wife uses about the same as me and we often use less than the dive guides we are with. We gave one quite a shock when we ended up in Deco (according to his computer - ours still had some NDL time left) on a 20M dive using single 12's. SAC in cold water is higher - usually around 12.
 
#25 ·
Dunno what mine is in warm water but on a dive on the Thistlegorm, everyone else got out with cylinders on empty (my buddy was on fumes with 10 mins of stops) and I had 110 bar left. The dive guide was somewhat surprised.

I blame that trim thingy. Makes finning effortless.
 
#26 ·
Don't worry about it.

I can get single figures with a single in warm water but usually breathe in the mid to late teens with twins on.
With stages and more stuff that approaches and passes 20 - more gear = more work = more effort.
Last weekend on Skye I varied between 23 diving the Doris in a raging current and 16 drifting along at Waternish Point. All dives had twins and drysuit.

That said I'm a fat, unfit slob.
 
#27 ·
I hadn't given my SAC too much thought until now - I haven't got into Deco yet, and I usually come up with at least 80 bar on a single 15 after about 40 minutes :)

Working it out from the weekend though, I think it's between 18 and 20. Last time I worked it out (last year or the year before); i think it was in the 30's; so it looks like it's on it's way down :)
 
#28 ·
Mine has changed enormously in the last month but that's down to frequency of dives, familiarity with the sites and improving fitness. Yesterday I did an hour, average depth about 9m and used 65bar a month ago I'd have used 120. Just relax and it will come down in time.
 
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