The OP has started a number of threads that suggest he is diligently reading through the open water manual ahead of actually taking his class, and is being left with a bunch of questions.
In this case, it seems likely he is thinking about the CESA skill, with the continuous exhalation. But, of course, we also emphasize that, while doing the regulator recovery skill or any other skill which involves even a brief period without a reg in the diver's mouth (eg. Oral inflation), the student should be blowing bubbles. So the OP has got it right about continuous exhalation. And he's right that divers ought to be comfortable, at least for brief periods, without a regulator or anything to breathe, because this is one of the things that most definitely can happen. I believe Rick Inman wrote a story a while back about a dive where a diver got his reg kicked out of his mouth, panicked, and bolted. Bolting is very bad, so becoming really comfortable with skills like reg recovery is very important.
However, the length of time that an OW diver should spend trying to solve such a problem, before finding another solution (using their own secondary reg, or going to a buddy for gas) is short. I suspect the agencies writing OW classes really DON'T want students to work on comfort with prolonged breath-holding, in part because the risk of embolism if buoyancy control is lost during that time is just so high.
In this case, it seems likely he is thinking about the CESA skill, with the continuous exhalation. But, of course, we also emphasize that, while doing the regulator recovery skill or any other skill which involves even a brief period without a reg in the diver's mouth (eg. Oral inflation), the student should be blowing bubbles. So the OP has got it right about continuous exhalation. And he's right that divers ought to be comfortable, at least for brief periods, without a regulator or anything to breathe, because this is one of the things that most definitely can happen. I believe Rick Inman wrote a story a while back about a dive where a diver got his reg kicked out of his mouth, panicked, and bolted. Bolting is very bad, so becoming really comfortable with skills like reg recovery is very important.
However, the length of time that an OW diver should spend trying to solve such a problem, before finding another solution (using their own secondary reg, or going to a buddy for gas) is short. I suspect the agencies writing OW classes really DON'T want students to work on comfort with prolonged breath-holding, in part because the risk of embolism if buoyancy control is lost during that time is just so high.
