Equalizing at Greater Depths?

[McLovinIt]

Thanks again guys...Keep it coming.

OP=Original Poster, I'm guessing??

Good points....I may have not completely equalized AND I was coming off a lingering cold. AND yes, BKP, mask squeeze probably compounded the problem since I was fighting a leaky mask and trying to get the straps as best as I could. Very small factors by themselves, but enough to add up. It makes more sense now that I have heard y'alls thoughts.

As for the knees....OK!! Won't do it again! Haha! Ligersandtions....a good question to ask. I'll ask it this weekend.

 

[irishsquid]

Thanks again guys...Keep it coming.

OP=Original Poster, I'm guessing??

Good points.... mask squeeze probably compounded the problem since I was fighting a leaky mask and trying to get the straps as best as I could.

Yep, OP is original poster.
Tightening the mask isn't always the best way to fix a leaking mask, unless it was just "sloppy loose". A too tight mask can leak just as bad, and it will cause discomfort, or at least it does for me.

 

[McLovinIt]

Yep, OP is original poster.
Tightening the mask isn't always the best way to fix a leaking mask, unless it was just "sloppy loose". A too tight mask can leak just as bad, and it will cause discomfort, or at least it does for me.

Thanks...I was just getting more leaks than normal. So instead of heading up, I just fiddled with it where I was at. I know that too tight will spring leaks, but I found a good adjustment. Still on the learning curve, but getting more comfortable. Thanks Again!

 

[fnfalman]

I never had the issue that the OP described but one time I went up and then couldn't equalize to go down again. I surfaced and it turned out that there was mucus build-up as I was diving and it caused me to not being able to equalize. Blew the loogie out and resumed diving.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

One thing I noted eventually was that the placement of the mask strap had a big impact on comfort and leakiness of the mask. If the strap is too high it puts presure under you nose and leave the top potentially too loose. If the strap is too low, the mask does not feel secure and tends to leak at the bottom. Wuth the strap properly centered (a point where it may feel slightly too low) the mask is comfortabel and will not require a great deal of tightness to stay secure.

Where tightness matter is during ascent where greate rpressure in the mask may try to push it away from your face. Other wise, for the rest of the dive, you could probably get by without a strap at all if the masks fits well.

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As noted above, instructors seem to be infatuated with having divers kneel on the bottom. When I got certified in '85, the drill was to doff and don gear and to do so we would kneel on the bottom with the weight betl , once removed, draped over our thighs to keep us down. Kneeling also helped putting the tank/BC on over your head.

I suspect the kneeling thing may also be a throw back to double hose diving where doing so places the can lower relative to the mouthpiece and reduces inhalation effort - often to the point of slightly positive presure. And, if you've watched see hunt you have no boubt seen Mike Nelson kneeling on the bottom ("testing flares for the manufacturer", etc) with no BC (and negatively buoyant due to wet suit compression) and with a double hose reg.

I think that position also made it easier for villians to cut his exhaust hose. But kneeling has no purpose in modern diving and is something instructors should avoid in class. If you have to be on the bottom, be close to neutral and practice fin pivots, but the sooner you learn to hover, the better.

 

[McLovinIt]

I am usually pretty anal about my straps being equal and centered. I usually use a Hollis M1 mask and the straps are split and molded a pretty good distance apart. The best fitting strap I've come across. The way they are "bent", the bottom one splits off and goes under the crown of your head and the top does the same over the top. It is very secure feeling and is very hard to displace once on.

I do have to agree about the kneeling thing. Doffing and donning bc and stuff is easier for me if I am hovering (read-thrashing about while NOT touching the bottom!). I'm thinking the DI may feel that the added stability of being stationary while doing skills is easier for students since they don't have to worry about staying in position or fighting with currents. Didn't botter me, but someone who really had to concentrate on the skills may have found hovering at the same time to be a bit of an overload.

 

[fairybasslet]

Blew the loogie out and resumed diving.

I've done that but I did it during the dive. Funniest thing I ever did underwater.

 

[McLovinIt]

I was trying to hold back, but...My "lingering" cold was the tail end of a case of pneumonia. I'll probably get scolded for this, but I was right in the middle of said pneumonia while getting certified and doing the pool stuff. Needless to say....being in the water tends to bring gunk (unorganized loogies) from your head and chest and dispense it right out your nose!! And they probably thought I was just practicing mask removal and clearing!!

 

[boulderjohn]

I started a thread on a similar topic a while ago. I do a lot of diving, and normally everything is just fine. Sometimes, however, out of nowhere, I get congested. It has happened in the ocean and in the pool. It comes on like lightning, and it goes away just about as soon as I leave the water.

In the thread, a couple of other people reported similar experiences. One was, like me, an instructor, and he related it to repeated activities that involved getting some water in his nose. I am not sure I can make that connection, although I did notice that it happened really badly one time when I was having an unusual problem with mask leaks.

At any rate, my current theory is that sometimes my mucous membranes react to the watery environment, and I don't know why.

As for being on the knees...

Count me as an instructor who does not believe in putting students on their knees, not in the pool and definitely not in the open water. It may add a little bit to the skills early on, but it pays of with rapidly increased skills as the instruction progresses. I find that a class taught that way takes no more time than back when I did things on the knees.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I've done that but I did it during the dive. Funniest thing I ever did underwater.

Pictures please:shocked2:! BTW very ladylike FB.