is being able to open eyes underwater a necessary skill

[MXGratefulDiver]

It's actually harder in a pool, because of the chlorine. Opening your eyes in salt water isn't an issue ... although since our eyes aren't designed for use in water you don't be able to see much anyway. Clearing a mask in salt water may make your eyes sting for a few seconds ... but it's no big whoop. Way less of an issue than it is in a pool ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Dhboner]

I would go so far as to call it an essential skill. If you have your mask "kicked off" in a low vis environment and you don't carry a spare you really need to be able to continue for some time without it. You will abort the dive but you can't panic and freak out...you need to be comfortable swimming and breathing off your regulator without a mask.

 

[Saltyhawg]

Part of our open water training required a 25 meter swim with regulator in and no mask. We descended, removed our mask and handed it to the instructor who handed it back and watched us replace and clear it after the swim. Is that not required now?

Pool water hurts my eyes. Saltwater, not at all. Visual acuity is not good without a mask but even with contacts but I can see well enought to make a safe ascent and safety stop. So far I haven't lost my contacts when doing drills sans mask.

 

[decompression]

The salinity isn't really the problem, it's pH. The ocean is about 8.1 which causes discomfort, and not to mention the cold of the PNW ocean. Pools are generally 7.2-7.4. That's enough geek talk, I'm off to get my lunch money stolen.[emoji4]


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[oldschoolto]

I hope you can work underwater without a mask... Basic skill.... VERY IMPORTANT in my book....

Jim....

 

[Iralub]

Well, minor victory following some more eye water torture - finding that if I only open one eye and squint, I can keep it open long enough to swim the length of the pool. I can't see very well, but my visual acuity is very poor without prescription mask anyway. Will keep working at it after my eyes stop hurting

 

[oldschoolto]

Well, minor victory following some more eye water torture - finding that if I only open one eye and squint, I can keep it open long enough to swim the length of the pool. I can't see very well, but my visual acuity is very poor without prescription mask anyway. Will keep working at it after my eyes stop hurting

Good for you... Work on it.. It will get easier as you get used to it... It's a skill that just may save your life..

Jim...

 

[Storker]

Well, minor victory following some more eye water torture - finding that if I only open one eye and squint, I can keep it open long enough to swim the length of the pool. I can't see very well, but my visual acuity is very poor without prescription mask anyway. Will keep working at it after my eyes stop hurting

Don't squint. That hurts more than having your eyes wide open.

And your vision *will* be blurred without the mask. Our eyes' optics are designed for air, not water.


--
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Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[SeahorseDeb]

I'm allergic to chlorine and I wear contacts...two strikes against me. My solution...I squint my eyes. I make myself breathe underwater as practice without a mask to keep that skill rehearsed. Still...I detest 43 degree water on my face....

Good luck and ...practice baby steps...

 

[Nemrod]

Is being able to open your eyes underwater without a mask a necessary skill? The answer is yes.

Is being able to safely complete a dive without a mask, sufficient to clear an area that might be dangerous to surface or continue to a practical exit? The answer is yes.

I do not carry a spare mask unless I am in overhead, hard or deco. I have never lost a mask, ever that I can recall. It is completely possible and quite easy to keep a mask on even with a broken strap and it is skill you should have learned and should practice. If a mask were to shatter, or become somehow completely unusable such as being swallowed by a whale, I certainly can and do practice and did perform it (in the SDI solo course) and it is a required skill in my opinion for any diver to be able to open and use their eyes underwater without a mask.

N