Mask Filling

[Daryl Morse]

Hold on, guys, I agree. I realize there's procedures for dealing with a leaky or filling mask. That's not what I'm asking though. What I'm asking is technically whether there's a physical reason why you can't hold your nose during the dive.

I'm also suggesting that as an immediate measure, if someone's mask starts filling, holding their nose might give them time to gain their composure so that they don't immediately freak and bolt for the surface. Of course they should be comfortable with breathing with a filled mask, but obviously some folks still freak.

If your mask is continuously flooding, rather than holding your nose for the rest of the dive, why not fix what is causing the mask to flood? 9 times out of 10, flooding will be caused by a mispositioned seal or something caught under the seal. If you can't fix it, then you decide to either live with it or ascend to the surface.

Any diver should be able to breathe with water in their mask long enough to either adjust the mask to alleviate the flooding or ascend to the surface.

 

[mccabejc]

(Referring to Daryl's response):

Hello !!?? Is this thing on ??? Hello ??

 

[dlndavid]

Hello !!?? Is this thing on ??? Hello ??

Undo the "ignore all" setting.

 

[pennypue]

A flooded mask should not be a worry.......isn't it just used as the snot purge valve for your sinuses? :wavey:

 

[matt_unique]

A flooded mask should not be a worry.......isn't it just used as the snot purge valve for your sinuses? :wavey:

Awesome....Penny Pue once again charming us with her feminine ways.

This reminds me of the movie Christmas Vacation with Eddy's dog named "Snots".

Seriously - the temperature of the water on the bare face will have more of an impact than anything else.

--Matt

 

[wcl]

I've read about a couple of incidents in which divers were injured apparently after their masks filled up and they bolted to the surface. And I assume that the reason may be the fear of water being sucked in the nose.

So I was thinking that maybe a way to alleviate that fear would be to immediately hold one's nose with your fingers when the mask fills up, breath normally, then relax to the point where you can clear it (if you can).

And I got to wondering: is there any reason that you can't hold your nose thru the entire dive, other than not being able to equalize the air pressure in the mask? And presumably, if there is water entering the mask, I'd assume the pressure would be pretty much equalized automatically since there's a leak.

Hi,

To focus on what you asked:

I would say it is certainly a better idea to hold the nose rather than panic and bolt. If that's what it takes to regain composure, get to take the breath to clear with, and like that, then it's a good thing. Better not to need to do so, but much worse to not do it if the alternative is snorting and bolting.

Physiologically, I think you could hold (or plug) your nose through a dive, since that air space is open out back in your throat to for equalizing the nasal passages themselves. You lose the hand, and the mask-clearing tool, so I would say the dive is over, but perhaps one could speculate a situation where it would be a way to gracefully end the dive ...



Digressing from the questions, it is definitely better to train to the point of comfort when diving with water at the nose. On my recent forays into colder water diving (with new drysuit, yay!), in fact our mentors specifically suggested that we do the "kiss the water" (reg in, no mask, face down in water) when we first entered, just to reinforce that comfort in the new, colder environment.

So, holding the nose would be a crutch ... but sometimes you need a crutch not to fall ...

Cheers,
W.

 

[Jason B]

I think you're missing the point. The idea was to regain composure. I know from my own experience that doing an OW dive is completely different from a confined pool dive. What the author is saying makes perfect sense. If you're diving in semi-chilling water, and your mask fills, that cold water on your face can have a number of unwelcome effects on your behavior. I would think that just pinching your nose for a few seconds to kind of 'get used' to the water, followed by an immediate evac of the mask per training would be perfectly fine.

I think you are missing my point. Don't pinch the nose! Exhale through it and clear the flood.
The author never mentioned the water being cold and trying to gain composure. He asked about holding the nose and completing the dive. I say clear the freakin' mask. That's OW day 1. As I said, if you have to hold your nose, you should turn in your C-card.

Jason

 

[menemsha43]

is there any reason that you can't hold your nose thru the entire dive

There are plenty of practical reasons why this might not be a good practice but let's not forget that one would look like a complete *** as well. Lol.

 

[Mick_O]

I think you are missing my point. Don't pinch the nose! Exhale through it and clear the flood. The author never mentioned the water being cold and trying to gain composure.

In fact, he did. The 'cold' part I added because I know that it can be a nasty surprise when you get a faceful of cold water.

I'm also suggesting that as an immediate measure, if someone's mask starts filling, holding their nose might give them time to gain their composure so that they don't immediately freak and bolt for the surface.

 

[Alex777]

Originally Posted by mccabejc
is there any reason that you can't hold your nose thru the entire dive

Actually, given the condition of my wet suit, I hold my nose during the entire surface interval.