Mask removal help

[IceBergSlim]

He's not even certified yet and was simply asking a question to help him overcome one of his basic OW skills...he didn't ask for you to berate him and tell him he or those like him are going to die. Don't you think we have enough of that "your gonna die" mentality floating around already? Chill out.

The Op stated: I have completed the ow class and I am now doing the advance class, I have not made any of my certification dives yet.

Perhaps that tells us he/ she is OW certified and working on the advanced level?.


I agree that if you have no ability to remove your mask underwater you are not really in a position to venture further than the pool. True, with help, you may be able to continue but if you wig out everytime the mask is removed? The pool is where you will remain.

Don't even start any talk about "advanced"

/ certified 7 students today, 2 with mask issues that they were able to overcome

 

[Scott]

If you can get back in a pool in the shallow end with just your snorkel. No Mask. If not in a pool then lay in your bath tub full of water, or a hot tub for all I care...no jets. Place your face in the water and breathe. Breathe in through the mouth and out the nose. Do this until your are comfortable with water around your face. Pinching your nose is not a solution so it's not allowed. Once you can handle that then bring on the mask. Partially flooded and clear it, fully flooded and clear it and then fully flooded and removed and replaced. Do each of these until you can do it without thinking about it before moving to the next 'level'.
There are no required mask skills in AOW. Dosen't mean your mask won't get water in it, just means nobody is going to tell you to flood it.

 

[oreocookie]

The first two things we did in my OW class were holding our breath for 15 seconds and face in the water with no mask breathing in through the reg and out through the nose (kinda like what they do in beginner swimming lesson). The point being that you're not going to die if you don't have air for a few seconds (ie to do a reg recovery) and you're not going to die if you don't have a mask on your face, you can still breathe. I think this second activity would be helpful here, if you freak out, pop your head up, calm down and try again. When you're comfy with it, breathe out through your mouth.

Doing it in cold water can be a bit of a shock, no matter how comfortable you get in the pool. I was clearing my mask for fun sometimes, but still freaked out when I first did it during checkout dives (it was with a new mask that fit slightly differently, which might have had something to do with it). It wasn't pretty, but I lived. I wasn't looking forward to doing it a second time, when I had to take my mask off completely. Took it off, put it back on, cleared it and wondered what I had been stressed out about.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

I'm with Jim Lap on this one.....let's get some diving in before we race to the back of the book! Advanced training is so much more appropriate when you are already a good diver - until then, it is just even more theory to try to visualize.

 

[ivobj]

He's not even certified yet and was simply asking a question to help him overcome one of his basic OW skills...he didn't ask for you to berate him and tell him he or those like him are going to die. Don't you think we have enough of that "your gonna die" mentality floating around already? Chill out.

Agreed. It looked to me as someone asking for help to overcome some difficulty, didn`t we all had then at some point?

My friend, usually we freak out when we feel water covering all our face because of something called the mamo reflex, this causes us to hold our breath and to freak out in a situation like when diving, but in a pool we usually can stand very well, so two suggestions I made that helped me a lot:

1 - Before taking mask out, first flood it and keep it in your face, feeling the mask gives you a sensation of safety, although flooded and make easier to control yourself

2 - do it over and over in the pool, stay some time breathing without mask (remember that not only freaking out, but holding your breath is very wrong in diving), by the repetition you will start to get confortable with it at any environment.

Hope it helps

 

[fnfalman]

So, is the OP certified with basic open water or isn't he? Saying that he's certified with OW and working on AOW but haven't done any cert dive yet doesn't make any sense to me. Even PADI isn't that lax with standards.

Anyway, use a sink at home, fill it with water and dip your whole face in it until you feel comfortable. You'd know that you won't drown that way and maybe that would help with the feeling of insecurity.

 

[IceBergSlim]

Here's what I used to do when I was DM'ing for an instructor and he had me work with people having trouble with this skill.

Flood your mask about a half inch up and breath normally for 3-4 breaths. Then flood it up about half way and breath normally for C Then flood your mask almost all the way or all the way and leave it on and breath normal. Open your eyes with the mask on if you closed them and continue to breath until your breathing smooths out and you relax. Then pull the mask away and off your face and you will notice there is no difference between breathing with a full mask on your face and no mask. If you freak, don't go up, instead close your eyes and plug your nose and concentrate on breathing normal and calming down. Once you've calmed down, open your eyes and breath several times then let go of your nose and continue to breath. Once you can do this sit underwater with no mask for 10 to 15 minutes and just breath.
As you flood and take off your mask doing this incremental technique you will be able to eventually rip your mask off all at once without stopping breathing and or freaking out.

Shooting up from depth because of a dislodged or lost mask can be fatal, so this skill is critical.
If you can't master this skill, unfortunately I have to tell you, you have no business diving in open water until you get it down.

But truthfully I have never had anyone not get it using this technique, so hang in there.

Good luck and let us know how you're doing.

Honest qustion: You really spent around 21 minutes (conservativley) per student on just mask clearing on a single training dive? That's almost 140 minutes total on a single skill asuming the worst.

 

[Brewski]

Chances are you may still try to breathe through your nose.
Just simply use your fingers to pinch your nose shut after you take off your mask.

Don't follow this advice. I don't allow my students to pinch off their nose when the mask is removed. chances are your instructor won't either.

You need to control your breathing. practice inhaling from your mouth, then exhale alternating from your mouth, then your nose in succession. This will help you learn to control closing off your sinus passages.

After you do this above water then practice it again with your face in the water breathing from a snorkel with no mask. you can do this standing up in shallow water.
Continue this until you feel comfortable breathing from a snorkel without lifting your face out of the water.

The goal here is to be as comfortable without a mask while breathing underwater as you are with a mask. If you freak out with the mask off. then you haven't demonstrated mastery of the skill, you should be continuing with confined water until you have.

 

[Miller64]

I didnt freak,but it wasnt the most fun,I wasnt fond of water in my eyes either the first few times,,,,,,ZKY has the best way to get used to it,,a little at time,,,Now,,when I practice that part,,I keep water in my mask and concentrate on breathing,,eyes open,,a few seconds or so,then I clear,,,,,long as I can breath,the water in your eyes gets easier until you can take your mask off and look around and not be panicky,,,,keep breathing,,forget the negative,dont let anyone make you feel bad about this,,,it gets easier

 

[farsidefan1]

Ignore the James
Bond movies (Thunderball) where he goes around ripping the masks off bad guys and they are instantly incapacitated. Mask off in the ocean is NO BIG DEAL - tears are salt water, eyes are used to it. No problem in fresh water either. Chlorine is the worst and it's not bad. Just chill and do as the instuctors suggested and you will be fine.