Mask removal help

[diver 85]

Breath thru a snorkel with no mask---can be 'practiced' in a bath tub, large sink---whatever...As someone else said----practice.....

 

[Teamcasa]

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

I am making the assumption that you have completed the book/classroom parts and some pool work and now are doing the advanced book/classroom section.

I applaud your efforts to learn more about the sport but it may help in your understanding if you slow down and spend more time with the gear-on, in water sections.

I am fairly comfertable with all the skills I have learned so far, except anything to do with mask removal. As soon as water hits my nose I start to freak out. So I guess what my question is 1.What can I do to practice this so when I have to do it I don't flip out?? and 2.What all will I have to do on my certification dives??

Mask removal is a skill, like others have said, an essential one. Suppressing your panic instinct is another.

Using one or all of the methods mentioned above will help you gain mastery of the mask removal and the suppression of that sense of dread.

I have a question however. (without gear) When you jump into the pool do you go feet first? Do you hold you nose when swiming below the surface? Can you swim to the bottom of the pool and clear your ears with ease?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, spend more time in the pool without a nose clip. Swim below the surface without holding your nose. As soon as you are comfortable with this, mask removal and clearing will come easy.

The best way to learn how to suppress that feeling of dread is to get your fundamentals under control. This comes with practice, lots of it.

Learn more, dive safe and let us know how it is going.

 

[vtxkev]

I am one who had a HUGE issue with mask skills in the pool. The first time my instructor asked me to remove my mask, I took it off and shot to the surface. The most important piece of advise I had my instructor give me was to TUCK my chin. This helped the bubbles blow past my face without going into my nose. Also when in cold water stick your head under for 2 minutes, tuck your chin and breathe, this will get you geared towards the cold water so removal at depth isnt a shock.

All in all great advice from everyone.

 

[DBailey]

If you don't have ready access to a pool to practice the skill, here are a few things you can do to help the "steps" down and hopefully increase your comfort level.

1. While watching TV or whetever, take just the snorkle and breathe in through your mouth and out through your mouth. Keep repeating the in-and-out through the mouth. Ok, on the next breath, it will be in though the mouth, and out through the nose. This will help you get into the pattern of being a mouth breather, but then exhale through the nose as needed.

2. Take your snorkle into the shower with you. Most people will either hold their breath or become mouth breathers when the water from the showerhead is hitting their face. Put the snorkle in, let the water hit your face, and just breathe through the snorkle.

3. Combine #1 and #2 in the shower. Breathe in and out through the snorkle, and then occasionally exhale through your nose.

4. Take your mask and snorkle into the shower. Fill the mask up with water, hold it against your face (full of water), and breathe through the snorkle. When you are ready, go through the steps to clear your mask. yes, gravity will actually help clear your mask in the shower, but you just want to work on the breathing steps.

5. Head back to the pool.

In the grand scheme of things, there is nothing wrong or dangerous with pinching your nose. It is a crutch that isn't needed. Once you get to the mask remove, replace, and clear skill it will be difficult to get the mask back on your face if you are pinching your nose. The water only goes up your nose if you inhale through your nose. The water does not magically rush up your nose.

 

[Thalassamania]

There are mamy techniques that work to solve these sorts of problems. My favorite (for mask clearing) is to help the student to learn independently control their nose and mouth. Try this:

1) At the surface, with your head out of the water and no mask, take a full breath and then alternate short bursts of exhalation between your nose and mouth. After youÃ×e done this several times take a full breath, and do the same thing, only this time submerge your entire face after a few cycles on the surface. Repeat this until you are very comfortable (or feel very stupid<G>).
2) Now put your mask on and repeat the process. Start out of the water, move to face submerged, DO NOT FLOOD YOUR MASK.
3) Now repeat the process, but flood your mask after your first exhalation with your face in the water.
4) Now try and clear your mask, fully submerged, as per normal.
5) Let me know how this works for you.

 

[IceBergSlim]

I'm with Jim here -- spend as long as is needed to actually "Master" this "simple skill." This is really one of the most important foundational skills and when actually "mastered" the rest will probably be pretty simple.

QUOTE]

I agree the skill is an important foundation and will lead to better divers but my question was about the reality of "spending as long as is needed to actually master the simple skill".

(and perhaps this comment is better in an instructor thread?)

If you assume the worst, a full class of eight students will each have mask isssues and need the 20-30 minutes you advise to master the skill. That adds up to four hours of bottom time not including any other tasks.

Again I agree with you but call out the reality of the current education systems.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

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.

It wasn't every student, only about 1 in 10 had any trouble. And yes, I would spend as long as it took to get them through it. The last thing we wanted was someone to bolt when they had to do it in the ocean. We generally had a few DM's in the class and we would take turns working with students on different skills they might have difficulty with.

 

[IceCube]

I had a horrid time dealing with mask skills. I won't go into detail because none of that matters...but I did manage to get through my fear. I will admit, to this day I don't like doing it but I know that I can do it if I have to. Part of my problem was a) it was an ice cold freaking lake in IL and b) the exhaust bubbles kept going up my nose.

Granted, the ice cold water is something you can't do anything about except for brace yourself and pray that you don't get too shocked and snort water. I found that sticking my face in the water pre-dive helped with the icy shock that was later coming.

With the cheap rental regulators, I didn't really like the feeling of the bubbles touching my eyeballs. No real issues with it, just prefer not to be poked in the eye every time I exhale. Wasn't a problem with the good regulators which directed the bubbles completely away from my face.

Flooding my mask in cold water was an interesting learning experience that I learn a lot from.

During my classroom portion of OW the instructors warned me about vapor lock which is just an involuntary bodily response that will happen regardless of how much experience and comfort you have in the water. (We knew ahead of time the water temp was going to be in the high 40s low 50s.)

One of the instructors who's been teaching for a very long time was telling me a story about how he got vapor locked really bad once. He was with a student in cold water on a checkout dive and it was time for the student to do the mask removal and clear. He was trying to signal to the student to do the skill. Communication between the two wasn't working so well and the student didn't know what he wanted him to do. After awhile, the instructor started to get frustrated and decided to take his own mask off to show student. In his frustration, the instructor just ripped his off and kind of forgot that the water was cold. He was quickly reminded and locked up really bad. Even for an experienced instructor, it still happens.

The only way around it to flood the mask really slowly. When it was time for me to do my dives I knew what to expect. While perfectly calm and relaxed I'd crack the top of the mask just slightly letting a trickle of water come in until I would feel my lungs just about to tighten up. My exhale had slight sputter to it. I'd wait for the feeling to subside and continue again. It probably took about 30 to 40 seconds to fill it. Once full no issues taking it off.

I just hope my mask never gets knocked off. Otherwise, I'm in for an interesting ride.

 

[Peter Guy]

Re mask flooding in cold water -- something I've done quite a bit over the last few years here in Puget Sound (at least I think mid/high 40's is cold water -- not that my Alaskan friends do!).

The only way around it to flood the mask really slowly.

I disagree. To the extent there IS a way around the cold water shock, the best one I know is to "pre-chill" the face by breathing your reg (or snorkel) in the water w/o your mask at the start of the dive (on the surface).

In some of my training the past 24 months I've had to do a lot of no-mask work and sometimes the mask would "mysteriously" come off and other times I had to had it to the instructor. What amazed me was that I found it much worse to flood the mask and hand it off than to have it just ripped off me without time to think about it.

The reality is that cold water makes this work more difficult and it is a case where it is best to practice, practice, practice.

 

[Canoe513]

I want to thank everyone for there input. I will defeantly try out these techniques and let you konw how they work. I will also tell my teacher about the problem I am having to see if he has any input.