okay, here goes this is my very first post. Yes I too had the exact same problem. Here is my story. My buddy and his wife and my other buddy and his 15 year old son and me all went to class together. I knew the nose thing was gonna be a problem so I was a little stressed though not as much as I would be later. My buddies wife had the same problem. On the first day, you guessed it, into the pool and before we both knew it, it was time to remove the mask. You could hear the brakes screeching a mile a way. This is not gonna happen, neither of us could get past it. I asked my instructor if I could wear a nose clip inside my mask, just to get past this part and get more comfortable overall (yeah same issues with rental gear and too tight wetsuits) He agreed and I went home happy. Next day came and back to class. I was ready, did all my skills no problem, nose clip worked fine, problem solved, or so I thought. The next class would be our last and I would be doing my check out dive. But getting there that morning, you guessed it, I would not be allowed to use the nose clip. The owner overheard my dilemma and disallowed the nose clip. Now I wont go into the whys and why nots. personally if you can wear ear plugs I should be able to wear a nose plug. I could clear my mask with it and it stayed on the whole previous day with no trouble. Anyway back to the last day. You want to talk about being hit with a ton of bricks. I walk in all confident and ready, and in 1 short moment was reduced to well lets just say a shadow of my former self. It was very difficult to work through this and it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Everyone there had some way of trying to tell me what to do. I listened to what all those around me were saying. It made no difference and I still had trouble. I stayed behind and practiced in the pool while my buddies all moved on. That helped a little since I had no added pressure of holding everyone else up. Here is the secret I learned, breathe in through the regulator and out your nose in a controlled relaxed manner. Do not exhale through the regulator. repeat Do not exhale through the regs. That was the key for me. If I exhaled through the regulator it would lower the pressure in my nose and in would come the water, but if I focused and only exhaled through the nose I could maintain my presence of mind and calm my self down. I also had trouble with the reg being in the way since the only way I ever had a mask on before this was obviously without a reg in my mouth and it does make things a little different. Part 2 was not trying to put the mask on my face before the strap on the back of my head. The instructor in the pool that day was keeping an eye on me and noticed I was trying to put it on that way and it would take me more exhales to clear than necessary She mentioned to put it on normally (strap first, then face) and clear when ready, again in through the mouth out through the nose. Over and over in my head. Well it took a while of trying but I finally got my mind where it needed to be and tried to remember what to do. My buddies were all done with their open water dives(across street from dive shop) and I was finally ready, but wait it was now lunch time. Lunch who can think about lunch. Back from watching them eat, into the "grotto" we go. Everyone else was done with their skills test already, so they all went down to watch and encourage me. We all descended down and in short order I had to make up the mask clearings and removals I did with the nose clip and do the ones for this dive as well. My instructor was very patient and understanding. He motioned for me to come forward and proceed. Now at depth and not in the pool was a little stressful, but in my head I kept repeating "in through the mouth out through the nose" and in short order I was through my ordeal and onto the compass skill which in completely murky water was by far the easier of the 2. The feeling of accomplishment can never truly be expressed in this story, But I can honestly say do not give up, there is a way. You just need to see what works for you. If anyone disagrees with my "secret" please follow what you were taught by your instructors. This is what got me through it
