Duck dive descent?

[northernone]

I'm an easy equalizer too. Hands free in any position unless sick.

(...besides for that one time where it was surface or drown and the reverse block blew out my ear and I lost 6 years unable to dive.)

Wonder if all of us headfirst divers tend to be the ones who can easily equalize?

(Technique or biological advantages?)

 

[CuzzA]

Technique or biological advantages?

Probably a little bit of both. I'm equalizing the moment I touch the water. Most newer divers wait until they feel the squeeze, by then it's too late and they have to arrest their descent.

 

[Bierstadt]

I envy easy equalizers. I duck dive in my semi-dry to get down the first 10 feet or so. Whatever it is about taking a wetsuit down to the bottom leaves me neutral at 15 feet at the end of the dive, but the first part of getting down is a bit of a chore. However, I always have to be prepared to stop my descent and go up, which is generally the first 15 feet, which can mean duck diving and immediately twisting around like a seal and coming back up for the good of my ears.

Hot drop? LOL, not with my sinuses!

 

[Bierstadt]

Probably a little bit of both. I'm equalizing the moment I touch the water. Most newer divers wait until they feel the squeeze, by then it's too late and they have to arrest their descent.

Very true. However, I can assure the easy equalizers it is perfectly possible to do it all right and still have to pop back up 5 feet and try, try again.

 

[CuzzA]

Very true. However, I can assure the easy equalizers it is perfectly possible to do it all right and still have to pop back up 5 feet and try, try again.

No doubt. My better half won't dive because she can't comfortably equalize and then starts getting anxious.

 

[scubadada]

No doubt. My better half won't dive because she can't comfortably equalize and then starts getting anxious.

When I dive with my wife, I'm slow and horizontal. She generally does fine, but, sometimes is a bit slow. Her favorite location is Bonaire, who's to argue?

 

[aquacat8]

I found out a trick that helps equalizing if I’m getting a bit congested: lift up or remove mask and liberally blow snot into water, like a underwater snort/sneeze, replace mask and equalize.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I'm an easy equalizer too. Hands free in any position unless sick.

(...besides for that one time where it was surface or drown and the reverse block blew out my ear and I lost 6 years unable to dive.)

Wonder if all of us headfirst divers tend to be the ones who can easily equalize?

(Technique or biological advantages?)

Bummer about the reverse block! I'd probably be in the bath tub with my scuba gear on if I couldn't dive for six years.

My girlfriend has trouble equalizing (so often she's not on the dive and I can go as fast as I want) and is getting ready for her annual visit to DRA. Viridiana Arroyo Hernandez over on Calle 6 Norte where they have the hyperbaric chamber. My girlfriend now seems to be getting local rates We stay at a place that's 1 1/2 blocks away from the clinic. This time she's just going to go see her first, before trying to do any dives. DRA Hernandez is also one of us who has no trouble equalizing and says she never even has to hold her nose and blow. I may need to do it occasionally, especially if I'm not paying attention and descend just a little too far without doing my jaw maneuver, but otherwise I never even think about equalizing--it just happens all by itself. Or so it seems. According to her doctor my girlfriend has physical problems that make equalization more difficult for her. What's weird is that I can very rarely breathe through my nose but my Eustachian tubes are always fine unless I'm very sick with a cold or something. Maybe it's conditioning from doing it my entire life. Or evolution--I'm expecting my great-grand-kids to be born with gills.

It was a revelation when I was a little kid and first learned the "duck dive." Suddenly it was very easy to get to the bottom of a pool, and later on, very easy to get to 25-30 feet in the ocean. As you know, once you stick your feet up into the air and start to go down you're halfway there, it only takes a few kicks to reach 30 feet.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I found out a trick that helps equalizing if I’m getting a bit congested: lift up or remove mask and liberally blow snot into water, like a underwater snort/sneeze, replace mask and equalize.

Nothing like sea water to clear out the sinuses!

 

[markmud]

I found out a trick that helps equalizing if I’m getting a bit congested: lift up or remove mask and liberally blow snot into water, like a underwater snort/sneeze, replace mask and equalize.

Hi aquacat8,

I have chronic snot laden sinuses. Blowing the sinuses u/w really helps me to breath. Even on the surface. I like to blow snot while ascending every ten feet. The first dive of a trip is a gold mine for snot production. After that, clearing my ears on subsequent dives becomes much easier.

Like many, I am usually minimally weighted, which means that the air trapped in my wetsuit affects decent. So I jack knife and ascend head first. I proudly put both legs in the air to make sure the SCUBA police will have adequate probable cause for a stern finger-shaming later on.

markm