How to inhale with mouth only

[ronscuba]

OP already stated she has no issues when breathing from a snorkel.

Right, sorry missed that.

I think my suggestion done with regulator might help.

 

[EricTheDood]

She also can inhale by mouth only with snorkel. The problem is that once she's using 2nd stage, she inhales with both mouth and nose. (weird!)

You've isolated the problem to the regulator. Some can be hard to breath through at the surface, like my Aqualung Legend.

Try a different regulator for now. Once she gets used to it, she should be able to breathe through any reg without issues.

 

[dmaziuk]

(what make it different from snorkel and second stage? The breathing resistance?)

Possibly. If the regulator has +/- lever, try pushing it all the way to +. On some of them you can adjust the opening effort, too, see if she can get her hands on one of those and try with that.

The other thing is outside pressure. Does she have a problem breathing from the reg on the surface, or deeper underwater? Note that "snorkel depth" is basically "face in the water", there's no extra pressure to speak of.
.

 

[claymore]

I have seen some people that apparently can not close off there nasal passage completely when they exhale because they have problems with mask flooding and you can see a small stream of bubble comming out of the top of the mask.
I am a mouth breather normally but can switch to nasal and back to mouth without thinking about it so I have a hard time relating to people that have a hard time switching between the two.
I know the nose breathers seem to have the hardest time adjusting to breathing from a regulator.

 

[TMHeimer]

returner: No need to ever Pinch nose if you are taking OW with "water" experience--snorkeling. Those without such are our OW students with all the mask problems.

 

[Diver0001]

returner: No needs to ever Pinch nose if you are taking OW with "water" experience--snorkeling. Those without such are our OW students with all the mask problems.

Tom, you are missing the whole picture here.

In the END result of teaching a skill the student has to be able to perform the skill correctly, repeatedly and fluently.

So by the end of module 1 the student should be able to clear a bit of water out of the mask without pinching the nose. At the end of the course there should be no issues with clearing or replacing the mask and I totally agree that pinching the nose shouldn't be something you see students doing in the latter stages of the course or certainly after they are certified.

However, that's not what this thread is about. The issue being discussed in this thread is how to get the student through the first few minutes of this learning curve.

In my opinion, it is the role of the instructor to get the student to the end result:
a) without undo stress
b) efficiently
c) effectively

In this case the discussion is about someone who can't seem to get the breathing right. As I pointed out above most instructors rush to get under water and start clearing the mask before they have checked to see if the student's breathing is correct. I then went on to point out how to get the student's breathing sorted out in a case like this.

Once under water, a student who initially has problems with breathing will usually have them again on the first couple of tries with the mask. In this case the role of the instructor is keep stress down and help the student build up confidence in their ability to perform the skill.

In such a case, I sometimes tell a student who is struggling with it to pinch the nose. This reduces stress and gives the student time to adjust to the feeling slowly. This way they also learn to stay under water and solve problems while diving....

If the instructor were to scold the student for trying to pinch the nose and insist that they should just simply try it over and over again until they "get it right"..... the whole time with the student popping their head out of the water because it's not working.......

..... THEN you get a student with ongoing mask issues.

9 times out of 10 what you see is that this is also the instructor who didn't check to see if the student could do the breathing and rushed into it, so the student is rushed under water, confronted with a skill they can't do yet because the instructor skipped an essential step, gets scolded if they try to plug their nose so they don't feel like they are drowning and learns right out of the gate that (a) mask is hard to master and (b) if you feel panic then you pop to the surface.

That's not how you teach someone who is struggling with a skill.

R..

 

[dmaziuk]

I have seen some people that apparently can not close off there nasal passage completely when they exhale because they have problems with mask flooding and you can see a small stream of bubble comming out of the top of the mask.

I can close off the nose completely but usually don't. Unless it's the mask replacement drill. When I swim laps I use my upper lip and a little back-pressure in the flip turns instead (when you push off the wall, there's enough suction in dead spaces to suck the water way in).

 

[ronscuba]

I tend to inhale a little through my nose. Especially on the 1st dive of a trip.

If someone has the skirt imprint on their face at the end of the dive, the mask strap might be too tight or they could be inhaling a little through their nose.

 

[northernone]

I'd also highlight the breathing resistance of the regulator being a possible issue and to give her the time needed to comfortably practice with a snorkel until her mouth breathing is more ingrained before returning to mask off reg breathing in extreme shallows. Being comfortable during practice is important to help focus on the skill and not worry about drowning.

Without great focus and care I still get water up my nose after thousands of mask off drills. Some of us seem to have a weak nose/ mouth breather flip flopper valve in our throats.... not sure that's the medical term.

Let us know her progress. Will she be participating in the thread as well? Love to hear her perspective and learning progression.

Cameron

 

[Compressor]

Hello guys,
My friend is learning OW, and she has an issue that she can't inhale with mouth only. i.e. She can't breath underwater without mask. However, when she practiced that in the air, she had no problem to inhale with mouth only (without 2nd stage). She also can inhale by mouth only with snorkel. The problem is that once she's using 2nd stage, she inhales with both mouth and nose. (weird!)
Is there any tips for her to practice?

This may sound crazy but have her go in the shower with a mask and snorkel. The have her breath out of snorkel with her face facing the water. Also make sure no one sees her.

I had a student once who had similar problem and it got fixed by doing above and getting conditioned slowly.