Ideas on Taking your mask off!

[sclakediver]

Here is a great article from Dive Training Magazine. I was very uncomfortable performing these skills in my OW checkout dives. With the help of this article and practice, I don't even think about it now. I had my mask dislodged a couple of months ago, and had it cleared right away. I probably would have been choking through my reg had it happened shortly after OW training. I hope this helps. With a little bit of practice, it should become second nature. Mastering Mask Removal and Replacement:

 

[don Francisco]

No offense, but you're thinking too much. It's almost a certainty that at some point in your life you jumped into water, dropped below the surface & came back up without any problem. You probably swam underwater for a short distance, maybe with your eyes open, again no problem.
While we discuss certain things as scuba skills, some are fairly instinctual & humans have been doing them automatically for eons.
Next time you're in the pool, forget about your scuba class & training. Simply drop down putting your head underwater for a few secs, then for longer (obviously holding your breath), then try to swim underwater, first level, then later even swim dow to retreive something thrown to the bottom of the pool in 5-6 feet of water (this means swimming underwater with your eyes open, which means the chlorine might sting your eyes a little, but it won't injure you) Take your time, going a little further with each effort & increasing your comfort range. Depending on how far you're removed from your childhood water experiences, you might need a few minutes or hours.

The point is get comfortable in the water, then do the scuba skills in a way that specific tasks follow what you're already comfortable with. For example, if you don't have trouble opening your eyes underwater when you don't have a mask at all, taking one off & putting it back on won't seem so difficult.

 

[DiverBizz]

Well it sounds like you are working on the skills and making progress. Good for you! Keep up the practice and try post #2 from Walter and see if that helps.

 

[Walter]

Here is a great article from Dive Training Magazine. I was very uncomfortable performing these skills in my OW checkout dives. With the help of this article and practice, I don't even think about it now. I had my mask dislodged a couple of months ago, and had it cleared right away. I probably would have been choking through my reg had it happened shortly after OW training. I hope this helps. With a little bit of practice, it should become second nature. Mastering Mask Removal and Replacement:

I hate this article, there are much easier ways than starting submerged. Dive Training is like that, they have some excellent articles and some, like this one, that should never see publication.

 

[Scuba-Instr.com]

There is a key thing I do, that I haven't seen in other responses. If you look down, before you flood/remove your mask, then water won't run down your sinuses. That helps alot. And for students that still have a difficult time, then at least holding their noses allows them to get through the skills fairly comfortable.

I hope this helps!

 

[BarryNL]

The one skill that still is giving me problems is taking the mask off and putting it back on and clearing. I have to hold my nose so I only have one hand to do this with. I know I should be able to be in the water and not hold my nose and I am working on that skill each time in the pool but it is going to take more than a few pool sessions to correct this. I did the mask on/off thing fine during the original class but after the scare it seems to be harder.

Any good tips or ways to do this? THANK YOU for all your help!

The best way to get comfortable with these skills is just to do them a lot. If you can find a friendly Divemaster try and just spend an hour in the pool practising over and over the skills you have problems with. The reason DMs and above can make these skills look so easy is that during their professional training they did spend many hours practising the skills to get them to that level.

 

[waynel]

As usual, everyone is giving great advise. But please understand, you will have to be able to remove and replace your mask underwater and that will take two hands. Whatever you need to do to learn this, do it. Don't get 60 ft. down, get your mask knocked askew and think you can fix the problem with one hand. That can lead to panic and we all know that's bad. Take your time working out the problem, but please definitely get it worked out.

 

[Heffey]

sassalin, I know what you are going through. I had similar problems during my course. Flooding and clearing was fine but mask off breathing was a nightmare. I worked on controlling my breathing and I also found that some head positions made this easier for me. I think that bubbles rushing past my nose were actually pushing water up my nose. After that practice did the rest……kind of. When I switched to my new regulator I found I was having problems again. Bubbles in different location, I think? I have since made arrangements for some pool time so I can get this sorted out. Good luck

 

[Sas]

I had this exact same problem as well when training! I panicked on my third shore dive on my first day out in the ocean when asked to do a mask removal and ascended quickly from 6m After this I made it a goal to make mask removal + clearing second nature as panicking under water is a horrible thing to experience (and also very dangerous).

Anyway, this sounds a bit stupid but the way I got over the problem before my next dive (didn't have access to a pool) was to snorkel in my bathroom sink! My problem was basically circular breathing - I usually breathe in through my mouth and nose at the same time so was doing this when I took my mask off. So forcing myself to snorkel in the sink (without a mask) for five minutes at a time taught me how to just breath through my mouth. My partner found it amusing anyway.

I also would fill my mask with water and just keep it on my face to get used to water being in my face all the time. Use cold water though as that is closer to what you really will experience. I can now do mask clears and removals with no hassle

Anyway, I hope that helps as something you can do from home. Good luck!

 

[anzac65]

There is a key thing I do, that I haven't seen in other responses. If you look down, before you flood/remove your mask, then water won't run down your sinuses. That helps alot. And for students that still have a difficult time, then at least holding their noses allows them to get through the skills fairly comfortable.

I hope this helps!

You're on the mark there. For me it was the absolute key. So often when training for mask clearing you were told:

"Look up and exhale...." Worst advice possible.

"Exhale and look up....." is the way to go.