Mask clearing as the first skill?

[TMHeimer]

Clearing the mask (partially filled or even complete removal, replacement, clearing) was one of the easiest skills for me at the start. No-mask breathing is something I can't figure is even a skill (just keep breathing with the 2nd stage in your mouth!). I figure some may have problems with these if they have very little experience in the water and maybe just learned how to swim. My DM course begins this week, so I guess I'll eventually find out first hand. There are far more difficult skills, like removing the unit at depth, and especially at the surface.

 

[joolz]

Clearing the mask (partially filled or even complete removal, replacement, clearing) was one of the easiest skills for me at the start. No-mask breathing is something I can't figure is even a skill (just keep breathing with the 2nd stage in your mouth!).

One thing you'll observe as you participate in OW courses is that people's comfort levels in the water vary considerably. When you spell it out in logical terms, inhaling through your mouth while keeping your nose blocked sounds easy peazy...but it's not the way most people breathe. That's why some instructors work up to it, starting with breathing from a reg on the surface without a mask, then doing the same thing in shallow water. This isn't always necessary depending on the group....some people have no issues at all.

There are far more difficult skills, like removing the unit at depth, and especially at the surface.

Done properly, those are easy...although it can be amusing to watch students struggle when they disregard your instructions and try to do it their own way

I'd say that mask removal in the ocean is the one skill that students dread the most, since it's the one that makes them most vulnerable. The water's cold, they can't see, they're breathing in a way that's not natural to them, and they know you can't step in and do it for them if something goes wrong. Our students have the added discomfort of doing it in bulky gloves, so throw limited dexterity on top of everything else that makes them uncomfortable.

Because mask clearing is so fundamental -- and potentially dangerous if the diver panics and/or can't read gauges -- this is why we introduce it early and repeat it often.

 

[lowviz]

... No-mask breathing is something I can't figure is even a skill (just keep breathing with the 2nd stage in your mouth!). ...

-try it while on your back or looking up, as if clearing an entanglement.

 

[jtpwils]

Mask clearing drills...
It pays to practice for moments like this... YouTube - Mask clearing drills

Safe diving,
Ben "Seal diver"
www.youtube.com/bburville

Thanks - that was hilarious! I loved it when the seal was tapping on your head. It must have been a lot of fun for you.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

Once they have just "breathing underwater" down, I teach mask clearing either 1st or 2nd. Usually 2nd. 1st is usually regulator clearing. But part of the "breathing underwater" part, I have them take their mask off, and stick their face in the water and breath off their reg.

Reg clearing/Reg Retrieval/Mask Clearing - I emphasize that these are the "3 basic skills" and have them repeat each excersize at least once for each hour we are in the pool. (Quite a few times, the first hour.) Later, during the fourth hour (we do six hours in the pool), I do a number of "follow me" excersizes in the deep end without warning them what we are going to do. I give them the "watch me" sign and then I demonstrate some procedure and then ask them to do the same. One of which is to take my mask completely off and put it back on. By then, most students don't have a problem. About 1 out of 20 will head for the surface the first time they try it.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Thanks - that was hilarious! I loved it when the seal was tapping on your head. It must have been a lot of fun for you.

Seals can be a lot of fun ... for about half a minute. Then you just wish they'd go bother somebody else.

I tend to get a lot of notice from our local harbor seals. Perhaps it's because I'm shaped like a seal ... the little ones seem to think I'm their daddy ... :shocked2:

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[jtpwils]

Seals can be a lot of fun ... for about half a minute. Then you just wish they'd go bother somebody else.

I tend to get a lot of notice from our local harbor seals. Perhaps it's because I'm shaped like a seal ... the little ones seem to think I'm their daddy ... :shocked2:

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Well....that's better than their daddy thinking you're their mother.

Sorry to hijack but couldn't resist the temptation for more humor.

 

[dwhthediver]

It is not an agency requirement. But it is a good skill to have new people do. One of the best ways to see if scuba is for them. Some will get it right off, other will have minor issues, once in a while one will totally freak. This is the one who should take up tennis.

It actually is a PADI requirement for confined water dive #1

 

[dwhthediver]

It should be noted that some discover scuba, intros, etc around here regardless of agency are many times done with no fins. I use them in mine but the intro's done in western pa usually involve putting a bc on someone with with a mask, going over the basic safety protocols and slowly intorducing them to the water. They have a discover at the zoo every year where PADI provides a portable pool, a PADI shop provides the gear, and they do a brief overview and let people get in the water for 15 minutes or so on scuba. They do not watch a video go over a flipchart, etc and they'll put 50-100 people thru in a day for their 10-15 minutes underwater.

That is not a Discover Scuba, that is a try scuba similar to the traveling DEMA pool, semantics maybe to you, BIG difference to me, those are the curious, DSD students are really interested and do learn some basic skills even in the pool

 

[Granny Scuba]

, but two of these students were women in their late fifties who wanted to dive, but were understandably a bit nervous. It was hard for both ladies to understand that they simply shouldnt inhale through their nose, and therefore they inhaled the water that they hadnt been able to clear, started choking and freaked out. Both quit after struggling with this for a second day.

I am close to these ladies age so I can relate.

I have a very hard time clearing a mask with a snorkel, but I can do it effortlessly with a reg. I can clear a full flooded mask in the tub with out a snorkel.

Its really hard for me to clear a mask with a snorkel. (but its very easy with a reg)

One of the reasons I QUIT during my first OW attempt was because I tried so many times clearing my mask with a snorkel that I got a terrible ear/sinus infection.

The aniexty of not being able to clear my mask with a snorkel, the added pain all the practicing brought to my ears caused me to be nervous about everything....I couldnt even remove and replace my weight belt.

Hind sight is 20/20...but I think if I had been able to breath on the regulator in the 4 feet end of the pool and just played around for an hour a night for a few days, then my comfort level would have improved enought to finish the class.

My story turned out well. I am so sorry those ladies quit. I read and read and got more informed. Practiced wt belt skills in the Living Room, donned and doffed my BC a million times in the kitchen, and then got private lessons, (because I hated slowing down the rest of the class). It worked for me.

I hate to admit it , but I would have done fine in my 20's or 30's.. but now at 49, my reactions arent as fast and my old fat tired body doesnt respond as fast. I did succeed at this age, I was just slower than the rest of the class. It took me longer to reach my comfort level.