Skills worth practicing during dives?

[M.D.]

Yes, everyone above has made very valid points. Drills especially help when doing a local site that might be considered 'boring' (ie the local fw bay where I live.. yay crayfish). It helps to add something to do, while also increasing your confidence.

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

I would definetely practice the mask drill if you aren't comfortable with it. I have never liked that drill so I decided I would start doing that drill more often, I decided that one dive too late. Below was my very recent experience.

I was a little shy of 40' with 3-4' of visibility swimming around a sail boat when bam, no more mask no more reg. I never saw the fin that did it and have no idea where that diver came from. I immediately went to my air2 (leave all air2 comments for another thread) and then swept for my main regulator. I found it, replaced it, but still couldn't see and had no idea which way was which. Now this may sound funny but the very first thing I thought of was a post by TSandM regarding a situation where she had a mask flood and became disoriented (thanks for that posting TSandM, came in very handy). I remembered she got negative so she could orient herself, I figured my mask is on the bottom anyway, time to go down so I dumped all my air. I hit the bottom and luckily the first thing I felt was my mask. I put it on, cleared, and saw someone right there asking if I was OK. I was so I signaled back OK, I think he probably handed me my mask but I'm not sure. At this point I caught up with my buddy who was oblivious to the entire incident (that is a topic for another thread). The entire event lasted maybe 20 seconds but felt like a lifetime.

You know what though, removing my mask underwater doesn't bother me a bit now.

 

[TSandM]

Glad my post was useful. And especially glad that you knew how deep the bottom was!

 

[Crawl79]

I have had this same fear and got over it but it seems this year it came back again, I immediatlly started practicing this one again on my 15ft safety stop. This was the only task in my training I really had to work on as it feels unnatural for me to blow air from my nose underwater and I always seem to just want to blow the water through my mouth.
My instructor thought I was crazy when I took out my regulator underwater, closed my mouth and did the execrise. He told me while creative I would have to learn to do this with my regulator still in my mouth, which with a little practice I did.

 

[Reggae Joe]

I'm in the same boat as rjpv...even after diving for almost 11 years, I absolutely HATE having my mask off underwater, or pretty much any water on my nose. I can clear my mask easily and regularly, but practicing mask removal is something I'm trying to work up the courage to do again.

 

[EvaL]

I agree with what's been said - one has to practice in order to respond to the unexpected. My list (in order of preference) is:
1. mask removal and replacement
2. Out of air and using my buddy's octo (better still and if you're comfortable, sharing air with your buddy on his/her regulator (one reg only)
3. Deploying SMB
4. Work on improving neutral buoyancy and better weight placement
I like doing these at the end of the dive, at the safety stop. And do let your buddy know beforehand that you're practicing these drills (some people may freak out thinking it's real and you may inadvertently create an emergency situation lol).

Dive safely.

 

[HappyFunBoater]

I've thought about deploying my SMB as a test, but I've been afraid of alarming other boats in the area. What do you do to signal that everything is ok?

 

[TheRedHead]

I've thought about deploying my SMB as a test, but I've been afraid of alarming other boats in the area. What do you do to signal that everything is ok?

Usually, the yellow SMB signals emergency and the red/orange one means everything is ok and you are making a drifting stop.

 

[HappyFunBoater]

Usually, the yellow SMB signals emergency and the red/orange one means everything is ok and you are making a drifting stop.

Eh? Maybe I misunderstood the definition of SMB - Surface Marker Buoy. I thought that term applied to all devices used on the surface to attract attention, for example my inflatable yellow safety sausage. Did I use the term wrong? It sounds like you're referring to a device with multiple colored lights.

 

[TheRedHead]

Eh? Maybe I misunderstood the definition of SMB - Surface Marker Buoy. I thought that term applied to all devices used on the surface to attract attention, for example my inflatable yellow safety sausage. Did I use the term wrong? It sounds like you're referring to a device with multiple colored lights.

DSMB would be the correct term. The tube-shaped bag that one deploys under water. Traditionally an orange one is a normal event and a yellow one is an emergency. OMS even sells a yellow one that says EMERGENCY on the tube.