Worried about mask rescue and recovery

[scubacrazy1111]

I am 15 and recently completed the PADI Open Diver course, accelerated whilst I was on holiday. Not including the learning and videos it was a 4 day course, and from the first open water dive I fell in love with diving, not just seeing all the marine life but just the peaceful surroundings underwater and the weightlessness.

My problem is although I eventually passed the course, I am still feeling slightly worried about some of the skills, and I am going on holiday very soon where I hope to do some more diving. In the confined dives, and the open water dives, I was able to do most of the skills, except for taking my mask off underwater. As soon as it was off, I started breathing through my nose, paniked, and rushed up to the surface for air. I know that this is a really serious problem but I dont know what to do. I went over it again and again with my instructer, we spent 4 hours in the pool! And eventually I did it, but when I was in the open water, taking my mask off near the surface I paniked again and fled to the surface. Before I took the course I was fairly confident about diving, but now I am scared! I can clear my mask quite easily, although i did need a little encouragement, and i could even swim without my mask while holding my nose. But i just cant seem to get the hang of the mask rescue and recovery, I was just in tears by the end of every session because I couldnt do it! I want to dive again so much, but I dont see how I can with this problem, and it has made me so apprahensive about diving that I found some of the other skills difficult which I had found easy before. For example I was very wary of letting go of my regulator.

I think that my problem is that when breathing normally, I breathe through my nose and my mouth. Normally when diving this isnt a problem but with the mask off I breathe in water through my nose. I dont have much confidence in myself normally and now i have proven to myself that I cannot do anything right. Can anyone give me any tips on how I can do this properly, and if there is anything that I can do without any scuba equipment? Please help Jane xxx

 

[Doc Intrepid]

What you are experiencing is pretty normal. Many new divers have the same sensation.

First of all, realize that you needn't remove your mask underwater during most dives. It is a drill to prepare you for the eventuality where your mask may accidentally be kicked from your face by another diver, or something of this nature.

If you can swim, you are familiar with the routine of breathing in through your mouth and out through your nose. (If you cannot swim, this is a different problem that needs to be discussed with a swimming coach.)

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to work with this would be to take your mask (only) and go to your local swimming pool. If you have a friend who is a diver who can go with you, so much the better.

Stay in the shallowest end. Wearing your mask, sit or crouch down in the water. (Whichever is most comfortable for you.) Then do the same thing not wearing your mask, and not holding your nose shut. You can breath out slowly through your nose to prevent water from entering your nostrils. You only need to stay down for a short while, it is repetition that will allow you to feel more comfortable without the mask on your face. After you feel comfortable with both, sit down with the mask on, then remove it. Just like sitting down without the mask on, breath out slowly through your nose. You will reach a point where you will realize that just because you haven't got your mask on, this does not mean you must or will inhale through your nostrils! When you feel ready, try to take the mask off, breath out a bit through your nose, then replace the mask and clear it by breathing out the rest of the way through your nose.

Don't worry about it. This will come over time. You needn't master it in one pool session! It isn't anything that should prevent you from enjoying diving for many years to come.

Do let us know how it works, and if you have other questions please ask.

Doc

 

[ppilot]

I'm a nose-breather too, I've always been uncomfortable breathing in through my mouth. Trust me...with practice it gets easier and you will get this.

 

[ScoobyDave]

Welcome to the nose-breather's club.

If you can get to a pool, go try this: put your snorkel on, without the mask, and while standing in the pool, put your face in the water and get used to controlling your breathing. If you snort some water up your nose, stand up, clear it out, and try again. If you can't get to the pool, go find your bathtub.

Once confident with that, try swimming some with just the snorkel, no mask, no holding your nose. Some find it easiest to exhale through the nose, but that's not good, since later you'll be exhaling into your mask and taking on water.

Give it a shot and let us know how it works for you.

 

[Walter]

I'm not surprised you have little confidence in your abilities. Four days is not nearly enough time to really learn to dive.

Your problem is a common one, maybe dive instructors will someday learn to teach this skill.

My methods may sound unrelated to your problem at first, but they will work. Often, important skills are left out of OW classes. Take your time and practice each step until you are comfortable before moving to the next.

Leave your SCUBA gear in your bag. You only need 3 things at the pool at this point. 1. Mask 2. Snorkel 3. Weight belt with weight.

At no point will you leave the shallow end of the pool.

Take your snorkel off your mask and put on your weight belt. With your mask on the pool deck, your snorkel in your hand and your weight belt on, get into the shallow end of the pool. You should be where when you stand you are no deeper than chest deep, waist deep is even better. Put your snorkel in your mouth and breathe from it. Now, bend over and breathe through your snorkel while you dip your face into the water. If you are comfortable, stay awhile until you feel natural. If you have difficulty, think about drinking through a straw while you practice the excercise. Remember, you can always stand up straight to end the excercise at any time. If you need to, you can slowly build up your time until you feel comfortable.

Next, practice dropping underwater, allowing the snorkel to flood and coming up to blast it clear, leaving your face in the water. Continue until you are comfortable

At this point, you have accomplished three important things.

1. You lowered your anxiety level by working in a no risk (shallow) environment.
2. You became an expert in no mask breathing.
3. You know you can breathe with a flooded mask.

Now, put your snorkel down and pick up your mask. Put it on and drop down to your knees. Break the seal just enough to allow a small amount of water in. Clear the mask. Do not pull out on the bottom, merely push in on the top while looking up. The biggest mistake most people make is not looking up. The second most common mistake people make is not exhaling through their nose. Keep your mouth closed. Repeat this until you are comfortable. Don't forget to stand up and catch your breath between clearings. Now, increase the amount of water you allow into the mask to about ¼ flooded. When you are comfortable with that level, move to ½, then to a fully flooded mask. When you've reached the point you can clear it easily every time, see how many times you can clear it on one breath. After you are at this point, clearing your mask will be easy. You will have reached it in a step by step manner that was easy to accomplish.

Remember, you can always stand up if you feel uncomfortable.

 

[SDAnderson]

Walter and the others have had some good advice about how to learn to remove and replace your mask underwater - and learning how to do it without panicking. Lots of divers need extra practice at this skill (and after 30 some years diving I still practice at it) so don't feel bad about your lack of competence. Take your time, get relaxed and repeat, repeat, repeat.

Learn how to do it before you dive, however. This isn't an optional skill - sooner or later (and with new divers it is very often sooner) you are going to have to put this skill to work with no advance notice. Someone is going to kick your mask loose and if you panic and run for the surface you can seriously injure or kill yourself. No forewarning, no chest deep water, nobody to help you, you have to be able to do this one blind. Literally. Don't stop until you have mastered it - it's not good enough to get lucky once or twice in the pool.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Steven

 

[norcaldiver]

All good ideas. One that I have people try is taking the mask off and right away, pinch your nose. This gets you used to the idea that your mask is off and forces you to continue breathing thru your reg. Take you time and slowly let go of your nose-concentrate on the reg, not on the mask. Remember, the requirements for performance don't say you can't pinch your nose and take a good 5 minutes relaxing before you try to put the mask back on. If you breathe thru the nose, pinch again and cough thru the reg. Relax and try again. It's preformace based, not time based.

 

[CTurtle]

and taking the mask off & putting it back on was NOT one of my favorite skills. You've gotten some really good advice. I practiced in the bathtub til I got it right & was I glad I did!! The very first open water dive I did right after getting certified, guess what happened?? We were diving the some other first-time divers & the other lady in our group was all over the place. She wasn't aware of where she was going or who she bumped into. Once she appeared right in front of my & kicked off my mask. Thank goodness I didn't panick! Just put the mask back on, cleared it & kept an eye out for her for the rest of the dive! Haven't had to use that skill since, but it's nice to know I can do it without that panicky feeling again.
My son has been certified for less than a year now, & I've taken him on a couple of dives. He's fearless (yes, he's only 12), & he's more concerned about remembering all the hand signals. So, on the way to the dive site, we practice the signals. Then when we go out for our dive I let him decide which skills we're gonna practice before we go out. Once down on a platform, we go over 3 or 4 skills before we start "exploring". Whenever he picks the mask clearing, I just mentally picture how it's suppose to be done & that helps. Skills DO get a lot easier the more you practice.

 

[Walter]

Pinching your nose is a crutch and not a good idea. There's no reason to ever pinch your nose to master no mask breathing.

 

[dbulmer]

Walter,

"Pinching your nose is a crutch and not a good idea. There's no reason to ever pinch your nose to master no mask breathing."

Why?