Tips and tricks of buoyancy control with blackout/absent mask.
- Thread starter elan
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Blackwood
Contributor
ivobj
Contributor
I think most was already mentioned...
1 - Buddy guided and controled ascent, the best way, no doubt
2 - Also feel your lungs for balance and ascent control
3 - You can take a look at your gauge for a few seconds by making an "air mask", basically you purge your backup while pressing the other hand against your forehead, you will form a "giant bubble" in front of your eyes that will clear your vision while the bubble lasts (of course your gauge must be on the arm purging the backup...). I only do that for training sometimes, I never do solo (so always have the buddy/team to guide me) and if I am on a phisical or virtual overhead dive, I have a backup mask in my drysuit pocket
1 - Buddy guided and controled ascent, the best way, no doubt
2 - Also feel your lungs for balance and ascent control
3 - You can take a look at your gauge for a few seconds by making an "air mask", basically you purge your backup while pressing the other hand against your forehead, you will form a "giant bubble" in front of your eyes that will clear your vision while the bubble lasts (of course your gauge must be on the arm purging the backup...). I only do that for training sometimes, I never do solo (so always have the buddy/team to guide me) and if I am on a phisical or virtual overhead dive, I have a backup mask in my drysuit pocket
1_T_Submariner
Contributor
I took a Handicap scuba diver buddy course and one of the excersizes is to dive vision impaired. I found that I could actually help my buddy (which was learning to guide a blind/low vision diver) I could sense going up or down my buddy had to control how fast.
If you have lost your mask, have no backup, and your buddy is gone, you have experienced three major failures in one dive, and you are having a very bad day.
If you are in midwater with NO visual reference and no mask and no buddy, the likelihood that you will make a smooth, controlled ascent is probably pretty low. But you should be able to tell if you are going up or down, since you will have to clear your ears if you are going down. You may not be able to know whether you are upright or upside down, or sideways, but you should be able to know that you are ascending, even if you can't really control the rate very well.
Ascending without a mask and with a good buddy in touch contact isn't hard at all. If you can open your eyes, you can see enough of your buddy to have a visual reference. If not, you have the buddy's signals to tell you to go up or down. To maintain your horizontal posture, you can focus on where your exhaled bubbles are going. They should stream evenly up both sides of your face. If they are all going to one side, you are leaning to the opposite side. If you can't feel them on your face, they're probably running up your body, and you are head down. (This tool got me through the lights-out drills in my cave classes.)
If you are in midwater with NO visual reference and no mask and no buddy, the likelihood that you will make a smooth, controlled ascent is probably pretty low. But you should be able to tell if you are going up or down, since you will have to clear your ears if you are going down. You may not be able to know whether you are upright or upside down, or sideways, but you should be able to know that you are ascending, even if you can't really control the rate very well.
Ascending without a mask and with a good buddy in touch contact isn't hard at all. If you can open your eyes, you can see enough of your buddy to have a visual reference. If not, you have the buddy's signals to tell you to go up or down. To maintain your horizontal posture, you can focus on where your exhaled bubbles are going. They should stream evenly up both sides of your face. If they are all going to one side, you are leaning to the opposite side. If you can't feel them on your face, they're probably running up your body, and you are head down. (This tool got me through the lights-out drills in my cave classes.)
DevonDiver
N/A
Safe ascent with no mask and no buddy...
Deploy DSMB. Ascend on that line, hand over hand (or reeling in slowly...but you can just go up and retrieve the line afterwards). When you get to the knot you tied in the line at 5m, stay there for your safety stop (count to 60 slowly x3).
Deploy DSMB. Ascend on that line, hand over hand (or reeling in slowly...but you can just go up and retrieve the line afterwards). When you get to the knot you tied in the line at 5m, stay there for your safety stop (count to 60 slowly x3).
Sas
Contributor
There are a few options:
If you have a buddy, get them to help you ascend or swim. Me and my buddy practice this and it is really quite easy.
If you do not have a buddy you could:
-pay close attention to your ears, should tell you whether you are going up or down
-open your eyes, you might be able to see a bit (one time when I lost my mask at night I could see lights of other divers and that helped me ascend, for example)
-if you have a computer with an ascent alarm, listen to it and slow down if it starts to beep
-you can make an air bubble around your eyes to read your gauges - though I have not tried this myself!
If you have a buddy, get them to help you ascend or swim. Me and my buddy practice this and it is really quite easy.
If you do not have a buddy you could:
-pay close attention to your ears, should tell you whether you are going up or down
-open your eyes, you might be able to see a bit (one time when I lost my mask at night I could see lights of other divers and that helped me ascend, for example)
-if you have a computer with an ascent alarm, listen to it and slow down if it starts to beep
-you can make an air bubble around your eyes to read your gauges - though I have not tried this myself!
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