Mask clearing-finding out the hard way

[SlicerDicer]

YouTube - ‪Clearing Mask/Full Face Mask‬‏

First shot was just ripping mask off vs slow flooding either way can be done. I think just breaching the mask is best. There should be zero problems with clearing masks underwater or breathing underwater for extended periods of time 5-10mins what if you have to do a safety stop? I can smash my computer to my face and read it! Even my SPG/Depth Gauge that is analog, they are blurry but readable enough. LOL I am 100% serious here.. What happens if your buddy and you get separated and you lose your mask? What about if your not carrying a spare mask? I always do but what if you drop that? Unknown Unknowns are what kill people..

Note: I would gladly give up my mask for any buddy But I do not panic at all with water on my face.

 

[flots am]

Just a short 2 months ago, I took a local 2 day PADI class, which included 2 pool sessions each day. My instructors name was Sarah, who had over 400 dives under her belt. Well on my 2nd dive, we had to remove our mask for 1 minute, then replace it...WHAT? take my mask off, swim across the pool, then replace it? YIKES!! well, i got as far as filling the mask 1/2 full before panic set in, and water was in my nose, I went to the top (15 feet) after choking a second, my young instructor said to me, relax and try again.

This is exactly the kind of thing Thal and Water and Jim and I are talking about.

In any class that's long enough to actually do you any good, this would have happened in the shallow end of the pool in about 3' of water where the demonstration explanation would end with "If you're uncomfortable or anything isn't going well, stand up."

You can't get this in a short class, because there just isn't enough time. You shouldn't have needed to make different arrangements, find your own pool or come back off-hours or anything else. It should have been part of the class.

If you were shortchanged on something as basic as mask skills, what else was glossed over?

This is just an example of the kind of training people miss by taking a short class.

flots.

 

[TSandM]

I know this is an old thread, and this comment was made some time ago, but I wanted to address it anyway:

Before you take it off, get a good breath.

This is bad advice, really, because the day the guy who descended on top of you kicks off your mask, you may be in 80 feet of water, and not wanting to ascend. IF you take a huge, deep breath in preparation for clearing your mask, I can guarantee that, by the time you have finished doing it, you will be ascending -- and may have ascended quite a bit. You may have trouble stopping, or you may have lost your buddy or the guide or whatever before it's all over (remember, you can't see until you get the mask cleared).

One of the things Walter often says (and I think he is truly the guru of writing about mask issues) is that one should be able to clear a mask several times on a single breath. Although I don't think students need to be held to this standard at the beginning, it is absolutely true -- the volume of a mask is not much more than that of a coffee cup, and you hold a great deal more air than that in your lungs. Maintaining a totally normal breathing pattern and simply exhaling through the nose WILL clear the mask -- you just need to convince yourself that it's true.

Remember -- You can deal with any one failure or problem underwater; it's when things begin to cascade that life becomes much more difficult. Flood your mask or have it kicked off? No big deal. Lose buoyancy control AND your buddy or your orientation? Suddenly, you have a LOT more to cope with. It is well worth learning to do each of the major safety skills in a way that does not impact your basic diving, so that you don't compound your issues.

 

[boulderjohn]

Just a short 2 months ago, I took a local 2 day PADI class, which included 2 pool sessions each day. My instructors name was Sarah, who had over 400 dives under her belt. Well on my 2nd dive, we had to remove our mask for 1 minute, then replace it...WHAT? take my mask off, swim across the pool, then replace it? YIKES!! well, i got as far as filling the mask 1/2 full before panic set in, and water was in my nose, I went to the top (15 feet) after choking a second, my young instructor said to me, relax and try again. With heart racing, and everone (10 people) watching on the bottom, I tried again,... and again...finally, she said to come 1 hour early for class the second day, and we'd practice.

In any class that's long enough to actually do you any good, this would have happened in the shallow end of the pool in about 3' of water where the demonstration explanation would end with "If you're uncomfortable or anything isn't going well, stand up."

You can't get this in a short class, because there just isn't enough time. You shouldn't have needed to make different arrangements, find your own pool or come back off-hours or anything else. It should have been part of the class.

This has nothing to do with the length of the class. It has to do with violating standards.

The no mask swim and replacement is on dive #4, not dive #2. It is preceded by a mask removal exercise on dive #2 and a 1 minute underwater breathing experience, also on dive #2. (Some people combine the two into one exercise.) The skilled instructor prepares the students for this carefully.

The length of the course was not an issue. In every course I know in which the pool sessions are done over a couple of days (short course), it is done exactly as you describe. In the scenario the OP described, he should not have done the no mask swim until the second day, after first learning to remove his mask comfortably. The instructor chose to skip a skill, which is a violation. The instructor chose not to introduce the skill properly, which is poor technique.

 

[flots am]

This has nothing to do with the length of the class. It has to do with violating standards.

I have no idea what PADI standards are, or what PADI wants to happen when.

All I can tell you is that the OP took a 2 day class and it happened, and it shouldn't have.

flots

 

[flots am]

The no mask swim and replacement is on dive #4, not dive #2. It is preceded by a mask removal exercise on dive #2 and a 1 minute underwater breathing experience, also on dive #2. (Some people combine the two into one exercise.) The skilled instructor prepares the students for this carefully.

You reference "dives" above. I have no idea what this means in reference to a pool session.

When are the above skills actually taught in a 2 day class?

flots.

 

[boulderjohn]

I have no idea what PADI standards are, or what PADI wants to happen when.

All I can tell you is that the OP took a 2 day class and it happened, and it shouldn't have.

flots

Sure you do. They are just about the same as SSI. They are both in the RSTC and adhere to RSTC standards.

 

[boulderjohn]

You reference "dives" above. I have no idea what this means in reference to a pool session.

When are the above skills actually taught in a 2 day class?

flots.

I am sure you know what I mean. There are 5 confined water "dives" required for training. According to the OP's post, these were done over two days, which is fairly typical of CW training.

As for the mask clearing sequence, here it is:

Dive #1: Partial mask flood and clear.
Dive #2: Full mask flood. Mask Removal and Replace. One minute underwater breathing without mask.
In a typical sequence for a 2 day CE experience, this constitutes the end of the first day. Dive #1 takes forever because of all the accompanying logistics of gear setup, etc.
Dive #3: No mask skills
Dive #4: No mask swim being led by buddy, followed by mask replacement.
Dive #5: No mask skills.

The way I read the OP's post, it almost seemed that he was taking the mask off for the first time when he did the no mask swim. If the instructor is following the REQUIRED sequence, he should have been totally used to flooding the mask and taking it off by then.

EDIT: IN calling this a 2-day course, you are leaving out the time spent on academics and the required OW dives that follow the CW pool experience.

 

[flots am]

EDIT: IN calling this a 2-day course, you are leaving out the time spent on academics and the required OW dives that follow the CW pool experience.

The OP plainly said it was a 2 day class.

You can make what you wish out of it, but I beleive him because he was there.

flots.

 

[boulderjohn]

The OP plainly said it was a 2 day class.

You can make what you wish out of it, but I beleive him because he was there.

flots.

And in his description he described doing confined water skills on each day of the class. It seems to me taht if he did confined water on each day of the class, taht the confined water portion of the class was divided over two days. He did not mention the academics or the OW portion of the class.

You've gone down this road before. Do you really want to go there again?