Am I normal or a sissy?

[daphnis]

Ok, I've read a few pages of new messages and haven't seen anyone ask this so here goes. I'm taking my OW - in fact, I'll have my third lesson on Monday and have had 2 confined water dives. The first one went really well. I felt comfortable in the water and breathing underwater was a real thrill. The mask flooding was a bit unnerving but I cleared it in one shot and was quite proud of myself.

I guess it was the success of this first CW dive that made me so disappointed with myself during the second. I practiced removing the mask and breathing 30 seconds through the reg before replacing the mask. In shallow water, I was a bit panicky but succeeded. In the deeper water, however, I had some trouble with buoyancy and couldn't sink down with the others. One of the instructors added more weight but by the time I got down there, I was a bit stressed and the 3 other students had already succeeded the mask removal excercise. As soon as I had arrived at bottom, it was my turn and I panicked. I could feel the water ready to shoot up my nose at anytime and after several breaths, I panicked and shot for the surface. I was joined by an instructor and felt really bad that I couldn't do it. He just told me that I would try again next time. My next confined water dive is Monday and I'm really stressed. I did the swim without a mask and was ok with it. I just can't seem to sit at the bottom and breathe through my mouth for a minute.

Should we be practicing this so soon? Shouldn't there be a more gentle lead-in to such a skill or am I not made for diving? None of the instructors talked to me about it after or gave me encouragement or advice. I guess I could have approached them but I was too embarrassed about panicking.

Am I normal?

Daphnis

 

[David The Gnome]

There isn't really a gentle lead in to doing it. It was a little unnerving when I first tried it but I didn't have any trouble with it once I got past the nervousness of taking off my mask. I can give you a few tips that are suppose to help.

While you are removing your mask, blow some air out of your nose. Once you have the mask off, breath in through your mouth and breath out through your nose. This will really help to keep any water from entering your nose plus it tickles.

It just takes a little practice and then you'll get used to it. There were several people in my class who had difficulty working up the courage to breath with their masks off but it's really not bad. Your body will automatically keep the water from going in your nose but you just have to trust it.

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

Normal. Try letting the water in your mask slowly, by tipping out the side. Start by letting a little in. Clear mask. Next let alittle more in. Clear Mask. Next let it all in. Clear mask. Almost everyone has some problems with mask clearing at first. Do a search on the board and you will find this topic comes up alot.

Dave (aka "Squirt")

 

[JodiBB]

Daphnis....first of all, welcome to SB!!

Secondly, many of us have had difficulty with this skill when we were learning at first. Also, I learned that women tend to have more difficulty with this skill than men. As for whether or not this skill is "too early to learn," it really isn't. There are many issues that may come up when you do your OW check-out dives, which may require you to take off your mask...flooding, inappropriate placement, etc. It's important to learn this now so that you will be able to face any potential issues without panicking when you go down 35'+.

There are a ton of threads on how to make this skill easier for you....if you do a search for "Mask Removal" you'll find a ton of them....

Good luck & keep us posted!

 

[BrianV]

Wow I'm always so amazed at how hard this is for people. I admit, I didn't like the idea of it either, but it really is no biggy. Just keep your eyes closed and blow hard. If you're really shy about it, you can buy a mask with a purge valve in it. I have the Scubapro Clear Vue with Purge and it makes purging easier (just breate out your nose), but in all honesty it doesn't work anywhere near as well as the traditional way.

On my last trip I had serious mask flooding problems and had to clear my mask 5-10 times per dive; no biggy though, wasn't worth getting out of the water over. It's an important skill to get down.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

Try to realize that nothing at all is different with your mask off. You aren't breathing though your nose when it's on. So just do the same thing when it's off. In fact, it's easier with the mask off. You can blow out your nose with it off.

Good luck. You can do it!

 

[np251]

sissy....nah, kidding, totally normal. My instructor pointed out that you can hold your nose when taking the mask off and breathing through the reg. The first time i did it, i held my nose for the duration. I asked if i could repeat it a few more times and just built up with releasing my nose during an exhale, holding for a few cycles, then releasing for an inhale. repeated that cycle until i was breathing off the reg with no mask without holding my nose for a full 10 minutes. I have never felt more comfortable in the water than i have since then. Focusing purely on breathing cycles and knowing that i wasnt going to drown through my nose makes the thing a bit of a pleasure.

One tip- when it comes to the mask removal/replace during your check-out...make sure there are no half-moon jellies in the vicinity. There is a great shot of me on video doing a classic double take/ almost freak-out when i put my mask back on with a jelly inside. Extra kudos for the 'bored' look i apparently had when i removed it again, shook it out and replaced perfectly. They dont know that my 'bored' face is actually my 'im suppressing extreme freak-out' face.

 

[ChrisA]

Here is a way to think about having a mask off in the pool.....

Let's say you were on vacation at some resort. Nothing to do with SCUBA. It's warm out and they have this nice pool so you decide to take a running jump into the deep end. You make a slight splash as you slip under the water head first. But then what? Would you panic because you had no mask? No. I don't think so.

So think to yourself "if I did not have all this scuba gear on I'd not have a mask either and I'd be having fun." I think if yu tink of no-mask scuba drills as just "swimming" yoou can be OK

 

[www.scubamazing.com]

pretty normal I think. Everyone has different comfort levels. I'd let the water in slowly and don't be afraid to exhale through your nose if you feel water going up. Just try to be concious though. If you're sitting on the bottom, water shouldn't really go up your nose.

Good Luck!

 

[David The Gnome]

sissy....nah, kidding, totally normal. My instructor pointed out that you can hold your nose when taking the mask off and breathing through the reg. The first time i did it, i held my nose for the duration. I asked if i could repeat it a few more times and just built up with releasing my nose during an exhale, holding for a few cycles, then releasing for an inhale. repeated that cycle until i was breathing off the reg with no mask without holding my nose for a full 10 minutes. I have never felt more comfortable in the water than i have since then. Focusing purely on breathing cycles and knowing that i wasnt going to drown through my nose makes the thing a bit of a pleasure.

One tip- when it comes to the mask removal/replace during your check-out...make sure there are no half-moon jellies in the vicinity. There is a great shot of me on video doing a classic double take/ almost freak-out when i put my mask back on with a jelly inside. Extra kudos for the 'bored' look i apparently had when i removed it again, shook it out and replaced perfectly. They dont know that my 'bored' face is actually my 'im suppressing extreme freak-out' face.

That is hilarious! Do half-moon's sting? I thought all jelly fish sting, I can't imagine how bad it would hurt to get stung in the eye.