Anyone gag alot first starting out? Especially above water?

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Messages
4
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Location
Texas
# of dives
100 - 199
My son is doing his open water and while he does great when he is underwater (which is a great thing), whenever he puts his regulator in on the surface or does his pre-dive breaths he gags. His instructor is one of those sticklers about masks on and regs in at all times on the surface (which I think is a good thing) but my son is kind of gagging all the time.

But underwater he's perfectly fine which is what counts. Still he is going to need to be able to keep his reg in above the surface between surfacing and the boat and it would be nice for comfort levels if he didn't start every dive gagging...
 
Yep. I have a very strong gag reflex. Makes going to the dentist absolutely miserable. I still gag a bit when I first put reg in. What really helped was to get a Comfobite mouthpiece. What really made me gag were the mouthpieces with the long wings going back. The Comfobite has much shorter wings, plus it has a bridge piece that helps keep it in place. But I had my own gear from the beginning. Not sure about switching out mouthpieces on rental gear.

This is the mouthpiece but it’s on order. Out of stock like just about everything these days.

 
Yep. I have a very strong gag reflex. Makes going to the dentist absolutely miserable. I still gag a bit when I first put reg in. What really helped was to get a Comfobite mouthpiece. What really made me gag were the mouthpieces with the long wings going back. The Comfobite has much shorter wings, plus it has a bridge piece that helps keep it in place. But I had my own gear from the beginning. Not sure about switching out mouthpieces on rental gear.

This is the mouthpiece but it’s on order. Out of stock like just about everything these days.

Ah yeah. He's using a rental which is provided, so he is using whatever mouthpiece is on that. I am not sure how crazy the dive shop would be about switching out. But also since he is probably going to be renting a while he'll be using a variety of different mouthpieces.
 
i agree with above comment about the length of the mouth piece being crucial if anyone has this issue.
different manufacturers will be different shapes and sizes.
i have purchased ones similar to the link provided above. i am not sure if those are exactly the same as what i got from dgx, but the ones i got were crap. they were very flimsy silicone and basically useless. but i keep a couple in my gear as spares.
the good quality ones are great. i have had apeks ones. awesome, but expensive.
i also find that until you get used to it, keeping the tongue up against the roof of the mouth helps with the gagging.
 
I had some problems like that when I was first starting out. I had been talked into buying a "seacure" custom mouthpiece. It turned out that this wasn't a good fit for the shape of my mouth.

I solved my problem with a generic "long" mouthpiece. They're $3 and very soft material so I keep a bunch on hand in case I tear one. Since the material is so soft, it's very easy to tear or bite through.

Maybe try ordering a variety of the inexpensive mouthpieces and see if you can find one that fits better. Mouthpieces
 
i agree with above comment about the length of the mouth piece being crucial if anyone has this issue.
different manufacturers will be different shapes and sizes.
i have purchased ones similar to the link provided above. i am not sure if those are exactly the same as what i got from dgx, but the ones i got were crap. they were very flimsy silicone and basically useless. but i keep a couple in my gear as spares.
the good quality ones are great. i have had apeks ones. awesome, but expensive.
i also find that until you get used to it, keeping the tongue up against the roof of the mouth helps with the gagging.
The DGX one linked to is very firm silicone. I’ve had the floppy ones. Yuck. The Aqualung version of the Comfobite is much better than the Apeks one, IMO. I bought some Dive Rite regs and immediately changed out the mouthpiece to the DGX firm one.
 
Ah yeah. He's using a rental which is provided, so he is using whatever mouthpiece is on that. I am not sure how crazy the dive shop would be about switching out. But also since he is probably going to be renting a while he'll be using a variety of different mouthpieces.
Any dive shop should be willing to swap out a mouthpiece on a rental regulator, especially if it is for a customer that they want to keep coming back. As stated earlier, its just a zip tie that hold it is place. Talk to the shop, I'll bet they are willing to help you out.
 
Those moldable mouthpieces are the worst for me. I can never get them trimmed down nice and smooth and they come longer than Ron Jeremy.

Go with the comfobite and tell your son to stick with it. Nothing wrong with gagging. At least he'll always have his personal space.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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