Clearing Mask Question

[diveprof]

Hi
I am one open water dive in to completing my OW diving certification. One of the major problems I am having is clearing my mask. It takes 2-3 tries and then it just fogs up as I am clearing it. I don't mind having to clear it so many times, but I hate the fogging. I was reading up on some threads that discussed fogging and one of the things mentioned is don't breathe through your nose. Well how do you clear your mask without breathing through your nose? Also, how do you equalize your mask without breathing through your nose? It is just so frustrating because after clearing or equalizing my mask, I spend the rest of the dive in a fog. I will try all the cleaning advice with toothpaste, mildly abrasive cleaners, etc but, I don't know if any of this will help as long as I have to blow so hard and so many times to clear my mask. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is this a normal occurrence?

Please forgive my lack of closely reading your initial post. I was responding more to the responses. My comments regarding mask cleaning and clearing still stand. When folks take more than one breath to clear a mask the most common culprit is not looking upward when clearing. If your head is level when clearing, it will take multiple breaths to clear your mask - hence the fogging (unless using my patented green spit that is not commercially available). Here is the deal - make a conscious effort to look upward when clearing your mask. The blonde "duh moment" technique described in my previous post works well (regrets to my wife though she will swear I have more of these moments than her- example located in the previous post). Since I didn't fully respond to your initial question fully, here is an additional tip for ear clearing I teach my students. The Valsalva is OK, but do you have trouble judging just how hard to blow? If so, try the new and improved (ok it's not new or improved)method of looking upward (hey, you were just doing this to clear your mask), with your tongue at the top of your mouth closed around the reg, swallow...feel the ears clear? If so, this is a much more kinder, gentle, method....
My five cents (hey with gas going up, all prices have to be adjusted)

 

[Air On]

Tomorrow is the big day as I will be doing 2 more dives tomorrow and then 1 on Sunday. To be honest I had no idea what I was getting in to when I started this course. All I wanted to do was to swim with the pretty fish in the clear blue Caribbean ocean and what I got was an introduction to what can be a pretty extreme sport. Although I am slim, I am not athletic at all. I guess you could say I am sort of a girly girl. I am not a quitter though and hope to be successful with the certification. Please tell me that this is all worth it and that diving can be fun for people who are not in it for adrenaline rushes and near death escapes. So far I have not had much fun. Is this normal to feel during certification?

Its worth it, once you know it, it gets simpler too.
The most important thing is for you to be as calm and relaxed as possible. Your getting loaded up with all the what ifs and how toos before you get to have fun.

Its pretty much like taking a driving class to get your first drivers license. They show you pictures of car wrecks and tell you scary stories to impress the importants of what your learning. You don't have to worry as much driving now as you did when you first got your drivers license anymore right? Diving is the same way.

The mask clear is not that big of a deal if you just slow down and think about it a little bit. Your basicaly just blowing a bubble that you want to catch with your mask. The bubble just pushes the water out for you.

If you don't have a low volume mask, the mask style can take a little more/different effort or even angle of the head to clear most efficiently.

Hang in there... the diving is worth the schooling.

 

[Colliam7]

Tomorrow is the big day as I will be doing 2 more dives tomorrow and then 1 on Sunday.

And, we're waiting to read how things went.

 

[mike the brit]

Sorry to go back to basics, but my buddy and simply use good old fashioned spit. In over 10 years of diving I have never had a fogging issue.

cheers

Mike