clearing the mask

[H2Andy]

like everybody else said, lots of people have problems with this.

just practice and concentrate on breathing through your mouth only. you can
do this in dry land at first, and then in a pool, with a snorkel and no mask.

just keep practicing!

 

[Walter]

Am I weird?

Probably. Most of us are. Looking down is not a problem if you are experienced. If you are learning the skill, looking up is very important.

 

[pwraudio1]

You need to look up.... this will help a lot....

 

[JustinW]

I watched people next to me have problems with this when i went through the class, the best tip i can give is practice inhaling through your mouth and exhaling through your nose, especially the inhale part. Plug your nose to recognize the sensation, then practice without plugging your nose.

 

[Stirling]

Just wear the mask around the house for a couple of hours and you won't have any choice about breathing through your mouth. Add the snorkel. Exhale forcefully into the mask every once in a while to see where the air escapes (if you don't have a purge valve) and to practice what you will do to clear the mask. It should feel natural very quickly.

 

[RonFrank]

A buddy of mine complained about his mask fogging this weekend, and one of the instructors we were with noticed he was breathing out through his nose.

He was NOT having issues with clearing, but my guess is that if you are breathing in from the nose you are breathing out as well. This will result in fogging, and maybe worst breaking the seal on the mask on a regular basis, or leaking.

He noticed after he made an effort to stop breathing out from the nose that he no longer had some of the leakage issues which he had assumed was from his stash...

 

[Ber Rabbit]

You do need to exhale through your nose into your mask on occasion to keep from getting a mask squeeze. A mask squeeze can rupture the capillaries in your eyes and leave the whites literally blood red. If the nose pocket of your mask is too small you can also rupture the capillaries in your nose and you will look like Rudolph for a while.

I had to spend a bit of time with my face in the kitchen sink (too lazy to fill the tub) to get the hang of breathing off of the snorkel. One nice thing about learning to breathe through your mouth only is you will eventually be able to do it on land also and that's handy when passing things like dead skunks and hog farms

Good luck! You'll get the hang of it
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[J75]

Try wearing your mask while sitting around the house, watching tv. Soon enough you'll be used to breathing through your mouth. When it's time to clear your mask in class, be sure to take a deep breath right before removing your mask and concentrate on breathing through your reg. Soon enough, it'll become second nature.

 

[markfm]

Try wearing your mask while sitting around the house, watching tv...

Also, a great conversation starter when friends come by
Basic clearing I managed fairly easily, just made sure my mask wasn't too tight (don't want it flopping, but the water pressure naturally pushes it in). For full remove/replace, I definitely found looking up important. Mask back over the face, look up somewhat, purge, then fiddle with the strap.

 

[Hank49]

I clear my mask all the time without looking up?? In fact, sometimes I look down?
Am I weird?

The air in the mask wants to go towards the surface, or "up" so as it fills the mask it pushes the water down and out. If you're looking down you have to blow a lot of air into the mask to get the water to go "up". You could clear the mask upside down. Just press the mask skirt near your mouth and let the water out the other side or the "down" side.