Hojo in SC
Contributor
Easy, it had been decades but I did a bunch of skin diving and life guard.
How was your first experience with the Mask Removal Scuba Diving Skill?
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Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
It was weird but I did it. It’s a natural human instinct for your brain to tell you not to breathe if you submerge your head and water hits around your eyes and nose. It takes a little mental training for a lot of people to get past that. The instructor led us around the pool one by one by the arm.
I don’t know if they do it that way anymore or if they just make you do it in one spot momentarily and good enough. We had to actually swim around the pool so he could see several breathing cycles.
The more you do it the easier it gets.
I read “The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving” and in that book they have several fun pool exercises for you to do. One is the ditch and don in the deep end of the pool. I had an old DA Aquamaster double hose I used for this exercise. I would go down, remove all my gear at the deep end and then blow out and swim up. I’d tread water for a few seconds, take a breath and swim down to my stuff and put it all back on. The double hose had to be shut off otherwise the loop would float and it would just freeflow. So I would swim down, turn on the valve and start breathing then put the mask on so I could see then flip the the tank on my back over my head then fins and I was off.
For tech training the instructor made us remove the mask and replace at depth on every training dive.
I don’t know if they do it that way anymore or if they just make you do it in one spot momentarily and good enough. We had to actually swim around the pool so he could see several breathing cycles.
The more you do it the easier it gets.
I read “The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving” and in that book they have several fun pool exercises for you to do. One is the ditch and don in the deep end of the pool. I had an old DA Aquamaster double hose I used for this exercise. I would go down, remove all my gear at the deep end and then blow out and swim up. I’d tread water for a few seconds, take a breath and swim down to my stuff and put it all back on. The double hose had to be shut off otherwise the loop would float and it would just freeflow. So I would swim down, turn on the valve and start breathing then put the mask on so I could see then flip the the tank on my back over my head then fins and I was off.
For tech training the instructor made us remove the mask and replace at depth on every training dive.
I like to do what I describe here: Teaching Neutrally Buoyant and Trimmed: Pt2 - Mask, Snorkel & Fin Skills - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI
It was no big deal when I did it the way I had been practicing since I was like 8. But when I tried to do it like the instructor who used that Marcel Marceau on Quaaludes stuff it kept filling back up. That is the stupidest way to demo a mask clear. When I saw the 5thdx videos years ago and it was demo'd like that, I started doing my own demos with students like that and it became so much easier and they got it much faster.
The on the knees sloooooow exaggerated is what I think causes more problems than it solves. Do it real time and make it look effortless and the students don't get intimidated.
The on the knees sloooooow exaggerated is what I think causes more problems than it solves. Do it real time and make it look effortless and the students don't get intimidated.
FlutterTubes
Registered
It was super easy, and that's fortunate, because I have a mustache, so my mask is basically always partially flooded
nolatom
Contributor
I don’t like open eyes underwater so I probably don’t practice mask recovery enough. Pool or fresh water it’s not that bad, Salt water? Hate it, it stings (duh).
But the couple of times I’ve had to do it real-time after mask got knocked askew? The unpleasant practice runs were worth their weight in gold.
But the couple of times I’ve had to do it real-time after mask got knocked askew? The unpleasant practice runs were worth their weight in gold.
Non-event. I was a swimmer and had done a fair amount of snorkeling.
Same for my son who got certified last year. He had almost no snorkeling experience, so we worked on it in a pool a few times before his OW class.
Same for my son who got certified last year. He had almost no snorkeling experience, so we worked on it in a pool a few times before his OW class.
Gandalf-the-Diver
Contributor
Easy peasy, OW just before my 59thbday, but as a teenager in the 70s I did a snorkling course. I have known how to clear my mask for over 40 yrs. My OW instructor was surprised, as when it was my turn, I just flooded my mask and cleared it with no hesitation.
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