How was your first experience with the Mask Removal Scuba Diving Skill?

[TMHeimer]

At the risk of being pedantic, it's not the chlorine that's the problem. Free chlorine that's dissolved in pool water has little to no effect on the human eye.

It's bad pH balance and an abundance of chloramines (combined chlorine, the form that's bonded to organic matter and creates that "swimming pool smell") that cause eye irritation.

A clean, well-maintained pool is odorless and won't make your eyes sting at all.

OK, you know. I've not been in a pool where I could open my eyes without consequence. Bad luck I guess.

 

[boulderjohn]

I have had several discussions with PADI hierarchy about my frustration with their failure to push neutral buoyancy instruction more vigorously. I am assured that they have promoted it heavily, and the fact that new professionals will have to do skills that way before long should be proof of that.

I think the next time I have such a conversation I will show this video, in which a PADI instructor is not only still teaching students on the knees, he is using a video of his instructional technique to promote his business.

 

[akchan]

My issue was when I was breathing without the mask, the bubbles went up my nose! Made me surface several times. So I started exhaling with my nose when my mask is off.

No issues clearing

 

[TMHeimer]

My issue was when I was breathing without the mask, the bubbles went up my nose! Made me surface several times. So I started exhaling with my nose when my mask is off.

No issues clearing

Exhaling with your nose will do the trick. But it's not necessary if you can block off the Glottis (I think) internally. Bubbles or water will then only go in your nostrils, which hurts nothing.

 

[boulderjohn]

My issue was when I was breathing without the mask, the bubbles went up my nose! Made me surface several times. So I started exhaling with my nose when my mask is off.

No issues clearing

If you are doing the skill with a more modern instructor using neutral buoyancy instruction, it would not be a problem. The bubbles went up your nose because you were kneeling, like the guy in the video. The bubbles leave your regulator and go right up into your nose.

That is not how it is when you are diving, and it is not how it is when you are being instructed properly. With neutral buoyancy instruction, this skill is done with your body in horizontal trim, as it is when you are diving. In that case, when the mask is removed, the bubbles go past your cheeks and up the side of your head--not up the nose.

In addition, replacing the mask is also done as it will be in real diving. You are taught in mask clearing to tilt the head back. Why? The reason is that to clear the mask easily, the bottom skirt of the mask must be at the lowest point so the water runs out there. When you are kneeling, the mask is already perpendicular to the bottom, so tilting the head back is counterproductive. A kneeling diver therefore learns to do the skill incorrectly, as the person in the video is doing. People who learn mask skills on the knees typically have to get their whole body vertical in order to clear the mask while diving because they never had to tilt the head back properly in their class.

 

[DeltaWardog]

My first mask clearing outside the pool (i.e. during my cert dive) went terribly, but ended up teaching me a valuable lesson. This was 14 years ago but I'll never forget it.

I had been told time and time again during training, and on Scubaboard threads, not to pinch my nose when clearing my mask. I am a nose breather and this is very problematic for me because I have never mastered the skill of just 'closing my nose' however you wizards do it. So when I did the mask clear at 40 ft, when I took my first breath to start clearing, I breathed a bunch of water in through my nose and started coughing. I tried to correct this without pinching my nose and... breathed more water into my nose, making things worse. After the third breath of water through my nose my lizard brain told me enough was enough, it's time to go, and I signaled to the instructor I was going up. I felt like I couldn't even take in a breath at this point.... when I tried to breathe in, nothing happened. She told me no and to stay down, and I tried one more time, in vain, to take a breath. Water up nose, no air going into lungs. I signaled thumb up again and this time didn't wait for an answer. I performed a CESA just as trained, got to the surface, and belched a significant quantity of air in what was probably an impressive of a display as I'll ever make. I had been hyper ventilating, unknowingly, due to the stress and semi (mostly?) panicked state I was in. My lungs were probably pretty full, which is why I couldn't take a proper breath. From what I recall I *was* trying to exhale all the way up while still trying to get a sip of air because I was waaaay past having any normal kind of breathing at that point. There was still a lot of air left in there when I surfaced, though. I'm lucky I escaped without a lung injury.

The instructor directed me out of the water, let me calm down, and asked me if I wanted to try again. I explained the problem I'd had and she said "well pinch your nose then" (...dummy, was heavily implied). I returned to 40 ft after a 15 minute break and completed my drills without incident, nostrils firmly pinched for the mask clearing that she made me do twice.

She commended me later for dealing with my attempted self-drowning as well as I did. I didn't (fully) panic, properly signaled, and did a great CESA, according to her. Her coaching after that was where I got the valuable lesson. Long story short, she said it was good that I had my first 'panic event' right in front of an instructor, and was able to somewhat handle it properly. She said a lot of people panic for the first time in the open ocean and the results are less optimal. Her coaching taught me how to recognize when things were getting away from me underwater and just calm. the f. down. Then deal with the situation however I needed to, other people's rules (don't pinch your nose you weakling, you'll never be a real diver that way) be damned. I internalized that and it has helped me avoid panic in two other dives where I encountered very stressful situations. Due to this previous experience was able to recognize what was happening, control my fear, continue thinking, and resolve the issue without having to leave the water.

The incident made me a better diver in the long run. I still wouldn't wish it on anyone. I have since learned how to kinda sorta not breathe through my nose when the mask comes off, but a hand is always ready to reach out and grab the schnoz if my nostril sealing skills fail me.

 

[Belzelbub]

I had been told time and time again during training, and on Scubaboard threads, not to pinch my nose when clearing my mask. I am a nose breather and this is very problematic for me because I have never mastered the skill of just 'closing my nose' however you wizards do it.

I guess I’m one of the wizards you refer to. I wish I could explain it, but I really can’t. Growing up, I saw lots of kids who would pinch their noses when they jump in the water. I always though that was weird as I never had a need to have to do that.

Unless I’m real congested, I breathe through my nose. When I’m in the water, I just breathe through my mouth. Don’t really think about it, it just happens. I guess that’s probably a big part of the reason why I had no trouble with this skill.

 

[TMHeimer]

I guess I’m one of the wizards you refer to. I wish I could explain it, but I really can’t. Growing up, I saw lots of kids who would pinch their noses when they jump in the water. I always though that was weird as I never had a need to have to do that.

Unless I’m real congested, I breathe through my nose. When I’m in the water, I just breathe through my mouth. Don’t really think about it, it just happens. I guess that’s probably a big part of the reason why I had no trouble with this skill.

One thing I mention to those who can't close off the nose like we can is to first close of the throat by exhaling making a "hock" sound. Then do that with the nose passages.
One time I was with a couple of student divers, we saw a flounder and I mimicked eating it. Later they asked how I could open my mouth underwater without swallowing water. It is hard to explain.

 

[drl]

The first time I did a mask flood and clear in the pool, I was concentrated so hard on the task that I stopped biting down on the mouthpiece of my second stage (which was rather oversized for me) and it shot right out of my mouth! The instructor grabbed my bcd so I wouldn’t bolt, but I had no inclination to; I grabbed the second stage, muttering an expletive, purged it and stuck it back in my mouth. Then I finished the mask drill. We had quite a laugh afterwards.

 

[DeltaWardog]

Later they asked how I could open my mouth underwater without swallowing water. It is hard to explain.

I can do this! I just can't do it with my nostrils. And practicing it is like waterboarding myself. But I'm gonna take my snorkel to the pool and practice this hock maneuver I guess.