Is it safe to wear a nose clip while scuba diving?

[TMHeimer]

I am lucky in that I have no problem breathing with nose or mouth or both. I have wondered if anyone is truly a nose breather or is it mental? I think many folks probably breathe through both at once without noticing it. I had to assist an OW student who had trouble mask clearing, saying she was a natural mouth breather. My advice may be to practice ways of breathing on land (in one way, out the other, reverse it, etc.). My guess is with enough practice, someone who is a nose breather can stop doing that when on scuba. Maybe it's not a mental thing though, I'm certainly no expert.

 

[Bob DBF]

Because of my mustache and the shape of my face I wind up with water in my mask on a regular basis. I have my mask adjusted so that the top of the mask has slightly more pressure than the bottom and exhale through my nose to dewater the mask when needed.

As far as the mask, I use spit as defogger, and if I can't spit, I feel it's a sign of dehydration, a twofer. Although I was taught all the tricks to prepare a mask for use, I've never bothered, as the few times I have had a fogging problem was when I was rushed spreading the defogger and missed spots.

 

[Goonzodiver]

We’re all natural nose breathers, or should be. Most people don’t breath out through their nose a lot while diving, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to. I do it occasionally just for the heck of it.

I don’t think a nose clip is a great idea, since you need to be able to equalize and clear your mask. If your mask fogs, do something to solve the fogging problem directly.

Independently if the nose clip may be or not the solution for the mask fogging problem of this thread, I have to correct you:
the nose clip does not prevent the equalization of the mask or its emptying from the water. From personal experience (I use the nose clip inside the mask), I can say that there are no nose clips on the market so perfect as to completely prevent the passage of air. Even with the old spring nose clips, mask clearing was perfectly possible, as seen in this excerpt from "Unternehmen Xarifa" (1953) where Hans Hass shows how to empty the mask, wearing a spring noseclip: