Mask Clearing Lesson

[bathbiggles1]

On a recent holiday I did the first dive as a shallow check dive with a close relative - she is PADI AOW with 50 dives. Her skills were fine apart from the common problem of failing to blow through the nose when trying to mask clear. She eventually managed it but like so many students you see on OW courses hated the idea of taking her mask off.

I made a mental note to do this skill again with her later in the holiday but we moved on to the weeks dving.

On the third day we descended to 30m on a fast drift to a channel where there was a large number of Grey Reef Sharks. We were in a group of mixed ability and some of the group struggled with stress and current whilst trying to find a hand hold. In the process my relative had her mask accidently removed from her face (she doesn't know how) and luckily managed to hold onto it. The first I saw was her flying past me upside down and maskless.

To her credit she did not panic completley and with myself and another instructor we managed to hold her in the current and help her to put her mask on again. However no instructor can clear a mask for a student or buddy and at this point she regressed back to exhaling through her mouth. She couldn't see us clearly and was beginning to lose it.

Having been at 30m for several minutes and with her down to 70 bar by now and me starting to tire quickly with the heavy workload of holding her we had to abort the dive without letting her bolt. Bear in mind she can't see us properly to take instructions. Eventually she was able to partially clear it and peer over the top of the water in her mask. The rest of the group were also struggling again now and we had to separate with me managing the ascent and saftey stop. We surfaced with her on 20 bar and me with not much more.

In different circumtances the failure to accomplish this skill could have been fatal for any number of reasons.

Although she was not a student, I take full responsibility for 'going soft' by not insisting that she remaster the skill even though she didn't want to. So if it's a weakness make sure you deal with it before you no choice!

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

thanks for the story...I'm glad everyone is ok, and even though the accident occured, you understand what went wrong and can learn from it.

 

[REII]

A mask can flood for a number of reasons especially under a heavy current. That is precisely why clearing a mask is an important skill to learn and practice. You never know when it may be needed.

I too am glad everyone is ok.

TOM

 

[TSandM]

I posted here about my experience with a mask that I couldn't clear. As a result of this, I've spent some time in almost every dive with my mask off, and putting it back on and clearing it. It can be a really important skill -- as can be having a working procedure in place for your buddy to assist you in aborting a dive when you have lost or can't clear your mask.

This was really brought home to me when diving 600 foot walls in Indonesia. No bottom there to get stabilized on (or on which your mask will land) -- lose your mask, and you're committed to a mask-off ascent. One of the people on our trip there told me she was pretty sure she couldn't put her mask on and clear it while hovering -- She had only ever done it kneeling, as one does in OW. She hadn't thought about what she would do if she lost it at depth on our walls, and her response was, "Oh, I'm very careful when other people are near me." Me, I'd rather learn how to cope without it. I don't trust my ability to avert incidents 100% of the time.

 

[xscreamsuk]

I've only done 4 dives, but had a leaky mask on each one. I got plenty practice at clearing the thing. I have now bought my own mask, and am doing some more training in a couple of weeks time. I look forward to a none leaky mask.

 

[pupdiver]

Mask clearing is definitely an important skill. It took me awhile to get comfortable with this for some reason during my certification class. My instructor made me do it over and over enough after I thought I had it figured out. It was a bit of a class joke after awhile.

On one of my first post certification dives, someone descended on me and knocked my mask loose. Didn't see him coming at all. Fortunately, I got my hand on it before it got completely off my head. I had to put it back on and clear it in a mild current and low viz. The surprise and adrenaline rush was the worst of it. For an inexperienced diver, a suddenly flooded mask can be very scary indeed. I am thankful my instructor drilled me on it.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Bathbillles1,

I see that you are an instructor, so I hope you will take these comments well. The divers, when they become certified, should be competant enough that they can function without panic without a mask. I know that the scuba courses have been diluted over the years, so perhaps it is helpful to remind people of some basic criterion that was used by NAUI in 1975 for the Basic Scuba Diving Course Standards:

6. The required water skills which are to be covered during a Basic Course are:

a) Swimming Skills (No Equipment)
.....1) Distance swim of 220 yards, nonstop any stroke.
.....2) Survival swim for 10 minutes, treading, bobbing, floating, drownproofing, et.
.....3) Underwater swim of 20 yards.

b) Skin Diving Skills (Mask, Snorkel, Fins)
.....1) Distance swim of 440 yards, nonstop, using no hands.
.....2) Complete rescue of another diver in deep water.
.....3) Practice and perform without stress, proper techniques including: water entries/exits, surface dives, swimming with fins, clearing the snorkel, ditching the weight belt, buoyancy control with the personal floatation vest, underwater swimming and surfacing.

c) Scuba Diving Skills (Skin and Scuab Equipment)
.....1) Repeat all listed skin diving skills while using scuba.
.....2) Tow another fully equipped scuba diver 100 yards.
.....3) Practice and perform without stress, proper techniques including: mask and mouthpiece clearing, buddy breathing, emergency swimming ascents, alternating between snorkel and scuba.

d) Open Water Skin and Scuba Diving
.....1) Perform without stress: water entries/exits, surface dives, buoyancy control and surfacing techniques that are required to do surface, underwater and survival swimming with both skin and scuba equipment.
.....2) Make a complete rescue of a buddy diver.
.....3) With scuba equipment, clear mask and mouthpiece, buddy breathe, alternate between snorkel and scuba and make a controlled emergency swimming ascent.

NAUI Instructor's Manual, 8/1975, 2.1d-2 to 2.1d-3, National Association of Underwater Instructors, 22809 Barton Road, Grand Terrace (Coulton), CA 92324,1975(emphasis added)

Please note the Perform without stress notation in the course requirements. Not to be able to perform these basic skills without stress can put both you and your dive buddy in jeopard. Now, I know that some of the skills listed above are no longer taught, but please realize that by diluting the standards, people are placed at risk. Basics like clearing a mask, or operating without one underwater, are necessary for safe diving.

SeaRat

 

[ItsBruce]

After 20 years I finally replaced my mask. The new one, for reasons that I could not find nor fix, leaked like a sieve. I cleared it so often that I rarely exhaled through my regulator. I bit the bullet and replaced it, too. However, in light of the discussion in this thread, perhaps I'll use the sieve from time to time just for force me to practice clearing my mask.

 

[bathbiggles1]

John C

Thanks for that and I certainly don't take the comments the wrong way.

It does bring up the difficult issues of economics versus competancy though. How much will people pay to learn and how much time will they give the process.

My dive centre has to rent local public pools and the nearest useable open water is 80 miles away. This puts temendous pressure on the time available to teach skills in a class when people just want to get through the course and off on their holiday.

Incidents like this bring it all back into perspective though.

Cheers.

 

[dbulmer]

bathbiggles,
There's always Wraysbury in the summer

A couple of weeks ago I was in Corsica. I didn't take my own kit with me other than a mask I use for snorkeling. This was a non diving holiday so I was banned from diving. Anyway after a couple of days passing several dive centres my Mrs said I could dive. Anyway I did 2 dives. The first dive was on a reef and I was a bit nervous at first - it was my first dive in rental equipment for a long time. I normally use a long hose and bungied backup and it was strange going back to a standard setup. Even more strange for me is that it was basically my first open water dive in a 5mm suit and I was a bit apprehensive about my weighting. All went fine - the full 5mm suit had an attached hood and fitted me fine and I felt comfy. I was allowed to dive a second time the next day and turned up pretty relaxed the following day.

So there I am on the boat helping to kitup my buddy when I realised I had forgotten to put on my weight belt. At this point I'm rushing a little as my buddy had left me and jumped in the water (BTW this story is being cut short as it was the dive from hell with that buddy) . I got my belt on and jumped in and we started our descent. After about 5 mins into the dive my mask started to leak badly and I was having to clear it regularly while trying to keep up with a buddy who was constantly at about 5 metres away finning for all he was worth. My buddy never looked round once or made contact with me as my mask was filling with water. After about 15 mins into the dive I was getting annoyed with my buddy as I wanted to stop and sort out the problem but couldn't catch him. Eventually I caught up with the DM as we were turning around a point on the reef and attracted her attention by tapping her on the thigh. We were at 19 metres and I asked her to watch me. I then took off my mask, pulled off the integrated hood and put my mask back on and continued the dive.

( bathbiggles - this is advice for anyone out there who really fears mask removal)
My point is that without constant practice it becomes difficult to cope with the unexpected - in my case a hood full of bubble exhaust loosening the mask seal. My first exposure to Scubaboard was on mask removal because I had a deep fear of mask removal to the extent that I considered giving up diving because of it. The advice I was given by many people was to tackle the fear by practicing it often - the advice given by Walter in particular and by Jepuskar and a lady called Karen Cleveland started me in the right direction and ultimately led me to local diving in the UK. I have practiced many times since then and while my diving isn't great I feel ten times better than I used to be.