Mask clearing problems.........

[Paladin]

Good tips here (except for the Purge Valve). Also, it isn't just how much you tilt your head up, as much as "when." You really only need to tilt your head back a bit "after" you have cleared almost all the water from your mask with your head level. There won't be enough water left in your mask to go up your nose... Happy Diving!!

Personally, I like a mask with a purge valve. I have both purge and non-purge masks and dive both. I like the ease and convenience of a purge valve. When I got my first mask with a purge valve (made by White Stag) around thirty years ago, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. In the three decades or so since, I've owned several masks with purge valves and, with the exception of the new version of US Divers' Pacifica, they have all worked flawlessly.

When my friend's wife was taking her OW, she simply could not clear her mask. She tried a mask with a purge valve and was able to clear it easily and used that mask from then on.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Purge valves are like every other convenience option ... they have their advantages and drawbacks and boil down to whether you think the former is worth the latter.

I don't, however, recommend them for OW students ... mainly because I think learning how to clear a mask is a fundamental skill that should be learned properly. If at a later time you think you would prefer the convenience of a purge valve, that's your choice ... but you should not make that choice to avoid learning the skill.

Purge valves can fail ... at which point you will need to know how to clear your mask because it will be leaking continuously. If you have not learned how to do it, you've just set yourself up for a major stress situation that could've been handled routinely through knowledge of how to clear your mask. Stress situations can lead to bad things underwater ... which, in this case is easily avoided by simply putting in a little bit of effort to learn how to deal with the problem.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Paladin]

I suppose, though I've never had a purge valve fail on me. It's the same technology used in the exhaust valve of a regulator. How often have you had one of those fail on you in the water? I never have. The USD Pacificas that I had didn't fail in the purge valve. They leaked from hidden breaks in the skirt under the mask frame. If purge did fail, though, simply covering the valve with a finger or the palm of your hand (depending on the size of the valve) would stop the leak so you could get to the surface. Clearing it would be the same procedure as if the valve were still working, then plug the leak as mentioned.

Like every other piece of dive equipment, the purge valve mask was invented to solve an underwater problem.

From my perspective, I've not experienced any disadvantages with using a purge valve mask. It seems to me that pro/anti-purge argument falls into the same category as pro/anti-splits. Much of today's "necessary" equipment was once intended as "convenience" gear. Take the BC, for example. When they first appeared, they were poo-pooed by the diving establishment because if the diver became too reliant on a BC and it failed, it would set the diver up for a stress situation that can lead to bad things underwater.

Nowadays, of course, divers are not trained to dive without a BC and a BC failure can give a newbie diver a very bad day.

My youngest son had trouble clearing his mask at first, so he switched to a purge valve mask until he became more comfortable in the water and eventually mastered clearing a non-purge mask. Think of a purge mask as a mask with "training wheels," to help build confidence and experience.

Some people just need to take baby steps.

Me, I like a purge valve in a mask because I don't have to change my head position while I'm swimming to clear it if I need to.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Do not breath through your nose. You need to mentally convince yourself that a small bit of water in your mask will not give you problems.

Things change significantly when you function outside of training.

I generally work with my mask-strap adjustment prior to a dive in order to get a good mask-skirt-face-seal. Not too tight. Not too loose. Sometimes I use a mask seal adhesive which is on the market. Comes in a tube. Looks like Chap-Stick.

Once in the water I do my best not to disturb the seal I have between the mask and my face. Once disturbed I have to fiddle and fiddle with it to get it the way I want it.

I use the strap that comes with the mask and I put a cover on it so it will slide easily on and off. I use this strap because of its design. It is suppose to hold an adjustment so once you zero in on what works for you, it will be the same way next time.

As time passes, mask materials tend to shrink, expand, and twist. Older masks will leak. Its not always noticeable at first. For me personally, this is a sign I need a new mask.

The things you will have to contend with in the future are. Mask too tight. Mask too loose. Too much water in mask. Mask pressing on forehead making pain. Mask pressing on nose making pain. Fogging

 

[masizemore]

My son had a terrible time with it to start WITH a purge valve mask. The moment water hit his nose, game over. If he mentally prepared for it, he could squeak through the skill.. Not exactly optimal.. Then the group we ended up with did a TON of mask off skills, not just the "ok, go down and breath for 60 seconds with no mask" but going down/up lines, mask off equipment search, etc and he totally freaked. We ended up spending several sessions with nothing by fins/mask/snorkel at local YMCA, mask backwards breathing through the snorkel until he got more comfortable with it. Now he can go down the line and back up without a mask (he still hates it but can do it), has done the skill where he has to find mask and snorkel in the pool before he puts them on, etc. (no, it wasn't required to do that for certification, they had several confidence building drills they taught)

Others have already given every tip we knew and tried, my main purpose is encouragement. It WILL get better with practice. Do it at whatever pace works for YOU.

(Not even going to hardly touch the purge vs non-purge mask, my son had a purge version in the beginning, his failed so now it dives in a non-purge )

 

[tengsr]

Do you have stubble growing on your face? It was around my tenth dive and I could not clear my mask, hard as I tried. I went to the surface three times that dive just to empty the mask out. Normally all I do is exhale out of my nose, but the whiskers weren't letting the mask seal around my face. So try shaving before your next dive

 

[Thalassamania]

A very common problem, you are not alone. Fortunately there is an easy solution: all you need to do is learn to independently control your nose and mouth. That really easy to do.

You can even do this at home if need be. Take a full breath and exhale a short sharp burst through your mouth, immediately follow it with one from your nose, one from your mouth, one from your nose and so on until you run out of air. Now repeat the exercise with your face in the water (even a tub will do). Don't stop just because you think your comfortable doing it, 95% confidence that you'll be able to clear your mask without any issue, ever, requires 17 sessions with this skill. When you go to clear your mask in the pool, look down, start with a short sharp burst through your mouth into your regulator and immediately follow it with one from your nose and as you blow through your nose gently press the top of your mask to your face and bring your head up. Your mask will be clear. Later you can dispense with the air into the regulator first.

 

[DevonDiver]

Water will only go up your nose in two circumstances:

1. If you raise your head, allowing it to flow into the nose (otherwise, air pressure keeps the water out).

2. If you inhale through your nose.

To resolve this:

1. Keep your head at a horizontal angle when clearing the mask. Only raise your head at the very end stage of clearing, as this will help purge the last dregs of water that may remain.

2. Exhale through your nose slowly and in a controlled manner. It isn't like 'blast clearing' a snorkel. If you 'blast' the air into your mask, you just blow the air straight out, and not enough of the water. Water can then 'back-flow' into your nose. Slow, constant and controlled exhalation from the nose is critical.

3. Spend some time co-ordinating your breathing, so that you don't accidentally inhale through your nose. Many novice divers do this instinctively, but it can be over-come with a little practice. If necessary, pinch your nose shut when you initially remove/flood the mask. Get into a mouth breathing pattern, then continue with the clearing.

 

[CamG]

Greetings 1scuba30 and the biggest obstacle to mastering this skill is anxiety.
Be careful to not over think or make it into a huge mountain in your path because in reality it is a mole hill!
I struggled with this and as a result had a solo pool session where the instructor slowed it all down and we kicked it out!
What I did was exactly what post #17 Thal mentioned.
I did extensive home work with my mask, I wore it in the shower, watching TV, walking around the house, etc.
In a matter of the second evening I noticed that I already was quite comfortable breathing through my mouth and not fogging my mask!

I then moved on to a partial flooded mask or enough water to fill my nose pocket.
I coughed a few times but even quicker I learned to keep a tiny bit of positive pressure that keeps water out of my nose.
When it came to the mask removal in the pool I knew I could do it and it was not easy but I got through it.

When our OW check out dives were planned I breezed through it like it was a cake walk!
I was so comfortable with water in my mask it is no big deal!
You can master this skill it is just not natural for you, that is all!
DO NOT GIVE UP BUT BECOME DETERMINED TO OVERCOME THIS!
I can assure you that the confidence from conquering a few mole hills will help you as you move on to other dive goals.
Stick with it!

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning!

 

[PatW]

My wife, an inactive instructor, tells me that mask clearing is the single hardest skill for beginning divers. So I do not think that you should feel discouraged or particularly inept because you are having problems. I think you are doing a very good thing getting this skill dialed in. It is something that is really handy to have.

Now I have an extensive swimming, snorkling and ad hoc free diving background. When I got into scuba, mask clearing was not an issue. One of the things one learns swimming is to keep a positive pressure in your nasal airway at all times when you are in the water. That way, you do not get a snoot full of water. Getting a snoot full of water is very unpleasant. Also it can produce involuntary gasping and panic neither of which are good things.

I recall when I was learning to swim, I was given a drill. I would stand in waist deep water and bend over putting my face into the water in a manner where the face was pretty much horizontal to the water surface and just an inch or so beneath it. Then I would gently blow bubbles from the nose. This drill teaches you that it is OK to get your face wet and it teaches you how to keep water out of your nose.

For mask clearing, there is plenty of good advice above. One thing to do is to learn it incrementally. Add a tiny amount of water into the mask and blow it out. When that is easy, move up to a larger amount and so on.