Mask Clearing Reflex

[Kwbyron]

They did a test on new born babies with this. They would splash a little cold water on there faces and instantly without knowing whats going on, they started holding there breath. Its simply instinct.

This is a reflex that you can take advantage of when teaching a small child to swim. Often they don't want to put their face in the water, if you "encourage them" they will often enjoy it and that reflex keeps them from sucking in water.

 

[Matt P]

I was working on my AOW over the weekend. On one of my navigation dives I had some serious mask-fog issues. I hadn't done a mask clearing drill since my OW and was nervous to have to do it, especially b/c the quarry water was really cold.

FWIW - I found that exhaling through my nose while removing the mask helped me a lot. I begin the exhale before I start to remove the mask and continue it until the mask is completely off. I don't tend to freeze-up. For whatever reason this really helped me out