Mask on forehead=panic. Where did this mask signal originate?

[iliketopetsharks]

Don't your eyes sting though? There's no getting around that even with experience and training. I wouldn't want to begin a dive like that.

Wait, your eyes sting in sea water? Is that normal?

 

[Wallowa]

Let's agree to disagree. You have your opinion, I have mine.

I know what I'am doing and in what circumstances I can do these things safely and when not. That doesn't mean I'am an 'Top gun' diver in any way, just a diver who has learned to do things somewhat differently than what is taught (for a reason that is) in recreational instruction/diving.

Totally agree.....doing what is needed to stay safe comes first....never was impugning your ability or judgement....divers are divers, whether while using CCRs or my old double hose...the certifications notwithstanding, the basis for safety is still rooted in basic tenets and the competency of the diver....my methods of instruction did not always following the norm, but were tailored to best develop the skill sets of my divers....thinking outside the box is often essential to problem resolution; regardless of the edicts of institutionalize norms required by an agency.....you have skill sets that I may not possess and vice versa...underwater one size does not fit all.

 

[LI-er]

Wait, your eyes sting in sea water? Is that normal?

Not if you're a fish.

 

[The Chairman]

Wait, your eyes sting in sea water? Is that normal?

It varies from person to person. With thousands of dives, I don't find seawater in my eyes to be comfortable. Spring water? Sure, and it's one of the reasons I love cave diving.

 

[AJ]

Don't your eyes sting though? There's no getting around that even with experience and training. I wouldn't want to begin a dive like that.

They do at first, but I think it's better getting used to it before the dive than having them sting when I have to unexpectedly remove or loose my mask during the dive (never happened by the way, but there's always a first). This is because I do not close my eyes under water. You can't see much but it do helps to orientate.

Besides that, I dive a lot in fresh water in overhead and open water enviroments where it poses no problem.

 

[LI-er]

They do at first, but I think it's better getting used to it before the dive than having them sting when I have to unexpectedly remove or loose my mask during the dive.

You're saying that if you expose your eyes to salt water at the start of the dive, once they stop stinging, if salt water enter your mask and gets into your eyes later on in the dive, it doesn't sting?

 

[The Chairman]

if salt water enter your mask and gets into your eyes later on in the dive, it doesn't sting?

It's not nearly as bad, but it still bothers me.

 

[CycleCat]

Salt water doesn't bother my eyes when they are submerged in it. Once they come in contact with air after salt water is when it stings.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

You're saying that if you expose your eyes to salt water at the start of the dive, once they stop stinging, if salt water enter your mask and gets into your eyes later on in the dive, it doesn't sting?

In my SDI / TDS solo course in Bonaire, we had many no mask drills with eyes wide open. Blurred vision...yes. But otherwise no issues. Go to spare mask, clear and then carry on.

 

[MiloR]

Underwater, divers need masks to be divers....without them they are indeed flotsam relegated to the surface.

Underwater is a vague term in this sense. I have done a 30 min dive in FRESH water, with no mask on my face, just to prove to someone it can be done. I was definitely still a diver and definitely not flotsam.