Mask removal skill = no fun..

[ScoobaDood]

keep practicing--& contrary to what some here believe, this 'stuff' we do & wear is for a purpose......Enjoy the UW world as you grow in your experience(& skills)......

Indeed! Practice the skills until you are certain you have them mastered, then continue to practice them some more. Everything we have been taught was taught for a reason, and not simply to be classroom "filler".

 

[Mayor]

I enjoy doing skills at the end of every dive. Sometimes mask clear or even removal. One thing we always do every dive is S-Drills. That regulator will be in your mouth before you can even think about it.

 

[Diver0001]

But man, putting that mask back on really gave me fits - the 2nd try worked out better than the first. But it really gives you an idea as to why this stuff has to be done in class in a confined environment.

I'm interested in knowing what your problem was.

Never forget. There is a *reason* why you need diving lessons to learn how to dive. The "mistakes" or "difficulties" don't matter at all. That's why you're in a course. This is totally normal and nothing to feel stressed about in the least! The course is designed to identify and correct these things.

In the end, however, you should be confident that your skills are solid. That's the important part.

If a certain skill is presenting you with a challenge, then I would recommend an extra session in the pool (even if you have to pay extra for it) so you have more time to practice that particular skill. Much of diving comes naturally to most people but it's important to spend that *extra* time on things that don't.

Good luck.

R..

 

[H2O 70]

Hello Softballer!

Mask removal and replace. Ahh what a fun skill.

Something that you can try at home (sounds silly, but have patience) is hop in your tub with a snorkel and try and get comfortable breathing through a snorkel with out a mask on and without holding your nose.

A lot of people underwater like to try put the mask on by securing the mask first and then the strap. Personally I like doing it the other way. I secure the strap on the back of my head and then pull it over my face. I found this works great when you've got a hood on. You don't end up pulling the hood to the back of the head when trying to pull back the strap. I don't have a ton of hair, so I don't know how this would work for someone w/o a hood and a lot of hair.

 

[TSandM]

It's pretty unlikely that putting the mask on is forcing water up your nose. It's MUCH more likely that you're tilting your head back when you do it, and that ALLOWS water to run back into your nose. Keep your head vertical, or even tilted slightly forward when you do this and see if it helps.

I don't like opening my eyes underwater. In a pool, this is chlorine-related; I'll feel as though I have sand in them for the whole following day if I do. But in salt water, it's something different -- I'm happier unable to see at all than I am with my vision blurred and confusing. The worst is opening my eyes to discover my mask is still full of water (failed clear). THAT is something I still have to work, to this day, to be truly calm about.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I'm not expert but maybe this is my advice take it or leave it.

putting your mask back on and clearing it isn't a race. Do it slow and deliberate and if things don't work out start over. Don't lose patience just take it easy. I am sure after awhile and you practice slow and steady it will get easier and quicker for you to do until it's a natural motion/skill for you.

Best advice so far! I don't know how much pool time you will really get but in my class students get 16 hours minimum. Mask clearing and mask remove and replace are taken care of during the first or second session when we do snorkel and skin diving skills. In fact to move on to scuba the student has to place their mask and snorkel on the bottom, surface, then move 25 feet away and swim that distance underwater, and recover and clear the mask and have the snorkel breathable when they hit the surface without lifting their face out of the water. And by the end of class they have removed and replaced it at least a dozen times under various task loads. And the trick is as Scuga said, slow and smooth, relax and it will seem like you have an eternity to accomplish it.

 

[sdiver68]

Mask clearing was my hardest skill, OK well that and perfect buoyancy in 10ft of water. A few tips for you that helped me that weren't so clear from some instructors:

1) Low volume mask, why make it harder than it needs to be?

2) Press on the top of the mask only, being careful not to lift the bottom

3) A steady, smooth nose blow is much more effective than a fast blast such as one would use to clear a snorkel.

4) Look up, as in at the sky. I see those who advise not to do so but it works great for me.

5) Don't be in a hurry, take your time. If it takes multiple attempts, so what?! If water gets in your eyes when you open and have discovered you weren't successful, so what? If it takes a couple of minutes, again, so what? You'll naturally get faster over time assuming point 7.

6) Be mindful of blowing out both your nose and reg. Work on blowing out just your nose even with an open mouth.

7) Practice, practice, practice. Although I could replace and clear my mask after day 1, it was really OW dive 4 before I had my technique down pat. That was after 3 CW sessions and not including 2 discovery dives in my past where I had to do same.

 

[SCUBASailor]

Oh, I get it. It's just that until I started reading here, it never occured to me that opening your eyes under water might be difficult (or impossible) for some people.

Opening your eyes underwater can be learned. I used to be very uncomfortable opening my eyes. I practiced it enough that I feel perfectly comfortable doing it now. I like to put my BC and mask at the bottom of the pool, swim down, locate it, and don it, all with my eyes open.

It's so much easier to don equipment with your eyes open! Not only do I have the benefit if being able to see what I'm doing, but I'm not in any kind of rush to get the mask back on like I would be with my eyes closed. It really relieves all the stress for me.

I sometimes wonder why the instructors don't encourage the OW students to practice opening their eyes underwater more than they currently do.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I actually like to open my eyes underwater in the ocean (if it is warm water). It is very blurry, but for some reason the bright yellow and blue fish are much more vibrantly colored without a mask. I worry sometimes about getting a jellyfish sting in the eye, but it never happened yet.

Also I can dive pretty easily without a mask, but for some reason, diving with the mask on AND filled with water really bugs me. And of course, removal and replacement of the mask when the water is below 50 degrees is not really fun at all.

It is however, a super important skill,

 

[Diver0001]

Best advice so far! I don't know how much pool time you will really get but in my class students get 16 hours minimum.

That said.... spending 16 hours of doing "the wrong things" isn't going to help him as much as 15 minutes of doing "the right things" to solve his problem.

If his problem can be solved in 15 minutes, then 15 hours and 45 minutes of the time you're suggesting he needs is really just the instructor needing that much time to fix his own mistakes.

YYMV.

The point here is not to say that Jim is a bad instructor. I don't know nearly enough about how he teaches to make such a bold and probably incorrect claim.

The point of this post is to point out that "longer" is not always "better". Efficiency matters, even in scuba training.

R..