Nosebreather!

[plongere]

Hi Cinnebelle and welcome from two other new divers. Being new I don't know much but one problem I was having was setting my mask too high on my face. I lowered it and voila it helped. The other problem I run into is smiling underwater. I smile, mask leaks, but heck, can't stop smiling.

We live in the Puget Sound area as well. May I recommend taking a trip over to ScubaSet in Federal Way and talking to Walt Amidon. He and his staff have been a great help to us. They have a great pool to try stuff out as well.

Good luck. Hope to see you around the sound. We just signed up for our Advanced Open water and the Navigation, Deep, Night and Drift specialties.

 

[joewr]

"mostly harmless"!!!??? Hmmmmmmmmm, Kate, you better talk to Barbara about that! I do not think she would ever call me "mostly harmless"! Sweet, helpful, loving, pain in the as_(Oh, did I really write that?), friendly, etc. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

And maybe stubborn as Walter...

Joewr...who is taking a bad rap!

 

[scubabunny]

Sounds to me that the mask skirt is coming down to far on your upper lip. It may have fit fine in the store (if the mask is yours and not rental), but once you put a regulator in your mouth, it caused gaps. Try on other masks, and if possible, put a reg mouthpiece or snorkel in your mouth when you try it on, to make sure it doesn't break the seal. But..also, make sure it isn't too high that the silicon skirt presses against your nose, or cuts into your upper lip. It may not leak...but it will be VERY painful after 15 minutes (kind of like water torture!!)

Hope this helps..and a belated welcome to the board!!

 

[The Chairman]

Hey Cinebelle,

Welcome to the finest board, SCUBA or otherwise on the net. There are no leakers here, but your sure to find a few drips like JoeWR get past our collective skirts... Mostly harmless??? yeeaahhhhhh!!!!! I like that! We'll have to call him MHJoeWR now...

As for your mask fitting, that can be the hardest thing to fit of all your SCUBA gear. Let me tell you a trick I learned. Most people try a mask by mashing it firmly to their face and then inhaling to see if it sticks... WRONG! If it takes that much effort it might not seal under water. The best way is to tilt your head waaaaaaaaay back till you are looking up to the ceiling. Gently place the mask on your face (don't push it down) and then SLIGHTLY inhale. Did it seal with JUST the weight of the mask? Then you probably will have a good seal underwater.

Next thing to check is hair etc... You might have to trim those eyebrows like Joe does if they are too bushy (grin). But really, make sure there is no hair under the mask skirt. You can also eliminate more distortion by losing the snorkle. Yes, the drag from your snorkle can pull the stap and the skirt away from your face. Unless you are actively using it, leave it on the boat or tuck it into your BC.

Last area is proper strap tension. Many, many divers have it on entirely too tight. It deforms the skirt and the water rushes in. If your face has a deep oval impression from your mask after thirty minutes or so... IT'S ON TOO TIGHT. I like to start with an almost loose fit and then gradually tighten it until it is on my face semi-firm without a lot of leaks.

Finally, I breathe through my nose on porpoise! I hate bubbles in front of my mask, so to eliminate them from obscuring my vision, I just exhale through my nose. It helps with the squeezes as well, and just plain works for me. Having a mustache, I always get some seepage from below and this helps to keep that at bay. It's also part of my mantra to slow my respiration down. I just hope that this "Iguana Don" length post helps!!!

:tease:

 

[ScubaBaby]

Cinebelle

Firstly welcome to scubaboard.

Secondly, do you ever find that the mask feels very tight to your face...like a vacum?

My theory is, if it is as the divemaster says, and your still breathing thro your nose, then you wouldnt only be exhalling but also inhaling and by inhaling your making a suction to your face....which I am sure you'd be aware of.

This is why I would have to agree with the masses and say its probably just a poorly fitting mask...or the seal maybe damaged or you have hair caught round the seal.

 

[keralucu]

Hey Cinebelle - I had similar problems when I first certified... have a look at this thread

... and it soon became apparent that there is nothing wrong with exhaling thru the nose.

I still do it now and it definitely helps with mask squeeze and slowing down my breathing. As for your mask leaking, I had this problem too and, to echo my wise colleagues, it was actually because I had it too tight, and my hair was in the way.

I hope you have managed to sort out the problem.

Cheers

 

[Walter]

One way to tell if you are trying to breathe through your nose is to remove your mask. We all need to practice no mask breathing from time to time anyway and this will let you know. As long as you are exhaling and not inhaling through your nose it doesn't matter. The others have given you good advice.

Joe, I'm not stubborn, merely mule headed.

WWW™

 

[joewr]

Walter,

My mom used to say I was "willful". Somehow, I think they are all synonyms! But I would not want to put words in your mouth...especially if you have a mule head: they have very big teeth, if memory serves!

Joewr

 

[Cinebelle]

Thanks to all of you -- this has all been really helpful, especially reading keralucu's previous thread. I think that I'm actually inhaling some thru my nose as well as exhaling -- again, just an unconscious thing that I'll have to try to focus on. The thing I hated most about getting certified was taking the mask off -- at one point I had to pinch my nose closed just to not freak out. So I have my work cut out for me.

I'm definitely going to check out my mask and maybe see if there might be another one that fits better. Maybe I need to get a crew cut to get this pesky long hair out of my way! But most of all I need to relax and I have a feeling that just a load of practice is the best bet, yes?

You guys are so great! My s.o. is such an experienced diver that I think he's pretty far removed from some of these concerns, and it's great to share with people who seem to be able to relate a little better. I'm definitely going to be a regular 'round these parts.

XO

 

[keralucu]

Cinebelle... and you've got it right - the key thing is to get to that point when you can relax and enjoy your dive. It will come, believe me, you just need to practice as often as you can.

And don't cut off your hair unless you really want to! There are solutions to that too. (I'm beginning to think we should have done our cert together - we seem to have had the same problems... see this thread).

You'll get there!