Reasoning for corrugated hose length

[james croft]

Oh, I see.

I have no idea what JJ would say to this. Given that DIR consists largely of resue of best practices and that this idea is unconventional I suspect that he'd be skeptical at best. For my part I'd be willing to give it a go just because I'm curious enough to try anything once.

R..

It isn't really unconventional. I still dive vintage oval masks that used this exact method. There are no finger pockets in the mask. They have a 1/4 " oval of neoprene glued to the skirt. Blowing against it clears the ears as you descend. Sometimes I may have to press against the skirt to apply pressure if I am having difficulty clearing. This happens mostly when I am not clearing early or often enough. The oval masks are much nicer to dive, my favorite being a Dacor oval with the neoprene patch. Excellent field of vision. No finger pockets to get in the way. The experts will tell me it isn't low volume, but anyone who can't easily clear this mask with a short puff of air is a wimp. Sometimes we forget the origins of "new ideas".

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

Egads! [Voluntary Tubal Opening] sounds like something you wouldn't even do in front of your spouse....

I do it in front of complete strangers all the time. Why not my spouse?

 

[Diver0001]

I do it in front of complete strangers all the time. Why not my spouse?

me: Hey honey, I want to demonstrate Voluntary Tubal Opening for you, ok?

my wife: oooohhh, baby. Are we going to shower beFORE or After you do that?



R..

 

[Diver0001]

It isn't really unconventional. I still dive vintage oval masks that used this exact method. There are no finger pockets in the mask. They have a 1/4 " oval of neoprene glued to the skirt. Blowing against it clears the ears as you descend. Sometimes I may have to press against the skirt to apply pressure if I am having difficulty clearing. This happens mostly when I am not clearing early or often enough. The oval masks are much nicer to dive, my favorite being a Dacor oval with the neoprene patch. Excellent field of vision. No finger pockets to get in the way. The experts will tell me it isn't low volume, but anyone who can't easily clear this mask with a short puff of air is a wimp. Sometimes we forget the origins of "new ideas".

I wasn't aware of these origins. Thanks for the lesson.

R..

BTW, JJ hasn't been diving for that long. I'm pretty sure he's never seen an oval mask and most certainly doesn't consider them serious diving gear...

R..

 

[Thalassamania]

it's an interesting idea but it sounds decidedly out of place in a DIR thread to me... Nothing minimalist about it....

R..

I can't see any problems with that modification. I sometimes use a similar technique because I let my mask slide up a bit so that the nose pocket is close to my nostrils and I can to some extent equalize the same way.

One has to remember that equalizing is different for different divers. Some can do it by just wiggling their jaws and some have to use a proper valsalva or other technique. With your modification one would just have added another way of doing it in addition to the rest - another tool in the toolbox so to speak.

To keep in mind though is that we in general strive for ambidextrous operation of our equipment, even if we have a default like light in the left hand and scooter in the right. A proficient diver should be capable of riding a scooter both left and right handed, be able to use left or right hand for operating the wing, holding the primary light, reels etc. As long as the mask "modification" is not used as an excuse to NOT develop these ambidextrous skills there are no problems. To use a favorite buzz word in the dir community we could say that we still need to be "thinking divers".

Feel free to post my response wherever you see fit.