Trouble with no mask breathing in cold water

[samuel150]

This issue is really starting to annoy me because I know I can breath without a mask in warm water; the pool or abroad. However, when I try it in cold water I struggle. I can just about manage it by pinching my nose but thats not good enough in my mind. I don't want to do any other courses till I solve this issue.
I know I can breath while the reg is in my mouth. So it's not a fear.

Has anyone got any advice on how to overcome this or had similar experience?

 

[g1138]

What type of trouble are you having exactly? Are you getting water through your nose and choking?
Usually I like to tell cold water divers to get their face wet initially before going all out with a no mask swim.
The sudden influx of cold water sometimes generates enough shock to throw you off edge. You're conscious mind might say "yes, it's ok", but your instincts will be screaming at you.

Try introducing a small amount of cold water onto your face and slosh it around before taking your mask off completely.
You can also splash your face right before putting your mask on and entering. The trick is to get your warm face acclimated to the water first before flushing suddenly and entirely.

 

[spectrum]

I think first off you need to accept that those first breaths are apt to be ragged and a little stressful.

Like being mask free in warm water repeated exposure breeds familiarity and adaptation.

As you said, you know it will be all right.

Pete

 

[Scott]

When I have students perform a mask removal in cold water I have them submerse their faces in the water before the dive. This makes the initial 'shock' more manageable. Then I have them fill the mask from the top or the side by the temples. You can look slightly down to allow the water to run down the lens instead of the face. IMO slowing filling the mask is far better than one quick flood. You are less likely to get a rush up the nose. Like g1138 mentions, leave the water in the mask momentarily before removing it, and remove it slowly. Take a few breaths, feel the coolness against the skin and then replace the mask and clear it, just like you have done in the pool.

 

[=C=]

Scott has it down... Do what you can to reduce the shock from the temp change... Get your face wet is the easiest fix!

 

[Crush]

At the surface, remove your mask and immerse your face while trying to breathe regularly off your regulaor. It is hard, and it hurts, but it works.

Cold water diving is not for sissies!

 

[Diver0001]

Has anyone got any advice on how to overcome this or had similar experience?

Can you describe exactly what happens to you when you try?

R..

 

[CamG]

Greetings Samuel cold water is only different in the temperature than warm water.
It usually takes about 40 or 50 seconds to start to get the numb sensation in your face.
Once this takes place it actually gets a little easier to regain breathing control.
In short practice and repeated training will help make the exercise cleaner but i have never been able to beat the cold shock or spike that the first shot of 36º-40º water brings.
You do get used to it and an function very well with practice.

All of the training exercises are great to get one used to the water but if you plan to dive deep or into the winter you need to be very comfortable without your mask because you will need to be accustomed with cold water skills.
The Great Lakes hold the worlds greatest wrecks and rarely at depth warmer than the 40º's.
Just one of the conditions you roll with to go see wooden wrecks from the 1800's.

Train hard and perform the warmups like the others have mentioned but be adept at skills in the cold water environment.

CamG Keep Diving....Keep Training....Keep Learning!

 

[knowone]

Time.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I just had to deal with this exact response in a student yesterday, in fact ... it's rather common.

First off, understand why it's happening. We all have what's called a "mammalian reflex" ... which is a signal to the brain when the inside of your nostrils feel water to quit breathing. It's an instinctive reaction that's hard-wired into our brain. Some folks feel it more strongly than others ... but we all have that wiring. We are chronically nose-breathers after all, and have to train ourselves to breathe through our mouth while closing off the airway in our nose. This is just part of the training ... and like all training it comes harder for some than for others.

So how do we overcome it? Well, humans are delightfully adaptable ... and we adapt by doing. The most reliable method I've found so far is to have the student stand in chest-deep water, remove their mask entirely, close their eyes, and with regulator in mouth just bend over and breathe without a mask on their face. Take two breaths, then take your face out of the water. Wait a few seconds, now put your face back in the water and take three breaths. If the reaction doesn't overpower you, take more breaths. Continue this process, adding successively more breaths until you can stand there with your face in the water breathing off your regulator for a full minute. I guarantee you that each time it will feel easier ... you are "rewiring" your instinct.

Once you get to the point where it feels comfortable enough to breathe without a mask for a full minute, a final step is to drop down right where you are ... in water shallow enough to stand up if needed ... and do a mask removal and replace. This is good practice for more than just the mammalian reflex, since you're also learning how to deal with sealing your mask around your hood while wearing heavy gloves ... and even if you did this in the pool, doing it here in cold water is good training for compartmentalizing the effort to overcome the mammalian reflex by having to concentrate on the mechanics of dealing with your mask. Do this a few times ... until you can do it comfortably.

Now it's time to head out to the buoy or platform or wherever your class is doing their checkout skills and demonstrating that you have truly learned how to deal with this skill.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)