Troubles before my diving life even begins

[cmarkham5]

My dad also recommends full face. He dives with one. He said the downside is if you have a mask problem you then have a mask and air problem, so i better get really d*mn good at my mask skills before i try to go full face. It is very tempting though. i am going to see how i hold up with the changes i made to my mouthpiece and hose.

My oral surgeon said the typical female can open their mouth 44 mm plus or minus 7 ... right now i am stuck at 18. It sucks. He used some special little tool with a ruler on it to measure my mouth. i think it is improving.. but slowly. when it is all better i dont want to ever go through this again!

i worry about my upcoming surgery... the injections HOPEfully will release my jaw... or i am worried they may delay my rotator cuff surgery due to intubation worries.

 

[anelson-OTS]

As cmarkham5 stated (or I guess dad stated), it is always important to know how to change to a secondary gas source and clear you standard half mask. Personally, when I dive, I dive with a secondary half mask, which I have in my BC pocket should anything happen.

If you find a you have a failure of the mask/regulator or an OOA situation, you want to pull out and up on the mask's lower tabs near your jaw. Next is to unclip/find your standard octo 2nd stage regulator (or friend's in an OOA) as backup, and make sure you first, have an air source (of course the most important thing). Now, I have read/heard about people being able to ascent/descent without a mask snorkel, which is not the case for me...I prefer having a mask on.

Anyway, once you have gotten your octo and are breathing regularly, you want to grab your extra half mask out of your BC (or wherever else you keep it), don and clear. At this point the dive is typically over, and time to ascent, but if you find you had to take it off for some reason and want to don the FFM back on underwater, this is completely possible as well.

First, you want to fully extend all the mask straps from your FFM to prepare for donning. You then want to take off your half mask (I typically just put it around my forearm to let it hang if I need to go directly back to it), take a few deep breaths from your octo, take the octo from your mouth (keeping it close in case you need to go back to it), and put the mask to your face, clear the mask via the purge button which makes clearing the mask very quick, and then adjust the straps to your head.

All of this can be done in a short amount of time and of course should be practiced.

You can see a video of this here called Don and Doff Guardian FFM Underwater : Full Face Mask Training Videos | Ocean Technology Systems

Although there is no "certification" needed to dive a FFM, as with any piece of SCUBA equipment, especially something as important as your air source and mask, you should practice and familiarize yourself in a controlled environment before going out into the big blue.

Cheers and Happy Friday!