Who nose?

[Herk_Man]

This was a fear of mine as well when I did the no mask swim. Here is what I do to get rid of the problem. On dry land, practice breathing in a two step process. Breath out through your mouth, then shut off the airflow by allowing the back of your tongue to go up against the roof of your mouth. Then purposely release this blockage and breath back in through your mouth. By focusing on making this a two step mouth-only process, you will isolate the nose and prevent an accidental ingestion of water. You can practice this just sitting at your desk at work. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature.

On the eyes open thing, well, that is just going to require time in the water. I would just practice swimming around holding your breath with your eyes open first. Take everything in small steps toward a larger goal.

Good luck!

 

[CamG]

Greetings Zeldah sorry about the hockey finals!
I love hockey, and I love scuba!
How about scuba hockey? It would be pretty tough!

Hey just keep practicing and you will get it.
I spent a few weeks wearing my mask at home, in the shower / flooded.
As foolish as it seems it did help me to conquer the issues.

Keep up the great progress and share any tips.
There are some fun mask games that get you used to taking off the mask and replacing it.

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

 

[Jim Lapenta]

My one OW student was a mouth/nose breather from childhood. It took a private two hour pool session with her to relax and just work on that. She discovered more or less on her own how to close her throat off from her nose as she called it. It began with us just standing in the shallow end breathing through a snorkel. Then with the reg. She held her nose when she first dipped her head in and after tow or three breaths removed her fingers. We did this three or four times for 7-10 breaths. Then we put the mask on and went for a swim. Next we filled the mask just above her nose and swam like that for a bit. Then we filled it half full. Then all the way with me leading. I then had her count three breaths and on the 3rd exhale through her nose. Mask clear. Next we just sank down in the pool breathing with the reg and after 4 or 5 breaths I had her put the mask on, take 3 normal breaths and clear. Imagine breathing with a cold and how your throat feels.

If someone could not remove and replace the mask without holding their nose I could not take them into OW. By my agency standards and my own that does not meet the definition of comfort in the water. Forget the mastery term. That is pretty much meaningless. I need to know that if the diver is in a situation where their mask would become dislodged they would not panic, choke, or become disoriented by it. It should be no more than a minor inconvenience and we would work on that in the pool until it was no longer an issue before going to OW or issuing a referral. But I also teach one of those 6-8 week classes. In fact to even begin scuba the student must demonstrate mask r&r proficiency by taking the mask and snorkel. Placing it on the bottom of the pool on the deep end. Surface. Then move 25 ft away. Execute a skin dive and swim to the mask and while still moving don it and clear it and have the snorkel breathable by the time their head breaks the surface. I have had only two people not get it the first night. they did accomplish the second after I would not let them try any longer the first night. There comes a time when failing to do a skill will produce frustration that will keep them from succeeding. Better to take a break and move on to then next item and attempt the skill the next session when they are fresh.

 

[Zeldah]

Greetings Zeldah sorry about the hockey finals!
I love hockey, and I love scuba!
How about scuba hockey? It would be pretty tough!

Hey just keep practicing and you will get it.
I spent a few weeks wearing my mask at home, in the shower / flooded.
As foolish as it seems it did help me to conquer the issues.

Keep up the great progress and share any tips.
There are some fun mask games that get you used to taking off the mask and replacing it.

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

Hey Cam. Yeah saw a posting on scuba hockey/rugby but it is in Texas or somewhere in the U.S. I love any sport .... except darts and bowling as those can't be construed as sports as you sure don't have any chance of being maimed or killed, although a dart in the eye may slow you down :rofl4: When I finish my open water I will post my experience for all to laugh at

Thanks Herk-man and Jim for your support!! I got this man :snorkel2:

 

[Zeldah]

Hey Scuba Board

I am back and now a cerified open water diver - quick everyone hide their scuba gear!! Just so you know I completed all drills perfectly including sitting 40 feet down and removing my mask. Yes I did it without holding my nose and also without rushing the drill or choking on seawater. Thanks to everyone who gave me tips on overcoming my nose issue.

Only had one problem on the OW checkout dives. First dive was done from a boat as it was too windy and the waves were too high for shore diving. Waves in the open were pretty rough too and after I had exerted myself swimming with my snorkel to the front of the boat against the waves I had this mental block and did not want to descend. Anyway I watched my son and another girl go down the line with the instructor and after some mental wrangling calmed myself down and descended and continued with no probs. Every other dive was awesome and after cert I made a dive to the Kittiwake wreck approx 50 feet down.

I am now planning my next dives with my son which I hope will be in the Bahamas in July although I may get a chance to go diving in Fort Lauderdale in April. What an awesome sport this is

You know what I found odd though? There was an 11 year old girl on my course on her own as her Dad was already certified and every time we went to make a dive she would be stressed and say she was going to die yet the minute she passed the course she wanted to go to 60 feet or deeper with her Dad. Instructor did tell her a story about someone feeling pressurised to dive by a husband but think she was too young to realise that it related to her perhaps. Just found it odd, she didn't even seem to know what a buddy check was - not sure if she did the full course on holiday or like me did the pool courses elsewhere.

I would like to say she seemed far too young but my son is only 1 year older than her. Guess it is all about maturity (he is in a military school so very focused and task orientated) - my son was an awesome buddy and kept close to me and also checked his gauges and signalled me every 5 minutes like clockwork and even though our Kittiwake dive was with a DM and 5 others he made sure that we had our own dive plan in place and knew how long we could be down there. Yes I am proud

Thanks again for all your help - this is a great place to learn!!

 

[g1138]

YAY!
Thats great news! Congrats to you and your son.