Why do people spit their regulator out as soon as they surface?

[TMHeimer]

I disagree with that philosophy of "from the time you go into the water to the time you are up the ladder." That's true up here in the northeast where the sea is always rough, but on nice warm tropical dives I like to wait on the surface on snorkel until the rest of the dive group is descending so as to save air. Either that or wait on the boat to be the last one in.

I was going to point that out too. Kinda like the mask on forehead thing-- sometimes it obviously doesn't mean panic at all, but we get caught up in rules that were made decades ago.

 

[boulderjohn]

Because beginners get taught the ridiculous “skill” to jump in with a snorkel and switch on the surface to a reg.

i personally have never taught, or even see another diver jump off a boat with only a snorkel in their mouth.

This was actually standard instruction decades ago. Years ago a prolific ScubaBoard poster named Thalassamania criticized modern instruction for not doing it any more. It had something to do with some fear of something happening upon impact that could damage your lungs. I never understood it.

I saw a picture a few years ago of Prince William of England (and others) doing a giant stride using just a snorkel, so it may be a thing in England still, but I have never seen it, either.

 

[happy-diver]

So when you are on the surface and are out of breath

Just breathe around the mouthpiece, but keep the reg, in there
and wait until you are on the boat to share your joy with others

I see people surface ripping violently the reg out, mask off, as if they are freeing themselves from claustrophobia

They just have to get that stuff out, and off, you've been wearing it for an hour, just wear it for five minutes more

Mask on face reg in place fins on feet till bum in seat!

 

[Centrals]

The reg usually stays in my mouth until getting back to the boat or I have to clear my throat.
I cannot speak for the others.

 

[NeilA.]

I usually keep my reg in from leaving the boat till climbing the ladder. A lot of times I never taste any salt water during a dive.

 

[Cthippo]

Mask on face reg in place fins on feet till bum in seat!

How do you climb a ladder with fins on?

For me, it really depends on what comes next. If I am standing up and walking up the beach then I will spit out the reg. If I have a long swim back I will either stay on the reg or switch to my snorkel, depending on how I feel. If I am climbing back into a boat I need to be able to give directions to the person in the boat, so reg comes out.

 

[lowwall]

For a boat dive, I keep the reg in my mouth after I surface until I get the wing inflated just right and look around to check the conditions. If it's choppy, it stays in until I'm on the boat. If calm, I'll usually go mask on forehead and reg out to blow my nose and rinse off my face. My prescription mask goes right back on because it's the only way I can see. The reg will also go back in unless there's someone I want to talk to. Even then I'll always put it back in my mouth for the final approach to the boat and climb up the ladder.

 

[tridacna]

This was actually standard instruction decades ago. Years ago a prolific ScubaBoard poster named Thalassamania criticized modern instruction for not doing it any more. It had something to do with some fear of something happening upon impact that could damage your lungs. I never understood it.

I saw a picture a few years ago of Prince William of England (and others) doing a giant stride using just a snorkel, so it may be a thing in England still, but I have never seen it, either.

Prince Wiiliam of Wales. Ahem.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Because beginners get taught the ridiculous “skill” to jump in with a snorkel and switch on the surface to a reg.

I never taught that, have seen it taught or even heard of it being taught until @boulderjohn's post.....so I totally believe that it was taught at one time.

I did witness and assist a woman off a boat in LCBR who literally almost drowned in 5 ft of depth after she dumped her BC, exhaled and descended with her snorkel in her mug instead of her reg.

 

[Cali_diver]

I spit it out asap because I have an intense gag reflex. It only occurs on the surface or in the boat, but luckily I am good to go when I am underwater. If I surface in bad conditions it stays in my mouth until I am in the boat.