Padi test problem with facemask off

[TJDiver]

Originally Posted by ScubaToys Larry

Really one of the hardest things to do in scuba - so don't feel bad. Our whole life, it doesn't matter how you breathe, and suddenly it does! So changing something you've done your whole life in a few minutes is not easy...

To make sure you don't inhale at all with your nose... we just send our students into the bathroom right after Joe. That does it!

BWAHAHAA!

[DMWiz]

Originally Posted by ScubaToys Larry

To make sure you don't inhale at all with your nose... we just send our students into the bathroom right after Joe. That does it!

Can you bottle some of that and send it our way?

To the op... your nostrils will fill with water and that's just the way it is, but realize that as long as you don't aspirate you will be fine. Even if you do, you still can breathe. Don't panic.

It's more of a mental block than anything else. Practice in the sink as suggested. Knowing that you will not drown is more than half the battle.

[Vercingetorix]

As others have suggested, try using the bathtub as a training environment:

Originally Posted by ScubaToys Larry

...we just send our students into the bathroom right after Joe. That does it!

I can attest. It is a very small, two-stall restroom with nowhere to hide.

And, you'll get it, man. I still hate doing it. So, I do it on at least one of my three or four dives in a day. Partial flood, Full flood. Hate it. So, that's why I do it. You can too.

[Noob]

I practiced last night in the sink. Starting off it wasnt real pretty. After about an hr i got to where it wasnt a real big deal. I do still have to flood the mask slowly but I'm getting better at it. Once my nose is under the water I can just pop the mask off now. So I'm getting better

Thanks guys for all your help. I'll keep you updated and Saturday is the real deal. I will probably also ask the instructor if I can swim in the shallow with no mask and just the regulator for a bit before I try the test again.



Just feel sorry for Larry's students and the Joe training.

[navyhmc]

Originally Posted by Noob

I practiced last night in the sink. Starting off it wasnt real pretty. After about an hr i got to where it wasnt a real big deal. I do still have to flood the mask slowly but I'm getting better at it. Once my nose is under the water I can just pop the mask off now. So I'm getting better

Thanks guys for all your help. I'll keep you updated and Saturday is the real deal. I will probably also ask the instructor if I can swim in the shallow with no mask and just the regulator for a bit before I try the test again.



Just feel sorry for Larry's students and the Joe training.

Oh what I wouldn't give to have a had video of that! Glad it's getting better. good luck!

[inventor]

[quote=Vercingetorix;334350]As others have suggested, try using the bathtub as a training environment:


quote]

This is very close to my gear test environment. The pool by the house is only 5 feet deep ( 1.5 m, eh?). Testing in the sense of getting it wet and checking for leaks. Not that great for practicing bouyancy control.

As for the no mask, and nose breathing; hated having water in my mask in class, even a couple of drops, right at the nostrils, would stress me. So I wimped out and got a purge valve mask. Rarely use the purge now though, even if there is water in the mask, I've just gotten used to it. Don't seem to have trouble not breathing through the nose either.

Guess it's like getting car sick as a kid, when you start driving, you adjust to some things, and develop different ways of dealing with it.

[Noob]

Originally Posted by navyhmc

.

Oh what I wouldn't give to have a had video of that! Glad it's getting better. good luck![/quote]

I was thinking the same exact thing when I was doing it. I gotta say its the first for me.

[TJDiver]

Glad you're getting more comfortable with it, Noob. I've seen people that couldn't stand even a drop of water in their mask...like inventor mentioned. I guess I have a high tolerance for it. When my son recently certified...and I re-certifed with him...I had quite a thick mustache, and refused to trim it any. Every time he and I would go diving, he would get my attention every now and then, and remind me to clear my mask. I guess him seeing the water up to my cheek bones bothered him more than it actually bothered me. I finally thinned my 'stache to stop the leakage so HE would relax.

Keep working on it gradually. What we do is not natural for humans, but you'll get comfy with it sooner or later.

[Noob]

well yesterday was canceled so we had our dive today. Thanks for the help. I completely took off my mask and breathed through the reg for one minute. No problems at all.

[DMWiz]

Originally Posted by Noob

well yesterday was canceled so we had our dive today. Thanks for the help. I completely took off my mask and breathed through the reg for one minute. No problems at all.

Excellent... you'll look at this in a year or two and say, "I can't believe I had problems doing that!"

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