Northwest Dive Club

Hi there,

I was recently on a current dive with the marker buoys, and I realized I panicked (despite training) when a strong surf pulled the reg out of my mouth and flooded my mask and was wobbling me around. Thanks to an experienced buddy, I was safe.

I want to put in a couple of 15-feet dives from where I can bail if necessary, with a stand-by buddy. I want to simulate a full mask removal at night and loss of my primary reg and do this a few times until I get acclimatized to the feeling.

If you oblige, the gas and beers are on me, and I'm willing anytime. Ideally someone with rescue/instructor experience would help. There's no point doing current dives when I know it could happen again, and I may panic again. Please note, I'm not afraid of the water by any means. I just don't want to be stupid when I know I'm lacking a particular skill.

One thing I recommend is carrying a spare mask. I always carry a small backup mask in a thigh pocket. It's easier to just reach down, grab your spare and put it on rather than signal to your buddy, get his attention, have them look for your mask while you're mostly blind and then hope they find it and hand it to you.
I also still recommend the lost mask practice so when it happens your don't freak out due to cold water etc. I'd do the practice dives with you but I'm clear down in Portland.

I like the HOG masks (razorback?) for backups cause they're small and inexpensive.

If you're available this weekend I would be happy to do a dive or two with you and practice. I have been known to kick divers in the balls, though (being the "victim" in rescue classes has it's perks!).

I'd go with you but looks like Ppants has got you covered. I'd suggest starting in standing water and once you get your face accustomed to that move progressively deeper. I know 15ft might not sound like much, but its plenty to embolize and we want you back archis.

I'm more than happy to take you out to do drills some time. Especially on Wednesdays. On weekends I try to do mostly fun dives as opposed to skills dives. It was great diving with you yesterday! We've got a lot to work on with you though =P However that is to be expected from someone with only 25-30 dives. I can tell you have a lot of passion for the sport, which I think is great! Sometimes I wish people had more of it.

Being in west Seattle you should go down for some of the wed. tweak dives at cove 2. You'll find plenty of buddies and that is the purpose of the dives is to help out people who need drills.

Dusty2 wrote:Being in west Seattle you should go down for some of the wed. tweak dives at cove 2. You'll find plenty of buddies and that is the purpose of the dives is to help out people who need drills.

Not quite the sole purpose. It is just one of the things we offer. Many of us just do fun dives there. People will work on skills when they have a class coming up, they feel rusty on something, or they just get bored of the site. I think I might be alone on that last one however! Archis was there last night though and we had a great couple dives.

That's awesome Ppants. Any excuse to use the LP80's which are never used after my pool sessions ended. :-) Let's do it. My thoughts resembled the same thing actually. I'll take Richard's advice and might do shallower too. I saw this video on Netflix called "Surviving the Cut", and I believe there is some truth to that. I can read all the books and "remember" all my drills. But until I get acclimatized to not gasp when the cold water hits me in the face, the light slips out of my hand, and the reg is pulled out of my mouth, I will never calmly get the sequence right. So you have a (proverbial) free hand in kicking my balls.

Even Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher says, "He may not be the best sniper or the worst sniper. But being in the army, certain things rub off." When one seeks life advice from a Tom Cruise movie, one needs help. :-)

IIRC dsteding actually "practiced" with a bowl of ice water at home

I've had the reg taken from my mouth before, and the thing that kept me from panicking was having practiced reaching for my backup reg thousands of times in my head. Visualization can be a really powerful training tool, and you don't need anything other than time to do it.

archisgore wrote:When one seeks life advice from a Tom Cruise movie, one needs help. :-)

Gah! Enrolling you in remedial help classes, stat!

CaptnJack wrote:IIRC dsteding actually "practiced" with a bowl of ice water at home

Yep. I heard that too. Must have worked. He got married and had a kid.

Add me to the list of folks who would be happy to dive with ya and help you work on skills.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I'd be happy to go out with you Archis. Shoot me an email through the board with your number or email and we can talk dates/times.

Cheers

I follow well defined set of pre-dive checks with my team but still do a few things for myself before every dive. I have made a practice of test breathing both regs with my mask off when I shore dive. I have found it has helped condition me to being comfortable with my mask off in cold water for extended periods of time. There isn't any reason that you can't incorporate regulator swaps into this practice while you are safely standing in chest deep water.

the best defense, is a better defense.

I assume everyone is trying to knock my reg out, so I always protect it...

Thanks for all the outpouring of helpful dive buddies! I didn't expect it. I'll take you up on those offers soon.

I do plan to incorporate a few of my basic exercises today. Regulator swaps, breathing without a mask, proper weight trimming (I'm noticing all newbies are a little overweighted and so was I.)

Jeff Pack wrote:the best defense, is a better defense.

I assume everyone is trying to knock my reg out, so I always protect it...

I have to agree with you Jeff. With years of martial arts practice, I instinctively cover my face (as if in a guard position) with my arms whenever a dive buddy crosses my path, or even before he/she crosses my path, and the threat of being kicked on my face is inevitable. Most of the time, it doesnt happen cause I'm fully aware of what's going on, and I evade it. I find it that often times, when you dive with a big group, whenever divers crisscross paths, this happens, or whenever a group finds something interesting, and everybody wants to be in on the action.

Another situation that almost dislodged my mask, is when I tried somebody else's scooter. When I pulled that trigger, with my light weight, that sucker pulled me strong and almost dislodged my mask down. I corrected it by adjusting my head tilt.

I do practice taking my mask fully out of my head, and donning it back once in a while. Or sometimes, practice taking out my spare mask in my pocket and simulate putting it on.