[roban]

I am a purely recreational, not competitive freediver, but at my (typically low) descent rates and depths I can get by mostly hands-free.

I find that keeping slight positive pressure in the mask (by blowing very gently through the nose) is key. I am constantly keeping the mask pressurized while every few seconds opening my eustachian tubes (or "popping" my ears). With a little practice I have learned to blow into the mask just hard enough to keep it at positive pressure without making it leak too many bubbles. Leaking bubbles not only wastes air, but the increased flow of warm, moist air also creates fogging problems.

The part I have trouble describing is what exactly I do to open the tubes. It feels to me like I'm using muscles that I just don't consiously use for anything else, although I get a similar feeling when swallowing. The funny thing is, when I was a kid my ears really didn't like to equalize and I would have pain just driving over the mountains or flying in a plane.

I also don't hesitate to reach up and grab my nose for a good old-fashioned Valsalva when hands-free isn't working. On my typical (very shallow) dive I go hands-free most of the time, while once or twice resorting to the nose-squeeze.

-Roban