Hands-free-equalisation-howto

[sanso]

Hi everyone,

could someone explain (or point to an explanation of) how to do hands-free equalisation?
A tutorial (as for the Frenzel) would be great!

Thanks in advance,

sanso

[Kars]

Well, I've trying to learn this 'holy grail' of freediving for a long time, so also to me help would be appreciated. Though I'm making some progress. I would be very happy when I would be able to just put my tubes in the 'open position'.

I have some succes, but it's still much more luck than skill.

Thanks for starting this topic

Kars

[Tbird]

Some of the really deep guys can do hands free with a mask which I think is a God-given talent, leaving the rest of us mortals to watch and envy! I have never heard of anyone who learnt to equalise hands-free on deep dives (60m+) using a mask.

If someone taught themselves this I too would love to hear how it is done.

The way to hands-free equalisation open to everyone is to use a noseclip and fluid goggles (or a noseclip only if you find it comfortable). A guy called Eric Fattah makes superb fluid goggles which you can find here www.liquivision.ca. The vision is somewhat magnified and only clear up to a few feet. But the goggles allow you to sink on a Constant Weight dive with arms out front which is much more relaxing than using a mask which needs to be equalised. Hope that answers part of your question.

Theo.

[deep thinker]

Theres a whole article on the frenzel and valsalva technique here http://www.freedivingfinland.net/nuk...tid=164&page=1
What you basically do is fill your mouth with air and close your epiglotis, nose and mouth, without your hands! Then push your tongue against your upper teeth and push up the soft palate to compress the air, doing it on dry land your inner ear should make a clicking sound. That should be it, or at least thats what I understand from it and it works for me

[Tbird]

deepthinker,

the trouble I had trying to do that under water is that the pressure was too great for my ears to clear properly. It was frustrating because you can feel how it is done, yet you can't generate enough force to equalise.

Maybe it comes with a lot of practice....

[sanso]

Tbird,
sounds like you're going too deep without equalizing. In a situation like that, ascend until You are able to equalize.
You can't equalize too often or early!

[deep thinker]

Tbird, it does take a bit of practise, I only managed to get it rite after about my third or fourth dive that I tried it. What I also find helps is if you push your chin ( lower jaw ) forward while doing it so forcing the soft part below your tongue down. I also unconciously "practice" it throughout the day. Ive noticed I do it about every 15min or so...
Also after you equilise in this way, the moment you feel your ears pop, let out a small bit of air through your nose to equilise the pressure in your mask I found if you dont do this it doesnt work. Luckily weve still got hands-on equilisation to fall back on while we learn all the extra cool stuff about freediving
Safe diving

[deep thinker]

Originally Posted by sanso

Tbird,
sounds like you're going too deep without equalizing. In a situation like that, ascend until You are able to equalize.
You can't equalize too often or early!

I concurr that, I start equilising from about 1m down to the end of my dive...

[Yogaman]

Hi Sanso,

Yeah - itching to learn how to hands-free equalise and working on it. Right now, I can hands-free on land to just 'pop' my ears. Was in the water yesterday and came close at shallow depths. Can't wait to hands-free on some deep constant weight dives all the way with BOTH hands stretched out in front of head! Apparently it adds loads to you performance!

From what I can gather, in most cases of people who can do it, ít seems to be just about knowing the basics (physiology/anatomy), then practising and pushing through until you eventually get it.

[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

[laminar]

Practice in the shallows. If you can pop or click your ears on dry land you should be able to hold them in that position (wider). Thrust your jaw forward to add to the widening effect.

Now very, very slowly perform a slow tuck dive keeping your those "inner ear muscles" flexed and your jaw thrust forward. The slower you go the better chance of pressure not having a chance to build up too high.

This is what I would call true "hands free."

Other methods described above, using frenzel to periodically equalize your ears without pinching your nose, or using the mask's position on your nostrils to provide resistance, can also work, but they are a substitute for "hands free."

Practicing what I've described above - ie. never letting any pressure build up in your ears - is an excellent cross-training technique for improving your equalizing technique and awareness.

[deep thinker]

Laminar, I also do this on shallow dives from time to time ( when I remmber to ). I also do it while sitting behind my comp at work, dont you find though that if you do it for a few seconds and really force it ( on dry land that is ) that you get the urge to yawn? Other than the urge to be in the water of coarse