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equalising handsfree
- Thread starterDeleted User
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Thread Status: Hello
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Why is hands-free equalisation limited to a certain depth? You're just moving muscles to open the tubes voluntary, so why does it fail if you're below that depth? And is there a way to train to get deeper? I'm curious since I can do it pretty easily in shallow water, even upside down.
Hard to tell Sai - because I am sure many of us to hands-free equalisation a bit differently. I guess the most obvious things are the following:
1. If you are equalising against the pressure of the mask, as you go deeper the air in the mask gets compressed and instead of providing pressure to equalise against it probably just sucks the air into it instead.
2. Depending on how you get the air to your e-tubes (valsava, frenzel or mouthfil), it gets difficult to get air out of your lungs and push it up to your mouth and e-tubes.
Like you I can equalise handsfree upside down quite easily for relatively shallow depths but when I start approaching 20m it starts becoming harder... I haven't been able to dive for quite a while now but when I get the chance to do it again I will try a couple of different things I have in mind and see if it enables me to go deeper using handsfree equalisation.
1. If you are equalising against the pressure of the mask, as you go deeper the air in the mask gets compressed and instead of providing pressure to equalise against it probably just sucks the air into it instead.
2. Depending on how you get the air to your e-tubes (valsava, frenzel or mouthfil), it gets difficult to get air out of your lungs and push it up to your mouth and e-tubes.
Like you I can equalise handsfree upside down quite easily for relatively shallow depths but when I start approaching 20m it starts becoming harder... I haven't been able to dive for quite a while now but when I get the chance to do it again I will try a couple of different things I have in mind and see if it enables me to go deeper using handsfree equalisation.
When you use only the "ear muscles", you allow air from you lungs to travel to you ears.
In this way you limit is RV (Reserve <lung>Volume).
Beyond RV (20-30m +), You'll need to employ either reverse packing or the mouth-fill technique in combination with BTV* to equalise your ears with air.
BTV = Buoyonce Tubulaire Volontaire = Voluntairy <Eustachian>tube equalisation.
What I preferably use is Mouth-fill + Frenzel + BTV.
Simos, in regard to 1: For me the pressure on my sphera is conductive to my handsfree equalisation.
Usually I equalise my Sphera for the last time at around 20 -25m, then I happily use the water pressure against my nose piece as a (weak) noseclip
Granted it's not an delicate way, it has worked.
In this way you limit is RV (Reserve <lung>Volume).
Beyond RV (20-30m +), You'll need to employ either reverse packing or the mouth-fill technique in combination with BTV* to equalise your ears with air.
BTV = Buoyonce Tubulaire Volontaire = Voluntairy <Eustachian>tube equalisation.
What I preferably use is Mouth-fill + Frenzel + BTV.
Simos, in regard to 1: For me the pressure on my sphera is conductive to my handsfree equalisation.
Usually I equalise my Sphera for the last time at around 20 -25m, then I happily use the water pressure against my nose piece as a (weak) noseclip
Granted it's not an delicate way, it has worked.
Last edited:
Simos, in regard to 1: For me the pressure on my sphera is conductive to my handsfree equalisation.
Usually I equalise my Sphera for the last time at around 20 -25m, then I happily use the water pressure against my nose piece as a (weak) noseclip
Thanks
doesn't sound delicate indeed Kars but hey, if it works it works Your post just made me realise (or question) what others on DB mean by using equalising against the pressure of the mask - I never thought it actually meant the mask nose piece touching your nose.
In my case I don't really need anything against my nose to equalise hands free, I just open my e-tube (BTV) and push a bit of air up my nose and I equalise. My main issue I think is that because I haven't practiced it well I lose too much air with each equalisation (from my nose) so by the time I get to 15m-20m I haven't got enough air to equalise with.
However I am sure it's just a question of control and practice - too bed I can't practice at the moment :-(
Simos, I think you have got it. It is practice that makes this work. I also don't need to have any back pressure from the mask to equalize. It is the flexing of that little muscle and having air just on the other side of the tubes when they open. I don't know of a limit of depth where BTV will work. I BTV past 40m. My son does it to around 70m. Of course it doesn't negate the need to use the mouthful or frenzel at times but it is great when you want to dive with both hands in streamline position.
Do I understand correctly you can dive down to 40 without anything preventing air from escaping your nose? (if I do that the air simply leaves my nose after the duckdive).
Using Frenzel-Fattah in combination with a mask you'll still benefit from a mask or clip's pressure. It's the amount of back pressure that is likely to be very low for you
If you were to have a little vacuum in your mask because you stopped equalising it, then, unless the nosepiece is blocking your nose, doing btw would equalise the negative pressure of the mask and your ears. So I guess you're equalising both your mask and your nose?
Nice to hear you and your son share the same hobby!
Love, Courage and Water,
Kars
Using Frenzel-Fattah in combination with a mask you'll still benefit from a mask or clip's pressure. It's the amount of back pressure that is likely to be very low for you
If you were to have a little vacuum in your mask because you stopped equalising it, then, unless the nosepiece is blocking your nose, doing btw would equalise the negative pressure of the mask and your ears. So I guess you're equalising both your mask and your nose?
Nice to hear you and your son share the same hobby!
Love, Courage and Water,
Kars
I have never been too deep to eq hands free and I have fished down to a 100 ft bottom. I got lucky on the genes with that one. For fun I play with other eq techniques when reverse packed in the deep end of a pool, but I have been popping my ears since I was a little kid.
I don't think about it much when diving. I don't hold them open the whole time but I pulse the muscle every few seconds. If I don't eq frequently on the way down (before I need to) it is harder at depth. I do think that muscle gets stronger with practice though and if you have a large lung capacity it probably helps. Times in my life when I haven't dove for months, it will be a little harder my first day back in the water.
I pop mine regularly - it's not so much that I couldn't keep them open with a bit of practice but the constant popping is kind of pumping air up my e-tubes, or that's what it feels like at least.
I have read about others that keep them open all the time but I don't know how to make that work..
I dive with a mask. When I dive to 40m I need to put air in my mask, so I have not paid much notice of air escaping from my nose. But when I dive without a mask, not particularly deep, no nose clip, the BTV works without losing air and without flooding the tubes. I haven't really thought about that.
Sai, I can get a constant equalization going if I hold my head and neck in a certain position but it is not comfortable, and I find it is easy to just equalize every so often. But the thing I find, if I miss an equalization and the pressure builds too much, the BTV doesn't work. I will quickly do a frenzal clearing, but after than I usually can continue BTV.
Sai, I can get a constant equalization going if I hold my head and neck in a certain position but it is not comfortable, and I find it is easy to just equalize every so often. But the thing I find, if I miss an equalization and the pressure builds too much, the BTV doesn't work. I will quickly do a frenzal clearing, but after than I usually can continue BTV.
When you BTV to 40m, how do you make sure that there is air to go into your e-tubes when you open them past RV? Do you mouthfill and keep air in your mouth or reverse pack and bring air up when you need to?
Hello everyone! In my case I always used the frenzel manouver, but pinching my nose. One day I tried to use the pressure of the mask and do frenzel handsfree, this new way of equalization worked pretty well, anyway I have to tie my mask strongly, if I don´t do that, the air just scapes. I´d like to buy a new mask, that adjusts more to my face for avoid to tie so much the mask (more comfortable I think).
Best regards.
Best regards.
Hi! did the same as you - frenzel using the pressure in the mask. worked well going slowly on the rope down to ten metres. Havn't tried it more after that. Yea i'm tighting the mask as well, and will buy the aqualung technisub minimask (the smallest there is i've heard). smaller than my superoccio i got now. still its not really that totally satisfying pop-feeling in the ear doing handsfree, not yet.
Hi, as you, I haven´t gone deeper than 10 meters, but I think that it will work deeper, I will have to try. The mask that I employ is one of the classic models of Omer, it has an small volume, but the problem is that I have a big nose, and this mask is not very comfortable when I tie it strongly, I will try the technisub that you have referred, I don´t care about the price, because the difference between diving handsfree and diving pinching the nose is huge, overcoat for people as me, that we need to cleare almost every meter.
Bye!
Bye!
I have had some success in teaching BTV and I outlined a few tips here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/203997692947338/doc/214496118564162/