Hello from London + Equalisation question..

[penguinbilly]

Greetings!

My name is Bill and I am a complete newbie.. although I have been messing around underwater since I was little and am also an AOW scuba diver.

I have been fascinated by freediving ever since I saw that video of Will Trubridge diving the Arch in Dahab. I did an introductory course six months ago but then couldn't attend any local training sessions.. this time I am planning to go straight into the AIDA** course which I will be starting this month with the pool session... can't wait to go deep when the water's a bit warmer though!

Okay.. so onto equalisation: I can open my eustachian tubes just by twitching muscles near my jaw. Funnily enough I actually assumed everyone could do this, which created a bit of confusion with my PADI instructor when I learnt to dive!! I just wondered if anyone else used this technique for freediving? I understand that hands-free equalisation is a relatively advanced technique (I read an article about Frenzel, thinking that it was the same thing that I did.. I ended up being utterly confused! It's definitely not Frenzel!). When I finally get to go deep should I concentrate on honing this technique.. or is it to good to be true? should I just be safe and do i the old 'hands-on' way?

I have lots more questions to come.. but I'll keep them until I've fully digested the bulk of these forums! I'm sure I will find lots of answers.

Take care!

 

[baiyoke]

I'd say train handsfree too get even better at it, but also learn using your hand for many reasons. If handsfree gets difficult, it's good to know it and be comfortabe with it. Also sometimes when getting deeper your handsfree might need a "helping hand" so to speak. And handsfree, if not 100% efficiant, might irritate the eustacian tubes sometimes, and then it's good to give it some rest if training often. And if you enter competitions, you need a backup method that you trained, if you get too tensed, or get a sticky ear for whatever reason...

And also, since you haven't really started yet, you don't know how equalisation will be for you in general, so learn the basics, see how it goes, but also keep cultivating the handsfree (both muscles and technique).

 

[growingupninja]

Yes, I grew up swimming and have EQ'd handsfree my whole life and always assumed everyone did it like that as well. For some divers it takes a lot of training and practice to make handsfree, some can EQ handsfree only to certain depth/or use it unreliably and for some I understand it is physically impossible. It is entirely luck of genetics if it is easy for you. It has to do with the size of your e-tubes.

If you EQ handsfree you should definitely use it as it is much gentler on your ears than the pinch and blow stuff that SCUBA classes typically teach.

At RV depth and beyond (typically well above 100', depending on diver physiology) you would need to resort to mouthfill techniques and throat gymnastics so that you have air, but may not need to actually pinch your nose...

It is important to EQ often, always before you actually feel any pressure, whether you EQ handsfree or not. This makes all EQ easier. For me the combination of water in my ears and a wetsuit hood can interfere--I periodically have to pull my hood from my ear at surface and let the outer ear kind of drain, but sinus infections/colds don't seem to affect it.

I learned frenzel and fattah etc for fun. It was very difficult for me to do the techniques since when I think 'EQ' my ears just open. I had to spend a lot of time doing drills while reverse packed....

 

[penguinbilly]

Hi,

Thanks.. sound advice from both of you.

So voluntary tube opening won't work beyond beyond RV? (I guess there's no way for me to check that without getting that far.. so it's a problem for much later.) I can still do this technique with empty lungs though.

What does reverse packed mean?

Regards,

 

[baiyoke]

Handsfree can work below RV, but you need to do a different technique also; mouthfill. Well, actually you need just close your throat and it should work. But going deeper it quickly takes a mouthfill also, but no need to worry about that now. The point is you can't do vasalva handsfree after RV (and some people say even before that). Also doing mouthfill you might have to pinch your nose, or use a noseclip, to keep air from escaping, and then the handsfree is no longer handsfree... But doing the technique (handsfree opening of eustacian tubes) might still help you down there...

Reverse pack is forcing air up in mouth, when you are below RV. You shouldn't need to work with that, it can be damaging...

Note that you can meet RV on land, or in a pool, just by exhaling... So be carefull also if training with exhales in a pool, it can simulate a 30m+ dive and squeeze the lungs easely, if you don't know your limits..

 

[growingupninja]

Re: Re: Hello from London + Equalisation question..

Hi,

Thanks.. sound advice from both of you.

So voluntary tube opening won't work beyond beyond RV? (I guess there's no way for me to check that without getting that far.. so it's a problem for much later.) I can still do this technique with empty lungs though.

What does reverse packed mean?

Regards,

If you can EQ under water on an empty lung then I would guess that you wont have much difficulty at less than RV. When I EQ at below RV as long as I have some air in my mouth it works but I have to involve my upper throat more than usual. Nose clip/full mask is not necessary for the EQ itself, although if you have difficulty a mask or nose clip can help (in which case you are probably doing a mix of voluntary EQ and one of the other techniques).

Negative/reverse packing is using the epiglotus to pump additional air out of the lung after a full exhale. It is dangerous if overdone and can lead to serious lung injury and fast blackout, compounded by even very shallow (even swimming pool) depths so you should find experienced divers to work with in person if you experiment.

Have fun and dive safe!

 

[Simos]

Hands-free equalisation is great, especially if you are mainly interested in shallow, recreational freediving.

The downside I found is that even if you can voluntarily open your e-tubes, chances are that you will still not be able to immediately equalise hands-free head down, especially when descending at a descend speed. Getting deeper is tricky, for me at least.

The above is just down to practice so wouldn't be normally be an issue, except for the fact that handsfree equalisation is a relatively lonely road. You are likely to be one of the few amongst your diving friends that dives hands-free so most advice or workshops etc won't apply directly to you.

In my experience there are two main factors to train: relaxation/posture and training the e-tube muscles.

 

[penguinbilly]

Thanks.. you really are a friendly and informative bunch. Can't wait to get out into the open water and test myself. I'll keep you updated!

 

[ishuyi]

Hands-free equalisation is great, especially if you are mainly interested in shallow, recreational freediving.

The downside I found is that even if you can voluntarily open your e-tubes, chances are that you will still not be able to immediately equalise hands-free head down, especially when descending at a descend speed. Getting deeper is tricky, for me at least.

The above is just down to practice so wouldn't be normally be an issue, except for the fact that handsfree equalisation is a relatively lonely road. You are likely to be one of the few amongst your diving friends that dives hands-free so most advice or workshops etc won't apply directly to you.

In my experience there are two main factors to train: relaxation/posture and training the e-tube muscles.

I have to agree it’s been a lonely road but I am grateful for people in this forum and instructors who do hands free to share their experiences and tips with me. I recently noticed that I had to trouble shoot a lot of matters on my own, find my own explanations and create my own hypotheses to test, because there’s not a lot of people I can talk to about it. The best place I have found information on hands free has been this forum. And for that I’m thankful.