mask trick

[spaco]

hello everyone! some time ago a friend of mine told me about this "trick" he uses when ascending to the surface. he practically sucks in through the nose the air from the mask. the air would go out anyway, because it expands. i've been using this technique for some time now but i'm not sure if it's safe. i recently bought pelizzari's manual of free diving but couldn't find anything on this technique.
i'm a self tought spearfisher so i'd like to hear an opinion from someone more experienced.
thanks

 

[cdavis]

You're safe. Its a pretty widespread practice. I never heard of any problem from it. Welcome to DB.

Connor

 

[icarus pacific]

It's called "mask pumping" and it's helped me make the surface more than a few times.

 

[spaco]

thank you guys! i'm glad to hear that i'm not doing some hazardous thing.
primoz

 

[DeepThought]

From all the people I've spoken to about that it seems that more people are doing it than not. I don't but I guess I might start if I'll feel I need it for deep dives.
Be careful not to sniff water incase you got some in your mask, can really spoil your dive.

 

[mundial]

hi micheal :wave
nice thing to do helps maybe i will try it out to see if its working for me
but i will try it when i have spare air first :hmm
thanks

 

[samdive]

I do it sometimes, but you need a mask that fits well - any leaks and its horrid!

Sam

 

[Huan]

Saltwater cleans the sinuses faster than castor oil in the digestive tract!

 

[polo]

Nobody is supposed to dive in a castor oil lake !