Problems equalizing: further clarifications
It' so much fun to share techniques that really work!. Other posts have also helped me a lot! In an age of relativism without absolutes, things like preciseness and definition are harder to find than cool spring-water in the desert. But when I find definitions that help me, I am excited to pass them on. My description below is as precise as I can get it, almost too precise for a general application. I would call it the "frenzel-fattah-gerald" method. I want any reader of this post to grasp the main idea - which is to shut off the connection between the lung and the mouth with the help of the epiglottis and - based on that - customize their own technique: for example for fpernett that would be the "frenzel-fattah-pernett"-technique, or the "frenzel-mouthfill-frank"-technique. Equalizing is one of the most important subjects in freediving because we feel comfortable at depth as long as we still "have air" for our ears.
To clarify the frenzel-fattah method: Please don't worry if You don't master ALL the exercises as prescribed in the famous fattah.doc. Personally I haven't managed yet to use my tongue as a piston to pump air against the roof of my mouth. Enlightening for me was the fact that every equalization without the help of the lungs will be useful to apply this technique , whether it may still be called Frenzel or not. What is so brilliant about this document: There we find more than most of us would ever need in order to go deeper. Even partial application (as in my case) helped tremendeously. The transparency of this document makes it a real gem in the freediving world and should serve as an example of how to be a good steward of know-how, not leaving the rest of the world in the dark.
The most important thing is to close the epiglottis and push air through it into Your cheeks (as if You would clear Your throat). This should be done 15-20 Meters BEFORE failure depth. For us mortals that means @15-20m depth, afterwards it's too late. With increasing water pressure the cheeks collaps again, however I am still able to get little portions of air out of my lungs - in my case that would be between 20-28mt, where there is still enough air left to "refill" them. In a good, concentrated dive I should have my cheeks refilled for the last time @28mt. From there I have no more lung support and "live off" the air in my cheeks. By this time I have already been equalizing with my cheeks for (at least) the last 10mt. I have to, otherwise I "loose" the air that is trapped in my mouth. It would escape through my open epiglotis right back into my lungs. (For "conventional" dives down to 35mt I don't need that technique, in fact, here I can even equalize freehand). It takes a little practice to fill the cheeks, use them to equalize the next second and then to refill them again. The greatest difficulty is keeping the epiglottis closed while pumping new air into the cheeks and while pressurizing the air further into the eustachian tubes. After 28mt (IMHC = In my humble case) it get's easier, since no longer I am pumping air into my cheeks, but I am only squeezing air with my cheeks into my tubes. By this time I am already in a free-fall and can totally focus on my "cheek-vasalva". Please don't forget to prevent the air from being sucked back into Your lungs - the epiglottis must be shut from -15/20mt until You reach the bottom! It takes practice in the pool AND also in deep water to keep that from happening. Consider also: if we run out of air for equalization, we are psychologically convinced that we run out of air period. (eg: no more air to survive).
Packing and equalization:
Please consider: Negative pressure (empty lung) dives (see post #2 in this thread) and "pack-stretching" are excellent warm-up methods just to prepare the lungs for a deep dive! This is from WALRUS, post #4 in the thread: Packing technique question... "I definitely recommend Pack stretching, even if you don't use packing on the actual dive. After you have 'stretched', your maximum inhale without packing will be slightly more, or you can hold the normal amount with much less strain..."
Also note that the thread You are on right now: "Problems equalizing" started with bluemar complaining, that packing (alone) didn't help him to go deeper (quote below). I am not against packing, I only advice to practice it under supervision, because it could cause pre-dive blackouts in the water or secondary injuries due to collapsing (from a standing position). A german idiom transliterated into english goes like this: "trying to hit a sparrow with a canon-ball". In application: mastering the mouth-fill technique (and using a small diving mask of course) will shift the "packing-zone" (the depth where packing becomes indispensable) to a much deeper level, a level that most of us will never have to be concerned about.
