Here is the background: I am enjoying a few days of holidays on a beautiful little island. I have a wonderful reef literally just outside my room with a 100 feet drop-off... great visibility, warm water, calm seas… freediving paradise (sorry, I am on my way back to a cold, rainy city if it is of any consolation). I freedive during a couple of days trying to marginally improve my diving here and there, but mostly just enjoy it... a lot. One night I do scuba and I notice that the dive master does not use his hands to equalize. I ask him about it while arranging the gear and he just says “oh, I do not know when it started, it just happens when you dive a lot”. I had never really thought about equalizing hands-free but a light goes on (slow brain): hands-free equalizing would be really useful in so many ways. Noise-clip is not an option for me, so after some research I realize BTV is what I need. I spend a lot of time researching the technique (doubting at times whether I should just be enjoying the diving instead), fail miserably to make any practical progress during some days and then finally manage to crack it and experience some of the most sublime diving of my life. I feel very lucky (as a few days is definitely not too bad) but with hindsight I think it is worth trying to learn hands-free equalizing even if it takes much longer.
The purpose of this post is twofold. Initially I just wanted to thank DB members such as simos, cdavis or trux for sharing your experience and knowledge (sincere apologies to the many whom I forget). My gratitude is enormous and over the last few days there has been someone out there dedicating his little dives to you.
Then I realized I could do something perhaps useful which is to explain how it all came together for me in simple steps. (Please do read the warnings at the end of the post before trying anything that I describe here. These steps assume that you have searched for and familiarized yourself with the threads that discuss equalization and BTV on DB such as this, this and this (although there are many others). There is a document in French here and translated to English here that I found of no help whatsoever, but it seems a classic so perhaps it was just me).
Steps that worked for me:
(1) Lay comfortably on your bed and think about something extremely tiring and boring and hopefully as a result produce a strong, big yawn. At some point you hopefully notice something in your ears (which is the opening of the Eustachian tubes or “e-tubes”). You need to isolate that feeling and try to replicate it without yawning (not easy under water) by tensing some muscles in your throat or moving your jaw around (people describe it in different ways). I met all the following three tests when I managed to open my e-tubes (perhaps not everybody meets all three?):
(i) a slight short but clear “click” on each ear;
(ii) a feeling of “breathing through my ears” (some people alternatively describe a “roar” when breathing – I felt the “breathing through the ears” was a better characterization);
(iii) humming feels like the sound is “loudly inside your head”.
(2) Try to repeat and repeat that e-tubes opening action. Remember that under water it is not easy to open your mouth, so find a way that does not require that. Practice as much as you can. I am under the impression that the more you practice the subtler you can be with the “move” or effort you need: you seem to be able to open the e-tubes more by “thinking about it” rather than by “physical force”. Practice with your mask on too.
(3) The first few days I tried in the water, it was a total failure. Nothing happened at all, no feeling whatsoever. I gave up after a while and just kept diving equalizing through Valsalva. Do not despair if this happens! When I was back in my room I kept researching and reading about other’s experiences. Read as much as you can, hear people describe it in different ways (you will see why in a moment). A few days later, I suddenly remembered something I had read: someone mentioned that pressure back from the mask was still needed to equalize hands-free. This is not what I had initially understood (not sure why I missed it, many others mention it): I just expected to open the e-tubes and the ears to equalize (as it happens on a plane). Apparently this is the way pure BTV should work, but it definitely does not work like that in my case (perhaps it will evolve as I train more which I plan to do).
(4) I tried to experiment with that bit about “pressure from the mask” in the water to see if it made any difference. I started to combine blowing air into the mask without pinching my nose but “manually” applying pressure to hold the mask to my face with opening the e-tubes at the same time. After a few tries, I got a very mild feeling of opening the e-tubes compared to the yawn but… to my surprise one of my ears experienced a slight pop! I realized that this was the breakthrough I needed and that I just had to work on progressively reducing the pressure applied on the mask: I moved from holding the sides of the mask with my hands, to just keeping a finger over my noise until it worked just by tightening the mask to my head a bit. And that was all I needed: just blow air gently into the mask, think about that e-tubes opening reflex at the same time and the equalization happens!
(5) Some preliminary thoughts:
(i) Tightening the mask is key for me and I still need to wear my Superocchio tighter than before for hands-free equalization to work.
(ii) “Warming up” of the ears felt important. All this happened while I was freediving several hours every day for quite a few days in a row and after a lot of e-tubes opening dry exercises.
(iii) I noticed some “e-tube muscle” exhaustion on a couple of days where I worked really hard. You need to call it a day and rest after you notice this as equalization stopped working. Some talk about how the muscle can and should be trained… yes, but to a certain limit in my case.
(iv) I still do not feel I am opening the e-tubes “well” at all. More than that, it is a feeling that I do a small opening and because my ears have “warmed up” the air from the mask achieves the equalization (need more training to confirm this).
(v) It does feel different from Valsalva: it is a shorter, more brisk equalization where I notice more of a click in each ear.
(vi) The first few feet down seem more difficult, it gets easier after 30 feet and again harder after 85 feet (as Valsalva also becomes harder because of approaching residual volume).
(vii) General relaxation and stretching of the neck felt important so I did a lot of this at the beginning of each diving session.
(viii) I always equalize pre-dive while on the surface and equalize early and often at the beginning of the dive. Sometimes, particularly at the beginning of the session, I need Valsalva to warm up during the first dives.
(ix) I had no line so I do not know for a fact, but I think it should be very helpful and I would definitely set one up if you have the opportunity to do so.
(x) One issue I still have to deal with is that I do seem to lose a bit of air, particularly at the beginning of the dive. Not the end of the world, but clearly something that I would like to improve on.
(xi) If a big, strong yawn on a plane does nothing to your ears, it might mean hands-free equalization is off-limits for you. Not sure, but there is plenty of commentary that not everybody can equalize this way.
Finally, words of caution that I beg you to read:
(1) Be incredibly careful when you dive and listen to your body and err always on the side of caution. If in the slightest doubt/pain, turn back and go to the surface. (I understand this is not the way professional freedivers should think, but hey if you are one of them you probably do not need to be reading this post anyway?).
(1) One again yes: Think at all times that your foremost obligation, way above anything else, is to do everything you can at all times to go back to your loved ones (something we never should stop repeating ourselves: it just sets us in the right mindset in my humble opinion).
(1) One yet again, hopefully you see a pattern by now: just be extremely careful please.
(2) Do not try any of this unless you are an experienced freediver. My only claim about the steps described is that they worked for me. Perhaps they do not work for others, you can/will get hurt, etc.
(3) I understand what I describe here is not by any means the pure or classic BTV: I simply have found a way that allows hands-free equalization without a noise-clip which is what I was after.
That’s all. Any comments are as always very welcome. If I can help further, I will certainly try.
Dive safe.
The purpose of this post is twofold. Initially I just wanted to thank DB members such as simos, cdavis or trux for sharing your experience and knowledge (sincere apologies to the many whom I forget). My gratitude is enormous and over the last few days there has been someone out there dedicating his little dives to you.
Then I realized I could do something perhaps useful which is to explain how it all came together for me in simple steps. (Please do read the warnings at the end of the post before trying anything that I describe here. These steps assume that you have searched for and familiarized yourself with the threads that discuss equalization and BTV on DB such as this, this and this (although there are many others). There is a document in French here and translated to English here that I found of no help whatsoever, but it seems a classic so perhaps it was just me).
Steps that worked for me:
(1) Lay comfortably on your bed and think about something extremely tiring and boring and hopefully as a result produce a strong, big yawn. At some point you hopefully notice something in your ears (which is the opening of the Eustachian tubes or “e-tubes”). You need to isolate that feeling and try to replicate it without yawning (not easy under water) by tensing some muscles in your throat or moving your jaw around (people describe it in different ways). I met all the following three tests when I managed to open my e-tubes (perhaps not everybody meets all three?):
(i) a slight short but clear “click” on each ear;
(ii) a feeling of “breathing through my ears” (some people alternatively describe a “roar” when breathing – I felt the “breathing through the ears” was a better characterization);
(iii) humming feels like the sound is “loudly inside your head”.
(2) Try to repeat and repeat that e-tubes opening action. Remember that under water it is not easy to open your mouth, so find a way that does not require that. Practice as much as you can. I am under the impression that the more you practice the subtler you can be with the “move” or effort you need: you seem to be able to open the e-tubes more by “thinking about it” rather than by “physical force”. Practice with your mask on too.
(3) The first few days I tried in the water, it was a total failure. Nothing happened at all, no feeling whatsoever. I gave up after a while and just kept diving equalizing through Valsalva. Do not despair if this happens! When I was back in my room I kept researching and reading about other’s experiences. Read as much as you can, hear people describe it in different ways (you will see why in a moment). A few days later, I suddenly remembered something I had read: someone mentioned that pressure back from the mask was still needed to equalize hands-free. This is not what I had initially understood (not sure why I missed it, many others mention it): I just expected to open the e-tubes and the ears to equalize (as it happens on a plane). Apparently this is the way pure BTV should work, but it definitely does not work like that in my case (perhaps it will evolve as I train more which I plan to do).
(4) I tried to experiment with that bit about “pressure from the mask” in the water to see if it made any difference. I started to combine blowing air into the mask without pinching my nose but “manually” applying pressure to hold the mask to my face with opening the e-tubes at the same time. After a few tries, I got a very mild feeling of opening the e-tubes compared to the yawn but… to my surprise one of my ears experienced a slight pop! I realized that this was the breakthrough I needed and that I just had to work on progressively reducing the pressure applied on the mask: I moved from holding the sides of the mask with my hands, to just keeping a finger over my noise until it worked just by tightening the mask to my head a bit. And that was all I needed: just blow air gently into the mask, think about that e-tubes opening reflex at the same time and the equalization happens!
(5) Some preliminary thoughts:
(i) Tightening the mask is key for me and I still need to wear my Superocchio tighter than before for hands-free equalization to work.
(ii) “Warming up” of the ears felt important. All this happened while I was freediving several hours every day for quite a few days in a row and after a lot of e-tubes opening dry exercises.
(iii) I noticed some “e-tube muscle” exhaustion on a couple of days where I worked really hard. You need to call it a day and rest after you notice this as equalization stopped working. Some talk about how the muscle can and should be trained… yes, but to a certain limit in my case.
(iv) I still do not feel I am opening the e-tubes “well” at all. More than that, it is a feeling that I do a small opening and because my ears have “warmed up” the air from the mask achieves the equalization (need more training to confirm this).
(v) It does feel different from Valsalva: it is a shorter, more brisk equalization where I notice more of a click in each ear.
(vi) The first few feet down seem more difficult, it gets easier after 30 feet and again harder after 85 feet (as Valsalva also becomes harder because of approaching residual volume).
(vii) General relaxation and stretching of the neck felt important so I did a lot of this at the beginning of each diving session.
(viii) I always equalize pre-dive while on the surface and equalize early and often at the beginning of the dive. Sometimes, particularly at the beginning of the session, I need Valsalva to warm up during the first dives.
(ix) I had no line so I do not know for a fact, but I think it should be very helpful and I would definitely set one up if you have the opportunity to do so.
(x) One issue I still have to deal with is that I do seem to lose a bit of air, particularly at the beginning of the dive. Not the end of the world, but clearly something that I would like to improve on.
(xi) If a big, strong yawn on a plane does nothing to your ears, it might mean hands-free equalization is off-limits for you. Not sure, but there is plenty of commentary that not everybody can equalize this way.
Finally, words of caution that I beg you to read:
(1) Be incredibly careful when you dive and listen to your body and err always on the side of caution. If in the slightest doubt/pain, turn back and go to the surface. (I understand this is not the way professional freedivers should think, but hey if you are one of them you probably do not need to be reading this post anyway?).
(1) One again yes: Think at all times that your foremost obligation, way above anything else, is to do everything you can at all times to go back to your loved ones (something we never should stop repeating ourselves: it just sets us in the right mindset in my humble opinion).
(1) One yet again, hopefully you see a pattern by now: just be extremely careful please.
(2) Do not try any of this unless you are an experienced freediver. My only claim about the steps described is that they worked for me. Perhaps they do not work for others, you can/will get hurt, etc.
(3) I understand what I describe here is not by any means the pure or classic BTV: I simply have found a way that allows hands-free equalization without a noise-clip which is what I was after.
That’s all. Any comments are as always very welcome. If I can help further, I will certainly try.
Dive safe.
