Section

Diving

Scuba, freediving and the people who go under: safety, training, incidents and the water itself.

Page 12

Diving

Mask Clearing Is the Skill to Overlearn: Why Water in the Eyes Ends More Dives Than Anything Technical

A flooded mask is a nuisance to a diver who has cleared a hundred and a crisis to one who cleared three on the course. The difference is not technique. It is how many times the reflex has been overridden.

Oct 10, 2023/3 min read

Divers practising scuba emergency procedures in a training pool, in a US Navy photograph from June 2014

Diving

Equalising on the Way Down: Valsalva, Frenzel, and Why the First Five Metres Decide the Dive

Most ear injuries in scuba happen shallow, on descent, to divers who waited for pain before they equalised. The technique matters less than the timing, and the timing starts on the surface.

Jun 6, 2023/3 min read

A scuba diver underwater in blue water, hand raised toward the camera, in a 2024 photograph