Clear your regulator after reinserting it: exhale method or purge button, milestones, typical mistakes and panic prevention, learned with an instructor.
What do you do when the regulator in your mouth is full of water? The honest answer: you blow it clear or press the purge button, and you breathe in carefully only afterwards. It is not rocket science but a rehearsed two-step sequence. A sip of water on the first breath is no drama, but for many beginners it triggers the first moment of panic.
Why the drill counts: the US agency NOAA lists several regulator drills in its diver skills checklist, such as recovery with the sweep method and with the tank lift method, and not only in the pool but also in open water [1]. In a US review of 947 scuba fatalities, the disabling agent was emergency ascent in 55 % and insufficient gas in 27 % [2]. The numbers show how much hangs on routine: a diver who no longer fears the regulator stays able to act in a problem and rarely needs drastic measures (this is an inference, not a study result).
The Divers Alert Network (DAN) writes that panic often shows when divers spit out their regulators, and advises helping a struggling buddy with the octopus [3]. This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace an instructor.
You have recovered it, now guide the mouthpiece into your mouth and close your lips firmly. Do not breathe in. The mouthpiece is full of water. Milestone: you stay calm for ten seconds without inhaling.
Place your tongue loosely in front of the opening. It protects you from a gush of water on the first careful breath. Milestone: you feel the tongue as a protective valve.
You have two ways:
Both work, your instructor shows you what suits your regulator. Milestone: you clear the regulator in one go.
Take a small test breath, like sipping hot tea. If you feel water, blow again. Milestone: the first breath is dry.
Clear three times in a row without your breathing rhythm changing. First in shallows, then kneeling, later hovering. Milestone: three clean times without coughing.
When it runs smoothly, repeat the drill with mask on, in light current and with your buddy nearby. The test: you stay calm although something is different.
Exhale before you touch the regulator. Whoever lets it out of the mouth exhales long and steadily (a "hum") instead of holding the breath. This habit prevents lung overexpansion and keeps you calm. If you use the same long exhale when clearing, you have a single movement for multiple situations. Practise it dry standing up: imagine the mouthpiece, exhale long, small breath. One minute three times a day, and the sequence sits before you are in the water.
Guide the mouthpiece into your mouth, put your tongue loosely in front, exhale forcefully and steadily or press the purge button, and breathe in carefully only afterwards.
Both work. Exhaling costs no air, the purge is stronger. Your instructor shows you which suits your regulator.
Usually you inhaled too early or too deeply. Blow the regulator completely clear, then breathe in carefully with your tongue as protection.
When the regulator slips out of your mouth or you spit it out. That is why the NOAA checklist lists the recovery drills in the pool and in open water [1].
Get used to it in steps: face in the sink, then pool with a snorkel, then the regulator in the shallows. Panic often arises when things happen unexpectedly [3]. If you practise water in your mouth on purpose, you take the surprise out of the situation.
Breathe-Up: Breathing Calmly Before Freediving Without Hyperventilating