Compact equipment suggestions?

[tursiops]

Most FFM's have routing in them for defogging so when you inhale part of the breath is diverted up against the lens like a defroster in your car

And so they use more gas, too.

 

[Dan]

I assume that's a real question not a sarcastic one? FFM's have a nose block in the front that you adjust to fit you. You push the mask in and up against your face and equalize that way. Have to be careful with descent rates.

Most FFM's have routing in them for defogging so when you inhale part of the breath is diverted up against the lens like a defroster in your car

No intention to be sarcastic. I must have very narrow channel between the nose & ear. I have to pinch my nose to equalize. A few time I had to abort the dive when one of my ear refused to equalize. I have been to the situation where I hurt my ear badly from forcing to continue the dive & ended up with stay out on land for a few days until my ear healed.

As far as defogging the regular mask underwater, we can easily flood it by peeling off the face seal slightly & drain the water out by blowing air through the nose. I just have no clue how to do it with FFM. Now I do, thanks to your explanation. It makes sense.

 

[Dan]

And so they use more gas, too.

Not good if you are air hog.

 

[tbone1004]

correct, they do use quite a bit more gas and you have the larger dead space, so aren't as good as a normal half mask/second stage due to the potential of increased CO2 retention. Two reasons I see to ever use them, one is if you have to speak to people at the surface or underwater that can't see hand signals, or diving in contaminated water. To each his own on whether they want to use them or not, but that's not my position to judge

 

[KevinNM]

In extremely cold water combined with a hooded dry suit might be interesting. I was watching Diving into the Unknown and was kind of surprised that the divers - diving into an ice covered pond - all have their mask (normal non FFM) sealed against their hood instead of against their skin. Obviously works, I'll have to play with that.

The OP said they bought the comms options for the FFMs, so I'd guess they want to communicate easier than 'hand signals after you get your buddies attention'.

 

[Nwcid]

I just got a FFM, Guardian and love it, but I got it for PSD. I will use it for other dives as well, generally cold water. I have no plans of traveling with it though.

I will use it enough in recreational diving to be proficient with it. It does take a different skill set, but if trained properly it is no more difficult then using any other piece of dive gear.

Both my wife and I found we have about a 20% increase in gas consumption with FFM. Right now I have maybe 3hrs of use on one. I figure that as I use it more and lean it more I can decrease that even more.

Last week during a pool training session I had 2 full sets of gear with me. A "DIR" doubles rig, and a single "DIR" with FFM. I left them at the bottom of the pool and several times switched between gear while underwater. I placed a fully flooded FFM probably close to 2 dozen times just that day.

 

[netpilot]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

We were informed that our FFM would likely use more gas, so we understood that before we purchased them.

@2airishuman while they are bulkier than the standard FM, the benefits (breathing through our noses, less mouth fatigue, and the ability to talk to each other) outweigh that factor for us (personal preference). Good info on the other items, appreciate it.

We understand that training and practice are important @KevinNM.