Diving with a Beard

[Chien]

I know that as a female diver I hate getting my hair caught up in the mask straps. I was wondering how men who have a beards dive, what problems they experience and the way they get around these problems

 

[Walter]

I've had a beard almost continuously since I started diving. I've never had any dive related problems with it.

 

[Spectre]

There are only two problems that come out of having a beard. The first is just an annoyance of the chin hair getting bunched up and uncomfortable because of my hood. The second issue is getting a good mask seal. I don't have a full beard, but have to be sure to shave a band above my mustache below my nose to make sure I get a decent seal. I'm also pretty lazy with shaving, so if I don't shave my cheeks before a dive I have trouble with the mask sealing around the wiskers on my face; but it's not too bad.

A buddy of mine has a handlebar mustache [not as bushy as before, since he had it, lost it, and is now correcting his personal mistake ;]. He uses a neoprene ice diving mask to be able to get a decent seal on the skirt of the mask.

And yea, the mask straps suck with long hair; but a hood helps with that, and a neoprene mask strap is truely a must.

Now if I can just figure out a way to prevent the pain tolerance drill that is untucking my DS neck seal [e.g. the tugging of the hair on the back of my neck].... [I guess latex is a lot better in those regards].

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

No problems at all with the beard ... it's tucked neatly up underneath my hood. When I first started I had mask leaking problems due to the mustache ... but then I learned about the "diver's trim" (i.e. shaving the top half of the mustache) and haven't had any issues since.

For those with long hair, try the neoprene mask strap ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[CBulla]

I've had a beard for several years now and have had no problems with leaking from it.. I have a problem from my forehead wrinkling when I laugh at things I find humorous

 

[pipedope]

I used wax on my moustache to prevent the mask leak there.
When I started doing working dives in sandy/silty icky water I found too much stuff would stick so I changed to shaving the top of my moustache a bit.

Even with my beard I could get a good seal with the EXO-26 FFM as long as I used a hood. The KM hood made for the EXO was the best but my Henderson Trilam worked fine also.

Nice thing about a helmet is NO LEAKS. Yea, not good for sport diving though.

 

[nalfein]

The only bad thing about diving with facial hair up here ( Nova Scotia ) is the cold water.... when you get out of the water you have to do a quick check for any 'nudibranchs' that your nose may have left behind..... but hey, it seals well. Sorry for the image... it's in the interest of education right..

 

[ReefGuy]

I've had a gotee since I started diving. I, too, find that trimming just a tad under my nose works wonderfully.

 

[Bob3]

.... when you get out of the water you have to do a quick check for any 'nudibranchs' that your nose may have left behind..... ..

I had the misfortune of picking up the handle of "Booger Bob" for a bit.
Rinse well before coming up the ladder, it's surprising how many folks will not let you know about any "unwelcome additions".

Nice thing about a helmet is NO LEAKS. Yea, not good for sport diving though.

I dunno about that one, I had ear tubes installed once & had to do the fun dives with an old demand hat. It was kind of nice except for the extra 30-some pounds of gear to lug around.

 

[DivePartner1]

The beard isn't a problem but the moustache can cause trivial mask leaking.

I either shave it down to a sinister John Waters pencil line and just deal with some leakage.