Do you dive with a backup mask?

[RoyN]

I usually put my mask on, and then cover it with the hood.

 

[DeepBound]

I always do, mainly because I have big pockets on my drysuit which the mask fits into easily. If it was more trouble, I'd only take it on dives where the water was cold, or if I knew I'd be far from the entry point.

 

[Blackwood]

They seal quite well and once you get some air in them it does not leak out, so you only need to clear them once. Plus, as you ascent thye air will expand. If the google is tighter on the top, water will be pushed out the bottom.

Seems like it could be painful.

 

[Hickdive]

I used to have my strap under my hood but as I have become less tolerant of cold I've reverted to putting it over, although I do commend putting the strap under the hood if at all possible.

I used to be hit or miss about carrying a backup until I did a backward roll off a fairly large boat, flipped round and started my descent. My mask was flooding uncontrollably and trying to float off my face, so I took it off and put on my spare. As it turned out all that had happened was that the smack of hitting the water had blown the strap off the back off my hood. Carrying a spare made this a minor nuisance, easily resolved and the dive continued as normal instead of aborting.

PS I now hold my mask front AND back when rolling off big boats.

 

[tomgrogan]

I don't carry a spare mask as I have no place to store it on my BC. I do carry a spare strap on deck but that is it. I don't want to hang another thing off my BC nor do I want to add pockets to my wetsuit. After reading this post, I wonder how many people lose their mask or have a mask failure.

 

[Hemlon]

Nope...I don't dive with a spare mask. Of course, I've never had an incident where I almost lost my mask. If so, I would probably start carrying a spare.

 

[Paco II]

That is a great question. I wish I had included that question as part of the poll.

Another poll?

I'm curious how many people have actually experienced a mask failure while underwater?

 

[Hemlon]

I set up a second poll, Paco!

 

[scubafool]

I voted "Sometimes", but "Most of the time" would be more accurate. I cave dive most of the time, and while I have been trained and practice regularily getting out without a mask, it is much easier when I can see clearly. On the rare shore dive or river drift it is just more unneeded stuff, so I don't carry it then.

I glued a pocket to my wetsuit using the procedure described by MSilvia.

I thought that the X-Shorts were no longer in production. Is this no longer true?

 

[Charlie59]

What kind of mask do you use for a back-up? Are there smaller masks that are made as back-ups that fit more easily in pockets.

Brand and mask name?