Ever "lost" your mask?

[beekeeper5]

Maybe your mask strap isn't tight enough.

I've had someone accidently fin-kicked me and my mask got lopsided and flooded fully. It was easy enough to fix after the initial "ugh".

I've also had someone pull one of my hoses which turned out to be my regulator out of my mouth to get my attention to look at a fish. My buddy kept pulling my primary reg while I was wondering what was happening so I used my octopus. Later when we got up to the surface, I asked why my buddy the question "Why?!?!". The response "how am I suppose to get your attention?"

All in all, the mask and reg out of mouth drill was a good exercise. You never know when you'll need it. Did you also do the out of air drill?

 

[knowone]

Never.
Have had the strap with a neoprene thing floating around, still had seal.
Head in holes crevices rocks scratches on glass from underwater things surge J4 when you feel it coming brace for it.
Mask full of water yes rather invigorating not in drysuit weather.
Avoid fins.

People wear masks to tightly distorting the skirt and compromising the sealing qualities.
Sometimes strap under hood.

Dents in your forehead and face still 30 mins after a dive is not a prerequisite.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

OK. I tell my students they need to learn this in case they get kicked or, hehe, their mask just falls apart under water... laugh..... It's a joke, an absurd statement.... right? Well.
I had a student, Chris, finish his course and book a dive the next week on my boat. He buddy's with one of my DM's who was in a free spot on the boat. They get down to 13.5 meters, and begin to follow the reef. 5 minutes in, poof.... his brand new mask falls apart in little pieces under water...
I swear. He calmly picks up the pieces, and tries to put it back together... no go of course. He is very amused. My DM pulls out his extra mask and Chris puts it on. Away they go. He put the mask pieces in his pocket.
So. yeah. Weird things happen.

A too tight mask messes with the seal. And leaves dents and circles... no thanks. And yes, I have had excited students crowd in to see something and knock mine sideways. No problem...
And just wait until you sneeze one day. You will take it off yourself to clear that up. Or need to blow your nose.......

 

[pnw_diver]

We all have done the remove and replace your mask drill. But how many of us have ever had there mask come off during a dive. It can be your fault or not, just wondering.

Yes, on a night dive. I was following another diver (my sister) too closely and she stopped unexpectedly and kicked the mask of my face and reg out of my mouth. This was shortly after my OW cert. I recovered as I was trained to do and all was well. Only my buddy knew what happened until we got back to the boat.

Totally my fault, and a noob mistake, but we were all noobs once.

 

[pnw_diver]

I had a strap break while on the surface close to shore.

This too, during my rescue training cert. Not fun when you have multiple simulated rescue scenarios running. Even less fun when you're not in the water with a bunch of rescue instructors and students. ;-)

 

[dmoore19]

Never lost it completely but got it kicked sideways on a night dive (my first nightdive), it was also my first dive trip and about my 5th dive after certification. Made me glad I paid attention to that part during training. On the same trip (different dive) I got my reg kicked out of my mouth, did a sweep and got that back and got kicked firmly in the jaw, almost knocked me out. All of this by the same person in a rush to see something the DM was pointing out. I continue to stear clear of the group by 10 -15' when the DM is pointing things out and it hasn't happened since. I just wait until people clear out then take my turn.

 

[Kingpatzer]

My wife kicked mine off my face once.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Only time I ever lost a mask was while trying to help a panicking diver ... he practically undressed me with all his flailing around. But no harm done ... we got to the surface and got him calmed down and safely ashore ... then I pulled on a spare mask and went back down to collect our gear.

A few months back I had a dive buddy lose his mask backrolling from a small boat. Unfortunately it was on a wall in Pt. Hardy ... fortunately there was about 75 foot vis, so I was able to swim down and catch up to it at about 45 fsw. Again, no harm done.

I've collected quite a few masks and snorkels off the bottom over the years ... most, I suspect, from the heads of folks who insist on pushing them up on their forehead while surface swimming. Me, I like to keep mine over my eyes while I'm in the water ... but I wear prescription lenses, so I need it to see.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TSandM]

I lost mine on a back roll entry once -- luckily, in superb viz, so Peter was able to go down and get it for me (this was before I carried a spare).

I've come CLOSE to losing it when other dives have descended on top of me. Above me is one place I can't see, so the fins appear without warning.

 

[Blackwood]

I've lost 3:

1 to a mask on forehead swim (just slipped off and I didn't notice)
2 to big surf

I've had them kicked loose, but never completely off.

I've also had the lenses delaminate from two different masks (same model) during dives.