phork
Contributor
True enough. Guess my instructor didn't go more into it.
That's not a problem. I would be losing a pair of contacts but it's not a problem if I had to.
Mask off, do I really have to keep my Eyes open?
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True enough. Guess my instructor didn't go more into it.
That's not a problem. I would be losing a pair of contacts but it's not a problem if I had to.
Darnold9999
Contributor
I wear contacts. If I were to lose both mask, and contacts I would be blind as a bat. So my solution is to close my eyes and keep them closed when I lose a mask. Once I have gotten over the shock of the ice water hitting my face I open my eyes just a tiny bit - enough to see, but barely. Have yet to lose a contact doing this. The only time I have lost a contact diving was on the swim grid wiping water out of my eyes - wiped the contact out as well.
When I started technical dive training, I was required to carry a spare mask. When I took cave training, my instructor did not carry one. When I asked him why, he said he'd been diving and instructing for 40 years, and he didn't know anyone who had ever lost a mask during a dive. He would take the risk.
I once had the hinge where the strap connects to my mask break off (don't ask--accident setting up a platform). I then did a 30 minute dive without a strap on my mask with only minimal trouble. If you do "lose a mask," it usually doesn't disappear; it is usually knocked loose, and you can grab it easily before it goes away, usually before it even leaves your head.
If through some incredible chance you actually do lose your mask to the point that you have to look for it, that is what a buddy is for. That's why the no mask swim is part of instruction.
So, IMO the odds that someone will ever lose a mask and have to search for it with eyes open and no buddy present are so incredibly remote that I doubt I will ever meet anyone in my lifetime who has in turn ever met anyone who has ever had to do it. If that happens and the diver needs to open his eyes under water to look for it, then I bet he will be able to do it even without having practiced it in the OW class. Opening one's eyes is not a difficult skill, and anyone can do it if the need arises.
I once had the hinge where the strap connects to my mask break off (don't ask--accident setting up a platform). I then did a 30 minute dive without a strap on my mask with only minimal trouble. If you do "lose a mask," it usually doesn't disappear; it is usually knocked loose, and you can grab it easily before it goes away, usually before it even leaves your head.
If through some incredible chance you actually do lose your mask to the point that you have to look for it, that is what a buddy is for. That's why the no mask swim is part of instruction.
So, IMO the odds that someone will ever lose a mask and have to search for it with eyes open and no buddy present are so incredibly remote that I doubt I will ever meet anyone in my lifetime who has in turn ever met anyone who has ever had to do it. If that happens and the diver needs to open his eyes under water to look for it, then I bet he will be able to do it even without having practiced it in the OW class. Opening one's eyes is not a difficult skill, and anyone can do it if the need arises.
Have that many people lost a mask during a dive for eyes open vs. closed really be a point of discussion? I have had a mask strap break on a dive, but I didn't lose my mask. I didn't even flood. Just inhale a little through the nose and the mask stayed right there. I have also been kicked in the face/mask by students and idiots from the cattle boat. Sure a mask flood occurred but it never came close to knocking the mask off my head.
Losing a mask and having to search for it isn't high on my list of concerns for a recreational, no overhead dive.
Losing a mask and having to search for it isn't high on my list of concerns for a recreational, no overhead dive.
JamesK
Contributor
I have only had one person lose a mask on a dive. It was during a very rough and difficult shore entry, one that you could not walk back in on. Once you were out past a certain point, you had to just keep on going. the guy had his mask ripped off his face by some surf. he then started cloning to a rock and panicking. I had to swim in and get him, while getting bashed on the rocks. Sucked. it was the one time I did not bring my spare mask. A spare would have gone a long way in calming him down. He has not dove since then and has sold everything.
Other than that, never have I seen anyone lose a mask. I still take them on all but the simplest laziest dives.
Other than that, never have I seen anyone lose a mask. I still take them on all but the simplest laziest dives.
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I've never lost a mask ... but when doing tech dives or solo dives, I still prefer to carry a spare ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Darnold9999
Contributor
Have lost a mask exactly once. Back rolled off a small boat and the entry pulled the strap off. Didn't notice and when I let go of the mask it dropped off my face and into the blue. Went back to the boat for a spare. One of the tech divers on the boat found it on the bottom beyond 130 feet.
Loaned a spare mask to someone that needed one on a liveaboard (luggage did not arrive). A very old spare - he came back with it in two pieces. Just broke in two in the middle of the dive. He came back with both pieces - his buddy helped him to the surface, but I doubt he would have been in any serious trouble.
Used to cary a spare solo - don't bother any more. Never used it, doubt I ever would.
Loaned a spare mask to someone that needed one on a liveaboard (luggage did not arrive). A very old spare - he came back with it in two pieces. Just broke in two in the middle of the dive. He came back with both pieces - his buddy helped him to the surface, but I doubt he would have been in any serious trouble.
Used to cary a spare solo - don't bother any more. Never used it, doubt I ever would.
Thankfully the pool I have access to uses bacquacil, not chlorine. Easier on the eyes. Good thing because we still do the mask, snorkel toss into the deep end, retrieve and clear mask and have snorkel breathable as head breaks the surface. They have to do this before I put them on scuba. Not at the end of the class.
No.
Me.
Me.
I'm surprised how many contact lens wearers don't know this but it's practically impossible to lose a modern soft contact lens under water. The only real danger is when you break the surface, the splash in the eyes MAY dislodge a lens but even then you're unlikely to lose it completely.
I've been swimming with contacts on for years and swim under water with my eyes open whenever I'm in the pool or ocean, I have never had one come off my eye.
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