PADI Instructors

[WVDiver]

both of my instructors said either around our necks or turned backwards was acceptable.

So it is being taught in other places also..........hmmmmm.

 

[Heffey]

I did my open water cert. with IDEA and my advanced cert. with PADI. In my open water course I was instructed, correctly I think, to never wear my mask on my head. The obvious reasons, it is seen by many people to be a distress signal and, I think more importantly, if a wave knocks it off it's gone and you are out of luck. I think this is/was taught by all the agencies.

In my NAUI OW class I was taught the same. I was told that it is best to leave my mask on. However, i was also told that if I must have the mask off then I should put it around my neck or on the back of my head. The back of the head method is to avoid any signs of being a diver in distress. Because of the shape of most people’s heads, a mask placed on the back of the head will hold on much better than on the forehead.

 

[jcm996]

maybe it is "oldschool" but my mask does not come off until I am out of the water or at least knee deep. Then it is around my neck. When I see TV ads and stuff, half the time I comment that person isn't a diver when I see the mask on the top of their head. I just didn't think it was taugh. The main reason I was told when I was in class was if you are in the water and a wave knocks your mask off, what is the piece of equiptment you need the most to find it?

 

[WVDiver]

maybe it is "oldschool" but my mask does not come off until I am out of the water or at least knee deep.

I agree. Just to clear things up a bit. I leave all of my equipment in place until seated on the boat. But in this case I am talking about shore diving with a long walk to get to waist deep water. I usually carry my fins to at least a point where I can get them on easily and the mask goes on last. It is just easier to breathe and work without the mask on at the surface either coming or going.

Even though waves are not a concern, or even dropping your mask in waist deep water if you wait that long to doff/don it, training and conditioning should dictate ones actions. It is all too easy to fall into bad habits and although it may not matter now this new bad habit of ours may cost us later when we do it without thinking.

 

[Walter]

In my open water course I was instructed, correctly I think, to never wear my mask on my head.

Where were you taught to wear your mask? I thought it was designed to fit around your head.

 

[matt_unique]

I still cant see how mask on head signals distress. No mask at all yes, mask thrown from head or ripped off yes but placed on forehead no. Could be any reason but probably not distress.
Ive certainly never seen a distressed diver make their first move to put the mask nicely on their head

I never subscribed to this either. If I feel like taking my mask off on the surface I slide it onto my forehead. If the waves are high or if the air is below freezing I don't do it. If the waves are calm, it's the most comfortable placement for me. Other divers could quite readily see if I were distressed and not from mask placement. The forehead placement also allows you to put your mask back on quickly if you needed to for any reason. If it's around the neck you need two hands to lift the strap and place it around your head.

I think it's great to teach careful mask care. Once you are aware of it, do what's comfortable and what works for you.

--Matt

 

[WVDiver]

Where were you taught to wear your mask? I thought it was designed to fit around your head.

Well the mask is suppose to be worn on your head. Where were you taught to wear your underwear it looks like it's on your head.

 

[Saipanman]

My students (I'm a PADI instructor) are informed that, if I catch them with their mask on their foreheads, they will owe me a sixpack of the beer of their choice. (Young-uns must pay me one diet coke). The kids rarely mess up and usually one adult will mess up within the first or second Confined Water dives. (FWIW, they rarely pay up, and I don't try and collect, but hey, if they bring me beer, I'm not gonna refuse it).

I dive in the ocean, and have never had a mask knocked off the back of my head, though, like others have noted, my mask usually stays on my face until I'm at the ladder of the boat. But when we're doing surface skills, my mask is usually flipped backwards and I've never had any problem.

As for those who can't imagine that a mask on the forehead is a sign of distress, I must disagree. My experience has been different. I've seen a bunch of cases of distress, and three full-out panics, and each time, the first thing to go was the reg (spit out) and the next to go was the mask (shoved up on forehead).

 

[WVDiver]

Saipanman

Ok I get it. Were you taught by PADI that it is ok to wear your mask backwards or is this something you have adopted over the years? Is this something you are taught by PADI to teach your students?

 

[moosepks]

In addition to not putting our masks on our forhead, my instructor said we owed him oatmeal cookies if we left our tanks and bc's standing upright if we were not in immediate control of them or had them bungied to the table.