Mask and hood

PerroneFord · May 26, 2005

This is really not a DIR question per se, but I'd like to hear a DIR response to it.

Since a great proportion of my upcoming diving will be in springs, and since I generally get cold fairly easily, I will be wearing a hood on my dives. This will be new to me. In looking at some photos and video, it appears that divers tend to wear the mask outside the hood.

MY quesiton is this. Is there anything fundamentally wrong with wearin the mask INSIDE the hood? It seems to me, this would be advantageos for several reasons, including providing a more streamlined profile to the water, and for reducing risks of a lost mask due to current, being finned in the face, or other reasons.

I can't really seem to pinpoint any reasons why this would NOT be a good idea, so I am bringing the question to those with a lot of experience.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

jonnythan · May 26, 2005

Well, you can't easily change the mask if you knock a lens loose, and you will funnel water into the hood which will make you colder. My hood for instance makes a pretty good seal with my face and keeps my head relatively dry.

From what I hear there's nothing non-DIR about it though.

Tom Winters · May 26, 2005

I like wearing my hood over my mask, but sometimes it's a real pain rigging - after you argue the hood over your head, then you have to slide it back off to put on the mask; then you get to slide the hood back up. I have long hair now and it's a pain.
That said, the mask will stay nicely in place whether you roll off the boat, get kicked in the face, swim into something - or something swims into you - whatever happens, the mask is there until you wrestle the hood back off..

IslandHopper · May 26, 2005

I put my maskstrap over the hood... makes it easier to fix mask problems like fogging, positioning, etc. ... i've never had a loose lense

PerroneFord · May 26, 2005

Tom Winters:
I like wearing my hood over my mask, but sometimes it's a real pain rigging - after you argue the hood over your head, then you have to slide it back off to put on the mask; then you get to slide the hood back up. I have long hair now and it's a pain.
That said, the mask will stay nicely in place whether you roll off the boat, get kicked in the face, swim into something - or something swims into you - whatever happens, the mask is there until you wrestle the hood back off..

This is what I was thinking. Seems like cheap insurance against some common mask failures.

As for the hair issues, I don't have any hair (shaven not bald thank you!) so sliding the hood won't be too difficult for me.

I think I'll give it a shot both ways and see which I prefer.

bcsean · May 27, 2005

I can't think of a good reason to wear it under. I've never had a mask come off unless a buddy comes and tears it off (drills), and it seems to be just fine. Is this another case of solving a problem that doesn't exist?

PerroneFord · May 27, 2005

What prompted the question to be honest, was the death in Palau story on the boards this week. About how a drift dive went horribly wrong and the mask was ripped from the face of the diver, and most likely panic ensued. From what I can tell, most recreational divers don't carry a spare mask.

Since I'll have a hood on for most of my dives, the thought struck me that it might be useful to protect against losing the mask if at all possible. I wasn't necessarily hunting a problem, just tossing something out for potential discussion.

Thanks for your thoughts.

bcsean · May 27, 2005

I was just wondering what it would truly take to tear a mask from your face. I've had some pretty crazy entries before and been booted in the head.... Never had a mask strap even slip. Maybe the neoprene strap just sticks exceptionally well to a neoprene hood, I dunno.

Let us know what works for you after trying both.

detroit diver · May 27, 2005

The Palau incident would probably not have occured if she wasn't locked onto the rock. The mask is a very small, but fixable part of that incident. A mask coming off should never be a big deal if you train for and and are prepared.

The chances of cold water getting into your hood and cooling you off are greater than the chance of having your mask knocked off.

PerroneFord:
What prompted the question to be honest, was the death in Palau story on the boards this week. About how a drift dive went horribly wrong and the mask was ripped from the face of the diver, and most likely panic ensued. From what I can tell, most recreational divers don't carry a spare mask.

Since I'll have a hood on for most of my dives, the thought struck me that it might be useful to protect against losing the mask if at all possible. I wasn't necessarily hunting a problem, just tossing something out for potential discussion.

Thanks for your thoughts.

headhunter · May 27, 2005

bcsean:
I was just wondering what it would truly take to tear a mask from your face. I've had some pretty crazy entries before and been booted in the head.... Never had a mask strap even slip. Maybe the neoprene strap just sticks exceptionally well to a neoprene hood, I dunno.

Let us know what works for you after trying both.

The surf entry/exit in this video of January's monthly dive here in SoCal might be something that would tear your mask off. On the way out of the water, it tore ShakaZulu's jet fins off his feet anyway. :11:

The waves in the video are actually bigger than they look. I chose not to dive that day and you'll see me as an onlooker wearing a green shirt at the end of the video. Some of the waves that day were 12-footers plus although I don't think any of the waves in the video were over 10 feet. I felt older and wiser that day considering only some of them made it out though that surf to do a dive and it took those close to an hour just to get to the point where they could start their dive. And they did it again a few hours later!

The video is fun to watch anyway.

Christian

Mask and hood

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