Looking for a Vintage mask?

[Avonthediver]

Hello all I'm looking for a Vintage mask like the ones used in the 50's an 60's?
A friend of mine is wanting to go "OLD School" and theis mask would be a gift for all of the help he has given me!
I've looked online and found one site but the mask I'm looking for is out of stock. as he wants a oval with a nose perge. The site I found is Vintagescubasupply.com
so if anyone could help please send a word or two!

Happy Diving

 

[herman]

You might want to try on Vintage Double Hose board a lot of the vintage divers hang out there. If anyone has one for sale it would be there...and a good bunch of guys and gals. Vintage Double Hose

 

[Lone Frogman]

E bay

 

[David Wilson]

I think first you want to consider whether you are after a second-hand or "old-stock" historical mask, namely one dating from 1975 or earlier, probably an oval model with a rubber skirt and a stainless-steel band, or whether you would like to purchase a new "classic" mask made by a modern manufacturer in the traditional way. Remember, unless the vintage mask is for display only, that it's a very personal item of gear that has to fit, and seal against, the wearer's face, and three and a half decades or more will have taken their toll on the mask's skirt which may have hardened or even perished during the intervening years unless it has been well looked after!

If you plan to go ahead and buy an historical mask, I agree that eBay or Vintage Scuba Supply is the way to go. The Vintage Double Hose folks will also have some good advice and expertise to share with you. If, however, you're prepared to explore other vintage-style mask options, then here's my two-cents' worth:

1. Cressi sub Pinocchio

Cressi still makes one rubber-skirted mask and the Pinocchio has a cult status, the more so because the original design dates from 1952. It's available here in the UK from Amazon.co.uk, here's the URL:
Cressi Pinocchio - Original Rubber Diving & Snorkeling Mask: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Leisure

2. Oceanways Classic Pacific mask

Comes with a stainless steel band. Available here:
Discount Divers: Oceanways Classic Pacific Mask

3. Classic Oval Rubber Mask

Steel band, tempered glass, classic design and inexpensive too.
Classic Oval Rubber Mask: Scuba Gear and Diving Equipment

Classic rubber-skirted, stainless-steel banded oval masks are also made by two French manufacturers, Beuchat and Sommap. If you're looking for coloured mask skirts, your search will be much narrower and more arduous and you'll probably have to forgo the steel band. My favourite modern classic mask is an Ixtapa, made by Escualo Sports of Mexico:

I had to wait for over a year before I could track down somebody online prepared to sell me one!

I hope I've provided you with a few options. If you want to look further into what is available in the international modern classic diving mask marketplace, just let me know.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I don;t know what kind of shape they are in but I just dove a quarry where the shop owner there has a selection of orginal masks by Voit, Healthways, and Scubapro in the original boxes. He has been in business since 1960 and I bet some of them are from not much after that. I'm gonna try to get back there next week and I'll check on it further.

 

[Avonthediver]

thank you all for your help I did not know their were even mask like this still made!
and for my last question.
how do you size for a face or are they universal?

 

[David Wilson]

If you can't locate a suitable mask in a face to face sale at a dive store, where fit can be tested, your only option is to pay your money and take your chances. A good store will permit you to return the mask if you find it won't fit. Masks, particularly vintage or classic ones, are supposed to be "universal" size, but as we all know, everybody's face is different. I don't know enough about the masks I've listed to make pronouncements such as that one's for a narrow face, another's for somebody with a big nose etc. Mask makers have always planned, or at least hoped, that their products would accommodate most people's faces.

 

[Avonthediver]

David I have looked for Escualo Sports and found a page but it seems to be down. are they out of business? 123 scuba.com does offer what I'm looking for but I do like the look of the light blue mask from oceanways but all I get from their web site is a pic and price nothing more as far as a way to order.
Hope I'm not being to much of a bother, but I do appreciate the help.

 

[herman]

A word of caution on old mask. Many of the black ones are still servicable but most of the color ones- yellow/blue/green- did not hold up well over the years and it's rare to find one in diving condition.

 

[Luis H]

1. Cressi sub Pinocchio
View attachment 62526
Cressi still makes one rubber-skirted mask and the Pinocchio has a cult status, the more so because the original design dates from 1952. It's available here in the UK from Amazon.co.uk, here's the URL:
Cressi Pinocchio - Original Rubber Diving & Snorkeling Mask: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Leisure

I tried ordering a Pinocchio mask from Amazon.co.uk and it doesn't look like they will ship to the US. :depressed:

I have seen other sources from Europe in the past, but it would be convenient if someone in the US would sell it. Maybe I need to find one of the bigger shops that sell to the US regularly... shipping always seems expensive from Europe.