Backup Mask - Ever Had to Use While Solo?

[rongoodman]

I wonder how many here who insist on a spare mask would also disdain carrying a snorkel?

Dives when I would want a spare mask would involve an overhead, either hard or soft. Not much use for a snorkel with either.

 

[ScubaMarc]

funny story

years ago I was on a dive and the entire dive my mask was badly leaking water. I thought it was my hood was trapped under the skirt but could not fix it. I kept clearing and clearing the water throughout the dive. I finished the dive and when climbing up the ladder the glass lens fell out of the mask. I now know why it was leaking. The funny part. After the dive I told my buddy what was going on, he said I should have asked him for his spare. DOH!, I did not know he had one.

 

[Compressor]

years ago I was on a dive and the entire dive my mask was badly leaking water. I thought it was my hood was trapped under the skirt but could not fix it. I kept clearing and clearing the water throughout the dive. I finished the dive and when climbing up the ladder the glass lens fell out of the mask. I now know why it was leaking. The funny part. After the dive I told my buddy what was going on, he said I should have asked him for his spare. DOH!, I did not know he had one.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I agree with your premise of using your eyes as well as feeling how fast or slow you get to the surface. I rarely solo dive off my boat - so it is much easier for me to get back to the shore without my mask.

There is no right or wrong answer here - what is your risk tolerance and can you handle the issue of not having a mask?

I have two thigh pocket and they are always full of other things - if I put a mask in there - I risk breaking it because I have spools or metal flashlightsl that could impact (break) the mask. I choose not to carry a spare mask based on my experience and risk tolerance.

If I thought I could carry a spare mask and not break it and it did not prevent me from carrying other equipment - I think I would carry one.

I don't carry a spare mask underwater, but if you are looking for one, this one (the MAKO minimus) should work. I love this mask for scuba and freediving. no leaks, unlimited visibility and comfortable.. But what makes it unusual and I think particularly useful for tucking in the pocket is the mask strap attachment hardware.

I've broken many masks (not underwater), but it has almost always been the buckle that is mounted to the frame of the mask. The buckles get the brunt of the abuse when the mask is dropped or abused or slammed around in a gear bag. They stick out and are vulnerable.

Anyway, on this particular mask, the buckle is NOT attached to the frame, but rather to rubber tabs on the skirt of the mask. If you push on the side of the mask the skirt and the associated buckle will just fold over. This means that this mask can be folded flat with no damaged. I assume a flat package is exactly what you would be looking for in a pocket mask.

Initially, I though the attachment method looked cheap and/or weak but it has held up to the torture test I give gear for years. I keep one in the cab of my truck now for 3-4 years and swim 2 times a week with it and have another I use for normal diving.

I think the mask folds so flat that you could probably lay two thin pieces of plastic (maybe small sections of a laundry detergent bottle) over each side, hold together with rubber bands and as long as you didn't BEND the mask, it would be very safe in a pocket.

They say this mask is guaranteed to fit and not leak or you just send it back. I have a hard time finding masks that fit me and this thing just works great for me. The glass is so close to your eyes that visibility is unrestricted.. sorta like wearing sunglasses or something.

Minimus

 

[AfterDark]

I've carried a backup mask for about 5 years now, ever since I found a mask in good condition while diving. I bought a pocket that mounts to my BP and stow it there. No, haven't used yet. Thinking about it I can't think of a time during the last 46 years I could've have used one while underwater. I can say the same for a second 2nd stage and pony bottle; at least while using my regulator(s) and one time 30 years when I did go OOA. So why do I carry those items? Backup and newbies, If I need a mask because I dropped and broke mine, I know where my backup is. Diving with newbies or divers unknown to me I can offer my backup instead of diving solo because new diver forgot his mask. The pony is something I don't want to use anyway but like a gun it's better to have and not need it, than need it and not have it.

I could've have used a backup pair of fins one time when I had one fin in my dive bag and the other in my driveway.
Are there any foldup pocket fins on the market?

 

[Alastor]

Curious did it break in or out of the water?

I have never seen a mask break in the water - I carry a spare but never bring it on my dives... I stays on the boat or in the truck.

It broke just before going down, but we were deep inside a tuna-fence installation in Sardinia - far from our boat. Fisherman's boat all around the fence didn't have any spare - diving operators there used full face mask - they fix rips in the nets and free other fishes like mola mola, or they recover dead tuna entangled in the nets.

 

[Into the Water]

I have not only donated a reg - I have Buddy Breathed with an OOG diver (not my buddy) in 80 feet of water. I have used line cutters several times from freeing an anchor - yes an anchor that we could not free from the surface to cutting fishing line from my fins, BCD and oct.
To be clear a spare mask in my opinion is not the same as "cutting tool, backup reg, back up lamp, doubles/stage/bailout/pony tank." That to me is foolish talk... I stand by I have never used nor needed a spare mask and I do not carry a spare mask when I solo dive.
Your mileage may vary

And we again back to *I never used it* that's why it's foolish?
I'm never used my line cutter, never donated my reg in real time emergency, never used my backup lamp and hope never do that, but still I have it and train often how to do and use it and how to avoid that situation.
Foolish talking for me is to relay and plan your dive on *never used* but it's your way of safe diving
As guys wrote above it's your own risk tolerance.

PS I bet if you would ever experience of losing mask under water you would have change you way of thinking, so why do we refuse to learn from other people's mistakes?

 

[drbill]

I can think of only one incident ion 50+ years of SCUBA diving where a spare mnask would have come in handy. My mask strap snapped, but since I keep it under my hood I didn't lose the mask. I simply pressed my camera housing up against the mask to keep it in place and kept on filming until the end of that dive.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

And we again back to *I never used it* that's why it's foolish?

Ok - foolish may have been the wrong word - cutting tool, backup reg, back up lamp, doubles/stage/bailout/pony tank - very good chance you will use these things. Cutting tool and pony or doubles are a must - because you may not surface if you get caught. A mask, extra light or backup reg are not required to surface from an OW dive - IMO... But we can go round and round on this...
And I bet neither one of us will change their minds...

 

[Compressor]

Are there any foldup pocket fins on the market?

I love this. So funny. Your long years of experience and what you have stated is so true and valuable.

Myself: I have never used the back up mask but carry one as the thought of opening my eyes in salt water for prolong times is not something I look forward to incase of issues. I have donated divers with malfunctioning regulators my second stage on multiple times. I've lost count. On one occasion, I tried to test one of my buddies: I gave the OOA signal and to my horror nothing happened. Which brings me to my point: Once in a while, we should practice emergency procedures. Once in a while we should actually take that mask out and put it on. Will it go smoothly or will it be a fumble with everything else falling out of the pocket into the abyss.