How often do you clear your mask?

[Buoyant1]

Depends....somedays the seal is good, somedays the seal 'ain't' so good....

I've gone through dives where I cleared it MAYBE once and dives where I clear it every few breaths... I try to remember to shave that sucker down, (and/or treat it) but the 'stache is the problem.

I'm probably going to just get rid of it before the Florida trip this year...

 

[Sas]

Never, unless I deliberately flood it myself, or someone kicks me in the face.

 

[Noboundaries]

I posted the passages below on another thread.

Lets assume the mask sealed on your face in the store and that's why you bought it.

I have a full beard and mustache. I also trim a little below the nose. My mask is a Tusa Pan Geo that fit my face beautifully in the store. Went diving and it leaked like crazy sometime and barely at all other times. I figured it was the mask finally softening up and sealing to my face. I was wrong.

Turned out it was the position of the strap on the back of my head. It is real tempermental. Off by a quarter inch or so and it leaks. The last thing I do before I get ready to walk to the entry point on a boat is put on the mask, suck in through my nose, and move the strap up or down on the back of my head until the mask seals completely (I have a neoprene aftermarket strap instead of the silicone OEM strap). Now I go an entire dive without a drop of water in my mask. I wear my mask strap pretty loose too. My backup mask, a Sherwood Magnum with the OEM silicone strap, does exactly the same thing.

If it sealed on your face in the store, it should seal in the water. Try the strap thing.

 

[Sas]

Oh in addition to what Noboundaries said, I noticed that my mask used to leak a lot when I first started diving. I used to have the strap on super-tight as I thought that would stop it leaking. However, it just made things worse. I wear my mask strap pretty loose and have never had a problem, heard the same thing from others too.

 

[Belmont]

I posted the passages below on another thread.

Lets assume the mask sealed on your face in the store and that's why you bought it.

I have a full beard and mustache. I also trim a little below the nose. My mask is a Tusa Pan Geo that fit my face beautifully in the store. Went diving and it leaked like crazy sometime and barely at all other times. I figured it was the mask finally softening up and sealing to my face. I was wrong.

Turned out it was the position of the strap on the back of my head. It is real tempermental. Off by a quarter inch or so and it leaks. The last thing I do before I get ready to walk to the entry point on a boat is put on the mask, suck in through my nose, and move the strap up or down on the back of my head until the mask seals completely (I have a neoprene aftermarket strap instead of the silicone OEM strap). Now I go an entire dive without a drop of water in my mask. I wear my mask strap pretty loose too. My backup mask, a Sherwood Magnum with the OEM silicone strap, does exactly the same thing.

If it sealed on your face in the store, it should seal in the water. Try the strap thing.

Exactly, I think you touched an important point, the position of the strap, if it pulls on the mask at an angle it makes a ton of difference.

Also I think you have to keep a pokerface, frowns, raised eyebrows, smiles, grins any face contorsion will foster leaks. Mabe Piikky you are a person with a very expressive face and you don't realise you make all sort of movements with it.
:blinking::depressed::shocked2:

 

[Gombessa]

f my head. It is real tempermental. Off by a quarter inch or so and it leaks. The last thing I do before I get ready to walk to the entry point on a boat is put on the mask, suck in through my nose, and move the strap up or down on the back of my head until the mask seals completely

Bingo. That helped immensely with my last mask. Still trying to find the right position for my new frameless (and I'll be totally bummed if I can't get it right).

 

[String]

I used to have the strap on super-tight as I thought that would stop it leaking. However, it just made things worse. I wear my mask strap pretty loose and have never had a problem, heard the same thing from others too.

That's a good point, i see a LOT of people with mask leaks because the strap is too tight. Often they make it worse - they assume because its leaking it needs to be tighter so they tighten it even more thereby making the problem worse.

I wear my mask extremely loose.

 

[Thalassamania]

A lot depends on what you consider "clearing." My answer includes a little puff of air here and there to expel a tiny bit of water.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Now that I've found a mask that fits my face (Oceanic Ion), almost never. I do occasionally have a dive where I have to clear it alot. It may be due to a dirty mask skirt, dirty face or something else strange going on, but typically my mask stays dry the entire dive.

 

[Sparhawk13401]

I'm usually only clearing once or twice, but on a dive a couple of weeks ago I was clearing every couple of minutes.

It was driving me nuts. It was the first time I'd dove with a couple of days growth. You know when it's really bristley.

Since then I make a point of shaving before a dive and it's back to clearing once or twice.