How often do you clear your mask?

[skippy31]

If you need to clear your mask often it means one of three things:

• You have an unusual shape to your face that the mask can not seal reliably to
• You have a mask that does not fit you correctly (most likely cause).
• Your mask keeps fogging up and you flood it to get rid of the fog and then clear it.

I dive mostly with quite advanced divers, and no one clears their mask more than once or twice. If they need to clear more than that they go shopping for a mask that fits properly.

Mat.

 

[wardric]

from none to once

I have a Cressi Big Eyes now, it fits very well.

I used to have a Dacor Nautilus rubber skirt mask. It served me well for 13-14 years but last year, it started to leak as the rubber skirt became old. I had to clear many times during a dive. Changing (sadly) my old mask for the Cressi resolved the problem.

 

[Randy43068]

depends on the mask... I hope my new one is better than the dive-rite POS I 'used' to use.

if I laugh or grin the DR I use leaks... a lot.

 

[savantblanc]

Piikki, if you have a narrow head, or raised bridge of your nose, perhaps you should try a "child's" or junior mask. My wife could never find one to fit, until she tried one on unintentionally.

 

[piikki]

Have you tryed the mares liquidskin.

I tried the regular X-Vision which I think is fairly similar but does not have as luxurious silicone. It leaked like a sieve. I tried the Liquidskin in a shop and it did not seem to make a good seal (X-Vision at least seemed to seal in the shop). Maybe I should try the ones that do not seal in the shop in the water next since I am having no luck??

What kind of mask are you currently using?

The best one this far has been Atomic SubFrame (which actually has somewhat similar silicone to the Liquidskin as far as I understand). The soft silicone is most forgiving for my face-issues. I don't think I have SO odd face but I do have square bones I guess. I think the problem with the Atomic is that it is so low volume it hits my face when I grin/frown etc.

Anyhow, I leak pretty much every time I turn my head (left-right, up, down). I leak if I munch my mouth (which I do when I clear ears) or if I crunch my forehead (I tend to do that it seems). I keep my mask fairly loose as things seem to get worse if the strap is tight.

I have tried several masks but trying and buying gets complicated since I need optical lenses. I can't make too long a dive half-blind when trying, and sometimes a mask might leak a lot if you "try it too hard" and don't dive it naturally. Also, once I think what happened was that a low-volume mask that did not leak on try-out became a leaker when thicker optical lenses were added, and the lenses pushed closer to my face as a result. Bummer.

Sometimes I think though that people with constant leaks sure learn to tolerate a lot more discomfort than dry-mask divers. Especially because the mask will - of course - leak most when you get into a nasty place like current, bad position etc.

 

[JeffG]

What kind of mask are you currently using?

Ones with big skirts.

The current one is a Scubapro Premier (IIRC)

 

[vicdiver656]

Well, if I forget to put on the anti-fog I tend to clear it a lot because I am letting water in to clear the fog. If I remember to put on the anti-fog I clear once.

You mean spit??

Just spit in your mask, rub it around, then dunk the mask in the water quickly. Presto, your mask is "squeaky clean!!"

 

[jenlaur]

Toothpaste was the answer for me. Lots of toothpaste. I must have scrubbed mine about 10 times. But it worked. Now I put no fog in at the beginning of each dive and I never have to clear.

 

[String]

Depends on my shaving.
With a good shave,....Never
With a 24h no shave,....Very often.

Same. My X-vision is a great mask but slightly too big. If ive shaved its fine, if i have skipped a day it floods every few minutes.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Usually only once or so. Depends if I'm teaching. Then it may be more since I might be doing air shares which will lead to a little seepage by taking the reg in and out, or if I get kicked. But on most dives once it's on I don't have to clear it. It's been this way since day one. First mask was a scubamax panoramic. One I have now is a seaview low profile. Both fit well and I've not had issues with either. The scubamax is now 4 years old. The seaview is about 6 months. I also have a scubamax lowprofile frameless as a backup but rarely use it since it does not have my script lenses in it. That's why it's a backup only.