US Divers/ Aqua Lung.

[mdb]

As Our Aussie and Kiwi friends might say
"No worries mate". I've been in many of these
OEM locations offshore and on. Much of it is
simply marketing. You have a good mask in the
USD Avalon.

 

[Ann Marie]

WRONG ..... Many "cheap" masks have faceplates made of plastic not glass and I know of no one that would want to use a "plastic" lens mask for diving.

Before you yell WRONG, perhaps you should check your sources. I happened to check Leisure Pro and their "cheap" masks ($14.95 for mask and snorkel) did have the word TEMPERED stamped onto the lens of the mask. This leads me to believe that the mask is actually tempered. I also checked Fluid, Body Glove, U.S. divers masks as well, tempered on those too. By the way, I did not mention glass vs. plastic; I just mentioned tempered. In all honesty, I probably should have said most instead of all.

 

[Ann Marie]

I have learned a lesson about posting on this board. If you choose the wrong product, you will get attacked. I guess unless it’s BP/W, DUI, Scubapro, Apeks then I better keep my mouth shut!

Welcome to the community!!!!


MDB and Ann,

thanks for reading my whole post. You saw what I was trying to get at. As I stated before I didn't seek out a "Cheap" mask (I already have a Cressi Big Eyes). The Avalon basically fell in my lap, I tried it and was pleased with it's performance. Thanks again for your post and kindness.

Don't worry about it. There are 35,000 members on the board...different strokes for different folks. I hope that you will continue to post and take some of the posts with more than a grain of salt. Sometimes things written were not meant in the tone they seemed.

As far a recommendations go, I'm sure that my Mercedes mechanic would recommend only going 65 mph in my car........ It is really up to you what you plan to do with the recommendation.

 

[The Chairman]

Actually Ann Marie, we passed 40,000 users a week or so ago! But it is big.

I don't think that a difference in opinion or even an impasioned difference of opinion can be misconstrued as an attack. Well, I guess it CAN be, but it shouldn't be!

As for the mask... there are many manufacturers who produce the SAME product under different prices/names in order to fit in their marketing strategies. Any admission that their "lesser" line is as fully useful as their "premium" line only serves to destroy their marketing plans, and who wants to do that?

However, it is a good idea to suspect the credibility of anyone who calls any manufacturer's gear "junk" without some real insight as to why. Not all opinions are formed by an open minded consideration of the gear in question. These usually deal with generalities and not specifics. It's far easier to call something you don't like "junk" than to actually research the product and try it out for yourself.

 

[scubadivernick]

Price doesn't matter. Fit and function, they teach you that from OW and on. $10 or $110, if it doesn't fit, it sucks. FYI color correction and light enhancing lenses are usually plastic, that is why they recommend spray or non abbrasive defogs. The difference b/w scuba and snorkeling masks are

1) material silicon v. pvc/silicone mix
2) scuba masks have a double seal

 

[The Kraken]

Al, I wasn't defending or attacking any position on this issue; I was merely asking a question with respect to function and environment.

A civil answer would have been more appropriate, would you not agree?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

My wife found a cheap k-mart/wal-mart variety mask during a dive and then after cleaning it up, discovered that if fit her very hard to fit face extremely well. She ended up using it for the next couple seasons and perhaps 120 dives before she found a mask that fit her better.

I agree with the sentiments that if a cheap mask will work at 10 ft, it will work at a 100 ft as mask squeeze will require you to equalize the pressure in the mask long before the lens or skirt catastrophically fails. And to my knowledge, it has not been legal in the US to sell a mask with any type of glass other than tempered glass or a shatter proof plastic like polycarbonate in at least 20 years. Ever see a kid do a face plant into a pool with a mask? The lenses need to be designed to stand up to that abuse and in truth those cheap masks endure a lot more from their intended market than they ever see from a scuba diver who actually takes care of his/her equipment.

This thread is also interesting in that I have not heard the "US Divers is junk" allegation in about 20 years. US Divers/Aqualung did have a slump in quality on some of their products in the late seventies, but I would rate US Divers/Aqualung as one of the top 2 or 3 companies today.

It's also hard to call US Divers masks and snorkles "junk" and not also say the same thing about other companies. There are maybe 4 or 5 companies worldwide that actually make scuba masks at present and nearly every scuba equipment company is selling rebranded masks from those same companies. Look around and you will see a lot of similarities between masks sold by major scuba manufacturers.

Our local shop usually ends up buying the same masks and snorkles marketed by the major companies through Deep See, Scuba Max etc, as they are in many cases exactly the same masks minus the flashy name and can be sold at a much more competetive price wthout having to adhere to dealer pricing agreements. There is nothing wrong with a scuba equipment company marketing and selling a top of the line super high quality mask or snorkle for a top of the line price, but I do have issues when that "top of the line" mask or snorkle is the same mask or snorkle everyone else is selling for a lot less money.

In my experience the difference in a mask "quality" comes down to the skirt. More expensive masks intended for the scuba market will use a black or clear silicone skirt. Cheaper masks marketed through Wal-mart, etc. will use an acrylic skirt. Acrylic skirts do not discolor in sunlight or when stacked against your black rubber fins in the dive bag like silicone, but in the long term it (alledgedly) they do not maintain their flexibility as well. Time will tell on that one, but if you change masks anyway every 2 to 3 years, you will never notice the difference.

Personally I think fit is everything in a mask and if a cheap wal-mart ask fits your face without leaking it will work far better for you than a very expensive mask that leaks on your particular face.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Al, I wasn't defending or attacking any position on this issue; I was merely asking a question with respect to function and environment.

A civil answer would have been more appropriate, would you not agree?

Did I attack you?

I said it was junk and this is based not only on my experiences but with the manufactuers claims that it wasn't good below 10 feet. In my book that makes it junk.

Put keep on being the manners police

 

[jonnythan]

I think that if you're happy with it, you should dive with it.

I do think it's an issue of throwing US Divers under the bus. What would it say about the company if the response said "Sure, your cheapo mask is every bit as suitable for diving as our expensive Aqualung scuba masks"?

 

[PugetDiver]

Ok guys, after probing a little further and getting to the right person, I got the answer I was looking for. The Higher end "Professional" and "Tech series" US Divers mask is "Marketed" for snorkeling but is fine for diving. Here is the response from Aqualung:

Hello ****,

I spoke with Frankie on Friday regarding your question. I’m sorry this was a misunderstanding. You can definitely use these masks for diving. They will hold up as well as any other dive mask out there. They are made for snorkeling, and we don’t sell them marked as a scuba mask, but you could use it for diving if you wanted to. There isn’t a 10ft depth limitation on these at all. And most are made with a tempered glass lens just like most diving masks. I think the misunderstanding between Frankie and myself happened when I was trying to explain that most users wouldn’t take them below 10-15ft during a snorkeling outing. But I do know a few people who have used them to scuba dive with from time to time. US Divers is the name of the line, but for this line we only produce snorkeling equipment. Our Scuba line used to be called US Divers, and is now called Aqua Lung. So though we use the US Divers name, that is now our snorkeling line. Curiously, what mask are you asking about? We have been in this industry the longest, and do stand behind our products. Most divers do not use these masks for Scuba, but you can. If you wish you can check out our Aqua Lung brand scuba masks on AquaLung.com. Have a good day.



Regards,

Chad Dart

US Divers/Aqua Lung