A couple of days back when I got my OW certification, I learned that having a mask on your forehead when floating in the water could be a sign of a distressed diver by the captain or crew. I have read many posts about haw the crew is silly to think this if there are no flailing arms or screams at the same time. I assure you that most drownings do not actually look like you might think. the victim will usually just quietly sink below the surface and die. There is a great video about what a drowning actually looks like on the web if you want to do the search.
I also learned to keep the mask over my eyes and the regulator in my mouth until my feet were firmly planted on either dry ground or the boat deck, for the reasons stated in previous postings.
Yesterday when I finally began my venture into technical diving, I found that most of the cool tech divers would do the thing with the mask backwards and found myself caving into the peer pressure of looking cool instead of a stroke. It did not feel natural, was difficult for me to do quickly and easily, and seemed just an unnecessary PITA.
Today, I no longer care what others think and wear the mask on my forehead when gearing up. I still go with my second paragraph when ocean diving but not to much when cave diving (there I will remove my mask and stow it in a fin for carrying purposes).
I may be called a stroke ( I just smile 'cause I have been called a lot worse) but at least I am doing it in a manner that works well for me without adding extra stress or complication to my dive.
