Mask on the head
#1
Posted 24 October 2006 - 08:31 AM
My shop explains in class the safety reasons for keeping your mask on and how to protect it from being stepped on, smashed by a tank or washed off your head into the ocean. Students will nod their head that they understand and agree with the logic but we get in the pool and sure enough the mask is on their head. Even the threats of buying pizza doenst deter them.
I have also been on trips with people who have been diving for years, are good friends with diving professional and have helped with classes and yet I watch them put their mask on their forehead. They wink and smile like the rule doesn’t apply to them and nothing could go wrong.
Do people do this because their mask doesn’t fit properly and it is uncomfortable to wear? Are they donning their gear too soon that the mask becomes uncomfortable? It doesn’t fit under their chin?
There was a really good article about this in last months Dive Training magazine.
#2
Posted 24 October 2006 - 08:33 AM
#3
Posted 24 October 2006 - 09:02 AM
DSSW,
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#4
Posted 24 October 2006 - 09:25 AM
As for wearing a mask all the time....there is some impediment to breathing when you are on the surface hence the reason most divers I suspect do not wear their mask all the time while dry. And I of course being so hot...er such a heavy breather...um... tend to fog mine up waiting to jump next!
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#5
Posted 24 October 2006 - 10:11 AM
1. It's awkward (solution: I explain if they keep it in place on their face, they will get used to it)
2. It's uncomfortable (solution: find a better better fitting mask, so it is not uncomfortbale of hurting the diver)
3. The mask is a rental or new and isn't defogging well, so they can't see me (solution: clean it again and re-defog)
I believe in leading by example and my mask is always properly in place when I am in the pool. Besides, chlorine reeks havoc on my eyes!
Once in a while, it is good to step back, take a breath, and remember to be humble. You'll never know it all - ScubaDadMiami. If you aren't afraid of dying, there is nothing you can't achieve - Lao-tzu. One dog barks at something, the rest bark at him - Chinese Proverb.
#6
Posted 24 October 2006 - 10:14 AM
Of course it's just my opinion, but I think this one gets blown WAY out of proportion. A mask is not essential SCUBA gear.
#7
Posted 24 October 2006 - 10:24 AM
Also, a mask on one's forehead is a sign of distress or needing assistance.
Pete
P.S. Dive Training magazine had an article on this last month.
#8
Posted 24 October 2006 - 10:24 AM
I agree that opinions can get heated on several sides.Of course it's just my opinion, but I think this one gets blown WAY out of proportion.
I just know that to begin with, I believe dive professionals should teach the tried and true methods (for their area) of use, care, and maintenance of dive gear and that includes the mask. Where I teach, I have searched for too many lost masks that have been pushed up and slid off a diver's head, or was pushed up and they forgot it was there and so the mask is flung into the water when the hood is pulled off, or they had it in their hands and in cold water with gloves it's easily dropped and the diver never realizes it. So, my preference so my class doesn't slow down to run search patterns, so my diver can dive again needing the mask (which I view as essential at that point ), and so my diver doesn't lose potentially one of the first items of gear they personally own.
Once they are out of class, it’s their choice what to do with the mask unless they are a Rescue Diver or dive professional of mine. Masks are kept in the foot pockets of fins ready to be easily grabbed in an emergency.
Once in a while, it is good to step back, take a breath, and remember to be humble. You'll never know it all - ScubaDadMiami. If you aren't afraid of dying, there is nothing you can't achieve - Lao-tzu. One dog barks at something, the rest bark at him - Chinese Proverb.
#9
Posted 24 October 2006 - 10:54 AM
Perrone, I'm glad you put your mask on backwards, because I never do and we've been agreeing way too often lately. OTOH, I do store my mask in my fin pocket (have for well over 20 years). I usually put it there before I surface when boat diving. I don't understand why folks put their masks on backwards. I leave it in the fin pocket until I'm ready to put it on my face. I don't see the advantage of putting it on backward.
When beach diving, I don't put my mask on until I'm ready to submerge, it stays in the fin pocket until I put on my fins, then it goes around my neck. I used to put it on my face for the surface swim until I lost a mask that way in low visibility. Waves can strip a mask off your face as easily as they can take it off your forehead. Neither position is secure in surf. I learned that one through experience. I don't know from personal experience, but the mask on backward doesn't look very secure either.
Edited by Walter, 24 October 2006 - 10:55 AM.
DSSW,
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#10
Posted 24 October 2006 - 10:58 AM
Surf is one thing we don't get up here in the PNW unless diving on the coast. Good to know Walter, thank you for sharing.When beach diving, I don't put my mask on until I'm ready to submerge, it stays in the fin pocket until I put on my fins, then it goes around my neck. I used to put it on my face for the surface swim until I lost a mask that way in low visibility. Waves can strip a mask off your face as easily as they can take it off your forehead. Neither position is secure in surf. I learned that one through experience.
Once in a while, it is good to step back, take a breath, and remember to be humble. You'll never know it all - ScubaDadMiami. If you aren't afraid of dying, there is nothing you can't achieve - Lao-tzu. One dog barks at something, the rest bark at him - Chinese Proverb.
#11
Posted 24 October 2006 - 11:26 AM
That is the main reason the scuba classes I've taken have emphasized, hence, I don't put my mask on my forehead....oddly enough, I was taught this in a YMCA scuba course in '75 and also when U got re-certified with PADI (along with my daughter) after many years away from diving in the late 1990s. So that teaching has been around, and in VERY differently taught courses for a long time.Also, a mask on one's forehead is a sign of distress or needing assistance.
Edited by mantarraya, 24 October 2006 - 12:28 PM.
#12
Posted 24 October 2006 - 11:32 AM
I just put it on backwards when I'm preparing to dive, or in post-dive debrief. When my fins come off, it goes in the fin pocket and stays there.
I'm with you on this one... I can't stand carrying around a bulky mask case
Of course it's just my opinion, but I think this one gets blown WAY out of proportion. A mask is not essential SCUBA gear.
Essential? As in life support - no... Clearly an inconvience - but then again I used to ABHOR taking my mask off..., then I got DIR-F'd... I had confessed to the whole mask phobia, nose breathing thing, and then all weekend long - it felt like I was Mr. Maskless... Now its just not an issue....
Whoever decided "MOF is a sign of distress?" Since its obviously done allot - its clearly not absolute.
Dive Training is the propoganda shill for the industry - I'll pass.
#13
Posted 24 October 2006 - 12:19 PM
DSSW,
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#14
Posted 24 October 2006 - 12:29 PM
A mask on the forehead is NOT a sign of distress. That's one of the biggest myths in diving.
But many courses definitely teach that it is, so for all intensive purposes, it has become a sign of distress to those exposed to that teaching, be it myth or not. I still don't put my mask on my forehead - just don't want to create confusion, justified or not.
Edited by mantarraya, 24 October 2006 - 12:31 PM.
#15
Posted 24 October 2006 - 12:35 PM
But many courses definitely teach that it is, so for all intensive purposes, it has become a sign of distress to those exposed to that teaching, be it myth or not. I still don't put my mask on my forehead - just don't want to create confusion, justified or not.
I was also taught this in my OW course and I also refrain from putting my mask on my forehead for the same reason.
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