42 replies to this topic

[Basslet]

Someone on another board had this is his signature line:
I put my mask on my forehead but no one came to rescue me.

[mantarraya]

Someone on another board had this is his signature line:
I put my mask on my forehead but no one came to rescue me.

Classic (and likely also true)!

[Cephalopod]

A mask on the back of the head is an easy way to lose a mask. Unless you pull the strap down around your eyebrows, it can easily slip off and you won't know it, or feel it happen. When you spend up to $100 for a mask, that can be a real disappointment. Plus, the average recreational diver does not carry a spare mask strap, much less a spare mask...so there goes your day of diving. You won't find many bargains on masks at a resort dive shop either! Wherever you put your mask at the surface, be sure to secure it.

As for the mask on the forehead being a sign of distress,....not in my personal experience. A panicked diver will tear it off as often as they will push it up onto their forehead. Besides, you don't need a misplaced mask to spot a panicked/drowning diver. They stand out in a crowd. Take a rescue class and see what I mean.

Proper surface mask placement is like diving with or without a snorkle. Lots of furious opinion on that one too.

In the end, its always a personal decision. There are no scuba police to give you a ticket.

Cephalopod

[Walter]

But many courses definitely teach that it is,

Yeah, I know. Quality classes can be hard to find.

[Dive_Girl]

As for the mask on the forehead being a sign of distress,....not in my personal experience. A panicked diver will tear it off as often as they will push it up onto their forehead. Besides, you don't need a misplaced mask to spot a panicked/drowning diver. They stand out in a crowd. Take a rescue class and see what I mean.

Proper surface mask placement is like diving with or without a snorkle. Lots of furious opinion on that one too.

In the end, its always a personal decision. There are no scuba police to give you a ticket.

[mantarraya]

But many courses definitely teach that it is,

Yeah, I know. Quality classes can be hard to find.

Actually the YMCA class I took in the 70s was an EXCELLENT scuba class (part of a college curriculum - took an entire semester), compared to the dive shop-offered class I took as a refresher in late 1999 or so (thank heaven I got an open water referral for the last 2 dives for my daughter and her boyfriend, so that they got a taste, in Belize, of how good scuba instructors operate [but then it WAS December and very cold in Texas, another reason for the OW referral for those dives]). So the class can be good despite the teaching of the forehead-mask myth. BTW, I have seen someone get a mask washed off their head in the Flower Gardens one time, so that part is definitely true.

[netmage]

A mask on the forehead is NOT a sign of distress. That's one of the biggest myths in diving.

And next your going to tell me Boyle was wrong!

And The easter bunny, Santa, and the male-affectionate lesbian are all figments of my immagination????

<I'm just being a smartass - slow work day>

Edited by netmage, 24 October 2006 - 01:42 PM.

[matts1w]

I tell my students not to wear their masks on their forehead because I want them to be comfortable in the thing. I do not continue the half-truth about the mask on forehead equals a panicked diver, but do talk about it slipping off their head in in big swells. I also mention it, to me, is just a cool tradition in diving/ocean folklore. I tell them as divers never to rename a boat, bring a banana on board, or to wear their masks on their forehead. We get a laugh out of it.

[ScubaDadMiami]

I don't care where people put their masks as long as it works when they need it. It really doesn't matter to me where people put their masks when not in use. I only mention things like leaving it someplace that can get it smashed from tanks or people walking about is just asking for trouble.

I think there is a higher risk of a swell pulling it off if on the forehead. However, it is the choice of the diver to take that risk.

I normally put my mask in the fin pocket until it is time to put it on. Once in a while, I will put it on my head backwards if I am going to be busy with my hands while sitting for a while before walking back to the platform for the exit (such as rolling seas, no space and having to hold onto stages, etc.).

Once I put the mask on, I wear it for the whole dive and even after I climb out of the water. After the dive, once I sit down, I put the mask back in the fin pocket.

I can't think of the last time I took my mask off while on the surface, leaving me to have to think of where to put it. I would just as soon leave it on until I am completely out of the water and away from places where I might lose it.

[Hipshot]

I was once told (and I have no way to authenticate it) that the original reason for a diver not putting a mask on top of the head has its origins with the Navy. A mask atop the head reflects light like a mirror, and gives away the diver's position, hence it was dangerous for a Navy diver to do that. That said, I still agree the mask should not be placed on top of the head, only because of the greater liklihood of losing it that way.

Rick

[mantarraya]

I was once told (and I have no way to authenticate it) that the original reason for a diver not putting a mask on top of the head has its origins with the Navy. A mask atop the head reflects light like a mirror, and gives away the diver's position, hence it was dangerous for a Navy diver to do that. Rick

That at least makes sense of where the warning originated...

[jextract]

...
Proper surface mask placement is like diving with or without a snorkle.
...
In the end, its always a personal decision. There are no scuba police to give you a ticket.

Cephalopod

Actually, that's not always true. There are "nanny-state" communities here in SoCal who will write you a ticket for diving without a snorkel. Just another instance of The Man keepin' us down!

[Walter]

I tell my students not to wear their masks on their forehead because I want them to be comfortable in the thing. I do not continue the half-truth about the mask on forehead equals a panicked diver, but do talk about it slipping off their head in in big swells. I also mention it, to me, is just a cool tradition in diving/ocean folklore. I tell them as divers never to rename a boat, bring a banana on board, or to wear their masks on their forehead. We get a laugh out of it.

I agree, except about the superstitions.

[Colorado Shark Guy]

A mask on the forehead is NOT a sign of distress. That's one of the biggest myths in diving.

If this is the case, then why do most of the certifying agencies teach it and so many divers go by it as a rule?

[PerroneFord]

Just a bit to add here:

The folks I generally dive with are not prone to panic. The loss of a mask is a minor inconvenience, and on many dives a spare is carried. There are no currents or swells to deal with. We walk in and out of our dive sites. I have done a 2.5 hour dive without my mask as I preferred it to borrwing an ill fitting one.

The sequence of our pre-dive and post dive makes it inconvenient to leave the mask in the fin pocket.

So in short, my conditions are not other's peoples conditions. Do what works in your environement. If you are significant risk to lose a mask in your conditions, or the loss of a mask could comprimise the safetly of the diver, carrying a spare would probably be prudent.

As usual, just my thoughts, others will certainly disagree.