Mask on Forehead reliable distress signal?

[wardric]

MOF is the only way to go.

N

Nothing more to add. MOFing makes you look cool

 

[Nemrod]

All the kool kats are MOF.

N

 

[Divergirl4U]

good morning, my mask is on my forehead but I turn it around backwards

 

[Sinbad the Diver]

My OW Instructor explained the concept very well to my class. It is sometimes considered a distress signal so if you do it some may see it as such. He never told us it was a signal to use, but described it more as something that may be misinterpreted.

 

[Scuba-Stu]

I not only put it on my forehead, I wear it backwards.

 

[dwhthediver]

So you retrieve their mask for them. I would think that making them retrieve their own mask would send home the message to be more aware of their equipment.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. "But if they lost their mask how are they going to find it without a mask?" I would think a good instructor/diver would have a spare somewhere.

I do carry 2 or 3 spare masks...in my truck, so I or a CA retrieve, and the lesson is learned, after having to go get a mask, no one else in the class puts it on their forehead.

 

[J.R.]

Has anyone seen a distressed diver actually stop and think "I am in distress, I will put my mask on my forehead".

No, it is not a valid signal of distress.

Well... last year I was doing my Rescue class. Had to do that "tow and give rescue breaths" thing. The water was COLD... I was tired... setsuit and hood were too tight... maybe a little squeeze on the the ol' carrodid artery thing was going on...

... suddenly *I* couldn't get my breath... and, while I didn't think about putting my mask on my forehead to show that I was in a distressed situations... guess what... somehow it found it's OWN way up there...

... as I passed the *victim* to my buddy, I peeled off and started loosening wetsuit pieces and working to get that &@@$&$* hood off my head and away from my neck... (mask got lost... found it later...)

Now... was my MOF a *sign* of distress... well... I wasn't outwardly paniced... but I was working to unrestrict my restricted condition (purely in the interests of "self rescue", you understand)... and the MOF did, reflexively occur as a result.

No... I'm not willing to say that it is any kind of *sign*... but it might well be a *symptom*... unfortunately, I think the "good intentions" of the idea end up diluting the usefulness of being aware that a MOF *could* be an indicating element when the zealots make a religion out of it...

... however, MOF is a good way of loosing a mask... and IF you're running a dive and somebody looses a mask... it can impact everybody ELSE's dive... so I'm thinkin' that no-MOF actually has more of an efficiency/organizational relevance than it does from a "need to rescue" perspective...

... oh.... got my breath back... re-adjusted my gear... did the exercise again... no issues... :blinking: But I did learn some interesting stuff from the experience...

 

[Scuba-Stu]

Sometimes I were two or three masks on my head.

 

[String]

Sometimes I were two or three masks on my head.

Wise - redundancy is always good.

 

[glashoppah]

To put this to rest...

When I see someone with a mask on their forehead, I see a person who isn't comfortable keeping their mask on for an extra 30 to 60 seconds.

And I ask myself: WHY?!

You are a trained diver. You wear a mask for a long, long time underwater and manage to function just fine. Your mask fits your face well and is comfortable (It is, right? If it isn't, fix that problem first.).

My masks work really well when they're covering my eyes. On my forehead or neck, not so much.

Why not keep it over your eyes till you're back on the boat or shore and doffing your gear?

When I'm on a boat or a forum and I hear someone carping on ANOTHER ADULT about how they choose to wear their mask, I have to ask myself: WHY?! It always sounds like elitism to me.

If someone chooses to put it on their forehead, unless that someone is under 18 and your progeny or your responsibility, it's really none of your business. If they lose it, a comment about wearing it around your neck being more secure should be sufficient.

I've never lost a mask, ever. When I'm sitting on a boat I wear it up on my forehead because it's very comfortable (I don't like the strangly feeling of having it around my neck, nor do I like pulling it down there and back up) and easy to pop back on my face, where it is any time I'm in water. And it's my choice to do so. I had some boob last summer try to tell me in front of a bunch of other divers on a boat that I was a n00b for wearing my mask the way I'd worn it when not in use for 30 years, and I just looked at this guy like he was speaking Martian. Who did he think he was, my father?

H.