The best full face masks

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Taliesin:
Just so I don't miss anything in my quest to tech-up, is there a holy grail of FFMs out there that you guys might drool over, but might not have mentioned already because of its obscene price tag? If not, I think I'm good to go!
Taliesin

The "Holy Grail" of commercial full-face masks is the Widolf. It is extremely tough, low volume, and has been rated "the most comfortable full-face mask ever produced". The fit and comfort level is so high due to the special construction of the skirt. The face-plate is tempered glass. It is light, even with its solid construction. (This is the mask in the CCR configuration with a Bail-out Valve, or BOV, on the front.) Sadly, it is not in production at the moment.
 
Continuing the thread from another angle. Why do PSDs use FFM anyway? The only two reasons that spring to mind are commo gear and contaminated water. Any other reasons?

ciao!

leam
 
Comfort, warmth and speed suiting up are a few more.

Anytime you recover a body you are in a Haz-Mat situation. No matter how fresh or how old it is there is going to be contamination of some sort.

Fresh one’s will do what is easiest to just call a vomit on the way up. Internal fluids will leak out. Some are very visible while others will be almost clear but they will do it. That goes for all openings in the body.

Older ones will have skin come off and the older they are the deeper tissues will simply start floating away and so on.

A full Face is simply a little extra bit of protection.

Gary D.
 
speaking of potection from body fluids... who here wears a vulcanized rubber drysuit for their PSD diving?
 
I'd agree with a lot that has been said here. The one point that I'd argue is positive pressure. Most of the time, I don't think that it's worth the hassles that come with it. It's prone to failure, wastes gas and is a general pain in the backside. There's not a body of water that I'd go into with a positive pressure that I wouldn't go into with a demand reg. I use to dive the positive pressure, gave it up the first time I dived a demand reg. I'll post something I wrote a while back for those that might be interested. Sorry for the length...

Interspiro Divator MKII Full Face Mask
Silicone vs. Rubber and Positive Pressure vs. Demand

The silicone masks seem to seal on most faces better than the gray rubber masks. It seems that they are a little smaller than the rubber masks. The silicone will last longer than the rubber because it doesn’t deteriorate or dry rot. The strap lugs are stronger on the rubber mask, less prone to tearing out. Interspiro recently changed the composition of the silicone. It seems stronger than before. This in mind, if you have a silicone mask, it’s very important that you properly adjust the straps. You need to pull back on the straps, not out. Grab the strap tabs between your thumb and forefinger and pull straight back, as if you are trying to put your fists together behind your head. Always adjust the jaw straps first, temple straps second and then lightly snug the top strap. Always make sure the center of the spider (head strap) is as low on the back of the head as possible. I can’t stress how important this is, most problems with fit can be narrowed to the top strap being tightened too tight. Also, keep in mind that the mask keys on the chin placement. Properly place the chin in the cup and the rest of the mask fits where it falls up around the face.

There are some misconceptions about the positive pressure and the demand regulators. Here, I'm liable to start a discussion (argument) or two. The positive pressure feature, also referred to as "Safety Pressure", was designed for SCBA applications. Although it works just fine for diving purposes and was the standard for years, it wasn't designed specifically for diving. The dynamics of a gaseous environment are very different than that of water. The demand regulator does maintain a positive pressure when in an upright orientation. This is due to the position of the regulator lower than that of the rest of the mask. If you have the opportunity to dive the mask in the demand version, try sliding a finger or two through the seal of the mask at the temple or on the cheek. The mask will free flow and no water will enter the mask. You will find the demand version of the mask to be comfortable, easy to use and very dry.

The positive pressure mask is a lot less forgiving to any breaks in the integrity of the seal. It maintains an overpressure of approximately a one-inch water column of pressure over ambient. This gas wants to go somewhere and it’s more likely to inflate your hood because of this. If you’re diving a latex hood, you have two seals to deal with, the mask to the hood and the hood to the face. This is necessary for total encapsulation in contaminated water. If you have hair, beard, a wrinkle in the seal, etc, you’re going to inflate your hood. It has little to do with the adjustment of the regulator. If you intend on making adjustments to the regulator, you need to be a certified Interspiro Repair Technician and test the function of the regulator, otherwise, if there is an incident involving the equipment, you’re on your own from a liability standpoint. If you’re diving in water where contamination isn’t a concern, the best possible seal is mask to skin. A hood cut specifically for the AGA mask makes it a lot easier. It gets the neoprene out of the way and minimizes exposed skin. If you end up pulling/folding the hood back it can interfere with the seal at the straps making it difficult to prevent leaking. Bottom line, with the positive pressure mask, if you give it the opportunity to leak, it will. The good thing that separates the AGA mask from other masks is that all the leaking is air out, not water in. The leaking of air out can be severe enough to cause interference in hearing your communications equipment.

What exactly do you gain with positive pressure? In all actuality, a properly adjusted reg/mask, if turned completely upside-down and completely flooded will maintain approximately a one inch air space inside the mask, where the demand regulator will maintain none. How much drier is the positive pressure compared to the demand, dive each and I think you will hard pressed to find one drier than the other. Another drawback to the positive pressure mask is the lever assembly. It is relatively prone to failure. In many older regulators, the lever can fail to maintain its engagement. The detent can wear out and the regulator will accidentally go into free flow, causing a rapid loss of gas, let alone being extremely annoying. Now, where the positive pressure makes a difference is in decontamination procedure. If you’ve made the decision to dive in water that is sufficiently contaminated that simply breathing the air around you will cause you harm while being scrubbed down, positive pressure would be desired.

When evaluating your needs, take into consideration the kind of diving you do. If the environment is contaminated, either chemical, petrol-chemical or biological, ask yourself if you’re prepared to dive. Do you have the proper equipment? The means/equipment/training to decontaminate? Is the contamination beyond that of you and your team’s capabilities? Are you duty bound to dive in that type of contamination. If it’s a cold water drowning and you have responded in time, then, of course you’re going to do whatever you can. If a detective asks you to dive for a piece of evidence in bad water, is it worth the risk to your health? Certainly if there are chemicals that are potent enough to eat your gear, seriously reconsider. If you don’t know, consider not getting in. Refer to your HAZMAT training. The AGA mask, be it positive pressure or demand is no substitute for a SuperLite, Viking or similar drysuit with a neck dam and probably the most important thing, the proper training.
 
Greg D.:
speaking of potection from body fluids... who here wears a vulcanized rubber drysuit for their PSD diving?

Our team wears Viking vulcanized rubber drysuits, latex hoods and gloves and AGA fullface mask. The rubber suits are good and durable and easy to decon.
 
teodoro:
What do you guys think about the Apeks full face mask? Thanks for your input.

I've seen it, handled it, not dived it yet. It's a Draeger mask with an Apeks second stage. Much better choice of reg than the Draeger Shark. Don't care for the equalizing assembly. Seems way over built on that. Haven't seen a price yet here in the States, but was told it was spendy. There are issues with communications and where to put the microphone. It's in the works, so I understand.

The Interspiro Divator MKII is pretty much the standard of the industry and for good reason, have you looked at it?
 

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