Who travels with a spare mask and why?

[Graeme Fraser]

I suppose there could be two options 1) do you take a spare mask in your dive bag 2) do you take a spare mask with you on the actual dive.

If I'm doing casual rec, a spare stays in my bag. If I'm doing tec, it's in my drysuit pocket. On the off chance I have a problem with the primary, I really don't want to deco blind.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I always have two if not three masks with me on every trip. Nothing will disrupt a dive sooner than mask issues. I have three identical masks that I rotate through. I finally found a mask that fit my face without any leaking and I fairly quickly bought two more of the same mask!

I also have a spare mask with me on every dive as well. I use a Dive Rite mask pocket on my backplate wasteband. It also serves to secure the long hose on my primary 2nd stage. I've dived that configuration for years. I've never needed it but diving in current in south Florida, there could easily be a day where I somehow lose my mask and then it'll be gone! Rather than ascend to the surface "blind" I can easily retrieve my backup. It is tucked out of the way and also serves another purpose. It is a configuration that works very well for me.

 

[Neilwood]

I don't have a spare for my mask but reckon I should get one especially for trips where obtaining a replacement is going to be an issue.

I do carry mask spares in my save a dive kit though.

 

[MrBigfins]

I have a large nose that makes most mask fit terribly. I dive scubapro frameless xl masks and it fits and seals well even with my mustache. I take an identical mask with me every time I dive. I dont live close to ANY diving so even a quarry trip is a couple hours and I tend to do multiple days per trip there. I would not want to try and find a mask that would fit while there, so I bring a spare

 

[Addicted2H2O]

Like most of the others I always carry a spare mask on me when I dive. I also carry a traditional 2nd stage reg w/ a QD fitting on it. Reason being, unless I'm helping with OW classes, I usually dive a ffm, and if something should go wrong, I can switch to a conventional mask and reg and clip my ffm to a d-ring. The one time I didn't dive with a spare mask and reg was about two weeks ago. At the lake helping DM a class and was finishing up a dive. Gave the sign that we were making our safety stop and as soon as I did, my omni-swivel failed, free-flowing air and letting water into my ffm. The bolt that holds the two halves of the swivel together loosened up just enough to allow the o-ring to pop out of place. We were right at 15 ft and had only gone down to about 25 ft max depth and it lasted the whole dive (about 30 minutes in 50F water) up to that point. My choices were either stay at depth and try to keep breathing my ffm, which as now flooding and breathing very wet on top of spewing what air I had left (flowed about 600 psi in about 10 seconds), pull it off, disconnect it from the QD fitting, switch to my octo and essentially be blind, or surface and be done with the dive. I chose to surface, using the normal ascent rate of course. Last time I dive without a spare mask on me.

 

[MikkelBC]

Just curious, who goes on SCUBA trips with a spare mask? Why? is it the same as your primary mask or a different style and why?? Just askin'

I dive with a spare mask in my pocket on every dive. Therefore I also travel with two masks.
It is a basic piece of equipment redundancy that changes a potentially very difficult equipment malfunction situation into one that is easily solved.
My spare mask is quite similar to my primary, but a bit cheaper.
So far it has mostly been useful to me when people around me have forgotten their masks.

 

[txgoose]

Nothing unique to add, but I also carry a spare mask. But that is because I tend to have a somewhat extensive save-a-dive kit covering other things as well. I don’t get to dive as much as I’d like so losing a day or even a dive feels like a big hit. I try to mitigate for Murphy’s law as best as I can. For me, simply having the spares nearby is a stress reliever. Even if I never need them.

And we’re a family of four so Murphy gets a 300% boost in probable success rate. Having spent time with that %^&$!@! In the past, I consider him a fifth diver on the team.

 

[jstrang]

I have 3 masks on every trip - all prescription - one cheap dgx that goes in a pocket on the dives for backup. Two primary Atomic subframe masks that are the same. One gets used more than the other but it is almost 10 years old and i keep thinking it'll breakdown. I would hate to not have a backup that i know and like for any trip.

 

[Hoag]

I travel with a spare mask.

I wear glasses (bifocals) and I have a mask in my prescription. When my prescription changes significantly, and to the point that I need to update the prescription in my mask, my current mask becomes my back up and my new mask (with the new prescription) becomes my new primary mask.

If my prescription change is pretty subtle, I typically do not update my mask.

 

[divad]

I have a spare mask in drysuit pocket....and practice using it...in cold water. Its a bit of a shock, which is why I practice. If I travel, or not, its always there. Its there right now, patiently waiting.