Question Any one have a properly fitted mask in the store that leaks when in the water?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Hold your mask softly to your face. Dont inhale. Gently slide it sideway so one side is flush with your temple. If there is a gap on the other side, the mask is too wide and you will get leaks around the eyes.
Too tight maskstrap can exascerbate this.
 
thank you and makes sense. I notice my temples are recessed/flat some with not much room next to my eyes.

What mask did you find that worked well for you?
Original was a Tilos. I believe that it is the "Excel" M150BB: Excel Mask.
M150BB_1000x.jpg


Inexpensive. Great field of view. And Low-volume (considering the large lens.)

I'll excerpt the text from the ScubLab review (10 Frameless Masks) because all of the images showing the masks, the viewing-angle graphics and the chart-links are messed up now.
Tilos Excel: The Tilos Excel was the big surprise of this review. It had one of the widest fields of view and a budget-friendly price. With a wide bottom and teardrop shapes below the eyes, the lens favors downward viewing, great for finding belts and buckles on a BC. The top narrows at the temples but has high eyebrows that help when looking up. It all adds up to a combined vertical range of 75 degrees, the same vertical field of view as the two Atomic masks in this review. Bonus: The upper and lower corners of the mask have a tread-like texture that helps wet hands grip the mask when donning and doffing.


I've been buying a mask which seems Identical from Piranha, the Explorer II for $25: Explorer II Frameless Mask "Black Frame w/Black Skirt"
Explorer-II-Frameless-Mask--Black-Frame-wBlack-Skirt3131-4325.jpg

An Aside: Piranha's "Standard Mask Bag" (Standard Mask Bag) is a $5 add on with a mask purchase. I can fit 2 of the masks with full neoprene strap covers set lens-to-lens (primary and trip backup), a 3rd small folding backup (Frameless Flex Mask in-dive pocket backup) set lenses down against the other 2 masks, and a bottle of anti-fog. Reasonably protected and compact for travel.


Seems like HOG and Divers Supply/Sea Elite are also selling it.
HOG: New! Hog Low Volume Frame-less Mask "All Black", HOG Frameless Mask
Divers Supply/Sea Elite: Sea Elite Frameless 1 Mask with Box Black-Black


[EDIT: Found the archived version with correct pictures and viewing angle info on the Internet Archive:
10 Frameless Masks | Scuba Diving

Tilos Flex​


February 2008: 10 Frameless Masks: Tilos Flex
February 2008: 10 Frameless Masks: Tilos Flex field of view
Tilos Flex
While every other mask in this roundup sports a rigid single-window design, the Flex is a unique two-window mask that bends and twists at the nose bridge. On the surface this seems like a great idea, putting the lens closer to the eyes and widening peripheral vision. When you hit the water, however, you discover this design's limitations. We found it difficult to keep the lenses on the same focal plane, creating distortions that increased the more the two lenses flexed. Side views were unaffected, but looking straight ahead was like wearing someone else's prescription mask. By adjusting the mask for minimal strap tension we were able to eliminate most of the distortion. On the plus side, the Flex was the smallest, lowest volume mask of the group and the most compact for packing, and it comes at a bargain price.
Bottom line: The Flex is the perfect size and price to be a compact backup mask, but be sure to try one in the water to see if the distortion is an issue for you. Price: $33.48.

Tilos Excel​


February 2008: 10 Frameless Masks: Tilos Excel
February 2008: 10 Frameless Masks: Tilos Excel field of view
Tilos Excel
The Tilos Excel was the big surprise of this review. It had one of the widest fields of view and a budget-friendly price. With a wide bottom and teardrop shapes below the eyes, the lens favors downward viewing, great for finding belts and buckles on a BC. The top narrows at the temples but has high eyebrows that help when looking up. It all adds up to a combined vertical range of 75 degrees, the same vertical field of view as the two Atomic masks in this review. Bonus: The upper and lower corners of the mask have a tread-like texture that helps wet hands grip the mask when donning and doffing.
Bottom line: You get a lot of vision for your money with the Tilos Excel. Price: $56.95.
]
 
If you are a nose breather, it will break the seal of the mask. Make sure you are only breathing thru your mouth. We had this a fair bit when I was helping teach.
Try putting silicone grease on your beard and mustache, I had to do that when I had facial hair. Don't use Vaseline as it's petroleum based and will degrade the silicone skirt on your mask.
 
If you are a nose breather, it will break the seal of the mask. Make sure you are only breathing thru your mouth. We had this a fair bit when I was helping teach.
Try putting silicone grease on your beard and mustache, I had to do that when I had facial hair. Don't use Vaseline as it's petroleum based and will degrade the silicone skirt on your mask.
Ive almost always been a mouth breather due to reduced ability to breath through my nose. Also as I stated the water is coming in from the sides by my eyes not around the nose in the new mask. I was able to duplicate this today with doing the inhalation test unless i had the mask positioned just right.
 
and then when in the shop the mask seals so perfectly that the shopkeeper can't prise it off
and I take it not in a pool, but on a few dives to become accustomed and to adjust my face

and it continues to leak, I go buy another mask and start again





The wetsuit manufacturer took my measurements for a hood one day and made it too small
He then made a new one and sent the thing a thousand kilometres for it to be too small still

"But it fits me, and my head is bigger than yours, so why doesn't it fit you?" he says

And boy does he have some big head and it's round too and bald like a round rock


So he doesn't get that we all look different as we are different as are heads different
 
I've had students show up with a mask that fit great in the store, but turned out to be defective in the pool - sometimes it's just a lens retainer not completely locked in, other times something has gotten broken somewhere along the way. Some shops have demo/testers on the wall (usually without a strap), then you take home a nice new one still in the tupperware to actually use, so the student may not have actually tested *their* specific mask prior to hitting the water.

I try to keep a couple of spares on-hand for class, just in case we want to try different things to see if things improve (ideally stuff the shop sells, so the student can go back and exchange...)
 
Yes, twice now! Masks behave very well in store, perfect suction, no hair in way, passes suction test and even maintains seal without effort. IRL in the ocean, leaks no matter what I do. Keep poker face, not too tight, no hair in way, adjust height on face, nada. Finally sold the not-too-expensive-but-just-a-tiny-bit-too-wide so I wouldn't keep taking it on trips. Don't know what to do about the fancy low volume one with custom bifocal inserts that leaks even more and spoiled a few dives. Back to my basic Akona mask. I have no answers. Maybe just getting old with looser skin tone, but that's precisely when you need bifocal or prescription mask.
 
Ive almost always been a mouth breather due to reduced ability to breath through my nose. Also as I stated the water is coming in from the sides by my eyes not around the nose in the new mask. I was able to duplicate this today with doing the inhalation test unless i had the mask positioned just right.
If you break the seal on the mask, the water can enter the mask from anywhere.
 

Back
Top Bottom