Backup mask choices

[O2BBubbleFree]

I have played around with swimming goggles and they will do the job if that job is to safely ascend and be able to moniter gauges. But it will take some serious practice if that is the route you choose to go. After you put them on under water, you need to look down at about a 45 degree angle, slightly crack the lower part of each goggle, and exhale slowly thru your nose. //snip//

When I was a kid I had a friend who discovered that, while underwater, he could blow bubbles out of his tear ducts. Pretty freaky, but I guess he could use swim goggles for diving!

There's a skill we could all try to master ;^)

Clearing the googles would be a pretty slow process (based on what I remember of his bubble stream), but it would probably work for equalization.

If, of course, you happen to be a freak of nature that can force air out of your tear ducts.




You tried it, didn't you? Admit it, You tried it. You tried it, and now you are cross-eyed...

 

[bluemagoo]

You tried it, didn't you? Admit it, You tried it. You tried it, and now you are cross-eyed...

Awwww, you saw me.....

Actually, as a kid, I did come across some book that had a pic of some South Pacific islander with bubbles pressed into his eye sockets. The technique was to exhale through your nostrils while in the facedown position. Apparently, the bubbles are held in place by the combination of hairs of the eyelashes and eyebrows; diving spiders do the same thing by holding a bubble of air to their abdomen with the hairs of their legs. In consideration, it helps to have deep eye sockets and a thick Cro-Magnon-man single eyebrow (over both eyes).

A variation was to tightly press your open hands above your eyebrows (as if you were shading your eyes from the sun) and then exhale through your nose and trap the bubbles in your hands. That works reasonably well. not very practical but a interesting stunt. I've tried it to look into tidepools and a couple times while on scuba; my buddy nearly drowned laughing.

A variation on using "speedo" goggles is used by some Japanese ama divers and SouthPac islanders. They take swim goggles and attach little rubber bulbs to each eyecup with a little tube/straw. The idea -- and it works -- is that while descending, pressure will squeeze the bulbs first and thereby equalize the pressure in the eyecups.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

That is exactly my point - they'd be hard to clear. However they are very small - so possibly it would be possible using the purge on the reg. you'd probably still have some water inside that was impossible to get out - but you might be able to see enough to read your gauges. I'm not suggesting this as a good alternative - more of a last ditch emergency one.

I hate to break it to you, but there are goggles that would work as backup to a mask. In case you don't know it, the world records for breath-hold deep diving (somewhere around 65 meters) are done by divers wearing water-contact goggles. These have specially ground lenses which correct for the water interface. You can probably "google" them when you find the free-diving record holders. There also is no squeeze potential, as there is no air pocket within the goggles.

Now, I have been diving for many, many years is some pretty extreme conditions, and have never felt the need for a "backup" face mask. But, I don't do decompression dives. Have masks gotten so cheap that they would routinely fail? I can only see a backup being needed if you were tech diving (overhead or decompression), or using a FFM with the potential for breathing system failure. But I really see no reason for a backup mask on my routine dives.

SeaRat

PS--I made the above post without reading the most recent posts. I too have tried the bubble method, when bored in the pool for very long treading water sessions in lifeguard training (many moons ago). It does work, but only when perfectly still. Same with the hands-cupped method.

Concerning the South Sea Islanders, they hand-made their goggles out of shells, and made them so tight-fitting that they had very little air in them. Thus, they were able to dive very deep with them. The Ama dived with the bulb, and that compensated well for the pressure. All these methods preceeded the face mask.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

If you are interested in water-contact goggles (fluid goggles), here's the link:

Fluid Goggles

These goggles are recommended by the manufacturer as backup for scuba divers, such as those using FFM.

There is another page, which is for their free-diving goggle:

Free Diving Fluid Goggles

SeaRat

 

[bluemagoo]

If you are interested in water-contact goggles (fluid goggles), here's the link:
SeaRat

Very interesting. Thanks.

 

[2TH DIVR]

Now, I have been diving for many, many years is some pretty extreme conditions, and have never felt the need for a "backup" face mask. But, I don't do decompression dives. Have masks gotten so cheap that they would routinely fail? I can only see a backup being needed if you were tech diving (overhead or decompression), or using a FFM with the potential for breathing system failure. But I really see no reason for a backup mask on my routine dives.

I agree with John and I do deco and penetration dives.
What reasons would there be that you would lose your mask solo diving.
A strap breaking? You should be taking care of your gear better.