Black or Clear Mask Skirts?

[DocWong]

Seems like most DIR divers prefer a dark mask skirt but recently I've gone to a clear skirt and have been getting my buddies to dive a clear skirt especially for scootering in our Monterey, CA waters where the viz is usually less.

I noticed that when signaling buddies with a black skirt, they would not see my light signal unless I was almost at a 90 degree angle to their mask. Then with buddies with a clear skirt, I could almost be behind them, flash once with my light onto their mask and they'd see it and stop.

Am I kind of alone in this, or has anyone else noticed this too?

 

[phil8diver]

Actually I agree with you. I have experienced the same thing. Some of my friends with black mask skirt seems to have harder time noticing my light compared to the ones with clear mask like myself. To me it only makes sense since light can penetrate thru the clear skirt compared to the black skirts.

 

[krulle]

the good thing about a black mask is that it eliminates a lot of anoying light-sources.

The bad thing can indeed be that you notice the light signals less well.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have two masks that are identical except for the skirts - one is clear the other is black. For ocean dives in clear water I will use the black one and the clear one becomes the spare.

In my experience, in clear water, you get excessive reflection from the surface light with the clear mask and it tends to reduce your SA as you have to tune out flashes/glare on the lens you'd otherwise attend to.

During cave dives, I do the reverse and use the clear one with the back one as back up. In a cave any light you encounter is significant and the clear skirt then improves your SA rather than detracts from it. In ocean dives in low viz, where there will be minimal light from the surface at depth, I will also usually also take the clear mask.

No one ever said you have to own just one mask.

 

[PR_SMITH]

Good info, DA.

I dive exclusively in freshwater here in Ontario and the viz is quite variable, so I dive a yellow mask with a clear skirt. The yellow makes it a bit easier to be seen in a murky lake and the clear skirt does give more peripheral vision as far as light signals go.

 

[krulle]

During cave dives, I do the reverse and use the clear one with the back one as back up. In a cave any light you encounter is significant and the clear skirt then improves your SA rather than detracts from it. In ocean dives in low viz, where there will be minimal light from the surface at depth, I will also usually also take the clear mask.

No one ever said you have to own just one mask.

Hi DA

You might consider your black skirt for low visibility-situations too. All the light that does not directly falls onto your eye is polluting your view. And in low vis situations, you don't want any view pollution.

I tried to explain it on my site by a kind of small presentation.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I agree that low viz presents some compromises either way and it realy depends how dark it is at depth. It can be a close call which one works better, but if I get it wrong I can always swap them.

 

[rjack321]

When side-by-side or staggered don't signal at the sides of people's faces. Signal where they are looking. So put your HID beam across their's and signal in that area.

I have some "clear skirted" masks but at this point they are seriously yellow vs. actual clear.