Black Silicone Masks

[rmediver2002]

On large puchases of masks for the military the black silicone was on average two to three dollars cheaper per unit than the clear. The sales person said clear silicone showed all the defects from manufacture ( small air bubbles trapped in the silicone) the black did not show them so was slightly cheaper.

Jeff Lane

 

[ElectricZombie]

Also, if you teach SCUBA a lot, the cholorie in the pool will turn a clear mask skirt yellow. The black skirts always stay black.

 

[cyklon_300]

and it also turned a dingy yellow color. I think exposure to UV may also cause discoloration.

I had to upgrade my Rx and bought a black Zeagle Ebon recently, but haven't dived it yet.

At least my partner and I can easily tell our masks apart now...having to exchange them at 125' once got a less than favorable review.

 

[dmdalton]

Shortly before the earths crust cooled, when I started diving in '62, all the masks were made from hollowed out birch logs, just like the canoes. There were no such thing as clear masks.

Family situations caused me to take a break from diving in the 80's and when I returned in the 90's I thought the clear mask looked great so I bought one. After using it for a couple of years I decided I did not like the reflection off the lens of light coming through the clear side panels and reverted to an all black mask, once again. The clear mask (with my much needed $100 gauge readers installed became my backup mask.

On the issue of signaling buddies, that may be a valid point however it's been my experience that when the focus on buddy awareness was raised up a couple of notches through random practice drills, the black mask did not hinder response. Prior to this practice we almost had to beat each other over the head to get attention. However, I could see the clear mask helping in some situations.

Dave D

 

[SeaJay]

I've owned professional-grade masks for years. Even when I was a kid, I was spending the dough to get the good stuff to play with in the pool.

My last mask was a SeaQuest Ventura. I loved it. It had a clear skirt and a green frame to match my other electriclimabean green stuff. Fit great, low volume.

Well, one very sad night it was stolen.

So when I started taking my class, I decided to buy what was quick and available... A cheapo mask by U.S. Divers. It had a single lens, blue frame, and clear skirt.

When I got my OW, I decided that I was going to really spend some time underwater. So I gave myself an allowance of $150, and said that I could buy any mask I wanted, pretty much.

After trying on a hundred different masks and reading every review I could get my hands on, I found that by far and away, there were three masks that fit me best. In order, they would be the Scubapro Fino, The Oceanic Lite Vision (the smaller one), and the Cressi Horizon/Big Eyes (the difference is the extended lens on the side.) All of these fit great... However, the Scubapro Fino was invisible on my face, and didn't have batteries in it, which was sort of gimmicky. The Cressi masks certainly were awesome, especially in their ability to look down... But one of the reasons for that was a lens that was 18 degrees off vertical, meaning that it was bending the light underwater. Sure, you get used to it pretty quickly, but I wasn't really interested in using anything that wasn't showing me the "real picture."

Personally, I find that the best masks are those which are lowest volume, and as simple as possible. I prefer one lens over two because when you spit in one lens to defog it, you can tilt the mask and use the rest of the spit rather than having to spit twice. No big deal either way, really. But most super-low volume masks have two lenses, and I don't really notice a difference between the two when they're on my face. The Fino is a two-lens mask, and ultra low volume, preventing buoyancy problems, allowing me to have the most periferal vision, and distorting the size/distance of things the least.

This simple mask was only about $60... So I bought them both... The clear skirt and the black skirt.

I can't say enough about this mask in terms of fit and quality. I'm very happy with both of them.

I find that the clear skirt "ghosts" at the surface. Light comes in through the sides (through the clear silicone) and reflects on the inside of the glass. It's not bad, since this mask is such low volume, but it's there a little. It's noticable between the two masks. Doesn't bother me too much, but it's there. I find that because of this, there is some truth to the idea that black-skirted masks allow for clearer vision. Of course, this is only an issue at the surface or in shallow water. Another thing that I noticed, however, that nobody's mentioned here, is the "bubbles" problem. Exhaling through a reg obviously produces bubbles, and they go somewhere... Typically just to the left and right of your mask. I find the bubbles a bit distracting while scuba diving, especially when I'm in dark water (like at night) and I have a light. The bubbles shimmer, and in my peripheral vision. Again, it's not bad, but I do find it slightly annoying.

Lastly, I find that as a whole, silicone does yellow over the years. It doesn't yellow as fast if you keep the mask in a case, but it still ages and yellows over time. The black silicone doesn't show the yellowing as bad as the clear.

So which do I use? The black skirted Fino. I like it better because there's no "ghosting" on the inside of my lenses, it doesn't show wear as bad, and while scuba diving, it doesn't allow for the distraction of your exhaled bubbles.

...But I can see the legitimate argument that with the clear skirts, there is a little more allowance for peripheral vision. I minimized it's effect by getting a mask that fits as close to my face as possible. There's still a difference, though.

I think I might be more inclined to use a clear-skirted mask when snorkeling, since you're not exhaling bubbles like you do while scuba diving. 'Course, snorkeling is done on clear, sunny days in good vis waters, and "ghosting" would be really bad, so it'd be up in the air for me on which I would choose.

 

[willo]

Nothing really new to add, but why not.

Black reduces Glare.
It's also easier for me to find on the bottom of the pool.
I'm nearsighted, add that to the water distortion and life is better
with black.

Clear can be more relaxing if you're claustrophobic.
Clear gives you a perifial shadow view on the sides. Sometimes this helps. Clear tends to be stiffer/harder than black.
Black is usally black due to added graphite/carbon to the mix.
That makes the silicon softer.

Finally, black matches anything.
I picked up a $70 knife for $17 because its owner wanted a knife that matched the rest of his gear. (There's a little green insert on the black knife handle and sheath.. - Hey, it matches all my black gear!

I like black myself.

 

[Verbshark]

I found the clear silicone annoying. ANy time anything moved above, below, or to either side of me, I saw movement on twoor more sides in the silicone. As a result, I started ignoring the periphery, which resulted in my field of vision being lower than a deep air diver's at 200 feet.

I switched to a black skirt and found the improvement in my vision quite a relief.

When my ex-wife "accidentally" stepped on my mask and broke the hinges, I purchased a Zeagle Ranger. It's opaque but grey. The grey works just as well as the black (okay, maybe it doesn't look quite as cool:mean: ).

 

[ChasingRichard]

I like black because the clear start looking crappy after a while. My black mask still looks great after 2 years and my daughers clear mask looks terrible. The clear silicon is turning a nasty yellowish color.

 

[Zept]

When your black BC starts to fade from being in the sun, the pool and the ocean, everyone says it makes you look more experienced.

When your clear mask skirt goes yellow from being in the sun, the pool and the ocean (I blame suncream, personally), everyone says, 'If you'd been more experienced, you'd have bought a black one.'

What a strange bunch we are!


Zept