Carrying a Spare Mask. Do you or Don't you?

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!

Tfast78

Contributor
Messages
82
Reaction score
6
Location
New Orleans Louisiana USA
I've seen several posts on here where people mention carrying an extra mask in a pocket. I could understand it if I were on a technical dive or something like that but what about for regular OW dives? I would think that if there any type of equipment failure that dive would be over until corrections were made. I've never lost my mask or even had it come off while diving (I have been fin kicked in the face a few times).
 
On any penetration/overhead dive I carry one.

On a easy peezy OW tootle around and see the pretty fish, which I am really starting to like more and more lol, I don't always carry one. I do if it is a rough shore entry dive as I have seen first hand a mask get ripped off a friends head by the surf. It was an entry that we could only get in from and not out of, so after pulling him from the rocks that he was trashed about in, we had to swim out and go a good distance to get him back to shore. It would have been much easier if we could have descended a bit and dove in because of the high surf.

So in conclusion, I am all for them.
 
Sometimes I carry one, and sometimes I don't. It all depends upon the dive. If it is a typical resort area reef dive, I never carry one, because the likelihood of losing a mask completely is incredibly remote to begin with, and the consequences of such a loss are similarly minor, because I can still do a safe ascent without one.

Even my cave instructor has stopped carrying one into caves, saying that he has been doing cave diving and other forms of diving for 38 years and has never heard of anyone losing a mask. He figures the odds are in his favor enough that he is happy to free up pocket space for items that are more likely to be needed.

When I am in places where the likelihood of a loss or the resulting potential consequences are greater, then I think it through and make a decision.
 
I carry an extra mask when I go to dive, but I leave it on the boat.
 
I do.

I've lost a mask in surf (took it right off my face).

I've had to lend my spare to another diver on a ReefCheck survey whose mask strap broke after our long surface swim out to the survey site. Otherwise, we'd all have had a very long wait at the surface or have had to return to shore.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I saw someone loose their mask after a shore dive. They put it on their forehead and a wave took it off. Leave it on your face or pull it down under your chin & you shouldn't have a problem. Check the strap b/4 each dive!

---------- Post added May 7th, 2012 at 05:15 PM ----------

I carry an extra mask in my gear bag along with a spare strap.-not in my bc pocket.
 
I've been tech diving since 1997'ish. This year alone I have 140+ cave dives. I have NEVER lost a mask during a dive. 10,000+ dives, there seems no need. Granted, tomorrow I'll lose a mask, but I'm certain I can swim out without a mask anyway.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

Back
Top Bottom