cleaning a new mask

[Crush]

These deaths occured after divers certified in the warm clear waters of the Carribean died in the cold dark waters of Quebec. It was evident their training lacked in the particularities of the northern environment.

Merci, Belmont!

You may be interested in the thread http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/323717-philosophy-diver-training.html where DCBC indicates that he believes that a PADI warm-water course is not appropriate for an unaccompanied diver on our East Coast.

FWIW, I did my open water cert in a two piece 7 mm wetsuit - our first two dives were at 4C, and our next two dives were at 1C. Oh, many dives later we practiced working in a zero-vis environment by retrieving golf balls from a water hazard - talk about "benthic."

 

[Belmont]

Merci, Belmont!

You may be interested in the thread http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/323717-philosophy-diver-training.html where DCBC indicates that he believes that a PADI warm-water course is not appropriate for an unaccompanied diver on our East Coast.

FWIW, I did my open water cert in a two piece 7 mm wetsuit - our first two dives were at 4C, and our next two dives were at 1C. Oh, many dives later we practiced working in a zero-vis environment by retrieving golf balls from a water hazard - talk about "benthic."

:cool2: Thank you for the link.

Once you train in that kind of environment, dives in the south are like a walk in the park.

Next week I'm going to Rockport, the water temp in the St-Lawrence is near zero now but the vis is incredible. Spring runoff is minimal and you can see the bottom at 10 meters.

 

[diver 85]

Don't worry about the 'why' part, just do it---unless you want to see everything UW foggy......

 

[BarrelRoll]

X10 on the lighter.

If you're unsure about using the flame technique, you can just hit the very center of the lens just so you can see the film separate, then you can scrub with whatever mix works best for you from there. You at least need to see the film to begin with, though, so you know you're actually achieving something.

 

[Troutmaster]

Don't use regular toothpaste. Only use a gel type. The regular white toothpaste has an abrasive that will scratch the lens. BTW Why isn't it called teethpaste

I disagree, the abrasive in the "white" kind is what cuts the crud. I know one instructor that uses "soft scrub" very carefully. I have always used "white" toothpaste to clean my mask, and after 20+ years with the same mask I think it is OK.

 

[Nemrod]

So, your "another film" is not of the BS kind

Exactly what I said SA.

Leaving aside from the "film" which I do not believe is applied to a new mask on purpose, the lighter method will generally not damage silicone skirted masks even if the flame plays on to the skirt. The contaminants are burned leaving a residue which I then wash off with the hot water and Dawn.

BTW, very few scuba masks are plastic.

Glass has a hardness of 5.5 to 6.0 on Mohs Scale. Some minerals found in toothpaste and especially other cleaning agents may be of greater hardness. BTW, tooth enamel is about a 5 on Mohs Scale. If sufficient pressure is applied in the "scrubbing" with such agents scratching of the lens is entirely possible.

N

 

[SubMariner]

Bonjour Petryk,

Let me put things in perspective:

The FQAS was created after a Coroner's special inquest was made in the deaths of many divers.

These deaths occured after divers certified in the warm clear waters of the Carribean died in the cold dark waters of Quebec. It was evident their training lacked in the particularities of the northern environment.

Acknowledging this, the government asked the scuba industry to prepare a special curiculum.
Every diver learning to dive in Quebec receives this particular training and gets the certification.

My dauther, for her open water cert, had to wear a 14 mm wet suit (7/7) and three finger mitts.

The dives were held in a quarry with water temp of 40 degrees at 25 feet . (In June)

So, to dive in Quebec , you ase supposed to have this certification, somewhat like you need a cave cert to dive at Ginnie Springs.

Now for enforcement: the most I have heard is that an inspector has been around a few popular dive sites, once or twice a year, to give information. No one, to my knowledge, has had any fine imposed because he did not have the certification.

I heard that the card was required by a fill station in the lower St-Lawrence region. Probably because that place has pretty advanced diving and many have died there.

As for my own experience: I received my first training in Jamaica. Back home I wanted to keep on diving and I contacted a local instructor (He teaches the DIR fundamentals but he is not from GUE or FQAS.)

All my training dives were done in the St-Lawrence river in the Thousand Island region of Ontario. I don't have a FQAS cert. I have never had problems getting fills in Montreal and no one asked me for the card in Quebec.

I understand that divers from outside the province simply have to show their ID and confirm they are familiar with cold water, low vis diving.

I hope this helps.

PS: I am not interested in spending the $125.00 needed for my FQAS cert upgrade (It costs only about $15.00 when you take an open water course)

Merci, Belmont!

You may be interested in the thread http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/323717-philosophy-diver-training.html where DCBC indicates that he believes that a PADI warm-water course is not appropriate for an unaccompanied diver on our East Coast.

FWIW, I did my open water cert in a two piece 7 mm wetsuit - our first two dives were at 4C, and our next two dives were at 1C. Oh, many dives later we practiced working in a zero-vis environment by retrieving golf balls from a water hazard - talk about "benthic."

Ok... not to get political here, but FQAS was dreamed up by typical Quebec politicians. Kind of like Bill 101.

It's interesting to note that no other province in Canada, whose students train in every bit as strenuous an environment as that in PQ, deemed it necessary to require that a "special" certifying agency be created to deal with their "special circumstances".

People who train in the Great Lakes, or on the East/West coasts of Canada have been through equally tough diving conditions. Low/no vis, cold water, currents, silt... you name it. All contingencies can be dealt with by simply finding a competent dive instructor in that area. Agency has nothing to do with it.

My Instructor friends who are still in La Belle Province feel the creation of the FQAS has done nothing more than make an already complicated & ponderous provincial bureaucracy even more so.

Getting off my soapbox now,

 

[reservecops]

Soft Scrub has worked well on several masks that I have owned.

BTW Why isn't it called teethpaste

Did you know that the toothbrush was invented in Kentucky?

Had it been invented anywhere else, it would have been called the TEETHBRUSH.

 

[Nemrod]

Do you have to have a special nanny state license in Queebec to clean a mask, maybe an advanced certification?

MEK works also followed with the wash.

N

 

[Troutmaster]

MEK works also followed with the wash.

N

Does MEK cloud up plastic lenses or are you sugesting it only for glass? I imagine it would work really well to cut most crud.