Dark skirt vs. clear?

[IndyDan]

I'm shopping for a new mask, and one of the ones I'm looking at is all black. Does anyone know how this affects visability? I'm a little concerned that it cuts off too much light. Unfortunaltly, it'll be a few months before I can give it a test-dive.
Dan

 

[drbill]

I bought a Cressi Big Eyes with clear skirt a few years ago. I love the visibility of the mask, but have a lot of trouble with stray light since the skirt lets in far too much of it. I am an underwater videographer and need to be able to see my potential subjects before they see me, so I plan on buying another Big yes with black skirt and keeping the current one for backup.

Your mileage may vary.

Dr. Bill

 

[BouncerSMC]

I have both a Scubapro Frameless(Black) and a Cressi Horizon(Clear). I like the Black for photo diving because of the stray light problem. I like the Horizon when I am either just down for a leisurely sightseeing dive or if I am hunting. This way I can see all around. The Horizon is the "Big Eyes" with side windows.

 

[NaCL H2O Boy]

BouncerSMC once bubbled...
I have both a Scubapro Frameless(Black) and a Cressi Horizon(Clear). I like the Black for photo diving because of the stray light problem. I like the Horizon when I am either just down for a leisurely sightseeing dive or if I am hunting. This way I can see all around. The Horizon is the "Big Eyes" with side windows.

I've got the Cressi Horizon also, along with the SeaVision Ultra with the yellow lenses. To be completely honest, I find the Cressi to be much more comfortable. The SeaVision always feels like it is trying to move upwards on my face. The view through the SeaVision is very clear, but I don't have the peripheral vision that I get from the Cressi.

 

[Clutchcargo]

I had the Big Eyes with the clear skirt also. I liked the fit and the mask has incredible field of view. I agree with everyone else so far, the skirt allows too much light to reflect back. This might not be a problem in clear waters but I'm using it in the northeast where vis is anywhere from 3 - 40'. I ended up giving it away and went with the ScubaPro frameless. I think I liked the fit and feel of the Cressi better than the SP. My next mask will most likely be the blackskirted Cressi.

 

[Karl_in_Calif]

Clear is nice because it lets more light in. It also gives you less of a sense of tunnel vision and claustrophobia than a dark skirt mask.

When my fiancee started scuba, she was using my dark skirted backup mask, and she didnt enjoy it.

Then I bought her a birthday present of a TUSA teal-colored clear-skirt mask (teal is her favorite color), and now she loves it.

 

[pipedope]

In some cases a clear skirt will give you reflections inside your mask that can be distracting.

For someone who will be a model in UW photogrphy the clear skirt lets more light into the eyes area and makes for better pictures.

For tech diving in dark water with fair to good vis, the black skirt is probably better.

Most of the water I dive in is black (actually brown or green if there is any light) with zero vis so mask skirt is not an issue.

 

[Mo2vation]

I started with a 3 window Ocean Master mask with a clear skirt. Thought it was the bomb.

On an intro dive with my Sister about a year and a half ago, the instructor pulled out a low profile black skirted mask. This thing looked so tiny compared to the aquarium I had strapped to my grill.

We dove in, and underwater I put it on - instantly everything changed. It was that dramatic. No claustrophobia, no tunnel vision. When I turned my head to look at something, I saw only what I wanted to see. No glare, no squinting.

For me, going to a black mask made me feel like a diver and not a new diver. No offense to all who prefer a clear mask. Its hard to explain, but I can draw a clear line to changing out my mask, and me getting more serious about my diving.

eBayed the bay window, went black and never went back.

Kinda silly, but sometimes things like this trigger change.



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