Met a fellow female diver on boat last week. She was rocking what she told me was a "bang wrangler". I'm going to try and get me one. Regardless, I'm also in the camp of, we gals need to wear neoprene covers on our mask straps.
Dealing with long hair
- Thread starter jhwang
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Zmajcek
Registered
For me a braid is part of getting ready for a dive, and than a braid for my sister, and than for friends.... damn it
. But my hair is layered and I always have stray hairs that I have to push back under the hood, and that end up under my mask so I've started putting on a wide headband. It doesn't damage the hair, and I put my hood over it. I like this bang wrangler thing. Might take it, but I am not sure if it damages the hair.
As for keeping the hair healthy and strong. That's a whole other issue.
I tried stay in conditioners, balms, coconut oil, other oils. I think I am just crazy for wanting long hair with my lifestyle. I tell my self I will put treatments in it as soon as I exit the water, but in one day after the start of my dive trip my resolve is gone. I get out the water and I wash all my gear, and take the tank to compressor, and maybe hook up the compressor, and supervise younger divers with their equipment washing and by the time it's done my hair is dry, messy and full of salt and only thing I want is my cup of coffee. 
I tell myself every time that this time will be different. But guess what. It never is. I'm bad.
. But my hair is layered and I always have stray hairs that I have to push back under the hood, and that end up under my mask so I've started putting on a wide headband. It doesn't damage the hair, and I put my hood over it. I like this bang wrangler thing. Might take it, but I am not sure if it damages the hair. As for keeping the hair healthy and strong. That's a whole other issue.
I tried stay in conditioners, balms, coconut oil, other oils. I think I am just crazy for wanting long hair with my lifestyle. I tell my self I will put treatments in it as soon as I exit the water, but in one day after the start of my dive trip my resolve is gone. I get out the water and I wash all my gear, and take the tank to compressor, and maybe hook up the compressor, and supervise younger divers with their equipment washing and by the time it's done my hair is dry, messy and full of salt and only thing I want is my cup of coffee. I tell myself every time that this time will be different. But guess what. It never is. I'm bad.
Get a neoprene mask strap cover. The hair tangled in your mask strap almost completely disappears.
thebangwrangler
Registered
Wow, I can't tell you how exciting it is, as the creator of The Bang Wrangler, to see a complete stranger talking about seeing one "in the wild".
I wanted to make these for use in water sports in general, but it was specifically my scuba certification process that pushed me over the edge. I had bangs at the time (and even now without them) I found that stray hairs were getting into my mask and causing it to leak. So personally, I am so excited that we've finally created these, because those hairs falling in my face have always made me crazy not just during diving, but even lap swimming and kayaking and things. And I HATE wearing swim caps and looking like a conehead!
The Bang Wrangler really does work very well, and it's that nice, soft silicone that is "sticky" enough to stay in place but is really good at not pulling or breaking hair. Plus it's waterproof, so it doesn't get all wet and icky like a bandana. I hope that you guys will love it as much as I do, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!!
Diana
sarahellen
New
I have long straight hair that I wear in a mid-pony tail, and then I braid the pony tail. I have a split neoprene mask strap that I got from LeisurePro called the "JAWS NEOsplit Mask Strap". I put the pony tail through the middle of the strap.
I just got back from a trip to Cozumel and I got "the bang wrangler" just before going (it shipped very quickly!) and I am super happy with it! It says in place the entire dive. It has a snug fit so it can feel uncomfortable or hot on land, so I usually remove it in between dives. It doesn't pull my hair at all, and I had fewer mask leaks. It feels sort of like the stretchy bands you get from PT. Even my dive master (a guy) noticed that it seemed to work really well, and said he had seen women trying many different things to deal with their hair
As for hair care, diving and salt water has no adverse affect on my hair. I rinse thoroughly in the shower with hot water and scratch at my head. My hair feels soft when it dries and basically looks like normal. I haven't used shampoo in over a year though (I use baking soda to wash and vinegar to condition) so my hair isn't starting out stripped of it natural oils. This no shampoo technique is called "no poo" and you can look it up on the internet if you are interested. Maybe it would work well for dive professionals.
I just got back from a trip to Cozumel and I got "the bang wrangler" just before going (it shipped very quickly!) and I am super happy with it! It says in place the entire dive. It has a snug fit so it can feel uncomfortable or hot on land, so I usually remove it in between dives. It doesn't pull my hair at all, and I had fewer mask leaks. It feels sort of like the stretchy bands you get from PT. Even my dive master (a guy) noticed that it seemed to work really well, and said he had seen women trying many different things to deal with their hair
As for hair care, diving and salt water has no adverse affect on my hair. I rinse thoroughly in the shower with hot water and scratch at my head. My hair feels soft when it dries and basically looks like normal. I haven't used shampoo in over a year though (I use baking soda to wash and vinegar to condition) so my hair isn't starting out stripped of it natural oils. This no shampoo technique is called "no poo" and you can look it up on the internet if you are interested. Maybe it would work well for dive professionals.
parrotfish91
Registered
This has been a very helpful thread for me!
I've been diving for 23 years and have had long hair (18-24 inches) the entire time. And haven't found a great solution. French braids tend to become caught in my tank valve and get knotted up, so my current solution is to make a high ponytail (above my neoprene mask strap) and then to add ponytail elastics at several places along my ponytail. I use 4 or 5 elastics along the length of my hair. That has been the easiest to extricate for me.
Then when I come up from my last dive I slather a bottle of conditioner from a hotel (I travel frequently for work and collect the little bottles) into my hair after I've removed the elastics. I look like Medusa during the boat ride back but can easily untangle my hair in the shower later. This works for me but I wouldn't mind a better solution.
I've tried untangling and combing my hair out on the boat but end up with a wad of hair I have to get rid of after 20 frustrating minutes and folks clucking about how annoying the process looks (and they are right)! Now I just own the Medusa look and enjoy the ride back to shore.
I've been diving for 23 years and have had long hair (18-24 inches) the entire time. And haven't found a great solution. French braids tend to become caught in my tank valve and get knotted up, so my current solution is to make a high ponytail (above my neoprene mask strap) and then to add ponytail elastics at several places along my ponytail. I use 4 or 5 elastics along the length of my hair. That has been the easiest to extricate for me.
Then when I come up from my last dive I slather a bottle of conditioner from a hotel (I travel frequently for work and collect the little bottles) into my hair after I've removed the elastics. I look like Medusa during the boat ride back but can easily untangle my hair in the shower later. This works for me but I wouldn't mind a better solution.
I've tried untangling and combing my hair out on the boat but end up with a wad of hair I have to get rid of after 20 frustrating minutes and folks clucking about how annoying the process looks (and they are right)! Now I just own the Medusa look and enjoy the ride back to shore.
I kind of like my medusa look. Would like to be able to partially recreate it, sometimes when not diving. Imagine my surprise to learn there are new products out that have salt water in them to help the user get that beach hair look. Weird.
Kryssa
Contributor
Hey Bangwrangler - any chance of a SB discount
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