Diving Mask Construction Standards

[eastcoastdivers]

Is the use of tempered glass standard in all diving masks?

I imagine that a mask you pick up from CVS may not have tempered glass, but ones produced by Aqualung, Tusa, Oceanic, ScubaPro, Atomic Aquatics, Deep Sea, etc... is tempered glass standard?

Thanks!

 

[Meng_Tze]

Is the use of tempered glass standard in all diving masks?

I imagine that a mask you pick up from CVS may not have tempered glass, but ones produced by Aqualung, Tusa, Oceanic, ScubaPro, Atomic Aquatics, Deep Sea, etc... is tempered glass standard?

Thanks!

Not a standard as in 'all masks must have it'. There are many masks to be had that have plastic lenses. I think the glass came from too many scratched plastics (you know when you have a piece of plastic that scratches up, it becomes somewhat opaque). Glass has less tendency to scratch. But I think that IF glass is used, it has to be tempered to make it break resistant.

But I could be wrong and am sure that if I am, I will be put in place shortly...........:blinking:

 

[bfisher]

The use of tempered glass became standard way back like 50 years ago. The reason being that regular glass can splinter when broken whereas tempered breaks into little pebble like pieces, thus less chance of eye damage. Same reason it's used for shower doors, house windows and car windows.

In recent years acrylics have gotten tougher so I think that some companies may be suing plastics in place of tempered glass, at least for snorkeling or shallow water masks.

 

[Gary D.]

Some of the top quality FF lenses are plastic.

Gary D.

 

[Buoyant1]

Jeez, I remember that the old oval beat up rubber skirted mask I used to use in the pool when I was a kid had tempered glass...Isn't it all some sort of composite these days?

 

[JonKranhouse]

Polycarbonate is MUCH safer than glass
The dive industry's safety standard for masks is woefully inferior to that required of $4 safety eyewear. Indeed most common plastic eyeglasses must meet higher standards!

Tempered glass is 5 times stronger than non-tempered glass. Glass has the advantage of resisting scratches because it is quite hard. But you can’t have it both ways -- tempered glass is hard but very brittle -- it breaks. ALL professional full-face masks and dive helmets use Polycarbonate (PC) lenses for increased diver safety.

All above-water safety eyewear is made from Polycarbonate because PC is more than 150 times stronger than tempered glass when measuring impact resistance. PC is “ductile” – it bends but does not break. Bullet-resistant eye guards are made from PC, the most impact-resistant of all polymers.

The test for high-impact safety eyewear (ANSI Z87.1-2003) --
A 1/4-inch diameter steel ball fired at up to 204 MPH, with no lens breakage allowed:

-- Spectacle lenses: 102 MPH (150 ft./sec.)
-- Goggles: 170 MPH (250 ft./sec.)
-- Faceshields: 204 MPH (300 ft./sec.)

In 1985, before excellent scratch-resistant coatings for PC were formulated for automotive headlights, the leading scuba equipment companies agreed among themselves -- for the first time -- to establish an industry-wide safety standard for dive masks. But the company representatives settled for a "voluntary standard" that does not have to be followed. This standard was published through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Manufacturers put these stickers on some masks -- NOT ALL GLASS MASKS ACTUALLY PASS THESE STANDARDS, DESPITE WHAT THE STICKER SAYS --

-- This lens exceeds the impact test requirements of the
-- American National Standard Z86.11-1985. Impact resistant
-- lenses can break or shatter and cause injury to the user
-- if subjected to undue force or impact.

The "Z86.11-1985" dive mask test --
A 1-inch diameter steel ball dropped by gravity from 50-inches onto the lens, with no breakage of the lens. [talk about a wimpy test!!!]

However, NO mask with "fused-glass" corners (which didn't exist in 1985) passes "Z86" when the steel ball is dropped onto the “fused” corner. Glass shards are broken off the corners, leaving razor-sharp edges, which contradicts Z86.:no

Hard-coated PC lenses will scratch more easily vs. glass. But underwater, minor scratches are invisible as the refractive index of the PC lens and seawater are so close -- the water fills in the scratches, as it does for minor scratches on your plastic-faced gauges.

HydroOptix PC lenses are not made or tested to meet high-impact safety eyewear standards and should not be used as such. In fact we use a PC alloy that sacrifices some impact-protection to make our lenses more scratch-resistant. All that said, our lenses are 20-times more impact-resistant vs. any glass recreational dive mask. A few divers have told us how our PC lens saved them from potential tragedy -- and had a severely scratched / gouged Double-Dome mask to prove their story. Our PC lenses are replaceable.