Do you dive with a spare mask?

[PfcAJ]

I dive with a spare mask on dives where I need to (or at least would really like to ) see to surface, such as cave and tech dives. Single tank ow dives? Nah.

 

[CaboJim]

I do carry an extra one in my bag, but like most of you, since I am a 'recreational' diver, there is really no need to carry one on a dive....

 

[Crush]

Maybe this should be a new thread, but since you mentioned it, what are your pocket contents? What are some other things people bring with for convenience, emergency, etc?

Mask and slate. My DSMB (with attached whistle and mirror) and finger spool are either in my pocket or clipped on the rear D-ring of my crotch strap. Sometimes a goody bag if there are things to collect. My P&S underwater camera is in a thigh pocket for entry into the water after which time it is moved to the bottom back of my BP.

 

[Peter_C]

My pocket contents are the same on every dive, and I wear pockets on every dive.
Even on those nice, warm, tropical vacation dives I wear my X-Shorts so I can have my pockets.

I carry one on every dive too.

Even needed it once, when my primary mask failed. The plastic frame cracked and it filled rapidly with water. Had a newbie rip my mask off before (Special fins in action), but I was able to grab it before losing it completely. That is where a spare mask could be handy since if you loose your mask you can feel in your pocket for another one, but probably won't be able to see the lost one to recover it. Someone not skillfully trained might not either know you needed help, or not know what to do to help. Being self sufficient is a good thing.

Right pocket: Mask, wetnotes, and shears.
Left pocket:SMB, spool, Dive Alert, Storm Whistle, car key if I drove, and signal mirror.

 

[Subcooled]

Have you ever tried to ascend at 30 feet per minute without really seeing anything?

You should.

Let your mask fill with water, then try to read your computer.

I had a mask failure on my fifth dive at around 30 feet, and the resulting ~blind ascent wasn't precisely pretty. I was inexperienced and I lost depth display. At times I went too fast up, at times I went down. After some bouncing I reached the surface, but as my ears didn't clear as fast as I was bouncing, some ear pain resulted. It lasted an hour or two. After that incident I have always carried a spare mask.

 

[Subcooled]

ps. The mask failure that I experienced was my own fault. I tightened it too much so it started to leak. Then I asked my dive buddy (with some hand signals) to tighten my mask even more (wrong choice), which he misunderstood and loosened it. Too much. As a result I was left with a flooded mask.

 

[Teamcasa]

I don't dive with my spare but I do keep one in my gear box. Most of my diving is here in SoCal so if I lost a mask during the dive (and could not recover/repair it), I just call the dive and get the spare ready for the next dive.

 

[BKP]

Have you ever tried to ascend at 30 feet per minute without really seeing anything?

You should.

I actually have...

I use a gauge reader mask (one of the niceties of hitting your 40's), however, *before* the SeaVision, I used Dive Optx, and did a rush job on the boat of affixing them on a particular dive... They slid off at depth after a clear, and at close range (for me), it's the same as not having a mask for reading your gauges.
However, both the fast-ascend audio alert, and the ascent bar going into the red, on my computer, were discernible enough to temper the ascent.

I assume that would work for anyone that has their audio alerts set. The only issue was gauging the depth for a safety stop, and that happens to be the largest display on the console (which I can even see without the mask).

It may not be a better solution than a spare mask, however, for the frequency of times I've lost my mask function (total of once), for recreational diving, it works...

Again, if I were doing specialty diving, or diving in a Palau level current, I'd be sure to bring a spare...

 

[robertarak]

Maybe this should be a new thread, but since you mentioned it, what are your pocket contents? What are some other things people bring with for convenience, emergency, etc?

Right Pocket
Mask, Wet Notes, Shears, Double-ender

Left Pocket
SMB, Spool, Folding Snorkle if teaching

 

[bkotheimer]

Maybe this should be a new thread, but since you mentioned it, what are your pocket contents? What are some other things people bring with for convenience, emergency, etc?

Good threads:

What do you carry in your BCD pockets?

What's in your thigh pocket and where?