Dryest Mask You've Ever Used--I know, I know...

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An Aqualung mask that I bought in the local dive shop. No Idea what the name of it is and tbh not really bothered about trying to find it. It fits and doesn't leak.

Would I get another? Quite possibly if I can find one.
 
ScubaPro something something Trufit, now discontinued.
 
I have spent significant money on masks in the last couple years and borrowed or tested many others. TUSA Freedom HD, Atomic Venom, TUSA Paragon, and the ScubaPro Spectra are the ones that worked best for me. Not all of them are perfectly dry all the time. It seems like high end masks, on me at least, can be picky about how loose or tight they are adjusted. Some like to be just barely snug {Venom} while others like to be slightly tightened a little {Paragon}. If I try to reverse this they will both leak. I have also found that, again on me, the addition of a snorkel will easily cause them to leak. I carry a ScubaPro "folding" snorkel in my BCD pocket and use it when needed.
Once I figured out how each mask wanted to be adjusted to me none of them leak. I honestly have had more trouble getting them to stop fogging up than leaking. With the exception of the TUSA Paragon, which must come from the factory already clean and it has never fogged, all of the others had to be scrubbed on 6 or 7 times with some type of toothpaste like mask cleaner. Even then, I think because they are made with such low volume to easily clear, the glass sits very close to your warm face and in colder {different} temperature water they will still try to fog.
 
Why do we do this?

It's your face.
What works...works.
Try stuff. Waste money.
Try more stuff.
Buy three.
 
I like my Atomic Frameless. Most of the time it is dry, but sometimes it will let in some water. I think it has a lot to do with strap tension and position.
 
Mine will changes from dive to dive. Presently love my Cressi with a 15 degree bottom tilt, but even it will leak occasionally. Guess it depends upon how much I'm smiling through the dive.
 
Driest was a cheap old school oval/round make. Favorite is a scubapro or the knockoff frameless. Tried the atomic frameless and it didn't fit me very well.

Really thinking hard about going back to an oval.
 
This blue Made-in-England Typhoon Super Star mask is the driest mask I've ever used:
mask-015-jpg.457303.jpg

It was a Christmas present from my parents during the 1960s. It is still in remarkable condition with the rubber body and strap perfectly supple and the stainless steel of the rim and buckles uncorroded. It still fits my face perfectly and retains its watertightness to this day.

What I prize most about this mask, apart from the connection with my late parents, is the generous flanged edge of the skirt. It can be seen more clearly here in this image of a black Super Star mask posted recently on eBay:
s-l1600c-jpg.457305.jpg


An illustration from a late-1950s underwater swimming guide shows the effect:
img407-jpg.457308.jpg

Plenty of flanged edge on the skirt coming into contact with my face provided me with a watertight seal. This feature alone makes this mask still the best-fitting model in my collection. Not bad for a product discontinued before the 1970s. How many modern masks, with their focus on low volume, offer this?
 
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