fear of losing mask

[wnissen]

Hood isn't as effective since it doesn't seal against your face all the way around. The degree to which the hood is held out depends on the mask design. If the water is cold enough to need heavy gloves, you will certainly notice the difference in head warmth though.

I have an 8/7mm wetsuit that is pretty warm so I don't think it would be an issue. Though you would want to avoid thermobaric vertigo caused by different amounts of water getting into different ears.

The other thing I thought of is that you can't clip the snorkel (if you have one) to the band of the mask. I've always had it clipped, it's handy for keeping the end out of the water. But I might try it the other way just to see.

 

[AfterDark]

Are there disadvantages to doing it this way? Because it seems pretty handy, especially if you have heavy gloves on and have trouble feeling the skirt to see whether it's under the hood or not.

I don't know of any disadvantages, other than if you put your mask on your forehead you can't with the strap under the hood, and as @wnissen points out a snorkel clipped to the mask is out also. @Sea ledford the seal goes under the hood as normal and seals on your face as usual.
I don't do it much because I DO both, put my mask on my forehead and wear a snorkel but, the times I have (diving with newbies) there has been no issues. I know divers that have been wearing their masks for years with the strap under the hood. It is a very old "trick" that I 1st observed back in the late 1960's and I'm sure it's older than that. Where's @Sam Miller I'm sure he knows the history and how long it has been done.

 

[rmssetc]

Today's True Story

First dive of the day, 5th dive of this trip, first dive thus trip w. a camera*.... I backroll off the boat & descend. My mask is leaking more than usual. Clear, re-adjust. Leak. Clear. Leak, leak. Clear. Leak, leak, leak. clear, clear. Level out at about 55', clearing my mask almost constantly. Begun swimming with the group. It seems as if each motion, each blink, makes the mask leak a bit...but it doesn't feel like it's falling off -- I'm not holding it on. Clear it again. Try to tighten the straps...only to discover that the strap came off the back of my head Entirely when I rolled in and was resting at eyebrow-height on my hood. Removed hood, replaced mask strap correctly, replaced hood over mask.

In short, in this one instance, my mask didn't want to spontaneously fall off, but it probably would have if it filled with water and there was no longer pressure holding it in place.

* What's the camera got to do with it? I changed my routine, and held the front of my mask & regulator in place with one hand when I rolled in, as usual, but my other hand was holding the camera, not the back of my head...and I put my mask over my hood, instead of the other way around (as usual). so, cameras make us do stupid things...on boats, not just on InstaTumblerFaceChatGram.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I’ve never lost a mask while diving. I did lose a mask once as I did a backroll off a boat, but that was not during a dive. I think the percentage of losing a mask is actually very low.

If the thought of losing a mask during a dive really freaks you then you should do mask removal drills during each ocean dive and gradually Increase the time your mask is off your face until you can finally do a planned training dive with a buddy where you do the entire dive with no mask. If you get to this level then I can guarantee you will never worry about it again.

 

[Snoweman]

My husband did a giant stride off a boat - while I watched from the surface of the water - and executed it beautifully (hand over his mask) until the last second. God alone knows why, but he just took his hand away from his mask - and of course it was dislodged and began to sink. Because I was watching the whole thing (and in total disbelief!) I went after his mask and he had it back on in a couple of minutes. So for oddball reasons, yes it can happen.

I have a 'heads up display' mask, which means my computer is in my mask. It's an expensive piece of hardware so I have attached a lanyard from the mask strap to my BC. If you're overly concerned you could always do something like that.

Tell me more about your mask. It sounds pretty cool.

 

[Snoweman]

I think the fear of losing may also be associated with the fear of a flooded mask (which freaks some folks out). I like to keep about 1/4" of water in the bottom of my mask. If my mask starts to fog, I just swish the water around and get rid of the fog. I think this might alleviate some of the fear of water filling the mask.

 

[AfterDark]

Today's True Story

First dive of the day, 5th dive of this trip, first dive thus trip w. a camera*.... I backroll off the boat & descend. My mask is leaking more than usual. Clear, re-adjust. Leak. Clear. Leak, leak. Clear. Leak, leak, leak. clear, clear. Level out at about 55', clearing my mask almost constantly. Begun swimming with the group. It seems as if each motion, each blink, makes the mask leak a bit...but it doesn't feel like it's falling off -- I'm not holding it on. Clear it again. Try to tighten the straps...only to discover that the strap came off the back of my head Entirely when I rolled in and was resting at eyebrow-height on my hood. Removed hood, replaced mask strap correctly, replaced hood over mask.

In short, in this one instance, my mask didn't want to spontaneously fall off, but it probably would have if it filled with water and there was no longer pressure holding it in place.

* What's the camera got to do with it? I changed my routine, and held the front of my mask & regulator in place with one hand when I rolled in, as usual, but my other hand was holding the camera, not the back of my head...and I put my mask over my hood, instead of the other way around (as usual). so, cameras make us do stupid things...on boats, not just on InstaTumblerFaceChatGram.

You should consider having someone hand you your camera after you enter the water. My understanding is the forces generated by jumping into the water could damage the camera housing. My SeaLife camera instructions actually warns against jumping into the water while holding the camera.

You posted you placed the hood over the mask straps. How did that work out and will you do that routinely now?

 

[wnissen]

I don't know of any disadvantages, other than if you put your mask on your forehead you can't with the strap under the hood

Ah, that might be an issue. During surface swims I do typically like to put my mask around my neck or backwards on my head, just to get some fresh air. I suppose I could pull the hood back. Still will try.

 

[rmssetc]

You should consider having someone hand you your camera after you enter the water. My understanding is the forces generated by jumping into the water could damage the camera housing. My SeaLife camera instructions actually warns against jumping into the water while holding the camera.

Agreed, and I prefer that too. The logistics didn't work for that yesterday (wave action, no one one the boat w. free hands) or today (negative entries). I'm willing to take the risk. It's a cute camera, but just a camera, and it's insured.

You posted you placed the hood over the mask straps. How did that work out and will you do that routinely now?

Oh, that works fine, and is my usual practice. The only downside is that it makes MOF more difficult.

 

[Kimela]

Tell me more about your mask. It sounds pretty cool.

My mask is pretty much the cats pajamas - but don't get excited because they stopped making them. The computer is integrated into the mask and you can see it on the inside of the mask. I've only met one person who couldn't read it - she is very far-sighted I guess. But everyone else who uses bifocals can still read it easily. In dark water it's easy to read because the lighting of the numbers is INSIDE the mask - if it's too sunny I might have a little trouble, but then I put my hand over my mask - or dip my head so I'm looking down - and read it with no problem and continue on. One of the BEST things is that when my alarm goes off I KNOW it's MINE! Ya know how when you're in a group of divers and there's an alarm going off and everyone checks their wrist? I just look at my readout inside my mask - and never mistake my alarm for someone else's. It's easy to change settings; easy to look at the log; it DID have a nice computer interface but is no longer supported now that they're discontinued. And it's air integrated. Yes, I know that tech divers consider this to be just another possible point of failure, but for my relatively shallow recreational dives (with redundancy) it's a-ok. I will literally cry when the mask dies. It's made by Oceanic - who I believe is now owned by Huish? If anyone makes a Datamask in the future I will absolutely buy one. It's my favorite piece of equipment.