9833
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I've seen pictures of diver with large frameless circular masks and i think they look quite cool. I was wondering if anyone new if these were practical and where i could get one?
Frameless Circular Masks
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Yes, they work, yes they are practical, they are hard to find these days. Actually, some of the best ones are long gone, low volume oval masks.
Framless? Never seen a frameless oval.
USD, Voit and may others made oval masks well through the 70s. They went out of style for various reasons, I still prefer them but often use other styles as well. A good oval mask is a great mask for scuba, easy to clear, decent viz, sit sport on your forehead, very nice.
Here are a few:
Buy $77 Voit UDT Fins Duck Feet Vintage Scuba Diving Masks
N
David Wilson
Contributor
I just wanted to add that good old-fashioned black or blue rubber-skirted oval masks are still around if you know where to look. The Mexican manufacturer Escualo Sports makes them:
Visores
So does the French firm Sommap:
Traditional Masks
I own and use these Escualo Sports and Sommap masks when I snorkel in the North East of England. I began snorkelling back in the 1960s wearing such masks and I've seen no reason to change. Below is my original 1960s Typhoon oval mask:
Traditional blue-skirted oval masks are also still made in Greece, Russia and Ukraine, while black-skirted ones are more widely available, e.g. the Radius mask:
Radius Mask
Hope this helps.
Visores
So does the French firm Sommap:
Traditional Masks
I own and use these Escualo Sports and Sommap masks when I snorkel in the North East of England. I began snorkelling back in the 1960s wearing such masks and I've seen no reason to change. Below is my original 1960s Typhoon oval mask:
Traditional blue-skirted oval masks are also still made in Greece, Russia and Ukraine, while black-skirted ones are more widely available, e.g. the Radius mask:
Radius Mask
Hope this helps.
David Wilson
Contributor
Well, if I might add two cents' worth of my own, I still have my original Typhoon mask from the 1960s and the blue rubber skirt is just as soft and comfortable today as it was when it was first purchased forty years ago. It also seals against my face much better than any modern mask I've tried.
If you want a silicone-skirted oval mask, there are plenty on sale nowadays, such as the IST Classic Round Dive Mask mentioned by ZenDiver.3D. Scuba.com retails not only clear-silicone but also black-rubber versions of that IST mask's skirt. I'm all for choice!
If someone would just make a yellow one to match my yellow hoses I would be set. .....or maybe Voit gray 
David Wilson
Contributor
If someone would just make a yellow one to match my yellow hoses I would be set. .....or maybe Voit gray
Indeed:
The only yellow-skirted dive mask still in production is, I believe, the "Akvanavt", manufactured by the Ukrainian rubber company Kievguma:
ÌÀÑÊÀ ÐÅÇÈÍÎÂÀß ÄËß ÏÎÄÂÎÄÍÎÃÎ ÏËÀÂÀÍÈß
The only alternative is a vintage mask listed on eBay and those in yellow reach high prices. Of course, silicone yellows with age, or through contact with natural rubber...
When you start talking Ukraine and Russia and all that you loose me--lol. There is some unobtanium Japanese stuff also.
The link I posted had some in silicone.
Frankly, and David will probably have a different thought, but there are no oval masks made today that are the equal of those made when they were the "In Thing" in scuba masks.
Masks were once made of high quality neoprene rubber. They held up well but as you know some people had allergies which is what brought about silicone and of course, silicone may last longer I suppose, hard to say since that blue mask I posted a pic of I think is from 1959.
I had a beautiful low volume Healthways oval when I was a teen, soft rubber, it oozed wax from the natural rubber, it sat close to my face and had a nice field of view, some dufous stepped on it--crunch--or I would still be using it I am sure.
Yeah, serviceable oval masks are still around, I just don't think they are as nice as the real deals from the Voit and USD catalogs.
The old Dacor ovals are still popular, not really my favorite, not as low volume as some I have used IMO, but many like them and they show up on ebay regular.
It would really be nice if there were a modern professional grade oval. Notice people just don't look as deformed in an oval which is why photographers often fit their models with them. You can see facial expression better with them also.
her straps are not sorted but her mask is correctly displayed:
Captain peeks over a rock to try his Nikonos II out:
N
The link I posted had some in silicone.
Frankly, and David will probably have a different thought, but there are no oval masks made today that are the equal of those made when they were the "In Thing" in scuba masks.
Masks were once made of high quality neoprene rubber. They held up well but as you know some people had allergies which is what brought about silicone and of course, silicone may last longer I suppose, hard to say since that blue mask I posted a pic of I think is from 1959.
I had a beautiful low volume Healthways oval when I was a teen, soft rubber, it oozed wax from the natural rubber, it sat close to my face and had a nice field of view, some dufous stepped on it--crunch--or I would still be using it I am sure.
Yeah, serviceable oval masks are still around, I just don't think they are as nice as the real deals from the Voit and USD catalogs.
The old Dacor ovals are still popular, not really my favorite, not as low volume as some I have used IMO, but many like them and they show up on ebay regular.
It would really be nice if there were a modern professional grade oval. Notice people just don't look as deformed in an oval which is why photographers often fit their models with them. You can see facial expression better with them also.
her straps are not sorted but her mask is correctly displayed:
Captain peeks over a rock to try his Nikonos II out:
N
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