Laugh lines and masks

[Ben_Ayers]

My wife has a small face, deep laugh lines, and is using a Scuba Max Navigator mask that a local LDS says fits 90% of students. She gets a good initial seal but with all the mask manipulations during pool sessions she begins to get some leakage.
Are there any masks on the market that do well with people with sm. - med. faces and laugh lines? She also uses bifocals.
All our instructors/dive cons/ etc. wear SeaVision (red lenses) in the pool and swear by them. However, they are very expensive and I noticed one instructor is always clearing water from her mask!

Thanks,
Ben

 

[JeffG]

Try different stores. Good chance that they will have other brands and they all are slightly different. It took me 4 or 5 masks before I got it right. I now look for masks with a large skirts, they are the only ones that don't leak for me.

 

[jimdiverman]

Try different stores. Good chance that they will have other brands and they all are slightly different. It took me 4 or 5 masks before I got it right. I now look for masks with a large skirts, they are the only ones that don't leak for me.

I agree with Jeff. I have about 6 masks that I have tried, 2 in the last year. I finally decided on the DR split pane mask, and the Halcyon single pane as a backup. I am not constantly clearing my mask anymore, and wasting gas too.

 

[MeiLing]

I have a really small face as well and understand what she is going through. I have two masks. One is a Sherwood, Genesis, I think. The other is a Cressi.

Once she finds a mask that works for her, I would invest in a spare. A SCUBA would be a total bust if she lost her mask for some reason.

For me, I correct my vision problems with contacts. Mine vision problems are bad and it would not work for me any other way. I can't really see myself trying to climb a slippery and rocky shore entry with my mask on.

Although, I do have a friend who had to drive home wearing her mask because some broke into her car and stole her glasses at the dive site!

Personally, I think that her problems with her mask have more to do with the size of her face than the depth of her laugh lines! Most masks are made for average faces which are considerably bigger than those with a small face so even if she barely gets a small, movement on her face such as in laughter, will break that seal.

I have two tiny little masks for me and if you make me crack up underwater, they will flood in a heartbeat!