Lost my new mask and didn't get to use it once

[The Chairman]

He sure looks distressed in this photo.

 

[Mike]

Sorry to hear about your mask.

Can feel your pain.

On a dive trip, out on a dive boat on the 1st of a 2 tank dive, I offered to clean my wife's while we were getting ready to go in, I reached over the side with the mask in my hand, holding it around the mask with my thumb and finger and poof.... it just slipped out of my hand and disappeared...

Can you imagine the moment you have to walk back to your wife while she is waiting and she sees you approaching empty handed? You see the look on her face with "where is my mask at?" Then you have to explain to her you dropped it overboard...

Not sure what was worse, the fact the wife had to sit on the dive boat for 2 dives.... the fact I had to pay for the two dives she sat on the dive boat... or wondering how much of a dork all the other divers were thinking I was for the 3 hours we were out there, with everybody diving but her.

 

[tridacna]

Are we really having the MOF argument again? This was old (and no different in 2005).

 

[dmoore19]

If we can have the Hog Vs whatever, the split fit debate, the spare air controversy, the BPW debacle numerous times surely we can have the MOF discussion. I haven't seen one of those.

 

[tridacna]

If we can have the Hog Vs whatever, the split fit debate, the spare air controversy, the BPW debacle numerous times surely we can have the MOF discussion. I haven't seen one of those.

You forgot "Solo Diving Will Kill you" and "Buying from LeisurePro vs from your outrageously overpriced LDS".

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I often have my mask on my forehead, either the front or back parts. I've never lost it. Probably just luck.

I have had a vulture fly off with my mask. I stopped leaving it on picnic tables and walking away after that. The lesson I learned is, use cheap masks and have 2 of them.

I do wonder if slap straps should have a little more foam in them to make the mask float...but really, I think losing masks is just bad luck. I've never lost mine but I know it will happen someday, Murphy needs a mask from time to time!

 

[beanojones]

I would agree with this. However, placing a mask on your forehead is anything but a rejection. In reality, a panicked diver would be hard pressed to put the mask neatly on their forehead. Ergo, a mask on a diver's forehead is really an indication that they are still in control.

There are a ton of myths about diving out there. Some are simple exaggerations while others are outright lies. Fear has long been a tactic of dive instructors to teach as well as to instill compliance. Such myths are the aquatic version of Reefer Madness and are just as counter productive. When you figure out that your instructor is mostly full of crap, you then have to rethink every thing they taught you. What a PIA. It's far better to stick with the truth and reality.

While I am very much in favor of the mask on the forehead the walking to the water, if it's a hike...

In the water, mask on the forehead in the water is just silly if intentional for a number of reasons, one of which the OP foud out. When you lose your mask, you lose vision. The likelihood of finding anything blind is pretty minimal (and its not about water visibility.)

If not intentional, in the water mask on the forehead in the water is very much of sign of rising discomfort because when people start going upright on the surface in water they are starting the process of getting themselves in trouble. They sink their mouth, reject their snorkel and reg, suddenly feel the only thing to do is try and raise the full weight of their head to get their mouth clear of the water with suddenly stupidly ineffective kicking, and hand thrashing. If they are in a place they cannot stand, then that is likely not going to resolve well. In fact, I'd say that once that process starts it as much as never resolves without intervention. Because when someone is sucking water, the only resolution is to stop sucking water. They are already lost in stupidity and are not likely to find their way out of in, because everything they are doing to solve the problems is actually the cause of the problem. So they just trying harder and they just keep getting themselves into more trouble with that effort.

I am curious where you see the mask going when people are in the process of rejecting gear. I never see it go anywhere near the diver but the forehead. I do see it slung off in some random direction sometimes, but that's rare. That's usually when someone is literally rejecting the gear and the activity, and quitting diving altogether.

Mask on the forehead in the water is either silly, or a sign of on the cycle towards panic.

 

[Hatul]

A search suggests I last posted this in 2010 here http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/347180-ever-lost-your-mask.html#post5406813 , (see posts #27 & 28) I thought it was more recent; probably just didn't find it with my search.

Time for my periodic suggestion in recurring "lost mask" threads to put your mask on a leash/tether. See DataMask Safety Strap/Retractor Picture in post #13.

170+ dives with it now. It's never significantly in the way, has yet to get snagged on anything. Read the thread, it's not common, but it's not unique either. As Doc Adelman says, "This is a Navy protocol for certain applications." And I dive a 5' hose and bungied backup, still not in the way. My wife's even doing it for the last 100 or so dives after seeing mine.

I lost a mask doing gear (BC, I think) removal skill drills in OW training in poor viz.
Had another kicked off, but recovered that one.
I no longer worry about it, it's tied to me, not going anywhere. It also helps keep it from being in the wrong place during SIs and gear-up on crowded boats.

That's what I do as well--keep my mask clipped to a D ring with a short bungee and it has solved the lost mask problem. Too easy to lose your mask in California surf.

 

[spectrum]

I make it my practice to don my mask and gloves at the waters edge and my fins are clipped off so I have free hands and no loose gear. A rogue wave or trip on a stone can turn things upside down pretty quick. I have seen divers get distracted and let things simply float away as they set them down while chatting and donnning other items. There is no need to apply defog/spint in the water only to rinse it away, if you insist do so safely at set-up with a little bottled water.

With your mask in place you are also in a much better situation for recovery if you do take a dunking.

I'm sorry to hear of the loss, I lost a script mask once on a backroll. I held the mask not realizing the strap had flipped and away it went!

Pete

 

[RJP]

wondering how much of a dork all the other divers were thinking I was for the 3 hours we were out there, with everybody diving but her.

You better have a prescription mask that could not possibly fit your wife... if you went diving and she sat on the boat.

:d