Making a blackout mask for zero vis training

[CCRescueDiver]

I've found plastic grocery bags (you have to get some kind of dark bags) do well for simulating zero vis.. Just wet the inside of your mask and stick it on. Easy breezy, no tape, no sticky. It's not completely black, you can sort of see movement and light changes (Darker/Brighter). Which I find to be a little more accurate of what zero vis is actually like (from my experience) you can do a couple layers if you want it darker. .

 

[The Mighty Thor]

saran wrap or tin foil

 

[Akimbo]

Random Thoughts:
I heard this from a British Navy dive instructor, but don’t have direct experience with this technique. If your intent is to detect a tendency to panic, he claimed that removing the mask entirely and using a fabric blindfold was more effective than a blackout mask. He theorized that it had more to do with water contact with the nose than darkness, but who knows.

I know in freediving training they teach people to immerse their face without a mask and breathe through a snorkel for several minutes to trigger the “Mamalian Diving Reflex”. I have no idea if they are related but it is an interesting thought.

In my military training, I found that simulating black water was not nearly as bad as being in it up to my waist — but I had been in black water before so that may have skewed the perception.

Just curious, what do they teach regarding buddy divers in black water? We were on a hose with comms so it was never an issue. Also, what kind of information can you gather brail diving?

 

[CCRescueDiver]

...........Also, what kind of information can you gather brail diving?

2X

LOL Brail diving, that's a new one to me.. lol.. Could be something like collecting Megalodon teeth on the Cooper River. . lol That's sciencey.

When we do training we usually just close our eyes.. IF you want the training then you'll do it... lol (not to mention we don't want to cover an AGA in tape. lol)

I really like the idea of taking off masks and blindfolding though.. Taking off your mask in training will make you exponentially more confident in the water.. It's something I train with EVERY TIME I get in the pool which is usually every other week.. The little panicky feeling you get when pulling your mask off underwater, especially when you first start training with it is MUCH more realistic to black water than just blacking out your mask..(that may be because my air is attached to my mask though lol) When I take off my mask underwater I always sit and take a few breaths and calm down before I do anything.. That's the same exact thing I do when I hit the bottom in black water..

But like Akimbo said there's not really much of a substitute for actually being in Black water, I've done tons, and I still get nervous that I'm going to accidentally grab the drain plug and un-plug the lake.. lol The first time my heart rate doesn't go up descending into black water will be my last time diving in black water.

 

[Phreatic Fanatic]

My cave instructor put a heavy level of duct tape on the outside of the mask for this. He put on strips that were longer than the width of the mask and folded them over. This created "handles" so that a diver who panics can end the drill by ripping off the duct tape. Although that was never a problem with me or anyone else I saw use it, I think it is an important safety feature.

This is how I set up my blackout masks. I use layers of black duct tape and a mask with a black skirt. Divers can peel the tape off, if needed, by grasping the 'handles' on the sides. Diver safety is the reason I prefer to use blackout masks created in this fashion.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

It's a standard for cave training with PSAI that instructors use blackout masks on students while the instructor leaves lights on for safety in a cave. Like Marc Blackwood suggested in this thread, I use duct tape on the outside and do what Carl Griffing wrote in the above post.

My current blackout masks are Halcyon single frame. I made bottom strips where the tape extends beyond the mask frame. Top strips overlay these and also extend beyond the frame and wrap over the edges of the bottom strips creating a pull handle. If a student becomes stressed or needs to see, the student can easily pull the tape away by the handle.

For fun I write things like, "Use the Force, Luke!" across the front of the masks to give divers a laugh if they swim by students performing an exercise.

 

[Blackwood]

When we do training we usually just close our eyes.. IF you want the training then you'll do it...

Eyelids are fairly translucent. Just closing my eyes doesn't quite yield the same closed in feeling.

 

[Dhboner]

In 1971 my basic Open-water course required us to locate our gear (submerged in the deep end of the pool while our backs were turned) with a blacked-out mask and put it completely back on! The instructor said it would expose claustrophobia and prepare us for diving calmly in low-vis.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Eyelids are fairly translucent. Just closing my eyes doesn't quite yield the same closed in feeling.

Exactly. Some students are quite comfortable with a mask off and their eyes closed, but find performing a skill with a flooded mask stressful. Some students are okay when they close their eyes because they are in control, but when they open their eyes with a blacked out mask, find that loss of control stressful.

Ideally, students should experience skills with masks off, with blacked out masks, and with flooded masks to be well-rounded.

 

[DevonDiver]

Just curious, what do they teach regarding buddy divers in black water? We were on a hose with comms so it was never an issue. Also, what kind of information can you gather brail diving?

Within the realms of recreational diving, blacked-out masks tend to be used to simulate zero-viz situations caused by silting in over-head environments (cave/wreck). The black out mask is used when conducting line drills that feature in most advanced wreck and cave courses.