Mask on forehead = diver in distress?

[lamont]

I don't often use my backup reg except for testing it on the surface and skills. However if I'm doing a shore dive and my primary reg is clipped off and I'm entering the water and my rear dump is stuck open (or my inflator elbow fails on entry, or whatever) then I don't want to be in a situation where I do not have positive buoyancy and cannot access my backup reg. Of course, I can actually get my primary reg in my mouth when its clipped, and I can't recall that last time I flubbed unclipping my primary reg so badly that I would have run out of breath, but its defense in depth against protecting my access to my gas supply...

And skilled divers have died due to accidents right on entry from the shore and drowned in a few feet of water...

 

[The Horn]

When will this thread die......I guess when we all run out of beer......ha ha

Its all a matter of choice. Personally I leave it on until striding ashore or back on the boat. I will then park it on my forehead or remove it.

If someone was to have a great freak on me for having it there, chances are I would not know them and they would be very rude and a kind round of explicatives would probably result.

Perhaps a thread on the proper socks to wear or whether a black BC (BP/W or Jacket who really cares) is better than a purple one.......

The one thing I still don't get is the lads that wear the mask backwards on the forehead ??? Seems like a pain to put it there.....but I don't really care

 

[Wildcard]

It is OK to put your mask on backwards, so says PADI... What a load of crap. Who frikkin cares, please no more MOF threads.

 

[Geoff_H]

I don't like wearing my mask around my neck as it feels uncomfortable and makes it less comfortable to twist my neck left and right.

I generally take it off at the surface if conditions are calm and this widens my field of view which I believe it generally beneficial to safety - can see other divers over a wider area and also boats sneaking up in busy areas.

 

[Grounded]

Aha!

I just remembered why this is an important rule to follow.

It was prompted by a thread titled "seal protection..."

When my ex-wife did her first open water dive, she was cautioned the otters sometimes steal people's masks. Afterwards, she told me she had visions of a kelp bed full of stolen masks with a proud sea otter standing (floating?) guard.

I've also heard rumors of sea lions bumping people's masks to flood them so that they can steal lobsters.

If you wear your mask on your forehead, you make yourself an inviting target for rouge sea otters or sea lions.

 

[CrackedConch]

Leave it on your face. Divers should be comfortable with it on their face for an extended period. it should feel like you aren't even wearing one. It is one indication you are a collected diver who is comfortable with all your gear and in the water. Yes, it could get knocked off.

It is one (of many) signs Divemasters look for as a sign of distress or fatigue. Wearing it backwards or around your neck is a sign you consciously put it there as opposed to a 'get this thing off me now' move.

MOF would actually be better labeled as a good practice and a solid 'tip' rather than universal rule. If you put your mask on your forehead and a wave knocks it off then you have no one to blame but yourself because you knew better.

 

[lamont]

It is one (of many) signs Divemasters look for as a sign of distress or fatigue. Wearing it backwards or around your neck is a sign you consciously put it there as opposed to a 'get this thing off me now' move.

yes, there are many signs. in fact, only a newbie diver/DM would have this anywhere on the top ten list of distress indicators, why promulgate this as even being useful then?

 

[Nookibear]

Lamont, check this site out www.oceangoods.com

Wildcard, well said.

FOUR !!

 

[captain]

Lamont, check this site out www.oceangoods.com

Wildcard, well said.

FOUR !!

Another solution to a non-existant problem.

 

[gallagj]

Aha!

I just remembered why this is an important rule to follow.

It was prompted by a thread titled "seal protection..."

When my ex-wife did her first open water dive, she was cautioned the otters sometimes steal people's masks. Afterwards, she told me she had visions of a kelp bed full of stolen masks with a proud sea otter standing (floating?) guard.

I've also heard rumors of sea lions bumping people's masks to flood them so that they can steal lobsters.

If you wear your mask on your forehead, you make yourself an inviting target for rouge sea otters or sea lions.

LOL...This is the BEST explanation I have heard so far.

- JPG