Mask on Forehead reliable distress signal?

[fisheater]

People confuse "signal" with "sign."

A "signal" is INTENDED to convey a certain meaning. For instance, 3 short, loud blasts on a whistle are a signal for distress.

A "sign" is a potential indication of something, subject to the interpretation of the viewer. For instance, a red, flushed face could be a sign of embarassment, hyperthermia or a fever.

MOF is a "sign" that COULD mean that the diver is in distress. Of course, it could mean that the diver grew up watching way too much Sea Hunt, too.

 

[tc]

I did indeed watch too much Sea Hunt and have been frequently known to place my my mask on my forehead, never once in a distress situation.

People have been chewing me out for it for many years and my response varies directly by how badly they annoy me, if they're really persistent I invite them to attempt to rescue me since they're so convinced I'm in trouble. Only one was foolish enough to try. He discovered that I function underwater without a mask FAR better than he did.

 

[Missdirected]

WHAT????? No Santa???

Shhhh. Don't upset yourself, they are lying. They are just upset because they didn't make the naughty or the nice list Ignore them and it will be okay

 

[lamont]

Its not intended to be used as a distress signal, never was.
the point is a distressed diver rejects his equipment so the mask on forehead could indicate a distressed diver.

If a diver rejects their mask they'll fling it off their head, not carefully place it on their forehead.

And the important piece of gear to watch for rejection is the regulator. A diver rejecting a regulator has opened the door to drowning being the outcome of an incident. That is the first piece of gear that every panicking diver will reject because of the WOB and its the piece of gear which immediately changes the whole game.

Its a bad idea because the mask tilted up on to the for head isn't as secure as a mask worn on your face or pulled down under your chin and may be lost in the surf.

Around my neck the mask obstructs my backup regulator. I care much more about easy access to my regulator, than easy access to my mask, and I've got a backup mask in my pocket. If my mask get blown off in surf that's no big deal, I'll live. If my primary reg gets pulled out of my mouth in surf, then I potentially need immediate access to my backup if my face is underwater.

And I'm pretty sure that one of these days I'll take my hood off and fling my mask into the water accidentally, but if I have to buy a new mask every 500 dives due to that, its $10/yr on average or less for having my mask on my forehead -- which doesn't register given that i drop at least 1,000 times that on diving every year.

You are optimizing for the wrong things.

 

[Tortuga68]

Apparently I missed the memo about not putting your mask on your forehead - can the MOF crew please update their e-mail list?

 

[leapfrog]

When I did "Diving 101" I was taught the following:
"Never, under any cirumstances, have the mask on your forehead. If it is not on your face in the correct position, it should be around your neck. This is so it does not accidentally fall or be pushed off and also to make sure that other divers or boat crews do not interpret that you are in panic. We are divers, not aviators. Aviators wear goggles on their head. We keep the mask around our neck".

 

[Tortuga68]

lamont made a good point about around the neck (for those of us that have their backup reg bungeed under their neck)

I guess that's why I put my mask backwards on my head post-dive

Just another reason why I don't like PADI-style 'rules'

 

[Bob]

Most divers who are in a panic on the surface reject the mask and regulator, the regulator comes out and the mask comes off. In my NAUI OW course in 1977 we weren't taught that MOF was a signal that a diver was in distress, we were taught it was bad form, MOF could be easily knocked off and lost. When I take take my mask off my face, I turn it around backwards and wear it that way. It's more secure than MOF and doesn't look quite so dorky. almtree: Bob

 

[wardric]

I think you will find good advice if you read all the posts in this thread

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/surface-interval/118287-great-mof-nmof-thread.html

 

[Tortuga68]

Like I'm going to take advice from a clown!