Mask, purge or not?

[Torontonian]

I'm new. As everyone recommends, like to buy a mask. Read some reviews here and in scubadiving.com

At first it seems to me having purge in a mask makes a lot of sense and given the choice I would've like to have it. But some people here seem to recommend against having purge valves in the mask, especially for deep diving.

I'll be going for nitrox soon, and AOW later in summer, and will only be doing recreational diving in warm waters during vacations (i.e. no really deep diving beyond the recreational limit).

So the question is, should I buy a mask with purge or no purge?

 

[divetahoe]

So the question is, should I buy a mask with purge or no purge?

First of all, welcome to the best sport/hobby to empty a wallet!

I've used both and I will continue to use a non-purge. Why? Less to go wrong.
When I started my diving, I purchased a purge mask since the LDS touted it as easier to use and blah, blah, blah. It was easy, but then again, so is a non-purge. The problem started when my purge mask began to leak around the purge valve, long before the mask itself was nearing it's useful life expectancy. To make matters worse, the purge valve couldn't be replaced, I needed to replace the entire mask.
So I did replace it -- with a non purge mask. Several masks later, I still use a non-purge for ease of maintenance.

FWIW.

 

[Diver0001]

I'm new. As everyone recommends, like to buy a mask. Read some reviews here and in scubadiving.com

At first it seems to me having purge in a mask makes a lot of sense and given the choice I would've like to have it. But some people here seem to recommend against having purge valves in the mask, especially for deep diving.

I'll be going for nitrox soon, and AOW later in summer, and will only be doing recreational diving in warm waters during vacations (i.e. no really deep diving beyond the recreational limit).

So the question is, should I buy a mask with purge or no purge?

First off, priority #1 is fit, comfort and field of view.

A purge is unnecessary, a potential source of leaks, and potentially uncomfortable; however, if you find the "perfect" mask and it happens to have a purge then I would say that priority #1 is still priority #1

R..

 

[Damselfish]

At first it seems to me having purge in a mask makes a lot of sense and given the choice I would've like to have it. But some people here seem to recommend against having purge valves in the mask, especially for deep diving.

Exactly, at first it seems to make sense to have a purge, I remember thinking the same thing early on. But as you learn more you'll find it's not necessary and can have the problems already mentioned. Some people do like them, find they just can't get a mask that doesn't leak due to a mustache or whatever. But I would start with a non-purge mask and only resort to a purge as a last ditch thing.

 

[crpntr133]

Dead horse issue, lets beat it some more.

I hate a purge mask, yes I have one that I bought for my OW class. It since has been replaced with a non-purge mask and I wouldn't have anything else. I would have to want a mask really bad to buy it with a purge.

 

[The Kraken]

Not . . .

the K

 

[616fun]

I find purge masks hard to equalize in because I have very large hands. My fingers don't work well getting past the hard purge to squeeze my nose.

 

[daval]

I have a non-purge mask at the moment and find that my hood keeps filling with air. Reason being is I tend to exhale from my nose a lot and the air creeps up into my hood. Really weird feeling.

I'm thinking of trying a purge mask as that should allow the air to leave their and keep me from becoming a bubblehead.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

hate them myself

 

[redacted]

A purge mask may seem to be nice for beginners, but it really just trades off perceived simpler mask clearing for more difficulty in ear clearing. A purge valve should be unnecessary for a trained, experienced diver.