Mask with Compass???

[AbsolutJake]

Hey guys,
Quick question. Is there any mask on the market that has a compass built in. I've see the ones with computers, which is awesome, but none with a compass, and that's what I really need. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help,
Jake

 

[emoreira]

Never seen something like this.

 

[tbone1004]

why? That would be horribly distracting and also all but impossible to use accurately...

 

[ajduplessis]

Why would it not be accurate?

 

[buddhasummer]

Why would it not be accurate?

Do electronic compasses need to be held level? I'm not sure.

 

[Oldbear]

So do you put the lubber line over the right eye, left eye or right in the middle and go cross eyed? :crazyeye:

 

[tbone1004]

Why would it not be accurate?

the compass itself would be accurate, but as the diver you would have no way of diving in a straight line, and you would also very likely make yourself motion sick by looking at the compass spinning around every time you turned your head. Wrist compasses are so inaccurate it isn't even funny because they are all but impossible to actually bisect your torso reliably, putting it on your head would make it worse. Digital could work, but in the mask would still be an issue. The NERD from Shearwater has a digital compass that works well enough for bearing checks but I wouldn't ever navigate somewhere with it.

[video=youtube;x0z4T_3KjFM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0z4T_3KjFM[/video]
This is similar to the survey slates that have been used in cave and wreck diving forever. If you want to be able to navigate accurately then you need something like that. If you just want it for reference to make sure you're going in the general direction you want to be going then just use a wrist compass

 

[AbsolutJake]

Yeah, I'm not looking for a full compass. I guess what I'm looking for is just a simple digital piece of data that tells me the direction I'm facing. Where I dive, it's very easy to lose direction, but if I can just have in my mask a simple cardinal direction, that would be very helpful. They could even color code the directions so that my peripheral vision would be able to keep me swimming in the right direction.

 

[dberry]

I started to reply that a mask-mounted compass wouldn't be useful for navigation, but stopped to think about it some more... What if you could enter a heading while holding still (maybe after using a regular compass) to set a faint, translucent vertical lubber line in the center of your field in the mask HUD ("heads-up-display"), and as you swim a second pale line would indicate deviation from the desired course. One small button on the mask could let you turn it on/set course / off, and two others to shift the course heading left/right in small increments (to adjust for leeway / slippage as you swim.)

Now just add a horizontal line in the HUD for depth, with similar settings and feedback. Heck, make it an artificial horizon like in an airplane. I suspect it would work fine, but I'm not sure I want to dive with such a contraption. Maintaining situational awareness and looking at one's compass and gauges should be part of a divers fundamental training, no?

 

[AbsolutJake]

Yeah, I like where you're going with that, but, yes, understanding compasses and gauges are fundamentals.