Most comfortable long term full-face mask/helmet?

[Javik]

This is actually unrelated to diving. And despite the image I'm including, this is a serious thread.


I would eventually like to try building a person-sized immersion tank where the user is continuously underwater for upwards of 12-16 hours a day, but can watch TV and use a monitor/keyboard/mouse inside.

It would only be deep enough to hold an adult upright, and with rungs and quick-slap emergency paddles on all four walls to rapidly empty the tank if needed.

Don't know if you can sleep in a float tank. That would be interesting to try.


For maximum comfort, would want either a two-hose rebreather-style mask or a full helmet so the user can talk, and no bubbles from the exhaust air.

Air supply would be permanent, freeflow, and just enough to comfortably counterbalance the immersion, about 18 water inches / 0.65 PSI / 0.0447 bar.


Probably the most comfort involves the least amount of constant tight skin pressure, so a full helmet with neck dam is probably going to be the way to go. Probably one of the Kirby SuperLite fiberglass helmets.

Can anyone with experience with full face masks and helmets offer any recommendations on this? This equipment is quite expensive, $5000 and up, and I don't want to be buying multiple different ones to find the best one for long-term daily use.

(I will have to work on the "feeding/waste tubes" later, once I get the helmet and tank worked out.)


I have no idea where to put this thread on here. Technical section? Commercial? Equipment info? Research and development? Maybe a moderator could suggest something better? But this does seem like the best place on the Internet for ask for mask/helmet advice.

 

[kwinter]

Send a PM to Akimbo. His opinion would count.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.

 

[tbone1004]

seconded Akimbo on the mask

one of the things you want to think about is the effects of vertical immersion as far as the pressure differential for the lower extremities and Wob.

 

[Rich Keller]

A Superlite helmet would give you a double seal, one around your face and the other around your neck. In the water the weight is fine but getting in and out of your tank it might become an issue. Their EXO-26 mask might be a better way to go as far as weight and cost are concerned but then you only have one seal around your face. You can sleep underwater in a helmet in the upright position. I have taken the occasional nap underwater but this was for very short periods and with a tender listening on the radio. I do not think I would try that for long periods with no one monitoring me.

 

[Javik]

As far as unmonitored personal safety goes, my plan is to make water dumping an integral part of the immersion tank.

Any problem, at all? Power failure? Air supply problem? The water drains out completely in about 15 seconds, into a secondary tank by gravity through multiple quick-release flapper doors, that default to open with the power off.

Might also enter the tank empty through a side door and fill once inside, which is easier to work with in a single-floor building, without having to climb a ladder or needing a second floor to get in from the top.

With side access, the top is still left open for immediate emergency exit if necessary.

 

[Charlesl]

I see some replies - although I have to ask. Why?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[Akimbo]

Interesting project: An open-bottom hat is probably the most comfortable when aggressive movement and the ability to function head-down is not required. Any kind of seal will cause skin irritation in warm water, especially with long daily exposures. Something like this comes to mind: Shore Excursion: Blue Water SeaTrek Helmet Diving & Snorkel - Cozumel, Mexico

If head-down and/or a lot of movement is required then the most comfortable freeflow hat with a neck dam I have ever used was made by Joe Savoie. Unfortunately, Mr. Savoie (I never had the pleasure of meeting him) has passed away and his hat has been out of production for decades. Because it was such a beautifully crafted hat and was WAY ahead of its time, it is highly valued by collectors. However, you can find a number of old fiberglass free-flow air-hats around that share some of Savoie’s design features that will be better in this application than a Kirby-Morgan hat.

Adding a demand regulator introduces a lot of design complexities. Though absolutely essential for modern surface supplied and Saturation diving (which the KM hat is designed for), your application doesn’t need these constraints. Anything that touches the skin will cause irritation during repeated long-duration dives in warm water. That makes a FFM (Full Face Mask) even worse since it will move more abrading the skin than a neck seal — think face twitching, head movements, and generally more delicate skin on the face than the neck. Hats also solve the problem of facial hair.