Ocean Reef Full Face Mask?

[rsdancey]

I had a couple of reasons for trying out the FFM concept - I'm a tech-head and like gadgets, and my dive buddy (wife) and I have had a lot of problems communicating underwater with hand signals. The wider viewing area was not a real consideration, but I am enjoying it.

I would not compare a half-mask to a full-mask in terms of fit & comfort - they're really two different animals. Like comparing a pair of sunglasses to a welder's helmet. I have my Nira fitted well and have learned how to adjust the straps when I don it so that it "floats" on my face and causes no discomfort. I don't have any reservations about diving it in recreational settings.

Ryan

 

[PaulChristenson]

When we are in contaminated water conditions, we use the following...

http://catalog.argos.net/ECscripts/ECware.exe/dcp?id=003&sku=RSV1&type=A1QS11&lc=EN

I don't know if there is a product like this that will fit your rig...


Paul in VT

 

[rsdancey]

While I think it is likely that I'll be the one using my own octo (I suspect that eventually I'll have a mask come askew due to an errant flipper...), I still feel a lot more comfortable knowing that I can provide back up gas in an OOA situation. Also, when doing mask removal and backup replace (drill or real, no difference) I know that I can stick a breathable reg in my buddy's mouth if something goes wrong, and she can do the same for me. We've made visual inspection and checking of the placement of the octo a part of our FFM diving practice, so it would take a pretty significant series of cascading failures to get us to the point where neither one of us has a workable second air source available in the event of a catastrophe.

I even considered the option of having 2 octos - one set up DIR style on a necklace, and the second clipped to my BC as per our SOP. The necklace would be used by me, the clipped octo would be used if I had to share air. Unfortunately, I'm out of ports on my single reg rig (and I don't plan on using the FFM with my doubles rig) so that experiment isn't going to happen in the near future.

The other thing I considered was using a 7 foot hose on the octo, routing it as I would my DIR 7ft hose, except I'd clip it to the right shoulder D-ring after looping it around my neck. That way I could potentially unclip it and then hand it off in an OOA situation giving me the advantages of the long hose. Obvious problems are the words "unclip it" - in an emergency, a clipped octopus seems deadly. Not to mention how bad things would get if a distressed diver went for the octo and just tried to rip it off the rig (visions of the octo seperating from the hose dancing in my head....) So to make that experiment work I'd need to have some kind of quick-release solution that wouldn't leave the octo banging me in the side of the face as I swam..... :0