ocean reef neptune 2 full face mask

[stangd1909]

Me and my buddy are looking at picking one of these up. But I have a few questions first...are they a good mask? Do I have to use the Reg thats comes with it, or can I use my own Reg? How does the com work under water? can you hear really good?


Thanks!

 

[PhilEllis]

Me and my buddy are looking at picking one of these up. But I have a few questions first...are they a good mask? Do I have to use the Reg thats comes with it, or can I use my own Reg? How does the com work under water? can you hear really good?


Thanks!

We currently have a special on the Ocean Reef SPACE masks with single channel communications. Our special is for the purchase of two masks. Give us a call at (800) 601-3483. Thanks.

Phil Ellis
www.divesports.com

 

[bfuqua]

I would love to see the answers to questions. My wife and I are considering Ocean Reef Neptune II Full Face Masks

 

[stangd1909]

After rethinking it a little, My buddy and I have decided not to get these masks. Where are going to be starting tech diving classes soon, and we can't use these during those dives. Maybe in the future I will get one for rec diving....

 

[tattoou]

Stangd1909, Is there any other reasons besides the tech diving classes that made you decide against the ocean reef masks? The reason I ask, is I just purchased one myself, and I was trying to reseach the pros/cons. I did'nt find much about them except for high air consumption. Just trying to see if there was something else that steered you away from them??? Thanx in advance for any help you can provide...

 

[Diver0001]

I've been diving with two versions of this mask. The older version (the original one) was terrible. In my personal opinion it wasn't fit for use as diving gear. I made one dive with it on a trial day and my experience was similar to the other 15 divers from our club who were also there.

The updated version that came out about ... what? .... 3 years ago (?) was vastly improved and could certainly be used for diving. The point being here, that whatever you do, if you decide to go this way, buy a new one and don't get an old one from ebay or something.

As for use in practice, the Ocean reef FFM's (and probably many others as well) all have the problem that there is a "sweet spot" in terms of body orientation where they work best. If you change position they get "stiff" to breathe through and/or can start to slightly freeflow. If you roll over on your back the stiffness can get really distracting.

On the up side, the field of view on this mask is very good and the ones I've used all remained securely water-tight. On that front I would certainly give them a thumbs up. I think they still neeed to try to lower the internal volume more and get the regulator closer to your mouth. Maybe someone from Ocean Reef can tell you when they'll have a new design out.

R..

 

[aaronp]

I dive with a Fire Department Dive Team.
We were using a more "commercial" FFM, but nobody liked them, they were finicky, heavy, and when they broke, they cost a bunch of money to fix (THEY WERE NOT MADE BY OCEAN REEF).
About a year ago, we switched to Ocean Reef Neptune masks.

Some observations since the switch...
People are actually using them. (on most dives, we can choose normal regs or the FFM)
With just a little bit of training and famaliarization, we've come to prefer the Ocean Reef FFM.
They can be a pain to set up properly (they have to be adjusted to fit your face, but the adjustment is pretty easy to change).
They can be a little finicky in shallow water (under 10ft). The reg adjustment knob needs to be all the way in (or is that out...hardest to breath setting) in shallow water, or they will stutter. The deeper you go, the less this is a problem.
They provide excellent vision. I wear glasses. I got the glasses insert with my prescription in them. It is probably the BEST I've ever been able to see underwater. They don't fog, ever.

Some observations on the Communications system:
When my wife saw the Ocean Reef masks with Comm system that the Dive Team had, she wanted us to get a set for our personal use (she dives too). We took advantage of the buy two with single channel comm promotion mentioned above.
She was imagining that we'd have long rambling conversations about the flora and fauna underwater. Having experience U/W comms before, I was pretty sure that wasn't going to be the case.
She was disappointed, I wasn't. The comms are just as good as a $10k wireless commercial diving system, but if you are expecting much more than simple 3 word conversations, with lots of "WHAT???" thrown in, and slow speaking annunciating each word very clearly, you'll be disappointed.
It's the nature of the beast. There is water between your ear and the speaker. There are bubbles that interfere with the transmission. Your own breathing makes it hard to hear. There are boat noises, and other things underwater that mess with the system, it's not perfect. If you want perfect, you'll need a fully enclosed hard hat, with a hard wired comm system, and you'll pay lots of cash for it.
My wife and I have the singel channel comms. The dive team has the dual channel comms. We can talk to them (if they are on channel 1). Ours are push-to-talk only. The Dive Team's are PTT or Voice activated. They mostly use the PTT setting, because the Voice activated is a pain. Theirs has a robot voice which helps guide them through the settings. When the battery goes dead, the robot voice just keeps announcing something about "Channel 1" over and over. It's pretty annoying. It annoyed me, and I was diving NEXT TO the guy with the dead battery.
The comms come with a clear plastic doohickey that attaches them to the masks. This looks flimsy, and prone to break, so my wife and I took ours off and just attached the comm unit directly to the mask straps with the built-in hooks. This works just fine. The Dive Team choose to use the clear plastic doohickeys and has already broken several of them.

So, to end my quasi-review...
Even though I brought up a few negatives, overall I feel that the Ocean Reef masks are worth the money. I bought my own set after seeing the Dive Team's, and I don't regret the purchase. If they were lost or stolen, I'd probably go out and buy an exact replacement!

 

[cressrt]

I concur with the above; my wife and I have used ours here in Tenerife and in the Red Sea, the best comms are in the "deeper" water where there are less obstructions/obstacles. They take a bit of getting used to as you do not have a reg in your mouth to breath from. All in all they are nice to use but not all the time.

 

[muddiver]

Some problems with true fullface masks are:
1) If you loose your air supply by either an equipment malfunction or empty cylinder, you have to take the mask off to use an alternate air source.
2) They make you more buoyant.
3) Some designs will be prone to higher breathing gas consumption.
4) You surface and you are still breathing your cylinder down and you can't talk to anyone without taking the mask off.
5) You can't always use a different regulator than the one that is attached.
6) Some people complain that they are heavy.

Some of the good things:
1) Your face stays warmer.
2) It is more difficult to drown when wearing a fullface mask.
3) They are less prone to leaking at teh face seal like a standard scuba mask will.
4) If you get the hang of it you can talk with the various communications systems (OTS is the best, get a bone speaker).


I reccomend the Kirby Morgan M-48 Supermask over any of the other fullface masks on the market http://www.kirbymorgan.com/assets/Images/m48.jpg

The reason is that it is truely designed for scuba diving with the following abilities:
1) The regulator is on a pod that is detacable when you are wearing the mask. This allows you to breath on the surface without draining your cylinder, and you can talk to other people.
2) If you lose your breathing gas you can pop the pod off and go to an alternate air source and the face plate stays on so you can see. No spare mask required.
3) It will accept most second stage regulators.
4) It had a mouth piece in the mask so you can get a gas consumption rate close to a standard scuba regulator.
5) Using the mouth piece reduces the amount of CO2 that get re-inhaled from the space in the mask.

That is about all I can think of at the moment. Please feel free to ask questions.

 

[aaronp]

As it relates to the Ocean Reef Neptune (this is the Ocean Reef section)....

Some problems with true fullface masks are:
1) If you loose your air supply by either an equipment malfunction or empty cylinder, you have to take the mask off to use an alternate air source.
2) They make you more buoyant.
3) Some designs will be prone to higher breathing gas consumption.
4) You surface and you are still breathing your cylinder down and you can't talk to anyone without taking the mask off.
5) You can't always use a different regulator than the one that is attached.
6) Some people complain that they are heavy.

1- Correct. Part of the training is to take off the mask and switch to an alternative supply. You should also carry a mask with you. Just in case.
2 and 3 - Probably true, but haven't noticed much difference.
4- Incorrect. They have a "surface air knob" on the side that you open up to let fresh air in. This stops tank air from being used. What happens when you leave the knob open and submerge? You can calmly close the valve while continuing to breath, not a big deal. You CAN talk at the surface, but it is really muffled.
5- From the Ocean Reef Neptune website: •Optional accessory: Special adaptor allowing for connection of several kinds of regulators (two adaptor sizes, medium (standard) and small)
6- See 2 and 3. I can only speak for myself and the Dive Team, but haven't heard any complaints about the weight with the Ocean Reef Masks. Our old FFM systems, on the other hand....

Some of the good things:
1) Your face stays warmer.
2) It is more difficult to drown when wearing a fullface mask.
3) They are less prone to leaking at teh face seal like a standard scuba mask will.
4) If you get the hang of it you can talk with the various communications systems (OTS is the best, get a bone speaker).

1 - Correct- OH HECK YES!!!! You may have to cut up your hood to get it to work right with the Full Face Mask.
2 - Correct- If you passed out, you'd still be able to breathe.
3- Correct - Or more correctly, a little leak is no big deal. On a training dive, after a mask replacement exersize, my wife was complaining about her breathing being "a little wet". I checked her mask, and she had a strap stuck under the face seal near her chin. The water was POURING in (I could see it), and it was just "a little wet".
4- Correct - It definately takes getting used to.

I'll also add:
5 - Kinda goes along with 2. When the FFM is on, and adjusted properly, it is virtually impossible to accidentally get it knocked off. If someone were to kick you in the face, you'd be more likely to break your neck than loose your ability to breathe (like when you get a regulator knocked out of your mouth).
6 - With your nose and mouth at the same pressure in a Full Face Mask, I think that it is easier to clear your sinuses as you go down. The clearing mechanism can be a hassle, especially if it isn't adjusted right, but I think the whole clearing process is easier. Just my opinion.