Post-Soviet masks: Ukrainian models

[David Wilson]

In my last thread Post-Soviet masks: Russian models, I promised to showcase the Glubinka mask, which is or was stocked and sold by Ukrainian retailers. It's unclear from their websites whether Glubinka masks are still in production or whether old stocks of the mask are being offered, so I'm going to side-step the issue on this occasion. As you will have learnt from later postings, events in Ukraine remain fluid, and I'm not just talking about diving equipment.

Glubinka (Russian: Глубинка; English: Outback) underwater swimming masks are (or were) distributed by rubber goods company Kievguma (Ukrainian: Київгума; English: Kiev Rubber) in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which was once a Soviet republic. The mask may now be purchased from several Ukrainian online retailers, including Bars.org.ua, Lodo4ka.com.ua, Pramarket.com.ua, Prom.ua and Start-odessa.com.ua.

Glubinka

A typical product descriptions reads as follows:
Classic wide visibility diving mask equipped with oval-shaped tempered glass window, demountable metal rim and nostril-pinching accordion bosses for relief of underwater ear pressure. Fits most facial types, priced affordably, head-strap cradle delivered unsplit.
Colour: Green skirt and strap.
Material: Window — tempered glass. Skirt— high quality, non-toxic rubber. Rim — stainless steel.

The Glubinka mask prototype may have been the 1970s Russian-made Mosrezina 49607 mask (above). Such masks often appear on the Russian online auction site Avito.ru.

The current version of the Kievguma Glubinka mask resembles the Spine Neptun (Russian: Нептун; English: Neptune) mask (below) made in the Russian city of Yaroslavl. Both models feature corrugated ear-clearing bosses and ellipsoid lenses.

One problem associated with the Glubinka mask is that it seems to be devoid of any markings, not even a reference to the 1975 Soviet Standard for diving masks, which makes it almost impossible to trace even the manufacturer definitively. Soviet, Russian and Ukraininan diving equipment manufacturers marked their fins very clearly and it's a shame they didn't always do the same with their masks.

I'll move on next to the Kievguma Akvanavt mask. If you look at the first message in the Post-Soviet masks: Russian models thread, you'll get a preview of what the Akvanavt mask looks like. More anon.

 

[David Wilson]

Kievguma Akvanavt (Russian: Акванавт; English: Aquanaut) underwater swimming masks are manufactured by rubber goods company Kievguma (Ukrainian: Київгума; English: Kiev Rubber) in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which was once a Soviet republic. The mask may now be purchased from several Russian and Ukrainian online retailers, including A-ludi.ru, Pramarket.com.ua, Prom.ua, Realsport.com.ua and Sportmarket.com.ua.

Akvanavt

A typical product description of the mask:

Wide visibility diving mask with tempered glass window, quick adjusting buckles, flexible finger wells for easy ear equalisation, a demountable plastic rim and a retaining band. Fits most facial types and suitable for sea and fresh water diving at a temperature of 15-35 °C.
Accreditation: Russian Standard GOST 20568-75 (Rubber masks for submarine swimming).
Colour: Blue frame with black skirt; red frame with black skirt; blue frame with blue skirt; yellow frame with yellow skirt.
Material: Window — tempered glass. Skirt and strap — high quality, non-toxic rubber. Frame — PVC plastic. Buckles — metal.

The original version of the Kievguma Akvanavt mask (above) came with a metal rim. Such early models appear now and then on the Russian online auction site Avito.ru.

The current version of the Kievguma Akvanavt mask resembles the Spine Laguna (Russian: Лагуна; English: Lagoon) mask (below) made in the Russian city of Yaroslavl. Both models feature split plastic rims with removable screws on either side.

Finally, the Kievguma Akvanavt mask has been available with skirts in colours other than black:

We'll look next at the Kievguma "Malyuk" mask.

 

[David Wilson]

Right, the Malyuk (Малюк = Baby) mask. I don't have a great deal of information on this model, which came out with skirts in different colours.

Malyuk

A typical product description reads:
A classic mask for underwater swimming . Round shape, rubber skirt. Fits well, comfortable to swim in.
Characteristics
Age group: Children
Lens colour: Colourless
Skirt material: Rubber

Other skirt colours may be available:

All Malyuk masks comply with Russian Standard GOST 20568-75 (Rubber masks for submarine swimming). Note how the lens is retained by a groove in the skirt without any additional metal rim for support. In this respect, the Malyuk resembles the children's mask in YaRTI's Russian range of underwater swimming masks:

Both Malyuk and Pionyer children's masks have the Russian Standard GOST 20568-75 (Russian: МАСКИ РЕЗИНОВЫЕ ДЛЯ ПЛАВАНИЯ ПОД ВОДОЙ English: Rubber masks for submarine swimming) embossed on the top. This Standard identifies two types of mask:
1. Mask with an oval or otherwise shaped lens secured with a separate (plastic or metal) rim.
2. Mask with an oval or otherwise shaped lens without a separate (plastic or metal) rim.
Most Russian and Ukrainian diving masks fall into the first category. The Malyuk and the Pionyer fall into the second category of mask design because their lenses are retained by a groove in the thick front edge of their rubber skirts.

I'll move on next to another thread dedicated to underwater swimming masks of the Soviet era. Researching masks manufactured when Russia and Ukraine were constituent republics of the USSR has proved a harder enterprise than investigations into fin models of the period as Soviet masks frequently lacked product names or other identification marks.

 

[dmaziuk]

Glubinka (Russian: Глубинка; English: Outback)

... and for my usual $.02: Глубина means depth, Глубинка is technically diminutive for depth but is only used to mean outback, backwoods. Such a clever wordplay for a diving mask's name.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the explanation, dmaziuk. I puzzled over "Outback" as the dictionary meaning of Глубинка, as it didn't seem to have any aquatic connotations - more reminiscent of uninhabited areas of the Australian subcontinent. English puns can be hard enough to understand, which makes word play in other languages even more difficult to acess.

 

[dmaziuk]

... especially when it's a lame attempt at word play. Diminutives are used for kids' names, and "little depth" for a kid's mask must have sounded clever to some copywriter, but as you found out not even the dictionaries use that meaning.

 

[David Wilson]

I guess copywriters run out of ideas or they can't summon up enough motivation sometimes to be creative. Selection of names for fins can both attract and repel; "SlingShot" and "Smoke on the Water" may strike oldies like me as being particularly silly and pretentious names for fins while the younger generation might consider the same names to be "cool" and an inspired choice.