Purge mask fiasco

[Texasdivechick]

I received a brand new purge mask from a friend. On my first dive of the day I started to descend and realized that when I pressed against the nose pocket of the mask the plastic purge part really hurt my nose. Consequently, I couldn't equalize my ears. I finally had to completely take off my mask in order to squeeze my nose and equalize my ears, then replace and clear my mask. This by the way is the one skill that gives me the most trouble and gets my breathing way too fast. Anyone else have trouble equalizing with a purge mask.
Oh, and for the 2nd and 3rd dives I switched back to my regular mask and had no trouble equalizing!

 

[tonka97]

I received a brand new purge mask from a friend. On my first dive of the day I started to descend and realized that when I pressed against the nose pocket of the mask the plastic purge part really hurt my nose. Consequently, I couldn't equalize my ears. ..........

Another problem producing solution to a non-problem

 

[Texasdivechick]

Yeah, those masks suck. But hey, it WAS free! Now it will just be used as a back up, or I can give it to another diver who has a shorter nose!

 

[sberanek]

I don't have any equalization problems with the purge mask, but I did have a flooding problem with it at 65'. Everything was fine for a few dives, then on this one particular one, we were around 65' and my mask kept filling with water. It would go fast too. Basically, I had to spend 20 minutes constantly exhaling through my nose to keep the water to a managable level. I had no idea what was wrong and couldn't take the mask of to inspect it. The next day, on the way to the dive site, I was looking at it all over and saw that the little rubber flap that covers the valve had one side shoved up into the valve, thus making it an open hole in the mask. I can only surmise that it got like that from squeezing to equalize. I popped it back out with a fingernail on the surface, but I don't think I could manage that at depth.

--Shannon

 

[CLEAR BLUE]

I really love my purge mask. I equalize mostly by swallowing. Also wear my mask rather loose. No problems whatsoever.

 

[spectrum]

shannonjon22

That was my wife's observation, she went non purge and has never looked back.

If it works for someone then that's fine but nobody should need a purge in the mask.

The rest of my opinion.

Pete

 

[deeper thoughts]

I have the evo purge mask and it is excellent!

 

[CON8IV]

Shannonjon22,
Here's a possible solution for your pain-in-the-nose mask. I use a purge mask and it hurt my nose the first few dives, too. In mine, there was a little piece of plastic that holds the soft part of the valve in place. This little sprig of plastic was about 1/8th of an inch long, maybe a bit longer. Anyway, you may notice yours has the same thing. Here's the deal. You'll notice that this little piece has a sprue on it to hold the soft valve in place, but extends well beyond the sprue. I trimmed this excess off with clippers, but not so short that the sprue won't hold the soft valve in place. No more nose pokes! And this is my favorite mask to date, although I have a couple others as backups or dark water diving, as my favorite has a magenta lens.
Try taking a look and see if this will fix your problem.

 

[Garrobo]

I've never used anything except a purge mask. I bought a new one about 6 months ago with prescription lenses. I had a problem at first with the purge rubbing my nose but either got used to it or adjusted the mask so it didn't rub. I like the fact that if I get any water in it, which is seldom, all I have to do is exhale through my nose and it empties. I exhale through my nose a lot anyway.------Not to make fun of anyone but I always wondered what a person with a large nose goes through when trying to buy a mask that fits. Do they make custom masks with larger areas for large noses?

 

[ClayJar]

One of the divers on our checkout trip this past weekend had lots of trouble clearing her ears, so I was assigned to be her designated descent buddy. She had a purge valve mask of a style I had not seen before (admittedly, I have not seen many), but on hers, the entire bottom of the rather large nose pocket was occupied with the purge valve and a rigid "frame" holding it.

I noticed every time she tried the Valsalva, air would exit the purge even though she was attempting to pinch her nose. She managed to equalize using other methods, but later, I got to thinking about it. It seems likely that the large rigid portion of the purge valve frame was preventing her from pinching her nose (which was not of the same proportions as the nose pocket), rendering her attempts at Valsalva rather futile. (The purge housing had multiple openings, so covering the purge opening and doing the pressurized-mask-Valsalva wouldn't be viable.)

I need to remember to tell them at the shop to ask her about it when she comes by for gear or her card. If that's what was happening, she'll probably be glad to find out that descents should be much easier once she solves the problem... although she might get a bad opinion of at least one style of purge valve mask as it relates to her face.