Small nose, low volume Freediving mask, clear skirt?

[John C. Ratliff]

Guys I am curious if this gender peripheral vision thing is real. Try this: stand up and stare straight ahead at a fixed point, spread arms wide 180 degrees, wiggle fingers. Can you see them? How much do you have to angle in to see them both at the same time? It’s just like your buddy kicking next to you. If you can then wouldn’t you want to see that? Yeah, no more black mask skirts for me!

Yes, I can see my arms at greater than 180 degrees, and I'm definitely a man. I was going to ask you for a citation for that quote above, but it appears that the quote was not from a technical publication. I think that perhaps men focus on things ahead, but I don't think there is much difference in peripheral vision between the sexes.

As you probably know, there are two types of cells in our eyes, rods and cones. The cone cells react to bright light, and are color receptors. The rod cells are used at night for our night vision, and we see differently at night verses in daylight. There is also a "blind spot" for the rod cells right in the center of our visual field (where the optic nerve exits the eye), so at night you need to move the eyes side-to-side to see some areas toward the center of the visual field.
Difference between Rods and Cones - MD

We have gotten used to a lack of peripheral vision in diving, starting with the oval mask. I enjoy three-window masks for this reason, that they give me back my peripheral vision. We have also not been taught anymore how to observe and use our vision, how to scan to see things, how to look through foliage to see beyond things (it has to do with focus), or how to take in the entire visual field. We assume everyone knows that, but not everyone does. Underwater, where things are dimmer most times, moving our visual reference by looking side-to-side helps to see what's there; but this is a terrible habit if you are using a helmet-mounted video camera, as it will make the audience sick.

Here is a study of sex differences in color vision, which seems to show that except in one wavelength (green-yellow region), there was little difference:

J Vis. 2012 Jan 24;12(1). pii: 18. doi: 10.1167/12.1.18.
Sex-related differences in peripheral human color vision: a color matching study.
Murray IJ1, Parry NR, McKeefry DJ, Panorgias A.
Author information

Abstract
There has been much controversy as to whether there are sex-related differences in human color vision. While previous work has concentrated on testing the central visual field, this study compares male versus female color vision in the near peripheral retina. Male (n = 19) and female (n = 19) color normal observers who exhibited no significant differences either in the midpoints or the ranges of their Rayleigh matches were tested with a color matching paradigm. They adjusted hue and saturation of a 3° test spot (18° eccentricity) until it matched a 1° probe (1° eccentricity). Both groups demonstrated measurable shifts in the appearance of the peripheral color stimuli similar to those that have been previously reported. However, females showed substantially less saturation loss than males (p < 0.003) in the green-yellow region of color space. No significant differences were found in other regions of color space. This difference in the perceived saturation of color stimuli was minimally affected either by the inclusion or exclusion in the analysis of potential heterozygous female carriers of deutan color vision deficiencies. We speculate that this advantage of female over male color vision is conferred by M-cone polymorphism.
PMID:
22275467
DOI:
10.1167/12.1.18
Sex-related differences in peripheral human color vision: a color matching study. - PubMed - NCBI

SeaRat

 

[aquacat8]

Thanks SeaRat... there is so much fake info on the web it's good to get feedback on that. Recently I was freediving and I wished to shade my eyes from the sun on the surface and I realized a black skirt would do that. So it's a tradeoff. On a bright day it might be preferable to have the black skirt for comfort, and because if the glare narrows your pupils on the surface and then you descend it could take a while to adjust, and less direct sun is better for your eyes.

 

[Hoag]

@aquacat8 FWIW, I used to have a mask with a clear skirt (I still have it as my backup) but I have switched to one with a black skirt. The reason was that from time to time, with the clear mask, I would catch a glimpse of the strap buckle in my peripheral vision. It didn't happen often, but it did happen enough that when it was time to get a new mask (when my vision Rx changed) I chose a mask with a black skirt so it would be less distracting.

 

[EireDiver606]

Why do you want a clear skirt? My personal experience is it will let light in through the sides and blind you if you’re anywhere sunny at all.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

The clear skirt masks were developed for photographers to use on their diver models, so that their faces would photograph better. I use a black skirt almost exclusively, as I dive in the Clackamas River, and if it is sunny outside, the light coming in from the sides is greater than the light coming in from the bottom when I'm on the surface, so I cannot see well the bottom. This goes away when I descend, and look horizontally. The one thing about black neoprene skirts is that they don',t last, so the mask I really like, the Scubapro wide vision three-window mask without a purge (see my avatar) is a clear skirt silicone mask, as my neoprene masks have melted away and are gone now. I have gone through five of these masks over the years. I have two very nice black silicone skirt masks, which I have fitted with the SeawiscopeEY, so I can see very close-up things underwater.

One of my older books had a short description of peripheral vision from masks you might find interesting:

From: Human Performance and SCUBA Diving, Proceedings of the Symposium on Underwater Physiology, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, April 10-11, 1970, Copyright, The Athletic Institute 1970, SBN 87670-805-X, "Effect of Equipment on Diving Performance, a talk by Glen H. Egstrom, Ph.D., Department of Physical Education, University of California, Los Angeles. "A Man in Armour is His Armour's Slave." pages 8-9.

SeaRat

 

[aquacat8]

Thanks for the cool pic from your book @John C. Ratliff!

 

[aquacat8]

Why do you want a clear skirt? My personal experience is it will let light in through the sides and blind you if you’re anywhere sunny at all.

I like the clear mask for peripheral vision underwater, but you're right about it on the sunny surface!

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

Yes and for looking under ledges and into shaded areas, a black (or opaque) skirt mask is a significant benefit for well lit waters.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Aquacat8,

If you want to see the two masks in action, you can look at these two YouTube videos. The first shows me using my black skirt mask with the the SeawiscopeEY attached:


In this second video, you can see the Scubapro wide-view mask I like, but with the purge valve. You can also see how much better my face shows in this video. But I took the last neoprene mask I had which melted off my face, and exchanged the front glass for this one. So now, as my avitar shows, it has no purge valve.


SeaRat

PS, I placed a link on the book that I quoted and showed in the earlier post. It is available, but rather expensive.

 

[EireDiver606]

Yes and for looking under ledges and into shaded areas, a black (or opaque) skirt mask is a significant benefit for well lit waters.

Or for when your buddy doesn’t know what light discipline is and constantly shines his torch near your head when you’re leading