Whatever happened to solid mask defogs?

[neonstingray]

Years back I stumbled on a little container of solid wax-like mask defog, I believe called something like St. Claire's. It blew every bottle-based defog out of the water. You'd rub it on the glass, wait for it to dry to a haze, then buff it with a cloth, just like waxing a car. It worked so well you could easily see the edge of where you had applied it - crystal clear glass transitioning to foggy glass. I bought a used Vyper computer, and in the box came a similar looking container of solid defog by McNett, called "Sea Ice". I have yet to try it, but I looked online and it's been discontinued. There must be a reason why? Did people not want to have to do the extra work of buffing and polishing?

Best,
Austin

 

[beanojones]

Not discontinued.

The name of the one I know is Absolutely Clear.
Absolutely Clear

And why people don't use it probably has to do with why most people do most things the way they do in diving (for better or worse): because divers imitate what instructors and guides do, and we have to use something that is quicker and easier.

The last thing we need is some other reason for people to have to spend time fiddling with stuff when we are trying to get them in the water, and looking too long on things that require fine control on a boat makes people seasick. The divers could do it beforehand but that requires them to roll the dice on a product that they are not sure works when there is already something (regular defog) that works fine.

 

[neonstingray]

Thanks beano! That's the kind of stuff I was talking about. And yeah, I used to put it on the mask in the morning so I didn't have to navigate all the people on the boat trying to defog and rinse their masks while trying to figure out which bucket was for cameras only... The good thing about Boston is the dive boats usually only take 6 divers at a time

 

[tracydr]

Hey,thanks! I think I may give that a try,too!

 

[Carlos Danger]

Not discontinued.

The name of the one I know is Absolutely Clear.
Absolutely Clear

Cool, thanks for the info!

 

[dfx]

And why people don't use it probably has to do with why most people do most things the way they do in diving (for better or worse): because divers imitate what instructors and guides do, and we have to use something that is quicker and easier.

Or because "regular" defog is dirt cheap and readily available anywhere. Dish soap, shampoo or anything in between works just fine.

 

[archman]

I should market and sell my boogers...

 

[neonstingray]

Or because "regular" defog is dirt cheap and readily available anywhere. Dish soap, shampoo or anything in between works just fine.

I'm not sure what costs you're referring to. They're usually the same price as bottle-based defogs. I haven't come across any other bottled defog, soap, shampoo, etc, that I can apply once in the day and use across multiple dives without having to either reapply it or resort to the tried and true method of flooding the mask a bit, tilting my head, and clearing...

 

[dfx]

I'm not sure what costs you're referring to. They're usually the same price as bottle-based defogs. I haven't come across any other bottled defog, soap, shampoo, etc, that I can apply once in the day and use across multiple dives without having to either reapply it or resort to the tried and true method of flooding the mask a bit, tilting my head, and clearing...

That's why I said "regular" defog. The kind you have to apply for every dive. It's cheap and you can get it everywhere.

 

[beanojones]

That's why I said "regular" defog. The kind you have to apply for every dive. It's cheap and you can get it everywhere.

Absolutely Clear is cheaper than regular defog, and never leaks away. And it works great, (it works much better than regular defog which can be smeary).

That said, I have to demo/model mask defogging every time I dive so I never use it. I use spit or commercial defog.