Yelled at for MOF

[tbone1004]

2 of my slimlines have them, but the rest look like the one you posted. I suspect as you mentioned that the lens is designed to come off

 

[AfterDark]

The "built-in over-pressure relief for safety" would be an expanded section of the Bourdon tube that would bust if the pressure is over 1.5 x 5000 psi. If that section burst, then the scale plate would push onto the polycarbonate lens & may pop it off the gauge.

So don't look at it when turning the air on or you may get a face full! This is so the hose doesn't burst. I've always turned mine away why tempt fate? Diving is not risky enough? Want to play diving roulette with 3000+ PSI of gas? Diving wouldn't be the same without eyesight.

 

[dmaziuk]

The "built-in over-pressure relief for safety" would be an expanded section of the Bourdon tube that would bust if the pressure is over 1.5 x 5000 psi. If that section burst, then the scale plate would push onto the polycarbonate lens & may pop it off the gauge.

So don't look at it when turning the air on or you may get a face full! This is so the hose doesn't burst. I've always turned mine away why tempt fate? Diving is not risky enough? Want to play diving roulette with 3000+ PSI of gas? Diving wouldn't be the same without eyesight.

Speaking of what OW instructors teach, mine taught that. More accurately, to keep face away from the pressurized bits when first turning air on.

 

[Dan]

The "built-in over-pressure relief for safety" would be an expanded section of the Bourdon tube that would bust if the pressure is over 1.5 x 5000 psi. If that section burst, then the scale plate would push onto the polycarbonate lens & may pop it off the gauge.

So don't look at it when turning the air on or you may get a face full! This is so the hose doesn't burst. I've always turned mine away why tempt fate? Diving is not risky enough? Want to play diving roulette with 3000+ PSI of gas? Diving wouldn't be the same without eyesight.

Yep, I may just do that from now on. And turn the valve on slowly too.

I have seen & heard my dive buddy high pressure hose burst right after he turned on the valve. It was quite loud. So, turn the valve slowly should be a good safety habit.

 

[gypsyjim]

I was helping as a PADI DM with a couple classes on a day where both OW and rescue students were being certed. I was practicing with the rescue students doing diver tows while stripping gear. The instructor was with the OW class.

Between OW dives 1 and 2 I led the rescue students over to listen in to the briefing. He saw us coming and simply turned back to the OW students. There was myself and the 4 rescue students plus one "victim".

I held up my hand and counted to three with my fingers just as he was finishing the OW surface briefing. When he turned to look at us guess what? Yep, we all had our masks on our foreheads.

He was not happy but said nothing. I don't think the OW students even noticed. If they did nothing was said. He looked several times that weekend like he was going to say something but never did.

I tell all my OW students that they will hear others saying that a mask on forehead IS a sign of distress and to ignore them. It can be when coupled with other things. More often it is a sign that the owner has the disposable cash to keep buying masks, or just wants to be more comfortable.

There is a reason why I have never lost a mask, while my gf, with far, far fewer dives under her belt has lost 3.

Even when diving with my Kraken DH, my mask is either around my neck, or on my face, until everything is secured away.

I have no issue with MOF, but I NEVER wear it there when there is any potential for loss.

 

[Trailboss123]

OK- I have been traveling and am now just getting caught up on this thread. BIG props to @stuartv for creating this topic! I never would have imagined that a MaskOnFace thread could create 12 wonderful pages of entertaining responses. Shame on me! I should have known better. This has been a wonderful distraction from the day to day mundane. Thanks Stuart! You made my week! #ScubaDiving #FreedomOfSpeech #Scubaboard #WeAllHaveOurDifferentExperiencesAndWorld/DivingViews!

 

[Caveeagle]

Am I the only one having trouble following this dual thread being split between Anti MOF a$$hat and something about exploding gauges?

 

[TrimixToo]

Our instructor was pretty cool with this one. He told us that it could be a sign of distress, but more importantly he just liked his students keeping their gear generally as safe as possible. More than once he would get a smirk on his face, look at me and ask, "Is the diver, OK?" After the second or third time I got it. He also usually followed it up with a discussion about losing gear, rather than distress. I took it as a good mix of reminding me to mind my gear, without getting all draconian about it and without perpetuating a storyline about distress.

The only "old school" storyline I thought he perpetuated was pointing the SPG front away from your face when pressurizing the system. No idea if that is an SSI requirement or just old habit.

My reaction probably would have best been tempered, as I assume yours was, because I was there with a buddy and wouldn't want to have wasted their time if I got kicked out. If I had been alone or near the end of what I was working on, the sarcasm factor would have escalated proportionately to how close to being done I was. If someone wants to embarrass me in front of their students, I would have zero issue embarrassing them in front of their students. It is simply a matter of tact and social skills. In his line of work, his livelihood could very well depend on that. If he wants to bring me into his training, I am okay if we both learn from each other in front of his students. Tact, the lost art.

I know someone who was peppered with glass shards when the bourdon tube failed in an SPG and the glass was pointed at a hand. That made me (even more) careful to point it away from me and others when opening the tank valve, and do that slowly.

 

[txgoose]

I know someone who was peppered with glass shards when the bourdon tube failed in an SPG and the glass was pointed at a hand. That made me (even more) careful to point it away from me and others when opening the tank valve, and do that slowly.

I'm not debating that SPGs can't blow. They have, and can. My point is that without a conscious effort to know which part of your SPG is most likely to blow, plenty of bad things are possible using the carte blanche rule I described. Even if all we did was teach that divers should point the side edge of the reg at themselves, we'd be better off, no? Glass goes one way, pressure relief valve goes another. Seems better to me. Mechanical devices will break. Gauges with relief vales on the back and pointed at people will also break. My belief still stands that it is a poor general rule to teach "always point the front away" while handing your students an SPG with a relief valve in the back, as I was.

 

[TrimixToo]

I'm not debating that SPGs can't blow. They have, and can. My point is that without a conscious effort to know which part of your SPG is most likely to blow, plenty of bad things are possible using the carte blanche rule I described. Even if all we did was teach that divers should point the side edge of the reg at themselves, we'd be better off, no? Glass goes one way, pressure relief valve goes another. Seems better to me. Mechanical devices will break. Gauges with relief vales on the back and pointed at people will also break. My belief still stands that it is a poor general rule to teach "always point the front away" while handing your students an SPG with a relief valve in the back, as I was.

Fair point, and I am not an instructor. But at the recreational level, nearly everyone has a console, where the only potentially hazardous part of an SPG is its face. And even the "point the side at yourself" idea is flawed if it exposes others to flying bits of high-velocity polycarbonate, glass, and such. My (bare) SPGs have no devices on their backs. The glass fronts are pointed away from all humans when I open the valves.

This is analogous to "never point the muzzle (of a firearm) at anything you are not willing to destroy." There might be more than one "muzzle," but all such hazards should be directed away from people if possible. (It's a risk we can easily manage. Let's manage it.)