Yelled at for MOF

[The Chairman]

The "fact" used to be that if you left a car battery sitting on concrete it would go dead.

That was true when the casing was waxed cardboard. I haven't seen one of those in 50 years. Plastic just doesn't have that problem.

 

[BRT]

That was true when the casing was waxed cardboard. I haven't seen one of those in 50 years. Plastic just doesn't have that problem.

When the casing was waxed cardboard sitting it in a metal battery tray probably didn't help it much either.

 

[Wookie]

That was true when the casing was waxed cardboard. I haven't seen one of those in 50 years. Plastic just doesn't have that problem.

I will always believe that a battery left on concrete will go flat. I will similarly also believe that a MOF can be a sign of distress. We don't need to discuss man caused global warming.

 

[The Chairman]

When the casing was waxed cardboard sitting it in a metal battery tray probably didn't help it much either.

It had to do with the salts in the concrete. The shop I first worked at was next to a junk yard, and we had these old batteries stacked on the outside. You could see the crystal matrix grow up the side of the battery. It was pretty cool to look at as a kid. The good batteries we put on wood and they didn't react the same way.

 

[gypsyjim]

I learned to dive in 1972. Nobody cared about MOF. I still do not and I think the whole "in distress" thing is just plain silly.

I have never lost a mask. I have fallen off a dive boat ladder with reg out and MOF, and both were in back place before I was (briefly) under the water. The guy under me did not fare so well when my double 125s...just kidding; everyone was good about staying out from under the ladder. That's a good thing if I fall off, double 125s first. You can trust me on this.

Also, I carry a spare mask, and a necklaced secondary reg, so even if I lose both of them I know where to find replacements quickly. And my antifog is baby shampoo...no tears if some residual drops land in my eyes.

These days I often move the mask from my head to my forearm, where the computer keeps its strap retained, to prevent loss on return surface swims over deep water, but I still use MOF when I feel like it. It's my mask, after all. I can put it where I want.

My 2 PSI. Worth what you paid for them.

Why did no one rescue this poor man?
Why did no one warn us that he was actually drowning?
This man inspired so many of us to try this sport in the late 60's and early 70's, and it was only decades later that we learned from the PADI Dive Police that we learned everything wrong!

I was diving @10 years ago in Bonaire with a group traveling with a local PADI Course Director. I had DM trainee throw my rig into the water because I dared to leave it standing while I turned to help another diver.
The Course Director had to intercede, and explain to the brain dead witch that she was only seconds away from flying into the ocean herself, and that she was to NEVER touch my gear again!

 

[EdC]

Thanks for a good laugh.

This needs to be added to @nycnaiad post

What's the most unpopular benign/non-polarizing opinion you hold re: diving?

 

[tursiops]

When did the MOF ever become a symbol of distress.... what agency officially designated that?

Been around for years. Purely a myth, passed on from instructor to student. No agency backs it.
It is kinda like the 5-sec rule when you drop something on the floor. Or endless other inanities.

 

[gypsyjim]

Personally, MOF is a damned good way to lose a mask in many situations, but given a benign situation, I have been known to push my mask up, rather than drop it to my neck, just to

or

.

 

[The Chairman]

It is kinda like the 5-sec rule when you drop something on the floor. Or endless other inanities.

Now you're meddling!

 

[gypsyjim]

Been around for years. Purely a myth, passed on from instructor to student. No agency backs it.
It is kinda like the 5-sec rule when you drop something on the floor. Or endless other inanities.

With bacon, and a couple other delicacies, that can be stretched to the 5 minute rule, as long as you do not have a dog...