Technisub Marina

[Fondueset]

Finally got my Marinas from south Africa - took a whole four days.
For the record I currently have three masks - Omer Alien, Cressi Matrix and Technisub Sphera.

The Marina is very low volume. The Alien seems quite large by comparison.

My Alien and Matrix both have scrip lenses bonded to them - this seems to increase their peripheral vision so there is a kind of fisheye effect at the edges - so it's hard to compare that way.

Peripheral vision on the Marina is about the same as my modified alien - so in a stock mask it would definitely be better. Nothing I've seen but the sphera or something with side windows can touch the matrix for peripheral vision. Downward vision is comparable with the Cressi Matrix - basically unlimited. Upward is about the same as both.

Fit and seal are excellent. I'd say it seals on my face a better than the matrix and easily as well as the Alien. The silicone is not as soft and thin as the alien - which is probably a little more tolerant of facial contortions - if you feel the need to leer at fish.

Nose space is excellent. There is allways a little space between the bridge of my nose and the nose pocket - and it is not turned up like the Alien and does not rest on the bridge of my nose like the sphera.

This is an EXTREMELY WELL DESIGNED freediving mask - with visual field better than the alien with lower air volume. There is very little wasted space inside the mask and the downward tilt on the lenses reduces volume even more. I'm also impressed by how solidly built it is. I haven't go it in the water yet but I expect it'll be my fav.

That said: Good luck getting one! It was never sold here in the states and has been discontinued. Technisub tells me they will be replacing it with a model called the 'Micro' - but they told me that five months ago and there is no sign as yet. I wonder if they got into a patend issue with Cressi on the angled lenses or something.

[SanderP]

Gratz for your new mask!
Yesterday I read some threads about the Marina and seemed like Jon was also very pleased with his. I was hoping to find it in my local Aqualung shop, but no luck - like you said, it obviously has been discontinued. Makes me wonder why though, as the mask isn't really old at all, is it?

And don't forget to tell us about your experience with the Marina in water.

[TheDude]

The mask is on the market not longer than a year, so I hope it was not discontinued . I bought one in december. As it is my first freedive mask, I cannot say much about how good it is compared to others. And I'm only using it for deep diving as I have another big mask with prescription lenses which I use for up to 20m when there is something to see.

The Marina serves me very well so far, no complaints at all. Good fit, good field of vision, no distortion, no signs of wear so far.

[Jon]

Best mask I've used/owned to date. It wasn't easy to get- had to order it from South Africa as well, but the price was right even with shipping.

I had my in-laws try and get me one at last year's DEMA convention and the best thing that Technisub could come up with was a picture of one in a catalog! Half the people working in the booth didn't even know what it was. They promised that it would be available stateside in April, but from what Fonduset said it looks like that won't be happening.

This thing is like the Farallon snorkel of freediving masks. I don't know what it is with gear manufacturers who try and shove crap down our throats, like split fins , and discontinue solid products with a good track record.

I'm hoping that mine lasts a loooong time. It has replaced my Sphera, for deep diving, and my Alien, for spearfishing. Now if I could just limit myself to one pair of fins and a single wetsuit I'd be set.

Jon

[Fondueset]

I took the Marina for a dive last night - about an hour before sunset. Visibility was variable between 5 and 15 meters depending on the area, thermalcline etc. I didn't bring my camera since it was near sunset.
I mounted an impulse 3 snork on the marina and went monofinning.

The mask rocks! I tested the seal by turning my head all the way to each side, lookin up, rolling over on my back and doing all that while flying along with the fin. I normally use my impulse two snork because I like the mask attachment better - but the impulse 3 works well with the sphera and has a lower profile. With the Marina it was a little irritating - it would slide back and the clip on the impulse 3 made it a little annoying. It didn't break the seal on the mask however.

The Marina is extremely low volume. It's got to be pretty close to the sphera that way. The seal was more robust than my other masks - with less leakage than alien, sphera or matrix (pretty much none). Field of vision was as I said above - basically I could forget about the mask - other than it fogging up like any new mask that hasn't had the toothpaste treatement. Even that mostly went away after a few spit-shines. Defintely my new primary mask - now that I have contacts (the other purpose of the dive was to test out the contacts with an uncorrected mask).

On another note - I also dove with my sphera - the first one I tried corrected my nearsightedness almost perfectly (which made it horrible with my contacts)- but something weird happened with the lens coating after only a couple of dives. The second one seemed not to correct at all - so I wanted to try it with the contacts. Turns out it does correct a little - enough to make the weak prescription I use for diving in my contacts pretty much right up to my full one. Must be different lots or something with the spheras; there is definitely significant variance with the lenses.

Jon, thanks for your initial review of this mask - it is really a masterpiece. I haven't used masks like the abyss, bandit, super ochio etc. but this has got to be as low or lower in volume - with better peripheral vision. The trick is really in the angled lenses - which are mounted very close to the eyes. In fact if I wear the mask off-center I can feel the lens with my eyelashes.

[Jon]

The Sphera is supposed to come with an anti-fog coating- that wears off eventually. I wonder if that was the film layer that you were talking about?

My Marina has given me zero problems with fogging so far- best of any mask I've used, except for the sphera, in this regard. I've owned my Alien for a couple of years and it STILL fogs up on me quite a bit- and I've cleaned it many, many, many times. There must be something in the green silicone that causes this????

The plastic lens on the Sphera seems to distort things the same way as an AGA (full-face mask) does. Everything is clear- just different.

Maybe we can petition Technisub to keep this mask in their line-up?

Jon

[Fondueset]

I've got a feeling they ran into some sort of issue with the marina - like the cressi patent or something I mentioned earlier. There seems to be nothing wrong with the design and the quality is outstanding.

It was the outer coating on my sphera that sort of bubbled up for no reason in one area. It badly distorted vision and felt as though it was melted. I thought some goo had gotten on the lense and when I scraped it with a fingernail the coating in that area just flaked off.

I bought three spheras - that one and the one my daughter has both have lenses with visibily more curve in the vertical plane than the one I'm using now. Both also correct nearsightedness to a degree that makes them unuseable with my contacts - but as good as a prescription mask without.

Neither my alien or matrix fog - but they have prescription lenses. The Marina fogs like any new mask - but it went away really fast.

[trux]

Although it is still listed on their website, Technisub resellers claim they do not get any more Marina. However, Technisub brought a successor freediving mask to the market - Technisub Micromask. It is not yet listed on their corporate website, but you'll find some information in Google.

micromask.jpg

There is a review in French here:

Plongeur.com » » Technisub Micromask» la passion de la plongee sous-marine

[Fondueset]

They've been talking about the micromask for a good long while - good to see it actually exists.
It looks identical to the marina - I wonder what the differences are?
FYI - the writing on the marina is not bright white like th picture - it's sort of a stealth gold-green; very classy.

[Jon]

Hmmmmm,

That MIRO MASK looks exactly like the MARINA. I wonder if there was a patent issue and they just switched a buckle or something to comply with the law?

We'll have to see if we ever get those on this side of the ocean.

Jon

[Fondueset]

I'd hate to think I could have bought 4 or five for what I paid for only two

One site I've found actually pictures the Marina (you can see it on the frame) as the 'micromask'.

The good news is it's obviously still out there!

[spaghetti]

Originally Posted by Jon

Hmmmmm,

That MIRO MASK looks exactly like the MARINA. I wonder if there was a patent issue and they just switched a buckle or something to comply with the law?

We'll have to see if we ever get those on this side of the ocean.

Jon

It's there for 43,50 euro in shops over here. I can send you an online store link by PM if you want me to, but shipping cost will be probably more then the mask itself...(45 euro or so).

[trux]

There is an explication on the Czech website DEAWS:

Maska "MARINA" byla výsledkem projektu, který měl za cíl zkonstruovat masku na freediving s extrémně malým vnitřním objemem. To se Technisubu povedlo, vnitřní objem byl menší než 100 cm3, ve srovnání s průměrným vnitřním objemem 120-150 cm3 konkurenčních masek na freediving.

Marina se ukázala jako krásná myšlenka, ale bohužel prakticky nevyrobitelná pomocí dosud používané technologie. Proto byla maska "MICROMASK" zkonstruována znovu úplně novou technologickou výrobou, ale zachovávající přednosti předchozího výrobku, což jsou velikost a komponenty.

Z estetického hlediska je Micromask téměř identická s Marinou, což je pro Technisub velký úspěch, protože řešil problém jak zachovat stejný vnitřní objem při přechodu na průmyslovou výrobu masky.

Nyní může Technisub s hrdostí říct, že Micromask je „umělecké dílo“ mezi maskami na freediving, je to maska s nejmenším vnitřním objemem na světě.

Basically they write that Marina was technologically difficult to manufacture. It looks like there was a lot of manual work involved, hence the low availability. They had to develop new technology to produce the mask - and the result is the Micromask.

They offer it at the above mentioned website for 53€. I also see Scubaland.fr having it in offer for 65€

[Jon]

I paid $70 for mine- and that included shipping from South Africa!

I'll wait until it breaks before I invest in another one as, hopefully, the prices will have dropped by then.

Jon

[Fondueset]

Wow! You mean my Marina was hand-crafted by dedicated Italian artisans? No wonder they smell faintly of Olives and fine wine!

Spaghetti! I need your address. I must send one of these immediately for you to autograph! Soon it will be worth millions on ebay!!

PS - I've written an aqualung rep in hopes of getting an availability date for the states - will post when I get it.

(I won't say what I paid $$$ - mostly because they shipped it four day express from SA) Still wasn't all that bad.