mask volume.¿air reserve?

[Bill]

Doug
It has 'Cavalero' molded on it. I'm not sure how old it is. Very low volume, good quality and room for my nose. No affiliation but, I like Beuchat products and service.
Unless you're talking about competitive rules, you can buy quality with good visibility and stuff it. It's easy to do. I have the large Bandit ( the only low volume mask that will seal on my face without modification) stuffed from 120 to 90cc. The already restricted visibility was reduced by 60%.
Liquid goggles don't work for me, probably because I need corrections. Diving without a mask stings and seems a little dangerous (Bret has a few good stories about running into things). I'm too cheap to buy contacts (please note that I didn't refer to alcohol or ancestors this time). Now I'm thinking of goggles, contacts, nose plugs and a blockable tube. When you add the snorkel it'll probably be a mouthful.

Best wishes
Bill

[freediver48]

Hi Bill,

I just picked up a Mares Target, the fit is only ok, but I don't think that it will reguire face sealing with the hood. I'll try it soon.

Thanks for the note,

Doug

[andrsn]

guys,

i'm trying to figure out the whole "free air" thing on ascent. not necessarily the physics of it, but how it relates to what i do(spearfishing).

my first thoughts are that i'd rather conserve my energy by not having to equalize a larger volume mask. and, i wouldn't want to get into the habit of relying on an air supplement in the latter part of my dive.

i'm not too familiar on the noticeable effect it has, so i can't judge with proper experience. but, i do think that if people are relating this issue to spearfishing, this should not be an excuse to stay on the bottom longer or give that extra 10 meters of chase. i think it could possibly be used as a safety measure of lessening the chances of blackout or samba, just like some divers' technique of exhaling during that last meter or so.

i do have to jump into that issue of safety... like eric f said, most fatalities documented mention how the diver still had his/her weightbelt on. so, it seems people didn't realize they were in trouble until it was too late. personally, i've never blacked out or samba'd so i don't know what final warnings my body will give me before everything shuts down. so,... i never push my limits. it's just a fish and there's no media waiting for me at the surface!

for spearfishing, i think the benefits of mild packing would far outweigh that of the "bigger" mask providing more recoverable air on the way to the surface. not that this is a new issue in comparison, but i think a good comfortable/equalizable mask and good technique will get you farther in hunting in the depths.

safe hunting,
anderson

[ickledevil]

A quick note on the Aqualung Sphera mask mentioned earlier, I have dived with one for about a year, its true about the distortion/compression reducing the amount of equalization needed (I can dive to 30m comfortably without equalising it) but it doesnt half make things look odd.... fish get very streched and things distort, I occasionally see double especially out the corner of my eye. It began to bother me so I swapped to a piccasso mask, yeah I equalise it but Im much more comfortable in it. Oh and the Sphera lens scratches real easy.
My 2c
Joe

[freediver48]

I just switched to a much smaller mask (Mares Target) because of the hassle equiliziting my larger mask (Beauchat Primo), and I'm wondering why it took me so long to do it. What a difference, and not too much loss of field of view.

Best wishes,

Freediver48

[efattah]

Hi,

Bill made a comment that he couldn't use 'liquid' goggles because he needs corrective lenses. Actually, fluid goggles work for all eye types, independent of prescription, because the cornea has no power underwater. Thus, even astigmatism disappears. Karoline Dal Toe has bad astigmatism and when she put fluid goggles on, she said she could see better than through any glasses. Of course, the fact that the goggles are not in full production poses serious supply problems at the moment (the waiting list is huge).


Eric Fattah
BC, Canada

[Bill]

Eric

If I'd thought about it, it's the same as scratches on the outside of the plexiglass housing. They disappear in the water. Same refractive index or something.

I did some experiments last week and found it so comfortable to dive with the nose clip that I wanted to give the liquid goggles another try.

Thanks for changing my thinking and I'll let you know how it works out with a little more determination on my part.

Best wishes
Bill

[Jay Styron]

Hi All,
I think this technique is probably better suited for performance freedivers than the general freediver/spearfisherman. The few times I've tried this there has been just enough water, or for lack of a better term "snot" running around in my mask to make this technique difficult to say the least. If practiced enough I guess its a good technique. Just wondering, in a low volume mask are you really getting enough air to make a psysiologic difference or is it just the act of slight inhalation that is giving everybody the percieved benefit? Take care.
Jay

[Bill]

Aloha Jay

I made a few presumptions and a bunch of calculations, I think the answer is both. A great subject. I was taught this technique about 30 years ago and it has become so automatic that I wasn't even aware of doing it.

The math seems to indicate that a 10 second safety factor is available, most of it in the last ten meters. In my case, I must modify masks to seal at the top so, when air excapes it leaves from the bottom and sends any water out first, if I'm pointed at the surface.

Of course, human nature is what it is. If you do this on all dives, you tend to just add the time on at the bottom and eliminate any safety and if you don't always do it you won't remember when it counts. It's the same with taking off your weight belt and holding it in your hand when things become dicey.

Bill