im looking for a new mask.

[aaronrushton]

hi all,
i currently have a beaver stealth mask which looks very flash with reflective lenses and fake carbon fibre stuff and fits me ok but it dose'nt give a very wide field of view and gives the effect of tunneling. i know the best thing is to find which masks fits me best but for now can any of you recommend a low volume mask with a wide field of view?
cheers,
Aaron.

 

[Dinosaurus]

I like the Aqualung Micromask a lot. Maybe you could try that.

 

[Mr. X]

I have an Omer Alien and a Seacsub Combat X-lite (like a fancier version of Omer Bandit/Cressi Superocchio/Samurai), both are twin lens for low volume and consequently have a somewhat restricted view, not much to choose between them. The latter was cheaper (for me) and came with a proper mask box. I think there are some newer whizzier masks around now (new occhio, TEchnisub & the one mentioned above) but these do the job. I suspect your Beaver mask is pretty similar - although Mirroring is probably like wearing shades -- probably not so great in the limited light of our typical British murk.


I thought the Cressi Matrix had a pretty good field of view when I tried one in the store. It's probably intended to be a smaller SCUBA mask (compared to the Cressi Big Eyes) rather than a spearing mask perhaps. Other forum members liked them too. Slightly higher volume than most modern spearing mask. The lower volume Cressi Lince & Lince II is not as nice IMHO - but would probably suit somebody with a small/slim face/head.

Driving down to S. Wales this weekend. Just taking rods though - not enough time to sort out spearing unfortunately.

 

[willloomy]

I would look at the Riffe or AQA Masks (they are exactly the same masks just different brand names) the Mantis 5 And Mantis LV are the most popular and the LV has the best vollume to range of vision I have ever seen, although I personalty use the Naida. I don't think these masks are very popular outside of hawaii but they kick BUTT i would never buy a mask by a different company. they last forever, to my backup mask (Mantis) is about 10 years old

 

[Don Paul]

Bob Hollis M-1 mask for me.
Cheers, Don Paul

 

[infinitysail]

I just bought an Atomic frameless because I liked the field of vision and the fit, plus its black. I don't know if it is low volume or not. My question is, what is the advantage of a low volume mask? It would seem the air added to a higher volume mask via the nose is not so large as to affect bottom time, but please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Don Paul]

I just bought an Atomic frameless because I liked the field of vision and the fit, plus its black. I don't know if it is low volume or not. My question is, what is the advantage of a low volume mask? It would seem the air added to a higher volume mask via the nose is not so large as to affect bottom time, but please correct me if I am wrong.

Spearfishing freedivers like to have a low volume mask because less air is needed to equalize on deep dives.
Cheers, Don Paul

 

[infinitysail]

But how much of a difference does it really make? I dive to 60-70 feet, which isn't extremely deep, but I've never noticed any problem with mask equalization. I guess I'll have to try it to find out.

 

[Don Paul]

But how much of a difference does it really make? I dive to 60-70 feet, which isn't extremely deep, but I've never noticed any problem with mask equalization. I guess I'll have to try it to find out.

Many of the comp divers and pearl divers dove with big round face plates
when I started diving. Somehow some of them hit depth over 120fsw.

I'm just a spero and don't dive over 105' where I live so a super low volume mask is not a big deal to me. I have used a Italian Soleil for 30 years and still managed a few nice fish.

A large volume mask will bubble all the way back to the surface as pressurized air used to equalized escapes. I draw this air back in through my nose to prevent this but I don't know if it a safe practice.:naughty
All I know it has worked for me so far.
Cheers, Don