Seal vs Sphera (vs Seal XP)

[ISeeTheStars]

Hello everyone.
I would like to ask you all (and Erik Fattah in particular) what do you think about those two (three) masks.
I have read Erik Fattah saying that sphera can be taken to -30 metres without equalizing due to its flexibility. Do you think Seal, beeing as far as I can tell a Sphera wiithout nose, can do the same thing? Or Seal XP which seems to be more flexible?
Why do I ask is that I have a Paradisia now, and I enjoy diving with it and equalizing handsfree very much. Still dont have liquid goggles. So I was wondering if it might be ok to go -20 or more with Seal.
Thank you for your advices...


PS.: And respect to Patrik Musimu and his -200 so far ...... Go on .. and ... keep it safe ---

 

[efattah]

The easiest way to find out is to try it! Just put on your seal, your nose clip, and then dive down until you feel discomfort on your face.... you could probably make it to near 20m with the seal (just guessing)...

 

[donmoore]

I have had a few Sphere’s and Seals. I use a Seal in the pool with a nose clip often. The pool is 4.5 meters deep and it feels fine at that depth. With goggles I feel a little pressure at the bottom but not with the Seal.

The skirts are different for the Sphere and the Seal and I would estimate the Sphere to have a larger volume that can compress more. The lense and the frame are the same and are interchangeable. The seal skirt fits a narrow face better than the Sphere.

I actually had your same thought once last year. We were at a reservoir that was a 5-hour drive from our home. We were diving on a line to the bottom which was 25-meters. Since the Seal is so comfortable at the bottom of the pool I thought about trying it to 10-meters and see what would happen. Then maybe deeper. But I never did and missed the opportunity.

Recently I had prescription lenses put in Cressi Lince mask. I have been so thrilled with how much better I could see, I never considering testing the Seal's depth ability again. For me, even if I could go to 20 meters, I would rather see well when hunting, and when not hunting I would like to not be stopped in depth by the inability to equalize.

Sorry, I was close to being able to give you an answer. I didn’t know there was a Seal XP until your post. They look pretty cool on Aqua Sphere’s web site. http://www.aquasphereusa.com/products/sealxp_clr_blk.html

One thing to keep in mind though is everyone has a different tolerance for negative pressure on the eyes and face. Mine is pretty high, but I have dived with others who couldn’t stand to go to the bottom of a pool wearing goggles. If you try a mask/goggle that does not equalize, I would recommend you try it slowly. Also what might be tolerable for one or two dives, my cause problems with multiple dives. When I first started hunting I would forget to equalize my mask until about 2 hours of diving when it starting hurting enough to remind me. :duh
don

 

[ISeeTheStars]

Thank you Erik and Donmoore,
yeah Erik, you are right . I just wanted some experienced opinions before ill do my test, to know what to expect. I dont expect to dive too close to 30m any soon, just making small steps and currently being at -18,5 (my second day of deep dives) with mask. I will have 2 days of diving in lake BLed, and then maybe some dives in schwitzerlad, so ill give it a try. I hope for -25
Ill be carefull and slow on the testing, and ill let you know the result. I hope to dive with Eriks fluid goggles next summer

Enjoy the water and the warm part of the year

Pavel

 

[ISeeTheStars]

Dear fellow freedivers
after my deepest dive of the weekend which was -24,2 m I can pretty much say that the combination of Seal and Paradisia worked without sensing any changes to approximately -20 m. Then I started to feel the Seal being sucked close to my face but still at -24m no real discomfort felt for me.
So Id say it will be almost as Sphera ... the limit near the -30m for me. But ill build a pipemask for the upcoming deepdives in the sea.
Good luck and good diving 2 all
Pavel

 

[donmoore]

Nice experiment and info Pavel. If it was a few years ago, before I needed glasses, I think I would use my Seal and Paradisia for spearfishing after reading your report. Unfortunately prescription optics are not an option for the acrylic lense of the Seal.
don

 

[subaquaticus]

I have read Erik Fattah saying that sphera can be taken to -30 metres without equalizing due to its flexibility. Do you think Seal, beeing as far as I can tell a Sphera wiithout nose, can do the same thing? Or Seal XP which seems to be more flexible?

I confirm !

I recently bought XP Seal and went in the sea doing some CNF...

I had decided to use my Seal XP for surface swimming and to take them off before going down to avoid suction effect... But I forgot to do so ! I went down till 15 m with my XP Seal... and to my great surprise, no suction problem ! Just slight marks around my eyes left by the goggles... I am now eager to test my XP Seal at greater depths...

 

[£íáµ]

well i will be happy if there some day comes out "Sphera XP" based on "Seal XP"
an overkill mask :inlove

-----Attention!-----
SPHERA XP WANTED!
-------50-EuR------

btw. someone should send a message to aquasphere, bout shpera based on seal xp.

 

[donmoore]

My prescription mask got a leak that I could not fix, so yesterday we were diving a line and decided to give my Seal with a paradise nose clip a try. No problem to 20 meters. Than I dove to 25.2. It got pretty tight those last 5-meters, but my eyes were not blood shot and the pain wasn’t that bad since I was only at that depth for maybe 15 seconds.

The coolest thing though was being able to dive with both hands in front. It was so much more efficient. The depth came so quick and effortlessly. Now I really see the benefit of fluid goggles.

If my vision would permit it, I would use the Seal and nose clip for hunting most of the time.
don

 

[subaquaticus]

My prescription mask got a leak that I could not fix, so yesterday we were diving a line and decided to give my Seal with a paradise nose clip a try. No problem to 20 meters. Than I dove to 25.2. It got pretty tight those last 5-meters, but my eyes were not blood shot and the pain wasn’t that bad since I was only at that depth for maybe 15 seconds.

The coolest thing though was being able to dive with both hands in front. It was so much more efficient. The depth came so quick and effortlessly. Now I really see the benefit of fluid goggles.

If my vision would permit it, I would use the Seal and nose clip for hunting most of the time.
don

thanks for your interesting post... then for you the critical zone with Seals is above 20 m...

 

[ISeeTheStars]

Hi there
well my latest dive - 27,5 m, no problem so far with suction too much on my eyes. I wonder if -30 is doable.
But I put my seal really lightly on my face on surface .. so to let as much air inside as possible ... and it makes a huge difference.

Nice diving to all
Pavel

 

[subaquaticus]

Hi there
well my latest dive - 27,5 m, no problem so far with suction too much on my eyes. I wonder if -30 is doable.
But I put my seal really lightly on my face on surface .. so to let as much air inside as possible ... and it makes a huge difference.
Nice diving to all
Pavel

thanks for your contribution...

I went myself only down to 15 m...

 

[Absolute]

Interesting. As soon as I get my nose clip in the mail I will try.

Still thinking about converting the seal into a pipe mask.

 

[donmoore]

I was pretty serious a few years ago about adding a collapsible container and connecting it to the air volume inside of the seal mask. Two things I was working on was some 1” silicon tubing and air bulbs used to push air on electronic things, like used for cleaning circuit boards etc.. I even went so far as purchased some silicon tubing and some end caps for it.

Just think about it. If the limit of the Seal is 30 meters, if you double the air volume with a container that is collapsible than the limit would be 60 meters. If you quadruple the air volume, than the limit would be 120 meters, will past current CW world records. No need for fluid goggles etc.!

I lost interest when my eyes went bad and I needed a corrective mask for spearfishing. It’s still on my to do list, but the priority is lower now.
don

 

[ISeeTheStars]

Wow ... thank you for inspiration, I was thinking of pipemask for deeper dives, but i think that this is even better. I have a small tube and a conection piece now ... ill try to connect kinda inverse neck weight with seal to see how it works (inverse .. well .. i mean taking bike tube, sealing ends, giving it a closing device ... púting around your neck ... inflating with air and connecting with seal via the tube ... I guess it might work pretty well ...)
The problem in - 27 wasnt the negative pressure .. but a view distortion because of having the mask really on my face .... )