Spearfishing Mask.

[Mr. X]

I don't live by the sea but winter felt long this year, so we decided to get away early, while my son is home - pity Easter came so darn early this year. We have been pretty lucky with the weather tho, especially as it is still only March - I think it will be a good year for spearing. I have now dived every month of the year in the UK except February and I have no wish to dive in Feb!

 

[Andrew Fogarty]

I use Cressi Nanos for deeper water (15m +) with zero leakage problems. In shallow I now use a Beuchat Maxlux S which has an absolutely massive FOV and still has a small volume but some under nose leakage. The Nanos are fantastic (NO leaks) and I wouldn't use anything else but for the FOV of the Maxlux. On decent I can see well ahead without having to bend my head back and as a lot of the fish are sighted from the surface I can maintain view of the target. I have a RA Couta but its been relegated to backup or friends. Its a good mask don't get me wrong but dose not fit me like the Cressi's. I have been using the mirrored model of the Nano when conditions are very clear and bright and it seems to have some advantages over the normal Nano. At least were spoiled for choice these days its absolutely fantastic the gear that is available. My main gear is Beuchat carbon fins, Picasso 3mm suit, RA Tuna 110, Beuchat carbon elite 125 and an Aimrite camo alloy 95.

BTW William I live on Queensland coast and spoiled with Islands, reefs, rivers and coastal headlands to dive. I feel your pain as I only recently moved back to the coast from 300 km inland.

 

[Okis]

I bought myself a Alien mask just a while ago. After the first dive i understood what people have been talking about when complaining about fogging issues. After about 1 hour it statyed fogging up badly and i had to remove and spit in it every 5 minutes. I then tried the advice of the user Spaghetti here on the forum; lighterflame treatment then rubbing adversive toothpaste on the glass and leave it there over night and then rinse it. I didnt notice any diffrence the next coming dives so i did it all over again without any positive results. I've done some experimenting and my conclusion is that it has nothing to do with silicone left from the factory since nothing of those treatments have made any kind of diffrence for me. But i have found a solution i now know why/when it will start to fog up. I have mustache which causes it to leak and fill up the nosepocket, its something very uncomfortable especially when diving deeper and the water casuses pressure in your nostrils so before i always had to slightly unseal the mask from my face to empty it. The last few days i have ignored that issue and kept mask sealed for over a hour and there is no fogging at all and when finishing the dives i've tried take it off and put it on again and yes - it instantly starts fogging up. So i think the best solution is to keep the mask on all the time when in the water and if you have mustache use something on to stop it causing leaking

 

[Okis]

Or shave off that precious mustache, which i myself will do tomorrow

 

[Andrew Fogarty]

Okis, Masks are like women you need to work them in...I hope that isn't sexist? What I mean is I had 20 year old Cressi focus that you could not fog if you tried. But several new masks have fogged and I have used the flame technique and it does work for a time and then FOG, and even a tiny bit is a distraction. The anti fogs work but are labour intensive, you need to live in that mask if you want it to be part of you. All I can say is the more you use a mask the better it is. From my training with SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) is that carbon dioxide is the biggest contributor to fogging. Therefore the less you equalise a mask the less it may fog. I think that abrasives help maintain a film of water a few microns thick (surface tension) and the water vapour dissolves into this similar to spit. All modern masks use very similar glass so the user needs to modify the perimeters which promote fogging. Ie dry glass will fog. So where it in the shower every night and rub it.

 

[Mr. X]

The fogging issue on my Alien eventually disappeared after a few years of use, then a lens popped out! Although I did eventually fix the lens, on the second attempt But I'd moved onto my back-up Seacsub mask by that time, which was a little more civilized except the head band was a bit short for me.

 

[Mr. X]

I just got a message from Amazon to tell me they have just got new stocks of the Cressi Occhio Plus Free Diving Snorkeling Mask - in Black/Green . Green rims presumably so the fish can locate your eyes quickly - actually it's not as bad as most camo rims.

I don't remember registering an interest and I already bought a Technisub MicroMask this year, so not of interest to me now but perhaps it is to somebody: http://amzn.to/2cq36gZ


Looks pretty cool. V. similar in same style to the Technisub Micromask (but a tad more expensive on Amazon) and supposedly made Italy.

 

[Okis]

Might as well do a update on fogging alien masks. I simply stopped removing it during the dives, if my mustasch hasnt been shaved in a while and i get leaks i will empty it on water by just opening the seal under the nose little bit to let it out. Before putting the mask on i spit and rub the lenses and rinse it once.

The fogging issue has stopped completely.

 

[landshark sa]

On the mask fogging...

I quite like the Omer Zero, it fits my face well and being a bit ocd with kit I've ended up with 5 of them. Sounds a bit ridiculous, I know, but let me explain: 1 in dive bag plus 1 spare on the boat. 1 for underwater hockey plus a spare in the bag... and one at home... a spare for a spare...see?

I've treated them all the same. Burn, toothpaste and spit. The funny thing is for 4 of the 5 this worked 100% and I have no fogging issues with them. But for some or other stuffed up reason the one was just super stubborn and would immediately fog up. I've tried it in the pool and in the sea and the result is always the same - fog.

This was until I took some car polish** to it. I rubbed little bit on each lens, let it dry, polished it off and voila... no more fogging!

** I can't imagine car polish can be good for ones eyes so if you do decide to give a try make sure you don't leave any on the skirt and try and polish as much of it off the lens as possible.

 

[Mr. X]

Yes OCD I often tell my son "preparation is all" and "success is where opportunity meets preparation" - and I think we can safely assume that you are very well prepared, well done

 

[NoFair]

I have two Sporasub Piranhas and a Cressi Nano, but 5 is madness (I always travel with 2 masks and the Nano is usually my spare since both my wife and daughter can use it as a spare as well)

 

[landshark sa]

Yes OCD I often tell my son "preparation is all" and "success is where opportunity meets preparation" - and I think we can safely assume that you are very well prepared, well done

My OCD was developed by a lot of nesses. (forgetfulness, carelessness, clumsiness etc) and I've found experience can be an pretty effective teacher.

For example:
Experience taught me that duct tape does not seal well enough on my mask to carry on diving when trying to substitute it for a broken lens. In addition, the boulders I put in my wetsuit because I forgot my weight belt at home will give me a nasty rash after a couple of hours diving. Also, a piece of bull kelp doesn't work well as a snorkel. As well as, Abalone will give me a humongous love bite if I stuff them into my wetsuit due to me leaving my belly bag on the table. Furthermore, when getting stuck in a current, fish attached to a stringer on a float will act like a drogue that works heavily against me especially when I swim back to shore without fins which are still at home.... and so on...

So yes, experience taught me that having backups of kit will in many instances be a good cure for the nesses.

 

[Mr. X]

Excellent. Great improvisation. Hard core. Yes, I experienced the droge effect when I strung a trigger fish backwards. Only realized after a couple of hours struggle!

 

[denmyos]

I'm looking for a new mask.
The two that is currently on my bucket list is Salvimar Noah and Omer Umberto Pelizzari M1.
Anybody have any pros and cons on those masks.
I found a big review on the Omer on youtube, but can't really find any on the Salvimar.

 

[spoone123]

Have you look into mares viper? I had the same issue but mares viper solve the problem for me


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