tigher fitting mask?

[choppiewater]

heya,

does anyone have any secrets they want to share as to modify their mask so no air leaves my nose. I'd like to equalize without holding my nose entirely. I read somewhere i think it was in bluewater hunting that you could put silcone in the nostril area, but the the silicon i found stinks and would probably give me a severe headache. So other than nose clips is they any other way to keep air from leaving my nose w/o pinching?

mahalo,
mark

 

[donmoore]

Mark,
You are right; you did read that in Terry Mass’s book. When you want to equalize the mask you crunch your nose up and blow. The type of silicone you need will say “meets FDA regulation 23” which basically means that it will not have an odor and is safe for food, after it dries and is washed. I found a tube at Ace Hardware for $2.49.

Its only non-toxic when dry and washed, so you need to put quite a lot on and wait until it starts to firm up (I did 20 minutes), cover it with thin plastic, like food wrap, take a big breath, hold it and put your mask on. Carefully take it off and let it dry. I gave mine about 35 hrs and it was dry.

It didn’t work that well for me. I believe to seal better I would have needed to use more silicone and let it go up in the nose more. But the silicone dried hard and was uncomfortable the way it was so I gave up on it thinking if I was successful in getting it to seal for ear equalization, it was going to be real uncomfortable.

This is also the type of silicone anyone can use to reduce unneeded cavities and air volume in their mask.
don

 

[Adrian]

This is an interesting concept, and I like the idea of using silicone to reduce volume, but there is a point where you'll have to equalize the mask as well, and then you would need to be alble to exhale through the nose easily.


Adrian

 

[sammydive]

Adrian,
I believe that is what Don was saying by crunching the nose. Look in the mirror and try lifting the nose or crunching it. The outsides of the nostrils come up. The trick is to be able to get a good seal when the nose is down, but still be able to unseal it by the little amount you can lift it.

A buddy did it, but said he the indention of the mask from water pressure at about 80 feet keep him from being able to equalize the mask further. I don’t know why, because it seems like if he had been able to do it shallower then if he kept on top of equalizing it, it shouldn’t have been anymore indented deeper.

I think it would probably work much better for a person who only needs a little air pressure in the nose and is getting close to equalizing without any pressure than someone who really has to blow.
Sammy

 

[Adrian]

Thanks sammydive, I didn't read it right.

Adrian

 

[w3ac]

Mark,
Welcome to the board. I also tried the silicone in the nose area and it made the mask more uncomfortable. The silicone cured hard and would not allow me to pinch my nose to equalize. Instead I would have to push the bottom of the nose piece tight to my nose. Although this worked, it would cause my nose to be raw after a dive. I like what Don posted about trimming the inner skrit off of your mask (seemask update thread). It makes sense that this would allow the mask to compress more easily thereby minimizing the amount to air needed to be blown into the mask. You might also want to learn a hands free equalization technique. There was a lot of discussion about this on the board. Unfortunately, I still can't do it so I gotta keep pinching

Don,
Keep us posted on how the X-Comfort works at depth. You are right that they are a bit pricey but if they compress and require very little inner volume compensation, they are worth it.

Brad