Best Dive Kit? Has to be the Dive Instructor's!

I am sure this will be a post that most dive guides and instructors from around the world can easily relate to.

You have students starting a new course or taking part in a try dive at your local dive site and you do your very best to fit them out with the best fitting equipment possible. To get the students comfortable is worth the extra effort at the Dive centre because a comfortable diver will have a better time in the water and be more at ease, making it much easier for the dive guide/ instructor.

So, you get the boots and fins...they are easy to sort out and pretty generic.

Breathing apparatus is fine. So long as the BCD has a good fit, they are, again pretty standard, as are the regulators.

Wetsuits are a little more tricky and we like to tell everyone that getting into a properly fitting wetsuit is the hardest part of Scuba Diving. It should be relatively tight and fitted so there are no gaping areas that will allow water to swill and cool you but it shouldn't be so tight that you cannot breathe or it is restricting blood flow!

The final piece of the puzzle is the Dive Mask!

Now, as we have mentioned before, the Diving Mask is a very personal piece of equipment. Since everybody has a slightly different shape to their faces, the way the skirts mould to the individual will be slightly different from one diver to the other.

The best way to test whether a mask fits your face is to place it against your face, with the strap and all hair out of the hair. Next, inhale through your nose and the mask should stick to your face without having to push or twist it on... until, of course, you exhale through your nose.

Then put the strap behind your head and tighten as needed. You should not feel any pressure on any part of your face from the frame (particular hot spot is the bridge of the nose).

As hard as we try to make sure the mask you will use with us has a god fit for your face, even taking a couple different spare masks along (just in case), there will always be at least one diver in the pack that will not get on with any of them and the only one left to try is the one on your face.

Surprise, Surprise... it's a perfect fit and the rest of the dive goes really well.

Do you want to try my Mask?

So, Why is the Instructor's mask always the best fitting one?

I am not sure really but it is a strange phenomenon. I know it isn't just because we all have amazing multi-face moulding masks and can only assume that it is something to do with confidence. If that Dive professional uses it, it must be good, so it will be ok for me!

I use a Poseidon 3dee mask and it is now at a point where I have 3 others in the shop for students.

However, on a recent Open Water Course I taught, I had to give the student my mask for the first dive and proceeded to give them the identical school one on the second dive.

Did it fit? Not a chance! Well, it wasn't the Instructor's.

A view to a Dive....

Many times I am asked by Divers what the most important piece of equipment is that they buy themselves.

Of course, all kit is important in its own rights. Your regulators are life support equipment and it is essential you have well serviced working regs. Wetsuits must fit well to keep you warm and it isn't nice to rent a wetsuit knowing what many other divers have done to keep themselves warm... you know what I am talking about....

But for me, the most important piece of equipment for a Diver is a good MASK!!!

 

Masks are extremely personal pieces of equipment and a good mask can be the difference between an uncomfortable dive and an amazing one. If you try scuba with an ill fitting mask that constantly leaks (or worse a mask that constantly fogs up on the dive so you can't see), it can ruin your dive.

When shopping for masks, there are so many different styles now to choose from. High Volume and Low Volume masks and full face designs. The skirts that used to be pretty rigid and standard are now available in clear or black skirts and are becoming more supple and soft and easily mould around the contours of your own face.

That's the other thing about a mask, it is so personal because a mask tends to mould to your face and no two faces are perfectly alike. Even when you gain or lose weight, it can change the shape of your face and cause your mask to leak a bit.



My advice, if you are learning to dive with a Dive Centre or a Dive Club, make use of the supplies they have at their disposal and try a few different models while you are diving to see which fits you better. Just because a mask fits your instructor or your friend doesn't mean it is ideal for you.

When you try a mask on, put it against your face and suck in through your nose, making sure all your hair etc is out of the skirt so it can seal. If the mask sticks to your face, it has formed a seal, which is a good first step.



Make sure the mask feels comfortable and isn't pushing against any part of your face, particularly your nose and the point between your eyebrows. If you can feel it above water, you can pretty much guarantee under pressure underwater it will be much worse.


When you find one you like, toothpaste it. You will need an abrasive toothpaste, so the gels are no good for this. Put a good dollop on each lens and rub it around. This is to take off the silicon layer that causes the mask to fog up in the water. Rinse it off and repeat a couple times.



Finally, when you dive in your mask, do not be tempted to pull the straps too tight, as this distorts the face and creates little wrinkles in the skin that are like channels for the water to pass through, breaking the mask's seal. The water pressure will keep the mask on your face without being too tight plus you shouldn't have that lovely red ring around your face when you pop out later that tells everyone where you have been.

So, the secret to a good mask... try as many as you can to find the best fit for you and see where Scuba Diving can take you.