What to Look for When Buying a Dive Mask – Scuba Diving Masks

If you can’t see, what’s the point? The dive mask is perhaps our most personal piece of gear. It must fit our highly individual faces – fat or slim, big-nosed or pug, high-boned or low. Don’t underestimate the time and care it takes to find the right one for you. Here’s where to start:

Does It Fit?

How well a mask fits is more important than all other considerations combined. A constantly leaking mask may be only an irritation until another problem arises – then it can become a safety hazard by starting the snowball rolling toward disaster.

How to Prepare Your Scuba Diving Mask Like a Pro

This instructional video shows how to prepare your scuba diving mask like a pro including preparing it for your first dive, eliminating fog, and caring for the dive mask. When your scuba mask is manufactured, there is a thin layer of protective silicone administered to the lens. It is necessary to remove this layer to eliminate fogging while scuba diving.

Fit comes first, and that includes both a good seal and comfort. A mask that pinches your nose or cuts into your forehead after a minute of wearing it in the store will be so uncomfortable after an hour in the water that you’ll be driven to reposition it, probably causing it to leak.

Can You Pinch Your Nose?

You should be able to close your nostrils easily with one hand while wearing the thickest gloves or mitts you plan to dive with. Noses and nose pockets differ, however. With some combinations, you can pinch only the bridge of your nose, not the bottom where your nostrils are. With others, you will need to use both hands. Because you’ll need to equalize your ears on every dive, this access to your nose is crucial, and you’re much better off doing it with one hand. Try pinching with a regulator in your mouth to be sure you can reach around the second stage.

Keep the masks with pinching room and discard the rest.

How Big Is It?

In the case of masks, smaller is usually better – other things being equal. The mask that is physically smaller causes less drag in the water and is less likely to be kicked off your face by another diver’s fin. With less internal volume, it clears and equalizes with less effort.

Of course, “other things” are never equal. Other desirable features, like side windows, single front windows and purge valves, normally add volume to the mask. Low-volume masks normally have narrower skirts, so they may not conform as well to odd-shaped faces.

Choose the smallest masks that incorporate the features you want.

What Color Is It?

Yes, fashion rules us all, but there is an issue of function here too. Clear and light-colored skirts allow light to enter the mask behind the lens, while dark-colored (especially black) skirts exclude it.

All that extra light may make the mask seem more pleasant when you try it on in the store, especially if you are an inexperienced, anxious diver or a little inclined to claustrophobia. But in the water it can cause distracting reflections on the inside of the lens. For this reason, photographers usually prefer black skirts.

Without distractions, your brain will expand the picture coming through the front window of your mask, just as it enlarges the picture from a small TV screen in a dark room. And remember that a 90-degree field of view through the front lens may seem restrictive out of the water, but expands to about 120 degrees in the water due to refraction.

Another disadvantage to clear skirts is that they can become discolored, cloudy and yellowed, especially if left in contact with rubber in your gear bag.

How’s the Strap?

Does the strap swivel? Does it adjust easily? Is it comfortable? Can you attach a snorkel? If it breaks, can you replace it with a generic strap? A strap that swivels where it attaches to the frame allows it to be placed higher or lower on the back of your head with less chance of breaking the skirt’s seal to your face. It should adjust easily for length, but not too easily – once you’ve adjusted it, you want it to stay put.

Straps are getting wider in the interest of comfort, and that’s good when the width is in the back. When the strap is wide at the side of your head, it can be difficult to attach some snorkels, so try it with yours. On the other hand, a few masks have straps so narrow that you’ll be hard-pressed to find a replacement strap that will fit into the buckle.

Make sure the strap is comfortable. If it isn’t, make sure it isn’t so narrow that it can’t be replaced with a more comfortable strap. Some manufacturers offer cloth, nylon or neoprene straps that slip on and off easily and with less hair pulling.

Is There a Protective Case?

Hard-shell cases are becoming more common, especially as mask prices approach triple digits. However, many cases are too fragile to protect against, say, an air cylinder that falls over. Generally, the flexible, cloudy plastic is stronger than the stiff, clear stuff.

Most lids are attached with bendy plastic instead of true hinges and the plastic will certainly break in time. A very few have real hinges and TUSA has an excellent box with a Tupperware-style lid.

Because these boxes take up extra space in your gear bag, you may prefer a padded bag to protect against scratches.

Check out the cases that come with the masks you’re considering. A padded bag might be a good alternative.

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