How To Choose & Prepare Your Dive Mask

Bought a new diving mask? A high-quality silicone diving mask is anessential piece of equipment for any scuba diver. Butbefore you dive, there are a few important things that you need to do in terms of preparing your diving mask. Make sure to not skip over these steps!

How to prepare a new dive mask?

Step 1: Use a pre-cleaning agent.

One common issue that a lot of people experience when they recently purchase a dive mask is fogging up. This is because when a mask is manufactured, the manufacturers will put a silicon coating on the inside and outside of the lens. If you don’t clean your mask properly, the heat transfer between your face oil and the mask will create a little bit of a microclimate inside the mask, which then in turn, will cause the mask to fog up.

To deal with that, use a pre-cleaner. Anti-fogging agents come later. You can use a commercial mask cleaner or a white toothpaste. All you have to do is put a little dot of the cleaner inside your lens and thoroughly scrub it with your fingers, rinse it off, and do it again.

Important note:Because you don't want your glass on the lens to be scratched, you really need to thoroughly clean your lens a couple of times. Put a bit of pressure on there, and rinse it.

You only need to do this on the inside of your mask. However, there are a couple of exceptions to this rule, where you shouldn't be doing this depending on the type of brand of dive mask you’ll be using. Make sure to follow the manufacturer's guidelines for pre-cleaning.

One example is if you look at something like a freediving mask, they often have a perspex lens. Using white toothpaste or a pre-cleaning agent will actually be quite abrasive and scratch the lens in this case. You'll end up with this horribly scratched up, fairly poor visibility mask. You don’t want to damage a new product you’ve just bought.

Step 2: Make sure the dive mask fits you.

It is really important to try the mask on when you’re buying at a dive store. Ask for the staff’s help to guide you through. Check how it sits on the bridge of your nose and your forehead. Is it squeezing in on the edges of your eyes? Don’t be afraid to try different masks on.

Step 3: Check the visibility.

The next thing to remember is your range of visibility. When you've got the mask on, you can hold on your face, and check how you can see. Then try a different mask. Is it pressing awkwardly on the bridge of your nose or under your eyes? Can you feel air coming in? Make sure you ask yourself these questions.

If you are purchasing masks online, you can take these steps at home. It's important to do that before you take the mask in the water. If you think it doesn’t fit right or it’s not comfortable,Adreno can always do exchanges on the mask for you, or you can send it back and look at credits or alternative options.

Step 4: Attach a snorkel keeper.

In some parts of Australia, like Queensland, it is law that you need to be diving with a snorkel when you're in a dive mask.

Snorkels come with a thing called a snorkel keeper, which is a little clip. They ensure the snorkel stays connected to the mask so when you take the snorkel out of your mouth or if it accidentally falls out, the snorkel doesn’t fall to the bottom of the sea. However, you may sometimes find that they can be quite loose.

If you've got a snorkel keeper on a mask, and you're in a little bit of current and you're concerned about it, look at an alternative snorkel keeper. There's plenty of replacements you can use. One simple option is what's called a figure 8 snorkel keeper which usually costs around two bucks.

If you happen to be remotely out on a dive boat and you don’t have a snorkel keeper at hand, one simple solution is a rubber band. Just twist in a “8” figure, flick it over, and that'll go around the side of the mask.

Step 5: Identify the cause of mask leaks.

Another common problem that people complain about is mask leaks. There are a couple of common causes of this.

Facial hair -You might find it causes the seal to not be quite right on the bottom of the mask, which allows water to get in, causing a little bit of a buildup. Just do a mask clearance to remove that.

Facial movements - People don't realize if they're underwater diving that they can make a lot of facial expressions as they encounter interesting things. When you do a “big smile” it can create a little bit of a seal break on the mask and cause water to come in. This is the reason when you see seasoned divers diving, they look serious, because if they smile too much, they'll get water in their mask.

Step 6: Adjust your straps.

You can tighten or loosen your mask straps to fit your head. A lot of people tend to adjust the straps too tight with the thinking that it will prevent the water from leaking, but that can in fact, have the opposite effect.

All you need to do is just make sure it's a lightly secure fit, because what you'll actually find, especially the deeper you dive, is that the pressure of the water is pressing against the mask. The correct tension on the mask, strap, and clip, is going to make the mask sit comfortably on your head.

You can generally tell after a dive, if a mask's been too tight, if someone comes up and they've just got a super compressed red ring around their face.

If you're getting a little bit of leakage, you can adjust it to suit you, but do not overdo that, because it can cause a few problems like damaging the mask by tightening it too hard, or loosening it the other way and pulling the strap out.

For more scuba diving tips, make sure to check outAdreno Scuba Diving Blogs.