Full face snorkels

[Mendicant]

Hello again folks.

I've been seeing more and more of the tourists wearing these things in lieu of the old school snorkel masks. I've even seen people using them in the lap pool.



Would any of you ever use one of these for spearfishing? I get that it would make it hard to Valsalva, but I imagine you could still use some sort of nose clip.

Does anyone see any pros or cons to getting one of these things? I don't know why the shift happened, but given how many people have switched over for snorkeling purposes, it must be doing something right.

[Tyson Brown]

I'm gonna say the air volume inside the mask is way too huge and would cause lots of problems on deeper freedives. Plus I've heard of fogging issues.

It would be interesting to try one, in secret, so that none of your friends would ever find out you did such a silly thing

[Mendicant]

Originally Posted by Tyson Brown

It would be interesting to try one, in secret, so that none of your friends would ever find out you did such a silly thing

It seems one could try in secret, or one could try openly and also have no friends.

Both would result in not having friends learn of the attempted silliness.

[SubSub]

Those things are for surface use. I would try one just for fun, but I would never consider using one for freediving or spearfishing. Imagine trying to equalise that thing! Lol!

[Tyson Brown]

Originally Posted by Mendicant

It seems one could try in secret, or one could try openly and also have no friends.

Both would result in not having friends learn of the attempted silliness.

That works too!

[Mikel_24]

Here in Europe those masks are sold by DECATHLON under the EASYDIVE name. Meant for surface only. My girlfriend has one and threatens to ashame me to wear one whenever I take her spearfishing. XD XD

I never tried one though.

[nilsonov]

too much volume, cant dive past 10'

[Mikel_24]

Originally Posted by nilsonov

too much volume, cant dive past 10'

If it does not allow you to pinch your nose... then is not only a matter of volume, but also of preserving your ears!

Some guys can compensate without pinching, but not me.

[diveincanada]

My dad bought one, it's a gadget ! It's "ok" on the surface but that's it... My dad wanted to buy one for my 7 year old and I said no. He's already good with a mask and snorkel and I don't see the pros of that set up..

[Mikel_24]

Originally Posted by diveincanada

My dad bought one, it's a gadget ! It's "ok" on the surface but that's it... My dad wanted to buy one for my 7 year old and I said no. He's already good with a mask and snorkel and I don't see the pros of that set up..

If a kid knows how to use a regular snorkel and mask, then this seems like a step backwards. However, for those who don't know yet how to disociate nose/mouth breathing, then it could be handy.

I have a 4 years old daugther who is eager to to to the beach and blow water out of the snorkel... just like whales do! I hope to get her introduced to snorkelling this very same summer.

Mikel

[popgun pete]

These full face masks with attached snorkel are made possible in this stylish modern format due to moldings in modern materials using a lot more plastic in place of rubber, hence they come in a wide range of colors. They are purely designed for surface swimming, although a shallow dive at a very low angle would be possible taking you only a few feet under. So underwater sightseeing basically for people with little or no experience in diving. Apparently if you are working hard then air volumes being moved around in the mask’s “breathing circuit” expose the airflow limitations of these masks as unlike full face commercial dive masks they are only using air at surface pressure.

Also there are better versions and cheaper rip-offs that are copies which may not work as well, so hard to tell which ones are better than others by simply looking at them. One advantage for a group is that you may be able to talk underwater, but I have not read anything about them on that score.

A new fad/gadget that for the moment is being heavily promoted more on looks than performance; here are some photos of more recent models. Note that they are termed as full face masks and not dive masks, the operative word being "dive".

The sales are no doubt helped by lovely models in bikinis and alluring tropical underwater locations where these offer a sort of glass bottom boat viewing experience in you own personal and autonomous "vessel", although in some places an anti stinger suit may also be advisable!

[popgun pete]

Here is one that claims to beat the breathing circuit drag and flow problems.
https://ninjashark.com.au/product/eq...BoCrP8QAvD_BwE

However using the "eggs all in one basket" analogy it is better to keep airflow and vision separate unless you are using commercial diving gear with full surface support and monitoring and the need for communication between all participants.

Some applications do make sense such as this one. We purchased 3 Masks for our family for Christmas. After our son has been in a wheelchair for the last 12 mths due to a hip injury we wanted to get something we could enjoy together while getting our Son back to swimming. We couldn't have been happier with our masks. Andrew made sure they arrived in time for christmas. We are amazed at how awesome they really are so much better then your normal mask and snorkle.The kids love them too. Thanks NinjaShark we are so keen on them we are purchasing another 2 masks for our friends kids.

The key word here being competent adult supervision, but if disability is not an issue then a separate mask and snorkel is always the best option for freediving.

[popgun pete]

As a matter of interest here is the great granddaddy of snorkel equipped face masks designed by Navy man, diver, prolific inventor and one of the Diving Hall of Fame members Commander Yves Le Prieur. The snorkels positioned on either side of the full face mask are for inhalation and exhalation respectively with valves in the mask controlling their opening. A duckbill type purge valve for mask clearing depends from the forward lower section of the mask. Le Prieur designed this full face mask for “submarine hunting” with his roller hand spear and his 8 band drive speargun. All this in 1938!

The small bore snorkels increase air velocity passing through them, but add to drag on the air movement. The second diagram depicts the mask "in action".

Rather appropriate to now look at this history for which we have just passed the 80th anniversary.

[Marcus]

These would go great with the outfit. They even match the mask.

[popgun pete]

Originally Posted by Marcus

These would go great with the outfit. They even match the mask.

Well the masks come in small, medium, large and extra large, so the kids would probably wear those. Just looking at some of the female models wearing the masks they don't appear to be in need of any extra flotation!

Doing a bit of research although they are all variations on the same theme there is a very big range of models produced under different (no name) "brand" names, although some are re-badged duplicates. All are from China and vary in price from about $30 up to $130 or more. Quality-wise they look pretty much the same, however the oro-nasal inner mask section in some face masks appears to be more of a token effort compared with that in others.

Professional full face dive masks used with a gas supply are in a completely different league with respect to the prices.
https://www.amronintl.com/commercial...ace-masks.html