View Full Version : Mask on head
Some divers reckon that a mask on your head indicates a sign of distress, I completely disagree with this and will regularly put my mask on my head after or before dives. I have a nice neoprene mask strap that sticks well to my hood and have never lost it yet, the only problem sometimes encoutered is that it can fog up because of my hot head.
I feel that this is a pretty useless theory of stress as there are many more signs that are more obvious than a mask on your head and if you were genuinely going to someone stressed out to aid them, a mask wouldnt be the tell tale sign.
I would like to completely dispell this mythical theory but like to know the divers of CA opinion.
PS
Peter and I kinda buck the trend with things like this as we have similar opinions, and also call fins flippers and cylinders tanks just to p!ss off those newly qualified DM's.
Have to agree with you there - but you are more likely to lose it. I only found out the other day that the term 'tank' is highly incorrect. The person in question asked me what kind of cannon balls I wanted when I said I wanted him to fill a couple of tanks.:p
PS If you're wondering why I'm waffling on every thread just now, I'm sitting at Glasgow airport with still an hour to go...........:mad:
I wouldn't even notice a mask-on-head probably. Especially from 30 yards away in a rib in heavy seas, etc.
How about waving manically and hollering "HELP" as a sign of distress?
Scuba-Doh!
10-07-07, 09:35
If you had asked me within a week of my PADI OW/AOW training I might have said yes. Since then, I don't think I would give it any thought (other factors like flailing around, neglecting to inflate BCD while having problems keeping head above water or yelling for help are generally more definitive). Personally I'd pull my mask down to hang around my neck (or keep it on my face), one less thing to worry about losing.
A mask pulled off completely and DV out yes. But to place it on the forehead needs at least a baw hair of control/calm.
I think this is touted by the training agencies to make sure you keep it on and not loose the gear you are more than likely hiring/borrowing from your instructor... :rolleyes:
iwmcarthur
10-07-07, 09:55
Personally I read 'mask on head is a sign of distress' as 'more PADI crap' ! :D Along with 'always exit water with 50bar' etc etc
I like to keep my mask on my head, i dont like it around my neck,feels restricting. I didnt even know you werent supposed to but it on your head till the other week! If i take it off completely im more likely to lose it !
As an indication of distress it is complete nonsense. No-one surfaces in distress and then carefully positions their mask on their forehead. It either stays on or gets ripped off. End of.
However, having lost a mask in my early years of diving by putting it on my forehead I now recommend to trainees that they don't do it.
In addition if I'm sitting on the surface with a trainee and they've got it on their head there is the inevitable faffing around of putting it back on, fiddling with getting the seal under the hood, realising it has misted up, taking it off, spitting in it and starting all over again.
Alternatively, a little wavelet will slap them gently on the face, getting water in their eyes which will take them an age to recover from and once they have they put their mask on only to discover it has misted up...
Or a little wave will catch them just as they're inhaling through their nose and we'll have a five minute choking fit from which they might recover and then they put their mask on to discover it has misted up...or the choking fit will be so distressing that they wave their little hands, panic and call the dive before we've even got our heads under!
Or we'll be doing a rescue exercise that involves a lift and tow/blow. They take their own mask of as well as the casualty's - a wave catches them in the face - blinded and choking the exercise has to be called off and re-done from the start.
Of course, they could always put it round their necks which stops them losing it but has all the other problems PLUS they can't get the damn thing up over their chins and noses without much pain and frustration or it hangs just at their mouths just to make absolutely sure it is really really misted before they put it on or it dangles in the water to make sure that any saliva or anti-fog is properly washed off so if it's not misted on the surface it sure as hell will be when we arrive at 3m for the exercises.
So my trainees are always told to keep their masks on whenever they're in more water than they could drink.
YMMV
It is not a sign of distress, although it is taught abroad by dive centres to very new students, (with hired kit), so as not to loose their, (or dive centres) mask
'always exit water with 50bar' etc etc
I thought this was a BSAC thing.
Deep Seeker
10-07-07, 11:21
I used to wonder about the source of the 'diver stress' thing. But I'm going to buck the trend a little on this thread and say that it can be a sign of stress. I only say this because I've seen it. A student I was working with was particularly good at putting his mask round his neck (where he wouldn't lose it, and only once he was out the water) but on one occasion he surface and immediately stuck his mask on his head and started bobbing about kicking to stay afloat. As it turned out he was suffering a little from claustrophobia on that particular dive (he was still relatively fresh) and was in a very mild state of panic. The fact that he stuck his mask on his forehead made me take note right away (amongst other things of course).
So as far as I'm concerned you can only tell it's stress if you know the diver, and it's not something I would pay attention to unless I knew it was an unusal habit for that particular person.
It's PADi that has 50bar by the way, BSAC use rule of thirds.
Personally I read 'mask on head is a sign of distress' as 'more PADI crap' ! :D Along with 'always exit water with 50bar' etc etc
I have heard the mask on head from PADI, BSAC and ScotSAC.
The 50 bar however is probably, amongst other reasons to allow for crappy hire kit gauges not being accurate.
I think it is a reasonably good guide for recreational dives in good conditions, however once you start venturing towards and beyond 25-30m rule of thirds
Lizardland
10-07-07, 12:01
I think it is a reasonably good guide for recreational dives in good conditions, however once you start venturing towards and beyond 25-30m rule of thirds
When I used to work as a divemaster we told them that because the vast majority of customers were muppets. Even the worst of them couldn't get in trouble with 50bar remaining.
On holiday, I usually come out with around 10bar :D
Scuba-Doh!
10-07-07, 12:09
I was always told the 50Bar/70Bar was so that the tank didn't get any contaminants in it / require an inspection etc. Obviously the thought of having some reserve air appealled too, especially when you see one of the dive group sharing air with the instructor :eek:
i generally wear my mask around my neck when out the water, more so i dont loose it, or put inside my fin for protection (the right one).
the only time i put it on my head is when im posing for photies as it looks really cool, just like the holiday brochure. :D
it also has the surrounding talking point from other divers who say...
'whit ye goat a mask on yer heed fur, wur ye stressed?'
50 bar rule... not so sure it is a rule, more like ancestral practice.
wouldnt catch me running a tank down to 1 bar, i dive rule of thirds. :)
Jaysus H, who came up with that one? I must have been a distressed diver for the past 33 years, as I always have my mask on my forehead before and after dives. I don't like the mask round my neck, though I can see the wisdom behind the idea
I was always told the 50Bar/70Bar was so that the tank didn't get any contaminants in it / require an inspection etc. Obviously the thought of having some reserve air appealled too, especially when you see one of the dive group sharing air with the instructor :eek:
Does the 50bar rule not have something to do with the ability to deliver air through the demand valve at depth? I am sure some of techie divers will tell me I am talking sh!te here probably?
Lizardland
10-07-07, 15:46
You need about 10bar above ambient to make most regs work (it varies with different regs). So at 40m air would stop flowing when the cylinder dropped to 15bar. Unless you're using a Jetstream which has the safety feature of going into freeflow and pissing out your last 15bar just when you need it most!
i generally wear my mask around my neck when out the water, more so i dont loose it, or put inside my fin for protection (the right one).
I was told this too "under yer chin or in yer fin" :)
In the fin not so much for protection but if you need need to jump in in a hurry to help someone,just grab your fins,no hunting around for your mask.
http://staff.stir.ac.uk/charles.mcgurk/diving/CA100707/photo1.jpg
Scuba-Doh!
11-07-07, 08:41
diver in distress spotted at Conger on Tues evening
Quick, that man needs medical/mask-related assistance! Wheres a PADI Rescue Diver when you need one? :rolleyes:
Quick, that man needs medical/mask-related assistance! Wheres a PADI Rescue Diver when you need one? :rolleyes:
perhaps he is posing, just like in the holiday brochures...
he dont look very stressed to me.
Scuba-Doh!
11-07-07, 12:21
perhaps he is posing, just like in the holiday brochures...
he dont look very stressed to me.
He is clearly trying to disguise his stress. Just look at how that mask strap is twisted, that mask wasn't placed on his forehead, it was thrust there in a moment of sheer distress!!! :eek:
He is clearly trying to disguise his stress. Just look at how that mask strap is twisted, that mask wasn't placed on his forehead, it was thrust there in a moment of sheer distress!!! :eek:
the strap is a different colour, so obviously a replacment, perhaps he has had other stressfull moments in the past..:confused:
considering who he was about to dive with it's not surprising that he looked stressed :eek:
Mask on the forhead is used as a sign of distress when in the water, but is also used on land with trainees to make them remember. You have all seen the trainee who wants to get to the surface and the first thing they do is put their mask on there forehead and gasp for air.
Again the 50 bar rule is for trainees in shallow water so they have a safe number to think about. If they get it wrong, and lets face it most of them do they have enough gas to get out safely. The rule of thirds is the safest IMHO.
Mask on the forhead is used as a sign of distress when in the water, but is also used on land with trainees to make them remember. You have all seen the trainee who wants to get to the surface and the first thing they do is put their mask on there forehead and gasp for air.
True enough, but surely it depends upon the circumstances. A trainee in such a scenario would probably also take their reg out of their mouth when they surface but again it doesn't mean that every diver who is on the surface with either a mask on their head or a reg out of their mouth needs rescued. Every diver should be trained to give an OK sign to their shore cover on surfacing. If they don't then some close observation is necessary regardless of where their mask is positioned. Horses for courses IMHO.
Ding you raise some interesting points. I dont think it should be regarded as a sign of distress passed to trainees, the real reason should be given to trainees, i.e. "dont lose it numpty" To use this as a sign of stress may be a factor but it may not, i.e. Stewart's picture, I think my Avatar has a good representation also.
Well if you see me with my mask on my forehead it clearly means... erm... that it's on my forehead not on my face!
I tried the round your neck thing but i found it just a real annoyance and quite uncomfy when alongside all the other diving ephemera we strap to ourselves :rolleyes:
Normally now it either goes on the forehead or in a fin.. or sometimes I turn it round, but that's a bit embarrasing 'cause it tends to make you look like a wannabe marine/seal (navy type...) comfy and out of the way though!
You'll know if I'm distressed, and it wont be from the position of my mask, trust me ;) :D
-dive-monkey-
11-07-07, 17:46
http://staff.stir.ac.uk/charles.mcgurk/diving/CA100707/photo1.jpg
SNAP! i've got that drysuit..... :p
I've never heard of the mask on forehead = stressed.... i put mine on my mask on my forehead all the time & I think Smudge can testify that I certainly don't put my mask there either when I'm stressed!
Well if you see me with my mask on my forehead it clearly means... erm... that it's on my forehead not on my face!
I tried the round your neck thing but i found it just a real annoyance and quite uncomfy when alongside all the other diving ephemera we strap to ourselves :rolleyes:
Normally now it either goes on the forehead or in a fin.. or sometimes I turn it round, but that's a bit embarrasing 'cause it tends to make you look like a wannabe marine/seal (navy type...) comfy and out of the way though!
You'll know if I'm distressed, and it wont be from the position of my mask, trust me ;) :D
could'nt agree more, if it's round your neck you can wind up faffing with it caught in your hood.
Ding you raise some interesting points. I dont think it should be regarded as a sign of distress passed to trainees, the real reason should be given to trainees, i.e. "dont lose it numpty" To use this as a sign of stress may be a factor but it may not, i.e. Stewart's picture, I think my Avatar has a good representation also.
Yes but both pictures are not in the water. Rather than say to a trainee yes on land and no in the water, I generally say just dont. I know exactly what you mean, as I have been seen with my mask on my forehead on land, but not in the water or on a boat. IMHO with trainees you dont want information overload. If they dont when they are learning they tend not to.
I know PADI dont advise it, what is the position with BSAC, SSAC and SAA..?
just for the record, the non flattering pic of me in which i appear to have aged 10 years was indeed posed for in relation to this post.
now thats dive-forum planning :)
DM,
how do you find it?
-dive-monkey-
14-07-07, 09:27
Stewart
I find it most difficult to get into - nothing to do with copius amounts of teacakes though! unfortunately its not the best fitting suit, being small in height I had to get the legs chopped a bit and its a bit big around my top half not having man boobs oops I mean muscles to bulk it out....
Its okay once its on....
DM