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Post by nikeajax on Apr 14, 2015 11:04:42 GMT -8
Oh, and here's another view of CC showing the Squale-fins, as denoted by the straps: Also, please note the crotch strap--WOW--talk about attention to details Jaybird
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Post by SeaRat on Apr 14, 2015 20:14:54 GMT -8
I haven't used a tri-view mask, but I know for myself that my eyes can only turn so far. It always seemed to me that the side panels were too far off to the side to really do much good. Then there must be the weight factor. DB, actually, I have found that the side windows work exceptionally well on the tri-views! There's an old star gazers trick, which comes into play with the tri-views: don't look directly at something, but see it out of your peripheral vision. I was told that you have more light gathering ability in your peripheral than you do in your forward vision, which is why when you try to find something like the Andromeda Galaxy with a light polluted sky you cant find it, but, if you open our field of vision, you'll be able to locate it quite easily in the corner of your eyes. I also like that they have a purge valve: I have yet to see a low volume mask with one: I'm not saying that all of them do not have them, just ain't never saw one 's'all... Jaybird Here's a very interesting, though old, comparison of different mask visibilities, from "Effect of Equipment on Diving Performance," by Dr. Glen H. Edstrom, in Human Performance and SCUBA Diving, Proceedings of the Symposium on Underwater Physiology, Cy Yttri, Director of Publications, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,, April 10-11, 1970. Note that the tri-view mask they show is the old, USD mask with plate glass that has been bent. John
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Post by nikeajax on Apr 21, 2015 17:53:05 GMT -8
John, thanks for posting that: I think the extra weight DB was talking about is worth it!
Jaybird
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Post by SeaRat on Apr 21, 2015 21:53:04 GMT -8
John, thanks for posting that: I think the extra weight DB was talking about is worth it! Jaybird Jaybird, I have used tri-window masks for years, and have a fairly complete collection. I really like them. I have made parascuba jumps and helicopter deployments with tri-view masks. I feel that the increased field of view is worth the small price of the increased weight and bulk. Also, in cold water, they are warmer as there is more air space between the face and the water. Here's a photo from yesterday's dive where I used the DX Overpressure Breathing regulator with a banjo/SPG, and the Dacor tri-view mask. I like my Scubapro tri-view masks too, as well as my Farralon ones. These masks are interesting as they do give a wider field of vision, but there is a small blind spot on each side of these masks. You can see it in a pool by moving your hand from way behind your head toward the front, and note when you see it, when it disappears, and when it comes back into view. John
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Post by surflung on Apr 23, 2015 7:28:24 GMT -8
New Production Rubber (not silicone) Masks...- I stumbled on these reproduction vintage style masks a couple of years ago and I absolutely love them. They both have a thick foam neoprene pad under your nose for easy ear clearing. They fit my face and don't leak. The skirts are stiff black rubber that doesn't deform like silicone masks... In other words they hold their seal. - No silicone means no stupid toothpaste cleaning. These things ran fog free right out of the box with nothing more than spit, rub, rinse, and go. - I use the one with the purge nozzle for when I'm diving a hood and don't want expanding air to leak into my hood. I use the one without the purge when I'm NOT wearing a hood and want to go as vintage as possible. - The Foam Neoprene Pad under the nose is a major feature of these. With no nose pinching, it's easy to press the mask so that the foam plugs your nose for ear clearing. - I bought these at ispearfish.com/products/masks/aqa-compa-mask
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Post by duckbill on Apr 23, 2015 19:11:23 GMT -8
The Foam Neoprene Pad under the nose is a major feature of these. With no nose pinching, it's easy to press the mask so that the foam plugs your nose for ear clearing. AND, no finger pockets covering up a good portion of your binocular vision (at least on the plain, oval non-purge mask shown). Once I got away from nose pockets and finger pockets, the sea opened up to me like looking through a living room window. Nice! As for the toothpaste, I remember using it on neoprene masks too. Is my recollection failing me? But, if you didn't need it on these, you didn't need it. Maybe they didn't coat these masks in preservative at the factory.
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Apr 25, 2015 8:10:21 GMT -8
I stumbled on these reproduction vintage style masks a couple of years ago and I absolutely love them. AQA and Gull are diving equipment brands of the Kinugawa Rubber Company of Japan. I have a pair of Gull fins: and I love swimming with them in the North Sea. I am so glad that the world's fin manufacturers didn't all opt to jump on to the "tupperware" bandwagon started by Mares in the 1970s. Plastic fins are anathema to me. The AQA dive mask range includes both rubber- and silicone-skirted models, allowing people a choice which most mask manufacturers deny their customers. As a traditionalist when it comes to mask styles and materials, I was pleased when I secured on eBay a new production Russian-made oval mask with blue skirts: I also own a couple of nice "new production" rubber-skirted masks by French manufacturers Beuchat and Sommap, but the advantage of the Russian mask is that the the headstrap is much more robust than the ones on the French masks.
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