Finally figured out my mask flood issue after 8 years of blaming bad seals

Turns out I was just shaving my mustache wrong after every 3 week hitch, the hair angle was breaking the seal every time I tipped my head back on a 60 foot dive near Santa Barbara.

3 comments

3 Comments

maxl9319d ago

8 years is a long time to blame gear when the real problem was just stubble management. I get the mustache struggle on longer hitches but cleaning up the edge right before a dive usually solves it. Still feels like a mask that seals properly should handle a little facial hair without flooding.

tessap7319d ago

Mask seals do work with some facial hair, but it really depends on the hair type and the mask design. The problem is that even a tiny gap from a single hair can break the seal, and thicker stubble just makes it way harder to get a good fit. So while cleaning up before a dive helps, it's not quite fair to say a good mask should handle all facial hair - that seal is just too picky about perfect skin contact.

green.iris19d ago

Used to be on maxl93's side about this, but this breakdown actually makes a lot of sense to me now. Never really thought about how a single hair could break the seal, that feels like the kind of detail that changes everything. Seems like the mask itself isn't the issue, it's just that seal physics is way more sensitive than I assumed.