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Did you know that every feature of a SCUBA diving mask can make a difference in your underwater experience?
Let's break it down and find out why!
It's been a long time since Episode 004 of the Under Pressure Divecast! I'm looking forward to producing more SCUBA content; sharing the sport of recreational SCUBA diving and providing practical information and perspective about getting the most out of every SCUBA dive!
In episode 005 we're going to talk about how to choose a mask for SCUBA diving.
It's time to dive in!
The Under Pressure Divecast is the SCUBA diving podcast dedicated to making SCUBA fun, entertaining and accessible! Join me SKuba Steve as I go over topics related to recreational SCUBA diving, discuss gear and provide easy tips that make your diving more enjoyable, comfortable, safer or more memorable.
Hey, under pressure dive buddies, the right gear can help you get the best experience in your next underwater adventure. Let's choose the right mask that fits perfectly for your next scuba dive. Get into your gear because it's time to descend into another episode of the underpressure dive cast. I'm your host, scuba Steve. Scuba diving is fun and exciting adventure sport. And believe it for me, you can be a diver, the underpressure dive cast is dedicated to promoting and discussing recreational scuba. So come on, let's make our descent.
Scuba news this week, I've got two things I want to cover. First of all, kind of what's been going on with the underpressure dive cast. Why it's being rebooted, the format that I'm talking about are the that we're going to be looking at. And also, there is a story of divers doing some good in Lake Tahoe. And so just really briefly, this talk about that divers recently pulled over 8000 pounds of trash out of Lake Tahoe. And I think what's important about that is not only there's a great environmental message in terms of taking care of our environment, that's great. But also that that our sport has the ability to do good where a lot of people can't. And that doesn't, you know, that's not a derogatory statement by any means. But we have skills and training that allow us to do good in ways that a lot of people just aren't able to. And that means going underwater and picking up trash. that removes it from the environment takes it out of the ecosystem where it can do harm to marine life, or in this case, Lake life, whatever. And that's just really a great way for us to participate in not only making the scuba diving environment better in those areas, but also doing something that we can do for the environment at large that other people might not be able to. So kudos to those divers. The pictures that I found were looked like they look like they were pretty happy. So go figure right there diving. So I do have a link to that article in the show notes. And you're welcome to take a look at that. So let's talk a little bit about the underpressure dive cast. So I started this dive cast in 2014 or 2015. And I did a whopping four episodes. And then you would be very easily forgiven to think that I had pod faded, I think is the term where you end up doing something and for a little while, and then or doing a podcast for a little while, a couple episodes and it fades out. So the average I think pod faded podcast is seven episodes. So we're gonna still have a few more to get past that threshold on on this show. But the exciting thing or the issue there was that that particular time in my life, I was experimenting with media and with content creation. I got through Episode Four, and I actually recorded an episode five, which basically was a dumpster fire. And I didn't want to release it. But it was so frustrating to me that I honestly said okay, I really can't do this kind of content. And what happened was the earlier episodes, it may and there may be advantages to this, but the earlier episodes were very scripted. Like literally I scripted the entire episode. So everything I said was written down before I said it that's exhausting. And while it prevents it provides very structured content, it makes it very hard to produce on a regular basis in a way that comes across as authentic and valuable. And so when I I just had so much trouble producing that episode and I literally put several hours into it and came up empty. I was pretty discouraged about that. And I just said you know this is not something I can do right now in my life in between 2015 and now first of all, this podcast and it's or dive cast, as I like to call it and it's four episodes still gets new listeners and and new downloads every single week, almost every single day. And so there's there's definitely a need and an interest in our sport. And I hope in the format and the that I use and in the way I try to present information, which I think is, is accessible and hopefully interesting to to other divers or to wouldn't be diverse. So I in the, in the interim, I actually did some content creation for another business
that developed into what we're doing now, which is the live broadcast of the show. And, and that show is has gone through nearly 70 episodes, or 60 and change and we are reformatting that show going forward for 2021 here, but but I learned a lot about producing this kind of content. And so I thought at this point, it'd be nice to bring this back. I love scuba diving, I love teaching scuba. And I love sharing the sport with other people. So that's what we're going to try to do. Where have I been in the last five years? Well, I've been working on some businesses. And also I've been diving in anilao in the Philippines, and in Okinawa in Japan. And so I've I have been diving, I've done some some scuba as well as you know, working on these businesses. And now I feel like there's a time where I can start to move back into diving a little bit more. So if you listen to the trailer episode, which I did upload last week, the I said 20 to 30 minutes, and then the normal content that I had before, which is a news content, a new segment, a content section or a main topic, then the the gear junkies garage, which we'll talk about gear and then a tip of the week. And that's all going to remain largely the same. This week's episode may run a bit long, based on the fact that I just had a big long where the heck was I for a long time. But typically, we'll try to keep it to 20 to 30 minutes. And that's honestly because that's about the average drive time that people have, I'd like you to be able to get in and get out still get value. But I want to respect your time. And I also want to to kind of plan on what how people can consume this content.
So
that's where we're headed. And now we'll move on to our main topic this week.
Alright, so choosing a mask. That, I think is a lot of times people, especially new divers can kind of think of one mask is equivalent to another. And a lot of marketing. If you if you look at mask marketing is very visual. And I understand that we're a visual species. And and seeing is very important. I mean, we even say Seeing is believing. But the reality is the way a mask looks, is actually the least important thing when it comes to your comfort and safety and enjoyment when you're scuba diving. And so let's talk about what goes into buying a mask that really does work for you, and what difference it's going to make, what you can expect and and you know kind of how to prioritize that decision that that buying decision. So the first thing I want to say is where to buy a mask. My first choice is always going to be when you're talking about any gear at all, is going to be your local dive shop, the dive shop in your town. Now if you don't have a dive shop in your local community, obviously, the first one you can get to physically would be my first choice. If you can get to one within an hour's drive and you're able to make that drive. That would be where I would send you. There's a couple of reasons for that. One is you can really try on the equipment, whether it's a BCD, or in this case, a mask. We're going to be able to go through and and really dig into how does that fit me? How do I like it? Do I have questions about it? And you can get those questions answered in the moment by somebody who's standing there with you. As opposed to if you're shopping online, you have an email chain or a chat and that's fine. If you don't don't have access to a local dive shop. What I would say about buying online is make sure you're buying from someone who has a reputable dealer. Make sure you know that they are scuba professionals that they have access to expertise that they can answer your questions. Please don't get your scuba questions answered on forums. I won't say the names of forums, but don't get your scuba questions answered from people on forums when you can't verify that they're competent divers. Okay, now, there are forms for scuba divers. And you can probably get some answers from from those people. But it really is important to get into your local dive shop if you possibly can, and work with them to acquire your equipment. So Alright, enough set on that. Let us talk about, oh, I wanted to talk about USD versus new. I don't recommend USD masks. We can talk as as you know, we're going to talk about USD equipment or equipment in general, throughout, you know, the podcast or the dive cast. In the case of masks, I really don't recommend buying the mused if you if you have an option for a couple reasons, you V will eventually affect the plastics that are in the masks. And you may not know how much you v that mask has been exposed to that's also provided ultraviolet light from the sun. You don't necessarily know how the mask was stored, or how it was cared for throughout its life. So those are things that are worth considering. And to save a few dollars, is it really worth it? In my opinion, if, if that's not going to constrain you from entering the sport, then buy a new mask. Okay. And and you're going to be able to when you're when you're buying a used mask, you have the choices of one versus the choices of a wall full of masks, where you can really make sure one fits your face. What are we going to look at when we look at a mask what matters about a scuba diving mask? Well, you've got the frame, which is the outside portion here that encloses the lens, you've got the lens itself, you've got the skirt, which is the part of the mask that actually kind of connects your face to the frame. That's the skirt. And then we'll talk a bit and then you've got the strap, of course. And we'll talk about each of these in in a little bit more detail. But
that's, that's basically the pieces of a mask. We use a mask obviously, because our eyes weren't designed to work underwater. And so we need a window into the underwater world. So let's talk about frame shape. The frame itself is what's going to it's going to enclose the lens and the lens. there's basically two kinds, there's a single vision or a single pane lens like this one and there are dual pane lenses or dual lens mask frames like this one. And the generally speaking the this is really a personal preference issue. Some people find the dual lens masks, they will sit a little closer to your face usually which may let allow them a wider field of view that may be your experience. But they can feel for some divers, they feel a little bit constraining a little bit. claustrophobic isn't the right word, but they feel a little closer to you and you may feel a little closed in whereas the a single lens frame will have more space between the lens and your eyes. And that will make you feel a little bit less confined. Okay, or it can. That's one of the one of the feelings that people get. The other thing is some divers don't like having something in the center of their vision. As you can see, I have to I have one of each, and I'll be honest with you. At this point. It doesn't really matter to me which one I pull out of my kit to put on to go diving. If I dive the dual lens, I'm happy if I dive the single lens I'm happy and I think for most people once you get used to it Specific lens type or frame type, you're going to be okay with it. And you may get to the point where you're like, I don't care doesn't matter to me at all. But it's okay, if it does matter to you, you know, that's fine, what, what people will talk about. And the difference that might be more practical, is what we call volume. And the volume of a mask is the amount of air that's in this space between the underwater world and your face. And that space is going to require occasionally it's going to require you to clear water out of it. Now, most of the time, you're going to be clearing out simply a little bit of water that leaked in, probably because you smiled, because you were enjoying something cool. underwater, you smiled back, changed the shape of your face a little bit from water leaked in. And now you have to deal with that. That's okay. Right? We don't, we don't care as divers, that's something we do on every single dive multiple times is we clear our masks. That's fine. dual lens mask, in theory is what we call low volume mask, meaning it has less air in this air pocket. What that does mean is that if you have to remove and replace your mask, what you will have to do for training, and you may have to do in the water. And we'll talk a little bit about that in a moment. Meaning that you've taken your mask completely off your face, now it's full of water, you put it back on, and now you have to clear all the water out of it. And does it make any difference between high volume like this single lens mask or low volume like this dual lens mask, practically speaking, it really doesn't. It may feel like a you know I don't even want to say it will feel like one thing or another to be honest with you. If you start with one or the other, and it feels comfortable on your face, you will figure out how to clear it, the difference in the amount of air to clear one mask over another is very, very small. So really focus on comfort and fit. And you will make the other parts of it work. Okay. And so let's talk a little bit about the the skirt material, the skirt material mask is going to be a soft silicone. These are pretty old masks, I think, bordering on 20 years old now. So what I will say about that is that if you buy a mask that works for you, and it's a good quality scuba mask, you're going to keep it for a long time, or you can keep it for a long time. Okay.
I actually was preparing for this show. And it had been so long, I didn't even know what brand of masks I was using. And that's you know, I will talk about brand in a little bit but you know, you get so they're they're so good. And they last so long that unless you have a reason to buy a new mask, you may dive the same mask for a very long time. So quality masks worth worth checking into. The skirt material, however, on these masks is getting a little bit stiffer than it was when I bought them. And the materials they're using now the silicone that they're using now is more so is softer and more comfortable than this. So I'm actually looking at replacing one of these and maybe we'll talk about that if and when I do it. But but the that's there's really not a whole lot about the skirt material that you need to talk about this skirt, like I said earlier, is what basically seals the mask lens against your face. And so it's very important that it fits the shape of your face, and that it's comfortable. But that's all there is to it. And we'll talk about how to fit a mask here in a few minutes. So let's talk a little bit about lens materials. There's really only two and this is why you need to make sure that you're buying a scuba diving mask if you're going to use it for scuba. We don't want to buy masks at department stores and assume that that one mask is equivalent to another. Scuba diving masks are made with tempered glass or polycarbonate. And it's important because we don't want them we don't want to break them. And we want them to last and we want them to be designed for scuba diving and there are features that you have to have if you're going to dive and and one of them is actually built into the skirt and that's the nose pocket, which is basically a soft rubber closure for your nose so that you can equalize. And if you're a diver, you already know about that. But basically, you have to be able to pinch your nose through your mask. And in some masks, that nose pocket is actually going to be, you might have seen those big round masks, maybe in old movies, and they still actually manufacture them. And some people prefer them. But you actually have nose pockets that you actually put your fingers up under the lens to pinch your nose. And so you have to make sure that you can actually access the nose pocket as a diver. So that's one feature of a scuba diving mask that you absolutely have to have. And the other thing is, like I said, we want polycarbonate or tempered glass. Specifically, there are some coatings that you can get on a mask lens, anti reflective, and high, high energy, visible light or ATV coatings. There's also mirrored coatings, and I'll talk about that one in a minute. Do coatings matter in terms of the HTV and the the anti reflective, if it's within your budget, it's probably worth considering. Because especially if you're a videographer or photographer, an anti reflective coating, if you think about it, the fewer reflections you have between you and the content you're creating the better. So if I'm trying to if you can think about now we're shooting through a reflective surface being the mask onto another reflective surface surface, generally the housing of the camera to another reflective surface, which is the back lit or the back, LED display or the display of the camera. So you've actually got three, three potential reflective surfaces between you and the actual content that you're trying to create. And so having the having one of those layers treated can be a benefit. Okay. One thing I didn't talk about skirts and you may see this, occasionally I don't have one I have a mask with a black skirt somewhere. Some videographers and photographers prefer black skirts, because they feel like they can see the the content better. Reducing light from the back or the side of the of the mask prevents reflections on the inside of the mask going to your eye that can make it easier to shoot video and photography.
Obviously, none of mine are are black, I do have a black one at home somewhere, I think still, but I don't dive it. And so that's just a personal preference thing, but you will see them out there with with black skirts. So moving back up to mirrored versus non mirrored lenses, mirrored lenses. In theory, there's two reasons that I've heard to get a mirrored lens. One is to reflect sunlight on the surface, protect your eyes, that can be accomplished with like an ATV coating, which isn't necessarily mirrored or not as mirrored. And, but also that if you're trying to do photography or videography, or you're you're trying to get the best experience you can with wildlife that a mirrored a mirrored lens prevents the wildlife from seeing your eyes and thinking you're a predator. The only evidence I've ever seen for this is anecdotal. It's people saying that they think that there's no that I could find there's no science behind it. A lot of animals when you put a mirror in front of them, they think that whatever it is, is a competitor. Right? So that may be just as difficult or just as problematic as being a predator for that particular animal I so I don't really know that there's anything to be said for this. But what I will say is that a mirror lens prevents you from seeing your dive buddies eyes or them from seeing your eyes and our eyes are one of the best indicators we have of diver comfort and diver discomfort. So I strongly recommend for for new divers and even less new divers. Keep a clear mask or at least one that's clear enough that your dive buddies can see your eyes and that you can see there's so those are lens coatings. One of the other things about lenses that you might consider and this is becoming you easier to get now, and that is prescriptive lenses, especially in dual lens configurations. And I don't have a mask like this myself, but I actually was just at the shop. And they're actually making a lens or masks now where you can pop out a given lens and put in a prescription lens, and you don't even have to get them ground, they have standard configurations that you can buy. So if your eyesight matches that particular prescription you have, you have a pretty easy solution for that. So that is really cool. And and for those of us who are moving on in yours that you can get readers in in the lower half. And those can be actually built into the lens as well. So that's pretty convenient. Rather than having multifocal contact lenses or add ons, you can get little stickers that go on the bottom of your mask that can that can add on a couple of reading powers. So those options are there, but you can get lenses that are specifically designed for that now. And and of course there are options to have a lens ground. So if you prefer a full mask like this, or whatever, you can get them ground specifically for your eyesight. And that gets pretty pricey when you're talking about doing a custom lens for a specific dive mask, but it can be done. So the next thing you might see is lens color. And the most common lens colors are magenta, yellow and clear. And I'll just say it right now, if you're a new diver, I would highly recommend just sticking with a clear lens. Once you understand how you're seeing underwater and what your dive experience is like and what kind of diving you enjoy, then you can start digging into Oh, do I want to do I want a magenta mask do I want a yellow mask. The difference is yellow masks are designed for low light and low visibility situations. And so if you're diving, for example, if you dive in horsetooth reservoir, which is here in Colorado, or in Carter Lake, which is another one that's close to me here, both of those are our low visibility environments almost all the time, and you might get some value out of a mask designed for low visibility. One thing that I will mention and yet what that you you may have seen a bicycle sunglasses with yellow lenses as well. And it's the same thing. It's for low visibility.
So one thing I will say about any kind of tint removes some amount of light from your experience. So even though a yellow mask might provide more contrast, it's still reducing the can't add light to your experience. So that's something to consider. magenta lenses, on the other hand, are designed to filter out blue light. So that at depths around between maybe 18. And depending on the shade of magenta, significantly deeper 3035 feet, the the colors supposedly will appear more true. And you will see magenta filters for GoPro cameras or other cameras just you know as well. And if you dive specifically at those depths on a regular basis, and maybe that's something that you'll find valuable. And I would love to hear in the comments for this video, if there's some if there's an experience you've had where you're like, No, you really, here's a great reason to use a magenta mask or a yellow mask. For my money, I'll stick with a clear mask. Both of my masks are clear the one that I didn't bring today that I have at home, also clear. And there's a couple of reasons for that one, they're more flexible, you can use them in any depth or any on any in a low visibility dive and they work fine. And in the case of a colored lens, that coloration is built into the lens so you can't change it. If your diving conditions change. You're stuck it's baked in. So that's in contrast to that if you say okay, I want true color at 25 feet. Well there's a way to get true color at any depth. And that's with a flashlight. And you should be carrying a flashlight anyway. So just make sure that your flashlight is accessible and charged or Fresh batteries, whatever and is ready to go and convenient. So that you can just pull it out and use it to get true color in the locations that you're that you're looking. And if you're trying to shoot video or photography, then obviously, you're going to need external lights for that, if you want true color. Putting a magenta filter over a camera at 25 feet does not give you true color. It gives you filtered out approximations of true color. Or, I hate using the word true because it really doesn't feel right. But I think most divers will be very satisfied using a clear mask and carrying a flashlight that is easy to get to. Alright, so let's talk a little bit about the strap most and I did not bring a normal strap with me. But you'll see that the normal silicone strap, which is what you would get when you buy a mask is not attached to either of these masks. And that's because I find these neoprene replacements much more comfortable than then the silicone straps that come with masks for a couple reasons, the silicone ones in my experience that can get twisted around pretty easily. And then they create pressure points wherever that twist is on your head, which can make it pretty uncomfortable after you know 40 minutes of diving. And these are much easier to keep straight, right to keep untwisted if you will. The other thing is they put pressure over a greater area and they kind of equalize that pressure over your entire the entirety of your back of your head. Versus you know just a line or a couple of lines. They do make them that that have holes in the back for ponytails. Obviously, for me, that's not a concern. But they do make neoprene straps to do that I usually recommend to people that I mean, you can try out the silicone strap that comes with your mask. But these replacements are very inexpensive and really do make a big difference in your diving experience. So there's one thing that I didn't talk about, and you're and I don't have to show you. But on some masks at the bottom of the nose pocket,
you'll find our round valve and it's called a purge valve. And basically what it does is when you breathe out through your nose, it can force water that has accumulated in the bottom of your nose pocket of your mask, it can force that water out. And so that can make clearing your mask easier than if you don't have a nose pocket. Now, like I said, you're going to notice that neither of my masks have nose purge valves. But it this really comes down to personal comfort as a diver. If a purge valve gives you one less thing to worry about and makes you feel more comfortable and more confident in the water, then by all means put one in they are inexpensive, they can go on on many, many styles of masks. So you don't have to buy a mask. With a purge valve installed, you can get a mask that fits your face and fits the style of diving that you're going to do. And then generally speaking, you can have a purge valve added to that mask. If it didn't come with one or they don't have a model that has one already in it and your local dive shop should be able to do that. So that's all there is to say about about purge valves if you want one, if it makes you more comfortable in the water, go for it. If that if you're going to ask why I don't have them. Because clearing my mask is something I do so often that it doesn't even cross my mind. It's just something that I do. And I don't care. So once you become very comfortable in the water, you may not use your purge valve. Right or you may not matter to you that you have it, but it's not going to hurt you either. So if you want one, get one if it makes you more comfortable in the water than by all means go for it right. So let's talk about fitting a mask. Basically, all you need to do is place the mask on your face, I usually leaned down with my hand under the mask and you're going to place the mask in place, breathe in through your nose, create a vacuum, and if the mask fits you, without continuing to breathe in, you should be able to keep the mask in place. If you can't, if the mask falls off your face, then you need to look at a different mask. Now a couple of considerations here one this silicone is very old and this mask isn't staying on like maybe it should. The other problem is that right here is where The mask is supposed to go. And if you are like me and you haven't shaved that part of your mustache, you can cause a problem. So is this mask not fitting my face? Or am I needing to shave? We don't know. Right now, I do have some concerns about the silicone on these masks because they're so old. But let's try the other one just for fun. This one's got a little bit softer silicone skirt. Yeah, this one's fitting a little bit better. And that's probably because the silicone is a little softer still. But if you're going to go into your local dive shop, and you have facial hair, just make sure that you trimmed off the part that's going to go right under your nose because the mask is going to seal there. And it is really important that you get a good fitting mask. So let's let's talk about that for a second. So fitting a mask isn't rocket science is quick and easy, as I just showed you, at your local dive shop, you're gonna have a wall of masks, generally speaking, you probably have 10 or 15 choices pretty easy. And you can go through that exercise with all of them in 10 minutes. Okay. Once you find a group of masks that fit your face, where you can breathe in through your nose, and they'll stay in place, then you can start looking at the other features we talked about that might make a difference for you in terms of dual lens versus single lens, high volume versus low volume. And the other features that that the mass manufacturers are using to differentiate themselves, I even saw a mask with a GoPro mount on it not too long ago. So you know, you can get a lot of features. But make sure the mask fits your face before you choose features. Because there are a wide variety of masks don't choose manufacturer, or style, or color, none of those things are going to matter until the mask fits, get a group of masks that fit, then choose the features that matter. Then choose the color, okay, or design style or whatever.
One of the things to remember about color is the only place color really matters is differentiating your equipment on the boat. Once you get underwater and 15 feet, you don't have read in 30 feet, you don't have orange, in 60 feet, you don't have yellow, and at 90 feet, you lose your greens. And so the only colors that actually stay with us underwater are blue, and violet. Right. And so what really matters is can I identify my gear on the boat. And there are many ways to do that, not necessarily just with the color of the mask. But you know, once you get underwater divers start to be pretty homogenous pretty quick, we all look the same. And and so it what's really important is how well it fits and then does it have the features that you need as a diver for your kind of diving. Okay. So gear junkies garage this week, because we're just getting back into this, I'm kind of cheating a little bit. And I want to talk about the fact that you know, I do have each of these kinds of masks, a dual lens configuration, a single lens configuration, a low volume mask and a high volume mask. And why, you know, I, I have both because I've wanted to try them for an extended period of time, what I found was, it doesn't matter to me, okay, and you may not have that experience, you may find that a specific kind of mask really does it for you, you really get more more a better dive experience out of a single lens mask or you might get a better experience out of a low volume dual lens mask. That's great. It doesn't matter. Whatever works for you. I have tried, my the one I didn't bring is a black skirted mask with a in theory wider field of view, because it's a low volume dual dual lens mask like this one, but it's even smaller and closer to your eyes and the closer the mask or the lenses are to your eyes, the wider the field of view can be. And supposedly that was going to be cool. Honestly, I never liked it. Not because of the field of view. It just was never as comfortable as other masks and the wider field of view. It was a polycarbonate mask. And so that means and I didn't talk about this earlier, but polycarbonate As you might imagine, my in my experience has shown this as they scratch easier. So if you if you have a it's a plastic lens, so just like a plastic aquarium or whatever else, that plastic is easier to scratch and a little bit harder to take care of it's lighter, it can be formed into shapes, the glasses would be very expensive to shape into, which can make masks with curved sidewalls or whatever that might be might let more light in or might give you wider field of view. And that's all true, but they're harder to care for. So I did want to also touch on something I don't have here. And that's a full face mask. There, you're you probably seen them. And you may have seen them in your local dive shop, you've probably seen them on TV and documentaries, or something where people have full face masks. And the regulator is then built into the face mask. But you can talk and that's the big payoff for the full face mask is that you can actually talk and people can understand you. That's pretty cool. Still not the standard in recreational diving is not what we teach as instructors. But you should know they're out there. And they're now if it's interesting to you, then it's worth exploring. I don't own one, I've never actually even dove one. It'd be fun to do some time. But that's something that
you probably didn't know is out there. All right. So for the fin Tip of the Week, this week.
And again, because we're just getting back into this, I am cheating a little bit and staying on the topic of masks. The The thing I wanted to remind everybody, and this actually I did mention earlier already is that color really doesn't matter when it comes to the the frame, or the strap or any of that, because it all disappears when you get underwater anyway. Okay. So really focus on the function and fit. So fit first function second in terms of, or I should say, fit first, features second. And then color is whatever they've got in stock unless it's really important to you, you know, to match the rest of your stuff. And then you can order it, whatever. But just make sure that the mask you're you're getting fits your face first. All right. And the other tip, I guess that I wanted to share was to make sure that you really try the masks on at your shop at your local dive shop. Or make sure that the online retailers that you use, have a bullet proof, consumer side bullet proof return policy. And I would still make that my distant second recommendation versus going to a local dive shop because in the local shop, you can stand there with a wall of masks and shop them. Try them on understand the features, ask questions of the staff that is going to give you a much better experience. And you're going to get you're going to have much more confidence that you've chosen the right mass. And you might even have the opportunity to hop in a pool and try it out. So that's the tip of the week. All right. Let's see. Leave a comment below and let me know what your favorite mask is and what you love about it. I think that's one of the things about the scuba community is that we all do have different experiences. And my experiences might not match your experience or your needs as a diver. And so while you know everything I've told you about masks is true. how that applies to your specific diving situation can change and or can be different than then my experience or my needs as a diver. So there's that. All right. You can contact the show at scuba Steve at underpressure dive blog calm and that's scuba spelled with my initials. That's SK UBA Steve at underpressure dive blog comm or visit our website at underbrush guy blog comm For more information, you can listen to us on the go with your favorite pod catcher, or you can catch us anytime here on YouTube. Thank you for diving with us here on YouTube today, or for listening if you're an audio listener to the audio program. On the left you'll see a list of a playlist of the episodes of the underpressure dive cast for your binge watching pleasure between dives. The surface intervals over get out there and dive