I recently came across an old underwater photo of myself, the first one ever taken, as a matter of fact, circa 1977. Although I had been diving several years by then I'd always managed to evade a camera. There I was in my old black neoprene mask that served me so well for so long. I used it all the way up until I started California Diving News in 1984. While I have sentimental thoughts for that old mask, I would hate it now. Masks are so much better these days.
MASK
SKIRTS
THEN:
Mask skirts, the part that seals against your face were largely made of neoprene rubber. Yes, the same material of wetsuits but without the gas blown in to make it fluffy and soft. While the designs by the late '70s were getting smart in terms of a somewhat lower profile, the skirts were still painfully stiff. Three or four dives and your face hurt. And you'd better get a mask that fit just right. Neoprene was much less forgiving and lacked the ability to contour to the face.
And finally, living in Los Angeles you learned what smog (specifically ozone) would do to neoprene over time - it rots it. After just a few short years Southern California divers could expect the edges of black neoprene mask skirts to get gummy and sticky often leaving a black ring around the divers face. Cracking and splitting of the skirts was also a common problem.
MASK SKIRTS
NOW:
Diver's
first got a look at a silicone mask skirt in the mid-'70s in the
movie The Deep. They were first touted as an option to neoprene for
their hypo-allergenic properties. But soon divers found they were
softer, lasted longer and more light-friendly. Divers no longer
needed to look down a dark tunnel.
In the mid-'80s, Tabata (TUSA or Tabata USA) refined the mask skirt to a fine art with their "crystal silicone." Mask skirts were nearly translucent, almost vanishing on the face. Double feather edging for the seal and firm but soft material makes wearing these masks almost like wearing nothing at all. In terms of comfort, appearance, and durability, the silicone skirt was the most powerful improvement in masks in the last 20 years.
STRAPS & BUCKLES
THEN:
Straps were something you HAD TO adjust before the dive. And with the hardness of the black neoprene skirts, you had to get it just right. Adjusting under the water was out of the question for tightening and loosening was a complicated two-handed process of threading. Like the mask skirt, the strap was black neoprene, subject to cracking and tearing. You always had to carry a spare and often had to use it.
STRAPS & BUCKLES
NOW:
Straps can now be tightened with just one hand, even underwater. Smart strap design keeps the strap from bunching up or slipping the back. And the silicone material used lasts almost indefinitely. In terms of function, the mask strap and adjustment buckles are the most powerful improvements in the last 20 years.
FRAMES & LENSES
THEN:
Heavy plastic, even metal, guarded the lens 15 to 20 years ago. Your color choices were limited and if you needed corrective lenses you had to have them custom made and glued or framed in.
FRAMES & LENSES
NOW:
Interchangeable corrective lenses make putting in over-the-counter "diopter" lenses simple, easy and economical. These over-the-counter lenses will suit most divers in need of underwater vision correction.
Frames are sleek and stylish, much like high fashion eye wear. The contour of the frames, combined with a nearly perfected low profile design make today's modern dive mask very streamlined and comfortable in the water. And vision is wider than ever.
More color choices are available than ever before. The garish colors remain (something for everybody) but recent years have also brought choices of more tasteful colors. TUSA's mask frame colors are particularly stunning with choices such as sublime Turtle Green, elegant Sterling Silver, and rich Cobalt.
I wish I still had that old mask, just for sentimental sake. But for diving I'll take today's modern mask any day.