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Mask Fogging

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A foggy mask is is extremely frustrating. It can not only ruin your dive but also be dangerous. It’s very distracting and can prevent you from being able to clearly see what is happening around you. This can be quite worrying, especially if you are diving with sharks or around a wreck with a good amount of sharp snags to catch your equipment or cut your hands on. It’s something all divers have, or will, experience, and it is most prevalent with new masks. Having to let a little water into your mask during a dive, swill it around and blow it out is a nuisance. On occasions I have even had to take my mask off completely while underwater to give it a good rub. But this is only effective for a short time.

The problem lies with the residue left over by the manufacturing process. It coats the lens, and no matter how much you use antifog, the problem will remain.

There are two main ways of over coming this for brand new masks.

The first is to use toothpaste. Squirt a few drops onto the inside face of the lens and gently rub for a few minutes. Be careful not to over scrub or you will scratch the lens surface. Then wash out thoroughly and apply a de-fogging agent. Personally I rarely have much success with this but it seems to work for some people.

The second way is a little more drastic. With a lighter or candle, run the naked flame over the inside of the lens until the glass turns black. Wait a few moments for the glass to cool and then wipe away the soot with a soft cloth. Do this a few times until the glass remains clear and doesn’t turn black. Be extra careful not to burn the silicon skirt around the glass as this is very soft and will melt easily. Also don’t allow the glass to become too hot and make sure the lens is glass and not plastic.

Manufacturers hate you doing this, but sometimes it‘s the only thing I can make work.

With older used masks, anti fogging agents usually work very, well but still may have to be used for every dive. Spit is another option where you coat of the inside of the lens with saliva. Rub it around and rinse in water. I find this works quite well, especially if I spit in the mask a few minutes before getting in the water and letting the saliva dry, then rinsing it just before actually getting in.

Before writing this I did a quick web search for other people‘s experiences and tips. There were suggestions to use glycerin soaps, washing detergents and baby shampoo, but I don’t fancy any residue of that getting into my eyes. Another suggestion was to rub raw potato on the lens. I remember doing this many years ago on the outside of my camera dome port when I wanted to get shots half in/out of the water as the potato juice repels the water and buffs up well enough to see and film through.

I’m sure there are many other home remedies, but the question I have to ask manufacturers is why do we have to go through all this in the first place? When one of them comes up with a mask that truely doesn’t fog from the moment you take it out of its box, then that is the mask I will buy and use all the time. Perhaps there are already some on the market. Let me know if there are, please!

As a last note, I should mention ‘mask care’. Look after your mask, keep it clean and dry when putting away.

Good diving.

How do you solve your mask fogging issues? Let us know in the Scubaverse Forum.

Jeff is a multiple award winning, freelance TV cameraman/film maker and author. Having made both terrestrial and marine films, it is the world's oceans and their conservation that hold his passion with over 10.000 dives in his career. Having filmed for international television companies around the world and author of two books on underwater filming, Jeff is Author/Programme Specialist for the 'Underwater Action Camera' course for the RAID training agency. Jeff has experienced the rapid advances in technology for diving as well as camera equipment and has also experienced much of our planet’s marine life, witnessing, first hand, many of the changes that have occurred to the wildlife and environment during that time. Jeff runs bespoke underwater video and editing workshops for the complete beginner up to the budding professional.

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The BiG Scuba Podcast Episode 173: DEEP – Making Humans Aquatic

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Gemma and Ian visited DEEP and were hosted by Phil Short, Research Diving, Training Lead, and were given a tour of the facility at Avonmouth and then over to the Campus at Tidenham.

DEEP is evolving how humans access, explore and inhabit underwater environments. Through flexible, modular and mobile subsea habitats that allow humans to live undersea up to 200m for up to 28 days, work-class submarines, and advanced human performance research, DEEP completely transforms what we are capable of underwater and how we conduct undersea science and research.

www.deep.com

You can listen to Episode 173 of the BiG Scuba Podcast here.

We hope you have enjoyed this episode of The BiG Scuba Podcast.  Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference.   Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via The BiG Scuba Bat Phone    +44 7810 005924   or use our social media platforms.   To keep up to date with the latest news, follow us:

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The BiG Scuba Podcast Episode 172: Dr. Joseph Dituri

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Joseph Dituri

Gemma and Ian chat to Dr. Joseph Dituri. Dr. Jospeh Dituri lived undersea for 100 Days in a mission combining education, ocean conservation research, and the study of the physiological and psychological effects of compression on the human body.  

Dituri enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1985. He served continuously on active service upon various ships and shore stations where he was involved in every aspect of diving and special operations work from saturation diving and deep submergence to submersible design and clearance diving. Now that he is retired from 28 years of active service to the United States, he is the president of the International Board of Undersea Medicine. He also volunteers his time as the CEO of the Association for Marine Exploration. He is an invited speaker on motivational, sea and space related topics.

Fuelled by his passion for exploration, discovery, adventure, and making the greatest possible positive contribution to the world, he is fighting for change in a big way and with great enthusiasm.

You can listen to Episode 172 of the BiG Scuba Podcast here.

www.drdeepsea.com

We hope you have enjoyed this episode of The BiG Scuba Podcast.  Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference.   Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via The BiG Scuba Bat Phone    +44 7810 005924   or use our social media platforms.   To keep up to date with the latest news, follow us:

We are on Instagram                     @thebigscuba  

We are on Facebook                      @thebigscuba  

We are in LinkedIn                          https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian%F0%9F%A6%88-last-325b101b7/

The BiG Scuba Website                  www.thebigscuba.com

Amazon Store :                                https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/thebigscuba

Visit   https://www.patreon.com/thebigscubapodcast and subscribe – Super quick and easy to do and it makes a massive difference. Thank you.

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