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Recommend full face snorkel?


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We bought 2 for a cruise last spring. I debated whether to take my regular mask and snorkel. I wish I had. My husband liked his. I liked mine for about 5 minutes. Then I began to feel claustrophobic. I never felt like I could get a good deep breath. Leonard liked that he could attach the GoPro to his mask. However being on top of the water we got a lot of pictures that were neither above water or below water. And with the red filter on it was a pointless exercise. We eventually took the camera off the mask.

 

Some people swear by the full face, but I'm one of the minority that hated it. You just have to try it and see if it's for you. If you have a regular mask and snorkel I would take them, just in case.

 

Sherry

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We bought Head full face masks for our last snorkel cruise. I’d buy them again in a minute. I would highly recommend testing it out in a pool (or ocean) prior to a snorkeling trip. My husband has asthma & it took him a bit longer (about 30 minutes) to get used to it than it took me, but he loves it now

 

 

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Bought a Tribord for my wife, she loved it. I bought an off brand, cheaper one for me before our next cruise. It has a Go Pro mount on it. Started leaking (not because of the go pro) after about 10 minutes. I returned it when we got home and ordered a Tribord.

 

BTW, I use a selfie stick with my go pro for snorkeling which allows you to get it deeper into the water if floating on the surface.

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We bought 2 for a cruise last spring. I debated whether to take my regular mask and snorkel. I wish I had. My husband liked his. I liked mine for about 5 minutes. Then I began to feel claustrophobic. I never felt like I could get a good deep breath. Leonard liked that he could attach the GoPro to his mask. However being on top of the water we got a lot of pictures that were neither above water or below water. And with the red filter on it was a pointless exercise. We eventually took the camera off the mask.

 

Some people swear by the full face, but I'm one of the minority that hated it. You just have to try it and see if it's for you. If you have a regular mask and snorkel I would take them, just in case.

 

Sherry

We bought ourselves two Triborgs last year for Christmas and had a similar experience. My wife loved hers, I was like you, I had it on but felt like I could not get a full breath. I went back to the boat and used the regular snorkel masks the boat provided. When we got back to shore i bought a traditional mask and that is what I use now. Sent the other one back, one wife loved it, me not so much.

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  • 3 weeks later...

As a Respiratory Therapist, I would strongly advise against the use of full face snorkels.

 

The last thing you want to do is re-breath your expelled CO2. You do it for long enough in these masks, you can pass out and potentially drown. Other stories have noted the potential for leaking. Just my 2 cents.

 

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37353056/2-recent-drownings-spur-new-concern-over-full-face-snorkeling-masks

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As a Respiratory Therapist, I would strongly advise against the use of full face snorkels.

 

The last thing you want to do is re-breath your expelled CO2. You do it for long enough in these masks, you can pass out and potentially drown. Other stories have noted the potential for leaking. Just my 2 cents.

 

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37353056/2-recent-drownings-spur-new-concern-over-full-face-snorkeling-masks

 

 

Once again I got to call BS on that. CO2 is an inert gas. As long as you are breathing oxygen in and out you can't get enough concentration of CO2 to make you pass out, or "grey out" as said in the article. That story is nothing more than supposition. The dive shop owner has vested interest in selling his own equipment.

Edited by mac66
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Once again I got to call BS on that. CO2 is an inert gas. As long as you are breathing oxygen in and out you can't get enough concentration of CO2 to make you pass out, or "grey out" as said in the article. That story is nothing more than supposition. The dive shop owner has vested interest in selling his own equipment.

 

The danger is quite real. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is indeed an inert gas, but it displaces oxygen, causing hypoxia. The use of inert gases to that effect has a positive use in diving, when helium is used to displace oxygen in technical diving, to lower the fraction of oxygen in a gas, so the partial pressure of oxygen remains safe at great depths (none of this would apply in recreational scuba). Helium, nitrogen, and other inert gases are also frequently used in suicides by suffocation; again to displace oxygen, without creating the "air hunger" that would otherwise result.

 

 

The better quality full-face masks have a mechanism designed to adequately exchange the exhaled air with new, and thus limit the CO2 build-up. However, thy rely on valves that must be maintained. Some of the "knock-off" full face masks lack these design features.

 

 

Your supposition that a person using a full face mask can't build up enough CO2 to develop hypoxia is wrong. In fact if breathing improperly hypercapnia (excessive CO2) can result from hyperventilating with no other factor present (no mask, snorkel or other obstruction). This is exactly what happens when kids play the "choking game" where they deliberately hyperventilate, then another restricts their breathing. It's not the lack of oxygen directly, but the presence of carbon dioxide displacing oxygen. Further, the brain signals the breathing to occur in the presence of carbon dioxide, rather than the lack of oxygen, thus hypercapnia results in a autonomic response to breathe. This ends up in a even more rapid, and less efficient breathing. If not recognized and consciously overcome, hypoxia is the result. If on land, the person faints, and returns to baseline. If in water, loss of consciousness results in drowning.

 

 

The volume of a full face snorkeling mask is much more than a snorkel. A snorkel gets very close to 100% exchange with every breath. If a full face mask is not designed to provide for proper exchange of exhaled gas, it is a nearly perfect system to cause hypercapnia.

 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

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CBS news actually had a piece on the potential dangers this morning https://www.cbsnews.com/video/full-face-snorkel-masks-raise-safety-concerns/

 

Once again I got to call BS on that. CO2 is an inert gas. As long as you are breathing oxygen in and out you can't get enough concentration of CO2 to make you pass out, or "grey out" as said in the article. That story is nothing more than supposition. The dive shop owner has vested interest in selling his own equipment.

 

Any evidence supporting your theory?

Edited by CT Sean
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  • 3 weeks later...
Once again I got to call BS on that. CO2 is an inert gas. As long as you are breathing oxygen in and out you can't get enough concentration of CO2 to make you pass out, or "grey out" as said in the article. That story is nothing more than supposition. The dive shop owner has vested interest in selling his own equipment.

 

If you claim CO2 is an inert gas, you have no credibility whatsoever.

 

http://www.uigi.com/MSDS_gaseous_CO2.html

 

Carbon Dioxide is a powerful cerebral dilator. At concentrations between 2 and 10%, Carbon Dioxide can cause nausea, dizziness, headache, mental confusion, increased blood pressure and respiratory rate. Above 8% nausea and vomiting appear. Above 10%, suffocation and death can occur within minutes.

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  • 1 month later...

There were a lot of drownings this year in Hawaii and there was concern mentioned about the full face masks. We found it interesting that early January a large warehouse store was selling masses of them, a month later they were all removed after the negative press.

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  • 2 months later...
Not a big fan, simply because I find it difficult to regulate when diving down 8-10 feet. If you are just going to be floating on the surface, they are probably fine.

 

 

 

They are specifically intended for surface use only

 

 

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CO2 is an inert gas. As long as you are breathing oxygen in and out you can't get enough concentration of CO2 to make you pass out, or "grey out" as said in the article.

Always love the chuckles you can find on CC

one might want to review what 'inert gas' means .. as I recall it has much to do with 'explosions' and little with supporting human life ..

 

 

Inert gases are often used in the chemical industry. In a chemical manufacturing plant, reactions can be conducted under inert gas to minimize fire hazards or unwanted reactions. In such plants and in oil refineries, transfer lines and vessels can be purged with inert gas as a fire and explosion prevention measure. At the bench scale, chemists perform experiments on air-sensitive compounds using air-free techniques developed to handle them under inert gas.

QUESTION if you have a 100% concentration of CO2 ... how much O2 do you get????

To see the potential issue of CO2 on human life I recommend watching the movie APOLLO 13 ... I seem to recall a scene where there is somewhat of a panic over rising CO2 levels .....

I passed chemistry 1 and 2 in college!

Edited by Capt_BJ
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I stick to what I said. As long as you are breathing in O2 the concentrations of CO2 will never get to a dangerous level.

 

As for the drownings in Hawaii, there is no indications they were caused by full faced masks.

 

Of the 11 drownings, 10 out of 11 were men over 50 suggesting there could have been other medical issues or factors involved. Only 2 people were using full face masks. 2 were scuba diving not snorkeling. 3 were using conventional snorkeling masks.

 

The drowning have however caused the manufacturers to look at safety standards who have tested their masks.

 

Here is a a fairly balanced article about the risks

 

https://snorkelaroundtheworld.com/2018/03/full-face-snorkel-mask-dangerous/

 

Bottom line, buy a good quality full face mask and use it properly and you won't have a problem with Co2.

Edited by mac66
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The concern my diving DH has have to do the a complete inability to clear it if it floods. I thought might be a good option for our kids, but he nixed that idea pretty quickly.

 

Since you won’t be diving in a full-face mask, all you have to do is raise your head, lift the bottom of the mask, and drain it. It pops back in place much more easily than a traditional mask, so this is no big deal. You actually can blow air out just as you would in a half-mask, but it’s easier just to surface.

 

Also, in my experience, unlike a half-mask, a full-face mask rarely floods, because they don’t leak as much. I think they are far easier for kids to use, or adults for that matter! With a half-mask, it used to take me several minutes to get all my hair out of the seal, adjust the strap to be snug but not tight, defog, etc. With the full-face, you just pop it on and go.

 

I understand that people are comfortable with what they are used to, but I wish the nay-sayers would just try the full-face. Unless you are a diver, they are just easier and less hassle.

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