GEAR TIPS and FAQs

Without getting into the nitty gritty about why masks fog up, let's just solve that problem. Is your mask brand new? Or maybe it's been sitting around a while and is a little grimy. If so, you need to give the inside of the lenses a little scrub. Believe it or not, the BEST and most convenient product to scrub it with is toothpaste! It has to be pasty (not gel). Crest or Colgate or Arm & Hammer work great. It just can't be a gel. Just apply a pea-sized amount to the inside of the lenses and scrub it around with your finger for a couple of minutes. You are removing a film that gets on there during the manufacturing process. If you don't remove this film, no amount of defog will keep your mask fog free. If you've had a mask for a while and have never done this and have been struggling with a foggy mask, go ahead and give that old mask a scrub, too! 

You DO still need to defog your mask every time before you go snorkeling or scuba diving, though. We like Sea Drops or Sea Gold defog solutions. Apply the defog to the inside of your lenses, wipe it around with your finger, and then just give it a QUICK swish in the water before putting it on your face. If you rinse it too much, you'll wash it all away and it won't be effective. 

Are your gauges blurry? Is diving less enjoyable because you can't see the fish clearly? Do you wear corrective lenses? We have options for prescription masks! 

We have a mask that is compatible with premade prescription lenses, available in diopters ranging from -1.0 to -6.0, in 0.5 diopter increments. These work if you are near sighted. The correction is pretty good, but not exact. Most divers are quite happy with this option. If you just need readers, there are also reader lenses available in +1.0, +2.0, and +3.0 strengths.

The other option is to pick out any mask that you like (or even a mask you already own...it doesn't have to be new) and we can send it off to a company that will grind your exact prescription and permanently bond the prescription lenses to the mask. Most divers who choose this option, put the mask on in the store and say "wow this is better than my glasses!")

Masks are made with either a clear or black silicone skirt. At Submerged, we have both, but the majority of masks we stock have black silicone. Clear works, of course, but here are the reasons we think black silicone is better:

• it's really soft, so it makes a nice seal on your face
• it stays black, unlike clear silicone which is affected by UV and turns yellow over time
• it doesn't allow light to penetrate through, so there is no annoying glare reflecting off the inside of your lenses
• you can't see through the clear silicone anyway