Mask

What it’s for!

Allows you to see underwater and protects your face. Ordinary swimming goggles are not used because they provide only limited visibility and could result in eye damage if hit during a game. In addition they are not good to use under pressure and are not so easy to empty out as masks.

If you need glasses

If you have bad eyesight it is possible to purchase corrective lenses. These are available for certain types of mask in most dive shops or lenses can be fitted by your optician, at a slightly higher, but not always too much, cost. Interestingly, even if you buy a top quality mask and have lenses fitted it usually costs less than a new pair of glasses. Contact lenses can be worn under a mask but there is always the risk of getting them washed out. Some people have problems with contact lenses when they get wet, they tend to get stuck under the eyelid and wander out of place. Not everyone has this problem however.

Things to check when buying a mask

Seal

Check that the mask has a double flanging seal, i.e. the part which comes into contact with your face effectively has two edges, an inner and an outer. Almost all masks these days have this, except little kiddies masks which are generally not recommendable. To check whether a mask provides an airtight seal on your face: hold the mask in place on your face and inhale through your nose. If you can let go and the mask stays in place, suckered to your face then the seal should be OK.

Black rubber, clear PVA rubber, opaque silicone or clear (crystal) silicone? The choice is yours. The rubber and PVA types are generally cheaper than the silicone, but silicone is softer and more comfortable as well as being less prone to having the traditional dark-green-brown gunk growing in it. When silicone is attacked by the slimy gunk it is easy to scrape out, whereas it appears to thrive on the rubber and PVA, and doesn’t come off. PVA and certain types of rubber have the added disadvantage that they harden with age or with exposure to light, so they can seem almost as comfortable as silicone when new but gradually become less and less comfortable as time goes on.

Whether you get a clear or opaque seal is your choice. Most people these days go for the clear as it gives a less claustrophobic feel than dark masks, and in theory should allow you to notice movements to the extremities of your vision, whether it does or not is a mystery but you never know!

Don’t forget about comfort. Set the strap so that it is reasonably tight on your head and try the mask on properly. Check that the seal does not cut into your face anywhere and that the frame does not press on your nose, forehead or cheekbones.

Field of vision

It is important that you can see in as wide a field of vision as possible. Compare masks for up, down, left and right visibility. A bigger mask does not necessarily mean bigger vision. The closer the lenses are to your eyes, the wider the field of vision. This means that even small, low-volume masks can have as wide a field of vision as bigger masks.

Volume

Generally it is a good idea to go for the low-volume masks with frames which do not jut out to the sides too much. These are less likely to get knocked off, and do not have the tendency to pull away from the face and leak when you turn your head fast. In addition, if you are playing in deeper water than usual or snorkeling at depth, then it takes less air to equalise the mask’s pressure than the larger masks more suited for SCUBA.

Purge Valves

Some masks have purge valves in them to allow easy ejection of water that has entered the mask. These are not really advisable for underwater hockey, and not really necessary. To eject water from a mask, whether you are above or below the surface, simply hold the top of the mask in place and exhale through your nose. The water will be forced out of the bottom of the mask. Most masks have a break in the double flanging just below the nosepiece and sometimes have slight curves in the seal to guide water out here, just below the nose. This is much preferable to a mask-purge valve which can get damaged or held open by dirt from your bag or sand.

One lens or two?

Masks with a single lens piece are weaker and more prone to breaking when kicked or hit by a puck so always go for the separate eyepieces but make sure that the part of the frame separating them is not so bulky that it obscures your vision in any way. Always make sure that the lenses are made of tempered glass, it should say ‘Tempered Glass’ or ‘Safety Glass’ on the lenses themselves.

This article was originally published by Underwater Hockey New Zealand