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Full Face Diving Mask

 
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A full-face diving mask is a type of diving mask
Diving mask

A diving mask is an item of diving equipment that allows scuba diving, free-diving, and snorkeling to see clearly underwater. When the human eye is in direct contact with water as opposed to air, its normal environment, light entering the eye is refracted by a different angle and the eye is unable to Focus the light....
 that seals the whole of the diver's face
Face

The term face refers to the central sense organ complex, for those animals that have one, normally on the ventral surface of the head and can depending on the definition in the human case, include the hair, forehead, eyebrow, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, mouth, lips, philtrum, tooth, skin, and chin....
 from the water and contains a mouthpiece
Mouthpiece (scuba)

In breathing sets, a mouthpiece is a part that the user grips in his mouth, to make a watertight seal between the breathing set and his mouth. It is composed of a short flattened-oval tube that goes in between the lips, with on its free end a flange that fits between the lips and the tooth and gingiva....
 or demand valve that provides the diver with breathing gas
Breathing gas

Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. Other artificial gases, either pure gases or mixtures of gases, are used in breathing equipment and enclosed habitats such as Scuba set, surface supplied diving equipment, recompression chambers, submarines, space suits, spacecraft and anaesthetic machines....
.






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Scuba33
Full Face Diving Mask Ocean Reef
A full-face diving mask is a type of diving mask
Diving mask

A diving mask is an item of diving equipment that allows scuba diving, free-diving, and snorkeling to see clearly underwater. When the human eye is in direct contact with water as opposed to air, its normal environment, light entering the eye is refracted by a different angle and the eye is unable to Focus the light....
 that seals the whole of the diver's face
Face

The term face refers to the central sense organ complex, for those animals that have one, normally on the ventral surface of the head and can depending on the definition in the human case, include the hair, forehead, eyebrow, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, mouth, lips, philtrum, tooth, skin, and chin....
 from the water and contains a mouthpiece
Mouthpiece (scuba)

In breathing sets, a mouthpiece is a part that the user grips in his mouth, to make a watertight seal between the breathing set and his mouth. It is composed of a short flattened-oval tube that goes in between the lips, with on its free end a flange that fits between the lips and the tooth and gingiva....
 or demand valve that provides the diver with breathing gas
Breathing gas

Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas. Other artificial gases, either pure gases or mixtures of gases, are used in breathing equipment and enclosed habitats such as Scuba set, surface supplied diving equipment, recompression chambers, submarines, space suits, spacecraft and anaesthetic machines....
. The full face mask has several functions: it lets the diver see clearly underwater, it provides the diver's face with some protection from cold and polluted water, it increases breathing security and provides a space for equipment that lets the diver communicate with the surface support team.

Full face masks can be more secure than breathing from an independent mouthpiece; if the diver becomes unconscious
Unconsciousness

Unconsciousness, more appropriately referred to as loss of consciousness or lack of consciousness, is a dramatic alteration of mental state that involves complete or near-complete lack of responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli....
 or suffers an oxygen toxicity
Oxygen toxicity

Oxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen at elevated partial pressures. It is also known as oxygen toxicity syndrome, oxygen intoxication, hyperoxia, or the Paul Bert effect and Lorrain Smith effect, after the researchers who pioneered its discovery and desc...
 convulsion, the diver can continue to breathe from the mask unlike a mouthpiece which must be always gripped between the teeth.

Full-face diving masks are often used in professional diving. They are relatively rarely used in recreational diving
Recreational diving

Recreational diving or sport diving is a type of Underwater diving that uses Scuba set for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment. In some diving circles, the term "recreational diving" is used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of the sport which requires greater levels of training, experience and equip...
, where they protect the face from cold water or stings, such as from jellyfish
Jellyfish

Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. They have several different morphologies that represent several different cnidarian classes including the Scyphozoa , Staurozoa , Cubozoa , and Hydrozoa ....
 or coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
, and prevent the discomfort derived from gripping a mouthpiece between the teeth for long periods.

This type of gear is also referred to as a Jack Browne rig, named for a Desco
DESCO

DESCO is an underwater diving equipment maker which was first organized in 1937 in Wisconsin in the USA as Diving Equipment and Salvage Co.It was founded by:-...
 engineer who designed an early version of a full-face mask with an integrated air-supply attachment.

Features

Full-face diving mask have these features, with these results:

Straps firmly fasten it to the head

It takes longer to remove the mask when needing to switch to breathing from atmosphere. To avoid this, most full-face masks have a valve to switch between breathing from the set and breathing from atmosphere. That set/air valve should be easily operated by the diver, including if he has thick diving glove
Glove

A glove is a type of garment which covers the hand of a human. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves"....
s, but not projecting so that it can be easily knocked against things. An excess of bulky projecting valvework may cause water resistance in swimming and moving his head about.

Most full-face masks can be knocked off much less easily than an ordinary scuba
Scuba set

A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving....
 mouthpiece or an ordinary eyes-and-nose diving mask
Diving mask

A diving mask is an item of diving equipment that allows scuba diving, free-diving, and snorkeling to see clearly underwater. When the human eye is in direct contact with water as opposed to air, its normal environment, light entering the eye is refracted by a different angle and the eye is unable to Focus the light....
; but an excess of bulky projecting valvework may act as a lever for his head to be pushed around by. These risks can happen in these circumstances:
  • When working or moving about in zero visibility
    Visibility

    In meteorology, visibility is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It is reported within surface weather observations and METAR code either in meters or statute miles, depending upon the country....
     water or in the dark. This often happens with underwater work, as a work diver cannot choose time and place of diving as easily as a sport diver.
  • If he is involved in a hand-to-hand fight underwater. This risk may happen with combat / patrol frogmen
    Frogman

    A frogman is someone who is trained to dive or swim in a military capacity which can include combat. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver or combat swimmer....
     in war conditions, or with diving sea-police arresting suspects underwater. In this case, his set/air valve should be where an opponent cannot easily grasp it, either to operate it, or to use it as a handle to pull the mask off or to pull the head about.
  • If there is a risk of him becoming unconscious underwater. (For the same reason, many industrial breathing sets and a few scuba set
    Scuba set

    A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving....
     have a mouthpiece with a strap that fastens behind the back of the neck.)


Much less risk of water leaking in past a mouthpiece

Some divers accustomed to open-circuit scuba get into a habit of casually letting small amounts of water leak in between the lips and the mouthpiece and blowing it out the next time the diver exhales. If by force of habit the diver does the same with a rebreather
Rebreather

A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where humans cannot safely breathe from the atmosphere....
 that has a plain mouthpiece instead of a full-face mask, that water will get into the breathing circuit.

Without a mouthpiece inside the full-face mask

Here, the diver can talk clearly without removing his mouthpiece, including talking with other divers underwater. This allows communications equipment (usually an intercom
Intercom

An intercom , talkback or doorphone is an electronic communications system intended for limited or private dialogue, direction, collaboration or announcements....
 wire or by modulated ultrasound
Modulated ultrasound

Ultrasound can be modulation to carry an audio signal . This is often used to carry messages underwater, in underwater diving communicators, and short-range communication with submarines; the received ultrasound signal is decoded into audible sound by a receiver ....
) to be installed in the mask and is very useful for working divers.

If a full-face mask floods underwater, it is more difficult to clear it, than with a mouthpiece.

There also is the problem of "dead space" inside the mask causing risk of carbon dioxide retention
CO2 retention

CO2 retention is a pathophysiology process in which too little carbon dioxide is removed from the blood by the lungs. The end result is hypercapnia, an elevated level of carbon dioxide dissolved in the bloodstream....
.

With a small mouth-and-nose (ori-nasal) breathing mask inside the full-face mask

Here, the dead space is less, and there is less space to needing to be blown empty if the mask floods. But the smaller space around the mouth increases the "gasmaskyness" distortion of speech.

With a mouthpiece inside the full-face mask

Here, if the mask floods, the diver can breathe again before clearing the mask, and many Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 and frogman
Frogman

A frogman is someone who is trained to dive or swim in a military capacity which can include combat. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver or combat swimmer....
's rebreather
Rebreather

A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where humans cannot safely breathe from the atmosphere....
s have this mask arrangement; but the full-face mask plus mouthpiece combination acts like a strapped-in gag
Gag

A gag is usually a device designed to prevent Interpersonal communication, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help....
 making clear talking impossible.

Other features

The inside of the mask window may get misted/fogged, and need to be treated with a demister
Demister (SCUBA)

A demister is a substance applied to transparent surfaces to stop them from becoming fogged with mist deposit, often referred to as fog. Scuba diving often saliva into their masks and then wash the surface quickly with water to prevent mist buildup that can impair vision....
. Some British Army
British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
 and Russian gas masks
Gas mask

A gas mask is a mask worn over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling "airborne pollutants" and toxic gasses. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face....
 are designed so that when the wearer breathes in, the inflow of air blows over the inside of the mask window and tends to evaporate any mist deposit on it.

The mask window should be a modern strong polymer
Polymer

A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties....
 and not glass
Glass

Glass generally refers to a Hardness, brittle, transparency amorphous solid, such as that used for windows, many Glass Bottles, or eyewear, including, but not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovite , or aluminium oxynitride....
.

See also

  • Industrial breathing sets (SCBA): many of them are full-face masks.
  • Gas mask
    Gas mask

    A gas mask is a mask worn over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling "airborne pollutants" and toxic gasses. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face....
    : most gas masks are full-face masks.
  • diving helmet
    Diving helmet

    File:Kask-nurka.jpgDiving helmets are worn mainly by professional diving engaged in surface supplied diving, though many models can be adapted for use with SCUBA equipment....
    .
  • This link shows the older Royal Navy
    Royal Navy

    The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
     Clearance Diver
    Clearance Diver

    A Clearance Diver was originally a specialist naval underwater diving who used explosives underwater to remove obstructions to make harbours and shipping channels safe to navigate, but later the term "clearance diver" was used to include other naval underwater work....
    's and British
    United Kingdom

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
     SBS
    Special Boat Service

    The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. The service's motto is "By Strength and Guile". It forms part of the United Kingdom Special Forces group, alongside the Special Air Service , Special Reconnaissance Regiment , Special Forces Support Group and 18 Signal Regiment....
     frogman
    Frogman

    A frogman is someone who is trained to dive or swim in a military capacity which can include combat. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver or combat swimmer....
    's full-face mask with a big front window and a mouthpiece inside made by Siebe Gorman
    Siebe Gorman

    Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd was a United Kingdom company which developed diving equipment and breathing equipment and worked on commercial diving and marine salvage projects....
    .
  • This link shows a smoothly rounded full-face mask with no projections to cause friction or catch on things.