Nearly lost my mask when a seal blew out at 40 feet off Gulfport last month

I was about 25 minutes into a hull inspection on a supply boat near Gulfport when the left side of my mask seal just let go. Water came rushing in so fast I couldn't see a thing for a solid few seconds. My heart jumped but I kept my hand on the valve and slowly added air to clear it, which is the trick my instructor drilled into me years ago. I signaled topside that I had a problem and did a controlled ascent, taking a full minute at each stop even though I wanted to rocket up. Once I got on deck, I found a tiny crack in the silicone right along the edge where I must have pinched it during storage the night before. I patched it with some RTV silicone I keep in my truck and it held for the rest of the day, but I ordered a new skirt that afternoon. Has anyone else had a mask seal fail on them mid-dive, and what did you use as a quick fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona5021mo ago

Cracked my mask seal at 18 feet once and honestly thought I was about to become a very soggy statistic. I panicked, sucked in a lungful of seawater, and then coughed so hard I flooded my regulator too. Ended up doing a buddy-breathing ascent with a deckhand who looked more annoyed than concerned. For a quick fix I've used 100% silicone caulk from a hardware store before, but you have to let it cure for like 12 hours or it just peels off underwater. I mean I love that you had the presence of mind to do a controlled ascent because I sure didn't. Maybe it's just me but I think mask failures are way scarier than reg freeflows because at least you can still breathe through a freeflow.

wyatt_green1mo ago

2500 dives in and I've had mask seals pop on me three times. Finally switched to a silicone skirt from a brand called Sherwood and haven't had an issue since, @fiona502, it's got a softer edge that seems to handle age better. Definitely agree that mask failures mess with your head more than a freeflow, at least with air rushing you can still focus on breathing.