All about Masks?

Can we have some of our resident experts write a guide to Masks?
How to select, reviews of makes etc etc

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Slayer of Trolls amongst other things.
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Masks, as for sticks and fins, are another very personal thing. Here's a few tips from my personal experiences:

1. Comfort - The most important thing to consider when buying a mask is comfort. You can concentrate on the game if you are not comfortable with you gear. It should sit comfortably on your face and not leak.

2. Vision - You want something that is reasonably low profile that doesn't cut your field of vision down too much. Being such a 3 dimensional sport you want to be able to see as much as possible when you can have players attacking you from above, front, back, sides, etc. Tunnel vision is a common downfall of many masks. You also want something that's not going to distort your vision either.

3. Tempered glass - After seeing several mask being smashed, some at close range (ie 2cm from my own face!), tempered glass is a must.

4. Tight fit - There's nothing worse than having your mask full of water everytime you come into close contact with another player, so make sure your mask can take a few knocks and still stay on your face. Some of the guys are now using twin nylon straps instead of the standard rubber mask strap which they reckon holds their masks pretty firm.

5. Protection - Having something that offers a bit of protection for you face is also a good idea. I've seen a few people with those very close fitting wrap around style masks, and whilst they claim they never get knocked off, I've also seen the damaged from a stray heel when these maks don't offer any cusioning.

Remember that these are only guidlines and each player has to decide what's going to work best for them.

I've just changed from a big cumbersome diving mask to a sphera and the difference was breath taken, the extra vision is unbelievable and a real gift.
certainly worth buying one, and much much cheaper than normal diving masks. However a few friends havd had problems with the seals as they can pop out and are a bit*h to fix just before a tournment!

I have read that some people think they don't give enough protection, has anyone had first hand experience of this being a problem?

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If you push the sphera tight onto your face, you'll feel the plastic edges push against your cheekbones just below your eye. This is the part of your face that will tear open if you take a kick or a puck to the mask. I've seen it in LOTS of players, enough to identify it as a pretty sphera specific problem.
If you have low cheekbones it might not be such a problem...

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It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose.

I used the sphera for a couple years and never had any issues with comfort or the frame cutting me. I took some pretty good heels to the face as well. I also had the nylon strap-on and the mask was pretty tight to my face, that and the relatively large skirt area made it a pretty decent mask for fit and not usually having flooding issues in shallow bash fest games, or scrums on the goal lip, and the vision is un-matched. The cuts i've seen were a bit debatable in my mind weather they would have happened with any other mask as well.

The major downside I see is the longevity of the mask. Sure they are kinda cheap, but I’ve found superocchios on sale for the same price or less ($10 on EBAY) and have gathered them up when I see them cheap. While using the sphera for the time I did I ended up going through 5 frames… granted I have two that are still usable right now, but two broken frames one that just doesn’t hold the lenses anymore, and one ripped skirt. The issue was when the frame would get mashed a bit and the lenses popped out once, they were likely going to pop out again… and probably in the middle of a game… and that’s just what they did. Nationals a few years ago.. I couldn’t keep the lenses in, went back to the superocchio for the rest of the tournament and haven’t looked back. Maybe occasionally during a weekend day game in an outdoor pool when the sun is blazing I’ll use the one with tinted lenses… but mostly I find the sphera just not durable enough, and the chance of catastrophic failure at the worst time the final nail in the coffin.

Personally I like the frame of the sporasub h. desault better then the cressi, but the sporasub leaks on my face… don’t know why.

This is an old thread, but thought it worth trying - I have heard that the Spheras aren't going to be made anymore - has anybody else heard that? grrr Just as I finally find a low volume mask that fits.

Having used them for two years now I tend to agree that the durability is questionable as I am on my thrid mask now. The first one I replaced under warranty because the lenses kept popping out and the second one I replaced after about a year when the lenses became so badly "pitted" that I couldn't see above water (ok under).

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I wore a spherical low volume mask at the last worlds. It was great for vision. The first game I used it, I got a puck in the face and the lens popped out and cut my face just below the eye (conveniently in the wrinkles). Five stitches later I am back to higher volume mask with better protection. I have had a few pucks in the same spot since then but no injury.

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Tristan Reynard
Schools/Chair
Underwater Hockey NZ
www.underwaterhockey.org.nz

Nice guide Tristan.

I use the Falco, which is basically the Sphera with straight tempered lenses. Totally agree on all the comments about strength and durability - that sucks, been breaking 2 a year on average. But on the other hand, it fits so well and is so good that I accept that.

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Faster than a speeding puck...

does anyone tried the technisub " Falco Masck" it seems pretty good

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