ANATOMY OF A SNORKELING MASKS

Anatomy of Snorkeling Masks

The snorkeling masks, when broken down to its most basic components, consists of the lens or lenses, mask skirt, mask strap, mask frame, adjustment buckle and strap keepers.

The lens for the snorkeling masks are made using tempered glass or plastics. Tempered glass has a wide variety of applications besides snorkeling masks. Used in car and truck windows, glass doors and tables and it is also used in the making of bullet proof glass. The preference of tempered glass is due to its strength as well as the fact that when it does break, it does so in small fragments rather than in sharp shards. Tempered glass is "toughened" glass. This toughening is accomplished by using controlled thermal or chemical treatments during the processing. These processes create balanced internal stresses which give the glass its strength. Tempered glass does have a slight green tint to it which is caused by iron content but there has been a trend in the past couple of years of snorkeling masks manufacturers offering ultra clear lenses. These lenses virtually eliminate the slight greenish hue.

The snorkeling mask skirt may be made from quite a few different materials, silicone, natural rubber, PVC, silflex, crystal silicone are just a few of the materials used. Back in the day (pre 1975) snorkeling mask skirts and straps were made using natural rubber. While inexpensive, natural rubber did have its drawbacks. The life span of snorkeling masks made of rubber weren't very long. Being exposed to the natural elements caused the rubber skirt to dry out and crack. Chemicals used in swimming pools also served to shorten the mask life. An avid snorkeler could almost count on having to purchase a new mask every year. While we do not sell natural rubber skirts on snorkeling masks, the material is still being made, so be careful with what you purchase.

The introduction of silicone (post 1975) brought with it, a mask skirt that not only had a better tolerance to the elements, it also allowed light to penetrate which reduced the sense of tunnel vision associated with the black or natural rubber masks. Silicone was more expensive to produce so masks using it were significantly more expensive than those made using natural rubber. Two things should be noted with respect to silicone. The first being that silicone will begin to develop a yellow tint over time. This yellowing is due to exposure to the oxygen in the air and while it makes the mask skirt less attractive, it does not affect the elasticity of the skirt. The second is that silicone that comes into contact with black rubber for prolonged periods can also take on a black hue at the points of contact. There are definite benefits for choosing silicone over other materials, some of which include a more consistent elasticity in a wider range of water temperatures and is great for those with rubber allergies.

PolyVinyl Chloride or PVC is a plastic material that is used in some snorkeling masks skirts. Masks using this material for the skirting are usually significantly less expensive than those using natural rubber or silicone because PVC is cheaper to produce. But it is not without its drawbacks. The elasticity is greatly reduced in cooler water temperatures causing it to stiffen up. This does affect the skirt's ability to conform to the face which is a problem with the seal and will cause major leaking.

Silflex and other similarly named materials combine silicone with other materials and generally perform to varying degrees between silicone and PVC. Crystal silicone is the clearest of silicone which is due to the liquid injection process used to create the mask skirt.

Mask straps are used to hold the snorkeling masks to the face and are usually made using the same materials as the mask skirt but there are a couple of exceptions. One of these exceptions is the neoprene mask strap and the reason for using the neoprene strap is mainly to lessen hair entanglement. The mask strap is attached to the mask by weaving it through the mask buckles or you can purchase the neoprene mask strap wrapper separately and velcro over the silicone mask strap.

Another important feature to the snorkeling masks strap is the materials used in the mask buckles which can either be metal, plastic or a combination of the two materials. The important part of the buckle is a roll bar. The roll bar looks very much like a watch pin. The roll bars serve to make threading the strap a lot easier. Roll bars can be made of metal or a heavy duty plastic.

The frame of the mask serves to bring together the basic elements of the mask. Historically the original mask frames were constructed using metal bands which compressed the mask skirt to the tempered glass lenses. The masks using these metal frames were quite heavy compared to the materials used in mask frames of today. Today we find lighter weight plastics and are also seeing what are called frameless masks. Compared to the heavy metals of yesteryear the plastics of today make the mask quite comfortable on the user's face. Frameless masks do away with the frame all together by bonding the the mask skirt directly to the lens or lenses. Masks also use what are commonly called strap keepers and the purpose for the strap keeper is to keep the snorkelers mask adjustment consistent. All strap keepers are made of plastic or neoprene materials.