There are a lot of brands that make defogging gels, they are usually slightly thicker in consistency than baby shampoo, giving them a bit more adhesion to the lens. You generally only need a drop in each lens, and then a quick rub to spread it round to get even coverage. I haven’t found that these work any better or any worse than the cheaper alternatives in the market. What they do have in their favour is that they generally come in small bottles, making them easy to carry around with your gear.
Baby shampoo
What I love about baby shampoo, is that it works great, is cheap, and it comes in small bottles. You can either use it diluted in a spray bottle or directly on the lens, just a drop in each lens does the trick. There are a couple of benefits that I love about using baby shampoo:
It’s cheap and easy to find in any supermarket
It doesn’t sting your eyes
It makes your mask smell great
You can use it to wash yourself with as well when you’re rinsing off
If I’m diving anywhere for a long period, I’ll usually buy some, and then towards the end of my stay, I’ll start using it to wash my hair, so I use up the whole bottle.
Dishwasher paste
If you’re in Asia, then the dishwasher paste works a treat. It comes in a tub or a block. I first saw it in Thailand, where the locals were using. I’ll be the first to admit that it doesn’t look pretty however, looks aside, it works a treat. It also has the added benefit of cleaning out the build up of gunk in your mask because it is slightly abrasive. Make sure that you thoroughly rinse out your mask if you use this stuff, it wasn’t really designed for eyes.
Dishwashing liquid
Another common one is dishwashing liquid, the application is the same as baby shampoo. It is generally cheaper too, however with the downside that it isn’t as eye friendly as baby shampoo. In this particular case, I’d suggest using it diluted in a spray bottle.
Spit
As the old saying goes, “the greener, the cleaner”. You do want to make sure though that it is of a relatively good consistency, so don’t drink too much water (it’ll make your spit a bit less effective) or drink milky substances (it’ll give it a thicker but more emulsified texture) beforehand. Spit is the key, not phlegm 🙂 This is the most reliable method, and while I like using baby shampoo, spit is always there and available for you.
Licking the lens
If you can’t get enough quality spit because it’s too watery, or you’re already in the water or underwater and your mask is fogging up, you can try licking your mask. It’s not super effective but it does help a little bit.
Keep flooding and clearing
When all else fails, keep flooding your mask, swishing your head around until all the fog is clear, and then clear your mask.
Ongoing maintenance
If you’ve used your mask for a while, give it a scrub with some toothpaste or jif to remove any residue that might have built up from being in the sea, or from whatever product you’re using to regularly defog your mask.
There are a number of ways that you can clean a slate, some are more practical than others. Here are some of the ways that I’ve tried to clean my slates:
Magic Erasers / Melamine sponge (Recommended)
These sponges are hands down the best thing to clean a slate with. They work wet or dry and can be easily carried around in a bag or your BCD. Not only are they convenient but do a fantastic job of cleaning a slate, removing pencil marks with a minimum amount of scrubbing.
A normal run of the mill pencil eraser works well for cleaning your slate but can leave some dark smudges on your slate as it spreads the graphite around on the slate. In addition, it also leaves you with eraser rubbings, which I don’t like because they create a mess.
The bottom of a flip flop or a bit of rubber foam
In a pinch, the bottom of a flip flop or a bit of rubber foam does a great job of cleaning your slate. It’s a great trick rather than trying to rub it out with your finger, and a lot more efficient.
Jif
This is great when you’re at home and you’ve got a bit of time. If your slate is somewhat grey, it’s a great way of restoring the colour. It gives it a little bit of extra life.
Your finger and some elbow grease
When you really have no other option, then rubbing with your finger will usually get your pencil markings off but it will leave your slate looking grey until you can clean it properly
Conclusion
I usually carry around a magic eraser in my spares kit so that I can clean my slates, they come in really handy and are a great addition to your kit.
As a dive guide, one of the skills that you’ll want to improve and work on, is getting your guests back to the boat – more specifically, the right boat! Not only is surfacing at the wrong boat embarrassing, it’s costly in both penalties (like buying your dive group beers), and potentially in tips at the end of the trip.
Know your boat
Before you go down, have a look at the hull. What colour is it? What shape is it? Are there any distinct markings? What does the ladder look like?
All these small little features will help you identify your boat.
Know your mooring line
One useful tip is to descend along the mooring line and have a look at where the mooring line ties off to. It’ll make it easier, especially if there are a number of boats moored up in a bay (which happens often). Knowing what the mooring line looks like (colour, width, condition, floats, etc) will help you to find the boat when you return.
Sometimes this isn’t always straight forward, I’ve had situations where I’ve surfaced on the right mooring line only for there to be no boat! It happens sometimes because lines break or an emergency ensues. Keep your SMB visible and a look out for your boat.
Rely on your navigation
Navigation is the key to successfully finding your boat. The simpler your dive plan, the easier it will be to find your way back to the boat.
Mark your time
I like marking time, and knowing roughly how long I’ve gone out, and therefore how long I need to come back in. If there is current, I will generally factor that in too. Once I’m within about 5 mins of where I believe the boat will be, that’s when I’ll start to look for signs of the boat.
Depth
At the start of the dive, I generally like to descend to the bottom to see what the depth is. This is a key marker to finding the boat. When I return, I keep an eye out for the depth, so that I know if I’m either too deep or too shallow for where the boat might be.
Keep an eye out for seamarks
Look for a couple of key features in the first few minutes of the dive. This is the best way to signal that you’re close to the boat on your return. Make sure you look back at the seamark once you swim past it the first time, so you can get a look at it and remember what it looks like for your return journey.
Look up
As you get closer, look up. Look for your boat and it’s distinctive markings. Often I find that the ladder is one of the easiest indicators of the boat. The other thing that will help is looking for other divers at the surface who are surface swimming. If you recognise the fins or gear of one of the other guides or guests, then you can most certainly be assured that they are heading back to the boat. So follow them!
Lights
At night, it’s often pretty difficult to find your boat. When you start to get close to the boat, start looking up, and you’ll see the boat lights. Remember that boat lights refract, which means that when you see the light, you’re still going to be a fair way off still. The light will initially be quite vague, fuzzy and have a soft quality to it i.e it won’t be bright. As you get closer and closer, the light will sharpen up and become brighter. YOu’ll know that you’re close when you can see the outline of the boat in the light as you look up.
Summary
Finding your boat is a mixture of different techniques, and you’ll need to pick the techniques that you use for the conditions that you are in. The trick is to keep practicing. The more familiar you get with a site, the easier will become to find your way home, and to the boat, rather than spending all your concentration on making sure you don’t get lost.
Mouthpieces are your a part of your lifeline, and for a small piece of plastic/rubber, they can really make a big difference to your experienced. By making the regulator sit more comfortably in your mouth, you reduce the effort needed to hold it in place, ultimately reducing jaw fatigue and reducing the overall wear and tear on the mouthpiece, meaning it will last much longer.
Cleaning your mouthpiece
There are a couple of ways that I like to clean my mouthpiece:
Toothbrush and toothpaste
the first method is to use a toothbrush and some toothpaste, and give them a good old scrub to get all the gunk out of them.
Mouthwash
From time to time, I’ll take my mouthpiece off and leave it soak in mouthwash, make sure that it is antiseptic, as this will remove some of the microbial build up on your mouthpiece. The bonus is that it leaves your mouthpiece minty fresh.
Size matters – not all regulators are made equal
Before you buy a new mouthpiece, make sure you check the size of opening on your regulator. I found out the hard way that they are different sizes, and I had to heat up my mouthpiece in order to soften it up to be able to fit it onto the regulator. Most regulators are a similar size, however I do know that Apeks is larger than most, and therefore not all mouthpieces fit it.
Zip ties and attaching your mouthpiece
While most people just put a zip tie onto their mouthpiece, there is a “proper” way to put them on. You always want the ratchet/lock and loose end facing the hose. Why? Well, the idea is that if you have a regulator where you can adjust the pre-dive/dive mode and the flow rate, that you don’t want to be cutting your fingers up on the cable tie. The chances of that happening are pretty low but it removes the risk of it completely, no one likes an annoying little cut on their finger.
If you are looking at your mouthpiece and the opening (so its in the right orientation for you to put it into your mouth), the ratchet/lock should be on the upper right corner of the groove, and the loose end will go wrap underneath and then over the top of the mouthpiece. Once it’s tightened up, the cable tie ratchet/lock will be on the hose side of the regulator.
After you’ve trimmed off the excess, find something rough and file down the sharp edges of your cut cable tie. Typically, if I have pliers I’ll use the edge of those, or the file on a multi-tool such as a Swiss army knife or a weatherman.
Rubber/plastic quality
When you’re buying a mouthpiece, particularly regular/non-moulded ones, the stiffness of the rubber/plastic matters a lot. If you can, have a feel of the mouthpiece, it should have some firmness to it. The firmness will help the mouthpiece hold its shape and the mouthpiece in your mouth without distorting the shape of the mouthpiece or having it feel flimsy in your mouth. If it feels like you could bite through it in one go, then the plastic is too soft.
Moulded
I love moulded mouthpieces for my primary regs, however I will still have a “standard” mouthpiece on my occy so that it’s usable for anyone without being totally uncomfortable. As you might have already guessed, moulded mouthpieces aren’t so great for sharing, so this is a consideration if you’re using an Oceanic Air XS 2 or a Scubapro Air 2 system, where you donate your primary and switch to your occy/inflator assembly.
I’ve tried a few different brands of mouldable mouthpieces, and honestly my favourite was a generic one that I bought in Thailand. What I found was that when I went to mould it the plastic was super soft and took the imprint of my teeth really well. It was also a narrower design, compared to something like SeaCure mouthpieces.
I’m not a super fan of the SeaCure mouthpieces, I found that they didn’t mould as well, and the shape of them didn’t fit my mouth that well, that’s not to say that they aren’t good mouthpieces. I found that they don’t feel like they lock in as well as ones that are super pliant.
On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve bought mouldable mouthpieces that pretty much didn’t mould at all. They help the imprint for a few days, and eventually went back to their original shape. To be honest, there was no real way to tell that they would do that. Thankfully, they were super cheap.
Tips:
When you mould do it with all the plugs in – the one for the regulator and the 2 in the body of the mouthpiece. Once you’re done moulding you can take them all out.
There is an up and a down. This is usually printed on the mouthpiece, make sure you follow them.
If you mould the mouthpiece and it doesn’t feel right, you can re-mould it simply by putting it back into hot water and softening it again.
Sometimes the mouthpiece is too long to fit into your mouth. If you need to, do an initial setting of the mouthpiece to see where your back molars are, and then trim the mouthpiece down to that size, and then re-mould them to your mouth
ComfoBite / Bridged
I first discovered ComfoBite mouthpieces when I bought a set of Apeks regs. These are my second choice behind the mouldable mouthpieces. The “bridge” provides a bit of extra structure and grip to the mouthpiece and helps it sit well in your mouth, and because of the position of the bridge, it doesn’t restrict the airflow when you breath so it’s a huge win. However, it’s not for everyone. I know people who don’t like them because of the way it feels in their mouth.
I’ve tried a few different brands, and the Apeks ones are the ones I like the best because of the quality of the plastic/rubber that they use, firm and still soft enough to fit well in your mouth.
Conclusion
We all have our individual preferences on what is comfortable and because mouthpieces are relatively cheap, I’d recommend trying a few different styles with your diving. I know some people who hate Comfobite mouthpieces and prefer the more traditional style because it just feels better. Others will have reasons why they don’t use moulded mouthpieces, particularly if their gear set up means they can donate from any of their hoses. Pick what is the most comfortable for you.
You’ve bought a new mask but before you can go diving with it, you’ll need to prepare it. When masks are made, they leave a thin chemical film on the lens to protect it during the manufacturing process. It’s this chemical film that makes a mask more prone to fogging.
There are a couple of ways to prepare your mask:
1. The Lighter/Burn it method
Essentially, you’re burning off the chemical layer inside the mask.
This is the most risky of all the methods but it is also the fastest way to prepare a mask. It works best on plain tempered glass lenses. I haven’t tried it on the UV coated lenses, and have opted for more traditional methods.
I’ve used this method on the way out to dive sites or between dives for some of my guests, and it works a treat. All you need is a lighter. I like to run the lighter over a spot until you can see it burn off the chemical layer, you’ll be able to see it burn back. While you’re doing this be careful of the following things:
Don’t put the lighter on for too long, it’ll heat up the glass layer quickly, meaning it:
Might burn you if you touch it
May delaminate the glass
Can melt the silicon skirt
Don’t drop it in a bucket of ice cold water afterwards
Be careful around the silicon edges, don’t spend too much time burning near it
Yes, it will leave a carbon layer on the inside of the lens. This is easy enough to remove
That’s it! I also like to just do a quick once over with toothpaste to get ride of the carbon.
2. The scrub/polish method
You can use all sorts of things to do this. Save yourself some money and don’t bother buying the stuff from the dive shop, it does the same thing as toothpaste or jif or any other abrasive surface cleaner.
Toothpaste – use plain white toothpaste, not the gel types, just something cheap will do the trick
Jif
Dishwashing detergent bars – These dishwashing detergent bars are very common in asia, and replace normal dishwashing liquid. They have a slightly gritty feel to it
How to do it
Take a small dab of toothpaste in each lens, with a little bit of water (a few drops is generally enough, you want it paste-like but not too diliuted). Scrub each lens in a circular motion, covering the entire lens, and do that for a few minutes (3-5mins). Give the lens a rinse, and repeat 2 more times.
Once you’re done, give it a good rinse, and try to get all the paste out of the sides of the lens, where it meets the skirt.
I often hear people mention that they left their lens with toothpaste on it overnight. This does nothing to remove the chemical layer. Toothpaste is an abrasive so requires scrubbing, it isn’t acidic, so won’t eat away the layer.
Don’t forget the skirts
I’d also suggest giving the silicon skirts a quick scrub with toothpaste as well. During manufacturing, a layer of chemicals gets onto the skirt. Giving it a quick scrub with toothpaste will remove this layer and improve the seal that you get, reducing leaking.
