Nose valve on mask

[Kidder]

My wife and I have valves on the nose of our masks and it makes it very handy to clear. But as I dive more I'm wondering if I had made a mistake getting the masks with nose valves as just something to eventually go wrong with the mask and shorten its life's span.Has anyone owned one that went wrong? Did anyone have a valve fail at a deep depth?

[Capt Hook]

Think purge valves on masks are wrong! IMHO

[Bring the Payne]

Purge valves are nice but definately not a necessity.

[frankc420]

Purge valves are for masks that flood easily. If you have a good mask you shouldn't need a purge valve

[Damselfish]

Purge valves are one of those things that seem like a good idea at first but after awhile, maybe not so much. You may notice the vast majority of masks for sale are not purge masks and you won't see that many people using them.

Some people like them for various reasons, like they really prefer clearing that way instead of the usual way, and have no problem with them. Sometimes because they have facial hair and have trouble with leaking in any mask, and find this better. Or it was simply the mask that fit them bast.

More people seem not to like them. The valves can get in the way of pinching your nose if you clear that way, or they might rub your nose. They can fail or fall out though it really doesn't seem to happen too often. They can just get floating crud stuck in them and leak. Often masks with purge are a bit higher volume which is less desirable, the field of vision may not be as wide and it would be a bit more effort to clear the normal way.

I wouldn't usually suggest buying one, but if you've already got one and it fits well, I wouldn't worry about it too much unless it's bugging you for whatever reason. You can always keep it as a backup if you decide you want something else eventually.

[mm_dm]

I would agree with Damselfish 100%. I had a purge mask, among the many I have owed and it used to push against the part just under my nose. It also had a tendency to leak a little more at depth. I went back to a non- purge and have since adopted a low volume mask, which I like much better.

[sudnit5]

I had a purge mask once and it would always hit my nose and after a few dives it started leaking from the purge itself. I did not like it at all.

[Kidder]

I was afraid of that. I got thinking about it when I was down around 90 feet. It would be really annoying if the purge valve failed. It would also suck if it failed while getting cerified for my dry suit.

[skdvr]

I have used them once and my big italian nose did not fit in there so well. It felt fine on the surface but as soon as there was a little pressure on it the valve was pushing on the bottom of my nose. It was harder for me to clear becuase I do pinch my nose. The dive that I did was about 40 min and that was to long with that mask...

I personally will not buy one...

Phil

[skdvr]

Originally Posted by Kidder

I was afraid of that. I got thinking about it when I was down around 90 feet. It would be really annoying if the purge valve failed. It would also suck if it failed while getting cerified for my dry suit.

What does it have to do with the dry suit???

Phil