Hello and welcome everybody. I hope everybody got a great diving weekend because we are here
on Monday and today we want to introduce something that we call a "Versus Monday",
which means we will be comparing certain pieces of equipment, certain procedures, protocols
and make you having an option to make more educated decisions based on more information.
So we are coming from GUE and then we will offer you some solutions and explain some specific
unique aspects of our equipment configuration, maybe some procedures, so that you can take your
own decision if you like it or not. So welcome again. It's Monday, it's Versus Monday, and today
we will be talking about masks straps and what options you have. So it will be a "slap" strap,
whatever that means, versus a silicon strap on a mask. Let's look first at the classical silicon
strap that normally comes with your mask when you buy it. The biggest advantages of those types of
straps is that they are super easily adjustable. So basically you can grab any mask, anywhere,
you just pull it tight, or loose depending on, you know, how the strap was adjusted before, and
then you can make the mask fit your face, because you will just push it a little bit tighter towards
your face and it will fit. The second advantage of that strap would be that it's kind of rubber-ish,
so it's not really very easy to move the strap on your head. So if you place it there, there is much
less options for that strap to move around your head, which might be quite positive for people who
are not feeling really very secure about the mask moving on the face because they are beginners,
or they have still a little bit of fear of the mask entering.. the water entering the mask.
So for me, this would be the biggest advantages of those ones. I mean there is one more, of course it
comes included with your mask, so there is no additional cost but this would be the main two
things: so that you can adjust it relatively easily, as well underwater, and then it fits
relatively snugly on your face. But those come with some disadvantages as well, and the advantage
is actually the disadvantage, because one thing about this rubberness of this, and its stickiness,
is that for people who are diving without hoods, in water warmer environments, this trap will pull
your hair out, and to be honest, with my hair, I always get hair trapped here in the buckles
they get, you know, entangled sometimes around the straps, and then I kind of pull out
some hair when I'm putting the mask on, and it's really very inconvenient.
So the other option that you have, is something that very often people call a
"slap" strap, which is this piece here that I have, which always allows, at least this
piece allows, for quick adjustments because it can be slid on your face when the mask is on,
but it does have as well some flexibility. So the mask can be fitted nicely on your head as well,
but because the piece that supports it on your head is done from neoprene,
sometimes it even has a nice plush inside, it slides on your head much more easily,
and the the risk that you are pulling your hair off is much less. So to just show you what I mean,
by having it really very easily sliding on your head, I just put the mask on and super easy,
and it just slides in. There is no hair being pulled out, it gets in there really very easily.
So then the comfort of putting the mask on, as well, is much better. So for me the benefit of
having a "slap" strap is, first, comfort of use. Now when we compare it to the previous mask,
so this one, the other one was ease of adjustment. I, as well, explained that you can adjust this one
very easily as well because it has the buckle and the strap outside, so if you put it on your face,
it's outside, so you can adjust it. There are some, as well, that don't have that option,
and then you will need to adjust it before the dive, because the velcro itself is on the inside.
So this you could treat a little bit as a disadvantage because, if you put the
mask underwater on your face, and you would like to adjust the tightness of the strap,
it will be not really very easy to do that. But, as a well prepared diver, I would suggest to go
with something that really, most of the time, is comfortable, which means this type of strap,
and adjust the strap before you start your dive because this is when you should prepare your
equipment, and check its functionality, and its proper fit, and underwater it's a little
bit too late. The next feature that I would like to compare is how easily it can break.
So this one, from my experience, they can break quite quickly, especially
because they are adjustable, and you will have a tendency to pull and make it tighter,
and most of the time what breaks is this end pieces. I rarely see them really breaking here,
behind, but if this breaks it just loses the adjustability because the strap doesn't fit.
So one of the main disadvantages of those straps are that they can break much easier, and they
break because you adjust the mask more often, and you are maybe a little bit less careful about
fitting the mask properly, and then you will just by default pull the straps to make it adjusted.
So compared to the "slap" strap that we talked about, this is very hard to break,
because there is nothing that can really be torn. Everything is nicely and properly sowed together,
it's quite sturdy material, and it has enough elasticity to allow the mask
strap to have some room for flexibility. So from my perspective, from the life, or
how long that strap will stay with you, definitely that's the winner. I had one of my first masks
equipped with a strap like that, and I think it stayed with me for at least 10 years,
and the only thing that happened to it, from orange, it became a little bit less orange
over time because it faded. So it's really - even if it's an extra cost - it's a nice investment,
because it will stay with you for a really very long time! The last thing that I would like to
show is a little bit of a hybrid between a silicon strap and a "slap" strap, so the neoprene strap,
which is a strap cover, which is still a neoprene piece that you put over your silicone strap,
and then you can slide it easier on your face. But to be honest, this solution is a little bit
not too practical from my perspective, (my personal opinion) because you can still..
you still can snap the strap, you will still have disadvantage of all of these additional
pieces that you have here, that can trap your hair, especially if you have longer hair.
So for me it is maybe a cheaper solution compared to a "slap" strap, because it's only
the cover that you are buying, but still if I would choose, I would go for the
"slap" strap because it has most of the advantages. It is an investment but still,
it will stay for you probably for much longer time than a normal silicon strap. So this was a hybrid,
something in between a silicone and the "slap strap". What we have discussed now
is pluses and minuses of silicon straps versus "slap" straps, which are done from a velcro and
neoprene. I showed you as well a hybrid between one and the other, and kind of.. it combined the
worst of both, and then the best of both, so you know hybrids sometimes are not the best.
So I hope that with this small comparison you will be able to choose more,
you will have a more educated decision about which type of strap you would like to have.
Thank you very much for joining us for our first episode of "Versus Monday",
I hope that it brightens up a little your week so that you can have a little bit of a sneak diving
into your working week on every Monday. What I would like you to consider, is to leave some
comments down below that video and maybe you have some more ideas, what is best with the silicone
strap, what is best with the "slap straps", maybe you have your own experiences and you would like
to share with our audience in the community? So feel free to comment and we will try to answer
your questions if you have any, and of course I would like to see you next Monday when we will
be comparing a different piece of equipment. I will tell you yet not what it would be, because
it should be a little bit of surprise as well, but as well if you would like to see something
very specific, if you're curious about why we are using this piece of equipment over the other,
just leave us comments, send us questions, and we will try to adjust, and you know,
cater for your needs, and what you would like to see on the Youtube channel. So thank you again,
I wish you a very good week, and I hope to see you next Monday, on Versus Monday