Old and Reliable (My Dive Mask)

My TUSA Expert Dive Mask

 

It was middle of 1994 that I took up scuba diving. I guess I was watching too much Discovery Channel at the time plus the fact that I’ve always been at home in the water which prompted me to ask my dad if I could take up scuba.  Hesitant at first, like any concerned parent but he finally relented. The first set of equipment I bought was a pair of fins, a snorkel, a pair of booties, and a TUSA Xpert Mask.

 

Fast forward to 2008 and I’ve just completed my Nitrox Certification. I am now a PADI Divemaster and I’m still using my TUSA Xpert Mask. Its been banged up through the years and the skirt is now yellow with age but still none the worse for wear and still functional like the day I bought it. I’ve outgrown my first pair of booties (booties are the neoprene boots that divers wear) and my first pair of fins, I’ve lost my snorkel and never bothered replacing it since, I am now on my third wetsuit, the first two of which have worn out from use, but my ever trusty dive mask is still braving the depths of Anilao, Batanggas, my usual dive haunt.  I’ve already replaced the strap twice because it gets brittle with age and use.  One time the strap ripped while I was in a middle of a dive. I had to finish the dive holding the mask in place.  Another time, I accidentally dropped the mask into the drink. I was already on board the dive boat and I placed the mask at the edge and sure enough it fell. Luckily the divemaster I was with at the time was able to recover it. This mask just won’t go away.  I was holding and looking at this mask while I was packing my gear away at the end of my day a couple of weekends ago and I was fondly recalling all the marine life that I’ve seen thru the tempered glass of my dive mask, hundreds of jacks schooling off Verde Island, whitetips and blacktips off Mainit Point, bubbling underwater hot springs in Maricaban Island, and a host of other things that has filled up several dive log books of memories, close encounters and cherished friendships.  I like things like my dive mask, old and worn from use but still ticking and rich with experience.

 

And no, this is not a paid advertisement by TUSA nor am I connected with them in any way, shape, or form. Call this entry an ode to my trusty dive mask so to speak.