The hidden myth behind why do divers spit in their Masks. While learning from the PADI scuba diving course. The dive instructor taught us to spit in the mask and put them on. Really, it was quite shocking for all of the learners. Even some of them laughed out loud and some were feeling awkward. All of us raised a question: why do we need to spit in the mask? The scuba dive master replied, to prevent the mask from fogging underwater. We followed the instructions and as a result, it worked really well.
But have you ever thought about how spitting in masks helps or why our saliva is so strong even if it helps in defogging masks? Let’s understand the science behind it.
A scuba mask fogs up when the water temperature outside of the mask is lower than inside and this makes unclear vision for scuba divers. Just like your driving windshield in cold weather. (easy!)
How Does Spit Help?
When you spit in masks, saliva helps as a surfactant agent. It is an active wetting agent that lowers the surface tension of a liquid. Historically, surfactants have been referred to as surface-acting agents. Due to its surfactant properties, saliva reduces the surface tension of droplets. When the water falls from the mask, it does not mound up into beads or droplets but rather breaks up into bigger droplets that fall into the mask as they roll along.
Why Only Spitting And Not Any Other Chemicals?
You already know the answer, because saliva is easily available in our mouth and convenient to use anytime. Nevertheless, You can use shampoo, toothpaste, detergent, and soaps or a defogging solution as an alternative as they work the same as spit but you have to buy it while spitting is always FREE!
This tip helps better when you are underwater but after every dive, the scuba mask needs to be cleaned and properly maintained. You can learn how to clean and defog your scuba mask.
Finally, now you are aware of how to use saliva for spitting in your mask. However, some divers think this is a stupid way so they always keep defogging solutions in their BCD or wetsuits.
On the other hand, we think this is the best way to defog your mask without buying other products for defogging.
How do you defog your mask? Share the best tips with us in the comment section. Thank you for reading and staying with Lets Dive Here.