Masks & Snorkels, tested & compared

"Body Glove" brand mask & snorkel (good mask, great snorkel).

In May 2003 I bought a Body Glove International brand of mask & snorkel at Costco for $41.99 CDN. (insert # 49-56-27) This is part of Costco's regular spring stock this year. It says Professional Silicone Series & has a tempered glass lens with Clear Cut side windows that increased the field of vision quite a bit horizontally (vertical field of vision was adequate). The straps were easy to adjust & it has a protected purge value under the nose. I found the mask to be pretty good & quite a comfortable fit. It didn't easily fog up on the inside, but it wasn't as fog free as the masks made from polycarbonate. The Desert Dry snorkel was by far the best snorkel I have ever seen or used, especially if used by an inexperienced snorkeler. The snorkel has a hinged seal that closes when the top of the snorkel goes under water & it works extremely well. I took 3 different adults snorkelling with it in choppy ocean water & they found this snorkel far better than standard snorkels because it kept the water out most of the time. I even taught a 4 year old how to snorkel in the pool & then in the ocean, which probably would not have been possible using a standard snorkel. The snorkel was flexible enough at the curve & the mouth piece did not easily fall off. It has a purge valve & it even has a quick release clamp so you can add or remove the snorkel from the mask easily. My congratulations to the manufacturer for this extremely well design snorkel. Just when I thought all snorkels were pretty much alike, they proved me wrong. The mask & snorkel are made in Taiwan & imported by Chapman Walters Intercoastal Corp. In March 2004 I bought this years mask & snorkel for $39.99 CDN at Costco (item number 49-56-73) which has the identical mask, but with a soft neoprene pad on the head strap to make it more comfortable on your head. The 2004 snorkel is similar, but with a variation on the water shut off valve they now call the "arid dry snorkel" & it seemed to work quite well.

"Body Glove" brand Youth Snorkelling Kit (mask, snorkel & fins for kids).

In July 2004 I bought two sets of the Body Glove Youth Snorkelling Kit at Costco for $39.95 CDN each (#547979). The children's mask is an identical version but smaller than the adult one mentioned above & is made in Thailand. The mask has a feature called "clear cut mask" which gives a nice wide view horizontally. The snorkel is called a "lighthouse submersible dry snorkel" because it has a cut off valve which helps prevent water from filling the snorkel when the top of it goes under water. The design of the snorkel cut off valve is different than the adult one mentioned above, but seemed just as effective. This kind of snorkel makes it very easy for children to learn how to snorkel & feel more comfortable. The only thing I didn't like was the height adjustment which tends to move out of position, but this can be remedied by taping it in place once you find the correct height. The snorkel is made in Taiwan. Children's size fins are also included in this package, your choice of sizes 2 - 3 (34 - 35), or 4 - 4 (36 - 37) with a formed rubber heal instead of a strap, which will limit the foot size that can use this fin. The fins are made in Italy. Also included is a mesh bag (made in China) which holds all the pieces. This package is imported & marketed by 2004 Chapman Walters Intercoastal Corp. of Laguna Niguel, CA. Caution, the plastic packaging is VERY razor sharp, so don't let the kids handle the packaging. It's my opinion that this is a well designed kit & worth the money.

Dolfino mask with Polycarbonate lens (nice, not much fogging).

In May 2003 I bought a Dolfino Premier model SM-8510 Multi-Vision dive mask (no snorkel) at Canadian Tire for $34.99 (also sells at The Sports Authority). This mask is made by Aqua-Leisure & has a polycarbonate lens rather than a tempered glass lens, so this mask does not seem to fog on the inside very much, although polycarbonate lenses scratch easier. Of the 3 masks I recently bought, this one fogged the least. It has an extended bend down in the contoured lens so vertical field of vision, especially downwards is very good, as well as small side lenses which make horizontal field of vision pretty good but not great. Manufacturer claims an increased of range of vision by 30% (that helped only marginally). There is no purge valve under the nose. I tried snorkelling with this mask in two fresh water pools (one cold & one very warm), as well as in the ocean in Dominican Republic 27.8 Celsius (82.0 Fahrenheit) & I was sufficiently happy with this mask that I would recommend it because it doesn't fog quite as easily as a mask with tempered glass. I did find the face seal to leak just a bit, but nothing too concerning. In January 2004 the head strap broke after using this mask less than 2 dozen times in 8 months, but Canadian Tire replaced it for me. Straps breaking seems to be a real problem with Dolfino brand masks, as several people have written me to say the same thing happen to them. The silicone seal that seals against your face, looked like it wouldn't stand the test of time after only 8 months.

Tusa mask & snorkel (not all that great).

In May 2003 I bought a Tusa brand of mask & snorkel (model RC-6000) called Liberator X-ten Reef Tourer at Costco for $44.99 CDN. It was one of those 1 week specials called a "road show" where a scuba dive shop person lies & tries to flog all manner of dive gear that he couldn't sell in his scuba shop & it takes up an entire aisle for a week, after which he is gone. For such an expensive set, I was quite disappointed in this model, especially with how easily the tempered glass fogged up on the inside. The mask did not have a purge valve under the nose. The Imprex 2 model snorkel was not very flexible & easily twisted the wrong way around, causing it to have an impractical shape that I felt allowed water into the snorkel too easily & the mouth piece came off too easily. It's made in Taiwan & imported by Tabata.

Dolfino (Aqua Leisure) snorkel & mask (poor quality, fogs easily).

In the spring of 2002 I purchased a Silicone Series Dolfino Premier mask & snorkel at Costco for $36.99 Canadian (model number SK-8872CC & item # is 162389). That seemed like a good price for a high quality mask & snorkel set which said "craftsmanship and meticulous refinement" on the box (it's actually very low quality). I used it while snorkelling in several cold & not so cold fresh water lakes in Ontario Canada & noticed that the mask had an extreme propensity to fog up on the inside of the tempered glass. I'm a certified scuba diver & I couldn't remember using any other mask that was nearly so likely to fog up, but I figured that maybe it was just fogging because of the cold water. I had nothing to compare it to until I went on a scuba diving trip to Mexico in January, at which time it nearly ruined my trip. The professional dive masters tried every trick they knew of to condition the mask so it wouldn't fog up, yet still it fogged again after just a short time, only this time we were in warm water (28 degrees Celsius, 82 degrees Fahrenheit). They lent me one of their inexpensive masks & immediately there was no more fogging on the inside of the masks. I had tried two of these Dolfino Premier masks & both fogged very easily.

Last summer about the 2nd or 3rd time I used this mask snorkelling in open water, the clear mouthpiece came off the snorkel & got lost. I went back to Costco to look at another identical snorkel & was surprised to see just how easily this mouthpiece comes off. It is only loosely pressed on with just 2 ridges to hold it in place. I would have thought that a quality mask at this price range would at least have the mouthpiece glued on so it couldn't easily be lost. Dolfino did send me a replacement, but clearly this mask is extremely poorly designed & I would recommend against buying one.

Dolfino Premier Underwater Camera & Dive Combo

I purchased a Dolfino Premier Dive Gear Mask, Snorkel and camera combo. While snorkelling I almost drowned because the small black screws on the snorkel, which are NOT functional at all, let water in the snorkel at an alarming rate. When I went back to the mom and pop store where I bought it for $35 bucks they told me to take a hike. I would NOT recommend this model to anyone, I sucked up so much salt water I coughed for days. I later found a dive shop and they laughed and said that that model is known to leak but for some reason they keep selling it.

Charles Dinwiddie
Austin, Texas

Other comments above: By Doug Hembruff.