Home Freediving Could A Snorkeling Full Face Mask Help Protect Against COVID-19?

Could A Snorkeling Full Face Mask Help Protect Against COVID-19?

Ocean Reef's Full-Face Mask With Filter
Ocean Reef's Full-Face Mask With Filter

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, snorkeling full face mask makers Ocean Reef and Mares think they could have a filter attached to the mask to protect against infection.

Earlier this month, Italian company Mestel Safety, part of the OceanReefGroup, who, under the brand, OCEAN REEF builds full face masks for snorkeling and scuba purposes, filed an international Patent for an adapter that would connect Ocean Reef-manufactured snorkeling masks to P3 and other types of filters transforming the snorkeling mask into a personal protection mask.

According to the company:

“We do not want to compare our masks, with the adapter or not, to any, more standard, protective equipment. We are just offering a possible solution, in a time of dire need, to physically create a barrier, with the possible addition of a filter, to contagious droplets.”

The adapter would fit in the connection of any OCEAN REEF produced mask. The filter itself could be of any type and brand, and with the 40mm threading, to reduce the exhalation effort, you just need to push out the exhalation cover valve of the mask, the company claims.

OCEAN REEF says the company has sold more than 1.25 million full-face snorkeling masks globally and has good inventory through its worldwide dealers and the U.S. and Italian warehouses.

The company claims all full-face snorkeling masks produced by OCEAN REEF, including OCEAN REEF Aria QR+, Aria Classic, Aria Uno, Aria JR, Original Aria, HEAD SeaVuDry & Sport, and TUSA Sport can accept this new adapter.

Not only that, the company says it is ready to be modified to work on other full-face snorkeling mask brands, like Easybreath, Aqualung, and many more, increasing the number of possible transformable protection equipment to 2+ million.

As for pricing:

“Consumer pricing for the adapter is planned to be purposely low to help current owners convert their snorkeling masks as inexpensively as possible.”

The company says all its Aria masks, which are available in four different sizes, including youth, can be easily cleaned and sanitized (including immersing in boiling water), while much of the protection equipment that is now very difficult to purchase is single-use.

Ocean Reef says the first 3D-printed prototypes have already been tested over the past three weeks and full industrial production is scheduled to begin this week, with initial output at 1,000 units per day.

For more info, check out the Ocean Reef website.

Ocean Reef's Full Face Mask With Filter
Ocean Reef’s Full Face Mask With Filter

Mares Full Face Mask Instagram Story

Additionally, late last week, Mares put out an Instagram story about what that company was doing to adapt its full-face masks for COVID-19 protection:

Mares's COVID-19 Full Face Mask Instagram Story
Mares’s COVID-19 Full Face Mask Instagram Story
Mares's COVID-19 Full Face Mask Instagram Story
Mares’s COVID-19 Full Face Mask Instagram Story
Mares's COVID-19 Full Face Mask Instagram Story
Mares’s COVID-19 Full Face Mask Instagram Story
Mares's COVID-19 Full Face Mask Instagram Story
Mares’s COVID-19 Full Face Mask Instagram Story