How to Put on Snorkeling Gear and Clean Your Mask

When you are using a snorkeling vest, it should be donned immediately after you don your wetsuit. All vests have a waist strap and some also have a crotch strap, which helps to keep the vest from riding up on your body. Open both straps before you slide the vest over your head. Once the vest is positioned around your neck, you'll need to adjust the straps. The straps should be adjusted so that there is enough space for you to put a closed fist between your chest and the vest itself. This will allow you to breathe deeply without restriction. If there isn't enough space for your fist, you must loosen the straps.

The easiest way to don a full foot fin is to sit down, wet the inside of the fin, if possible, grasp it firmly by both sides of the blade, and pull it onto your foot. Once your toes are all the way into the fin, you can reach back and slide the heel of the fin onto your foot.

You can don your fins while standing up on the beach, but you'll need to lean on your buddy to do this without falling. In addition, since you'll be using one hand to lean on your partner, it will be a bit more difficult to don your fins, particularly if they are snug.

The technique for donning adjustable heel strap fins is very similar except that you must loosen the straps before donning the fins. If you're sitting, hold the fin with both hands and slide it on, then position the heel strap and tighten it until snug.

If you're standing up, you can either hold the fin and slide it on or put it down, stand on the blade with your other foot, and thrust your foot into the foot pocket. Once the fin is on the front of your foot, position the heel strap and tighten it.

Just prior to entering the water and donning your mask, you'll want to "prepare" the mask so that the inside of the lens doesn't "fog" while you're in the water. If this is not done, water droplets will form on the inside of the lens and make it difficult to see.

There are several different ways to prepare the mask and they all work well. The simplest method is somewhat disgusting, but it's cheap, simple, and almost always available. While the mask is still dry, simply spit onto the lens, swirl the saliva around, and dunk the mask briefly in the water to wash it out. Your saliva will form a thin film on the lens which will help keep the mask from fogging. This sounds gross, but it works and it's how most divers handle this problem.

If you're diving in California where there is kelp, you can also use this seaweed to do the same thing. Other people use tobacco (which makes the mask smell like you're diving in an ashtray) or even a potato. There are also commercially available mask "defog" solutions which you can buy at dive stores if you feel you must. However, the reality is that most people just use spit.