Scuba diving and long hair problems and concerns
Scuba Diving Long Hair Concerns that many men and women ask before going diving.
When hair is long enough it can get all tangled up in your mask strap, snorkel, or heaven forbid all tangled into your first stage of your scuba unit while you are underwater these all can lead to massive diver stress.
Not to mention the worst of all problems, birds nest matted hair post dive.
Mask Straps and Long Hair
Let’s start with the first problem faced by most folks with long hair when starting snorkeling or scuba diving. The gooey rubber mask strap that comes standard on a dive/snorkel mask.
This rubber mask strap loves to grab long hair, wrap it all around it’s self, causing you to have to rip our cut your hair free most times.
The fix for this is changing your mask strap.
Mask Strap Wrapper
There are products in the market called Strap Wrappers, that are suppose to solve this problem.
It is a fabric piece that you slip over the existing rubber strap on your mask.
While this does make it a little more comfortable for the back of your head of hair, it does nothing to stop the major problem which is the rubber strap on the side of your head grabbing and ripping out your hair.
Changing your strap to a mask slap strap is a far better option.
Mask Slap Strap
I personally like to entirely take the gooey rubber mask strap off. Replacing it with what is called a Mask Slap Strap.
This is 100% fabric, no gooey rubber at all to grab hair.
When you buy one of these Slap Straps I find it best to cut the ends into points so it waves through the buckles on the sides of the mask much easier.
Some of these Slap Straps come with buckles on the sides, but I personally like the ones that attach with Velcro the best.
Snorkel keepers and long hair problems
Snorkel keepers are the things that attach a snorkel to a dive mask.
They are the next item that causes many problems to folks with long hair looking to dive or snorkel.
Standard snorkel keeper
If the snorkel keeper has many sharp edges, slides up and down on the snorkel, or has parts that hinge open and closed these will all grab long hair and knot it to itself.
It is best when you have long hair to replace the factory snorkel keeper with a figure 8 snorkel keeper.
These are available to purchase at nearly all dive shops.
Figure 8 snorkel keeper
The figure 8 snorkel keeper makes using a snorkel so much better, and costs less than $3.00 to purchase.
Simply remove the keeper from factory off your snorkel.
Slip one of the circles of the figure 8 over the tube of the snorkel, the center solid portion of the figure 8 goes around your mask strap, and then the other circle over the snorkel.
Now you have your snorkel attached to your mask securely and with nothing to pull out long hair.
Long hair and Regulator attached to tank
When you look at a scuba regulator attached to a scuba tank, and then you think about long hair flowing all around it in the water, you can quickly see how this can become entangled.
The best way to avoid this from happening is by wearing your long hair pulled up in a pony or pig tail.
Or even better tuck it all up inside a ball cap worn backward for diving.
Braided hair
Wearing your hair braided while scuba diving is also a great way to keep it all in one place and not getting entangled in your scuba first stage.
One braid down the center like image above, or two braids on each side, or even french braided across entire head is also nice.
Remember to secure with tight elastics at top and bottom to help keep it all nicely secure.
Prevent knots in your hair while diving
If you have your hair chemically treated at all, permed or dyed, you know it knots up even when getting wet in the shower.
It will be ten times more knotted in saltwater, trust me!
Leave in conditioner is your best friend.
BEST to use on long hair when SCUBA diving
I find it best to completely over coat your wet ( with fresh water first ) hair with conditioner.
It really doesn’t seem to matter much which brand, just use a lot.
Even if you can’t make your hair wet before applying conditioner before going diving, do yourself a huge favor and do not wash your hair for at least 24 hours before going diving and apply conditioner to dry hair and comb through completely.
When I suggest a lot of conditioner, I mean like adding a quarter cup of conditioner to your hair and comb this in well. Once all combed in, then style in above suggested styles before going scuba diving.
Happy Hair ~ Happy diving!
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