Salvimar has already in the past offered masks for freediving and spearfishing, but only this year it has hit the market with three incredible products: the Noah, the Endless and the Maxale.
Noah
The top of the line mask, the Noah, puts together, in a perfect way, a number of technical novelties and solutions that result in a product with amazing qualities of comfort, field of view and internal volume.
Salvimar does not forget a single thing on the Noah, taking care of each aspect, starting from the advanced technical solution of having the chassis-lenses-facial system glued together. This solution is fundamental to achieve a very compact and light mask, with the lenses as close as possible to the face and eyes. The internal integrated chassis can be, in fact, positioned almost 0.5 cm closer to the eyes, as such value equals the additional thickness of the traditional detachable chassis. This geometry has two key results: reduction of the internal volume of the mask, which limits the need of equalization during descend phase, and increase of the field of view, especially useful in spearfishing, but also pleasant in freediving.
Bringing the lenses close to the face and eyes is though not as simple as one can imagine. Salvimar has designed and developed an advanced solution that, for example, avoids a defect present in many masks of the competition, that are made with the internal chassis solution. This defect is given by the central part of the chassis, the one between the lenses, touching the upper part of the nose (nasal bone), since the chassis and lens are positioned very close to the face. Salvimar has solved the potential issue by moving forward the chassis in the central part, a solution clearly visible externally, noticing the step present along the profile going from the forehead to the tip of the nose.
The facial is made of comfortable silicone, but not too soft, so it maintains its shape in time and under strong pressure during deep dives. To additionally contribute to the stiffness of the facial, its frame is complete with the traditional internal lip, which has more a structural function than a sealing one. Lens are 3 mm thick and the internal chassis is made of glass-filled Nylon.
If the integrated glued chassis characterizes the Noah in a very strong way, there are other details that show the real strength of this new product. First of all the matte silicone surface, present both externally, but also, and mainly, internally, gives important advantages. If the external matte solution avoids reflexes that can eventually indicate the spearos’ position to the fish, the internal matte has the very important function of avoiding reflexes of sunlight from the internal surface of the facial towards the eyes of the spearo.
The nose area has also been treated with attention. The base of the nose is horizontal instead of upward (French nose), to give more comfort even after many hours of diving. Moreover, the base of the nose also has a concave profile to accommodate the cartilage of the lower part. Still on the nose area, on the sides, there are two curved surfaces, one per side, that avoid the excessive deformation of the frame of the facial when squeezing the nose with the fingers to equalize, insuring best possible sealing capacity also during such action.
As in many modern masks, the connection of the rear band to the facial is done directly on the chassis, to obtain high level adherence of the mask to the face. Regulation is micro-metrical via two buttons, while the band itself is wide, permitting the positioning of the mouthpiece on the rear of the head, avoiding fastidious vibrations during descent and ascent phases.
The design has also been looked after with great care. First of all, the Noah is available in three different colors: completely black, black facial with green frame, and green facial with black frame. The design of the mask is also pleasant dew to its upward profile, with the lenses going upward on the sides, in a way that Salvimar indicates as a smiling expression.
Endless
The name Endless somehow refers to the solution of the single continuous lens, which actually works also as a chassis, so finally the mask is made of the lens glued to the facial, with a very compact and nice looking result. The lens are thickened to 4 mm to achieve the sufficient strength needed dew to the absence of the Nylon chassis. Even though the Endless does not reach the reduced internal volume of the Noah, it still obtains outstanding values. The lens is slightly more distant from the eyes if compared with the lenses of the Noah, so field of view is a little bit narrower, even though the continuity of the lens gives a very pleasant sensation of visibility in the central view.
The Endless is indicated to freediving and snorkeling, more than spearfishing, and in fact has no external and internal matte surfaces. Other solutions present on the Noah, like the wide rear band connected directly to the facial in the lens area (that works as chassis) and the micro-metrical regulation of the band itself are present.
Maxale
The most traditional solution among the three new masks is the Maxale, with detachable chassis. The mask is though optimized in many aspects. First of all the central part of the chassis has been lowered to reduce the un-utilized volume of the upper part of the nose case. This solution also gives better visibility looking upward as the chassis is re-positioned and does not cover the field of view in such direction. Once more, as for the Noah, the nose is straight in the lower part, and the profile has a concave shape. Wide rear band and direct connection to the chassis are present also on the Maxale. This mask is available in black or green color.
You can find out more about the Salvimar masks and where to buy via the Salvimar Website – http://www.salvimar.com
This is a sponsored post – for more information please see our disclosure policy.
