SCOUT MASK WHITE

The Fourth Element Scout is a frameless dive mask sold as four different masks, because the lens is chosen at purchase rather than accepted with the frame. How a diver perceives the underwater world is largely decided by that glass.

The clear lens is made to the highest optical purity, passing the maximum available light with no tint from impurities, which suits night divers and photographers. Shield takes its cue from the gold visors NASA use, cutting glare and ultraviolet for bright tropical water. Enhance filters ultraviolet and high-energy visible light, which protects the lutein proteins in the eye as well as lifting the image. Contrast separates colours in low-visibility temperate water. The frameless build keeps volume low, and the silicone strap is removable as standard.

The result is a mask matched to a dive site rather than a compromise across all of them. A white skirt also lets more ambient light into the peripheral field, which some divers prefer and others find distracting.

Four variants, all with a white skirt, in clear, Contrast, Enhance and Shield. The black-skirted Scout is the sibling. The Fourth Element recycled Mask Strap fits it directly. The Seeker and Navigator are the fixed-lens alternatives in the range.