Silicone Mask Strap

The Silicone Mask Strap is Cressi's Group A replacement strap, and it is the part of a mask that fails long before the skirt or the lens does. Perished rubber tends to give way on the boat rather than in the water, which is a nuisance rather than a crisis, but only when a spare strap is already in the bag.

It is moulded in one piece from silicone rather than rubber, so it stays flexible and does not go chalky with age or with repeated exposure to sun, salt and chlorine. The back plate is a broad split design that sits either side of the crown of the head, spreading load across two bands instead of one and holding position when a diver looks down. The strap ends are ladder-toothed for the buckle.

The result is a mask that seals with less strap tension. A split strap that stays put means fewer mid-dive adjustments and less of the over-tightening that causes mask squeeze and leaves a diver with a headache after two dives. Silicone also survives storage far better than the rubber straps it replaces.

Sold in clear as part number DZ215003 and in black as DZ215004, in Cressi's Group A fitting. Fit should be checked against the mask before ordering, since Cressi group their straps by mask family. Rinse in fresh water and store out of direct sunlight.