Contact Lenses And Tec Diving?

[Bigeclipse]

All,
I am gearing up (literally buying all my gear) for my tec courses I plan on doing next summer (not this summer). Wow is it expensive haha. Anyways, something just occurred to me. I wear soft contact lenses when I recreational dive. I have no problems with them even if I have to do mask removal. Yes I keep my eyes open and my contacts are fine. Contrary to popular belief, contacts don't simply float out of your eye if you open them under water. That being said, what is the opinion of wearing contacts in technical diving? My contacts are used for distance and not reading. I can see my gauges and dive computer without contacts. Yes they do get a little blurry if held say 2 feet away but I can still read them (if under 2ft away they are pretty dang clear). So i think in an emergency and my mask was lost AND I suddenly lost BOTH contacts lenses i would still be able to see my gauges and my computer. Also as for distance, it is not like I get so blurred I couldn't make out objects, passage ways, etc. Curious as to your honest thoughts on this. Buying scuba masks with prescriptions are just another cost id rather avoid, especially since I would need to purchase a backup set as well. Thanks everyone.

 

[KevinNM]

My most recent instructor, who has more cave dives than I have dives, mentioned that she wears contacts. When she does a mask removal or loses a mask she keeps her eyes closed until she gets a mask back on. Not a big deal. Plus tec training typically includes things like doing exits or ascents with limited visibility. You have teammates who will help you.

I did lasik. Scared the crap out of me, but worked out fine. Not as perfect as hoped, but much better than it was.

 

[LiteHedded]

the problem is that one of them could get screwed up and end up on your eyeball weird and now you're stuck with it for what could be a very long time or you can just take ur mask off and lose that contact and now you have one good eye for a very long time.

i use prescription masks but ymmv

 

[Bigeclipse]

the problem is that one of them could get screwed up and end up on your eyeball weird and now you're stuck with it for what could be a very long time or you can just take ur mask off and lose that contact and now you have one good eye for a very long time.

i use prescription masks but ymmv

I have thought about that as well. In that event I would take my mask off on purpose and try to correct the lens. If not then id take it out and replace my mask. I get my lenses cheap so not worried about that and I always bring several sets with me on dives. Maybe I will eventually save up for prescription masks but until then I wanted to see if maybe even instructors would forbid them during training.

 

[LiteHedded]

no one forbids them that I know. in my experience in my early days of cave and technical diving with contacts, is that it's not optimal and can be a real pain.
if you start doing longer dives i would absolutely recommend not to use them

 

[Bigeclipse]

no one forbids them that I know. in my experience in my early days of cave and technical diving with contacts, is that it's not optimal and can be a real pain.
if you start doing longer dives i would absolutely recommend not to use them

curious as to what longer dives would do? My longest dive to date was a shallow 75min dive and not once did my contacts give me issues or discomfort. Just curious....thanks!

 

[KevinNM]

IIRC, his idea of "reasonable deco" was the 4+ hours on that dive he and AJ did on the dive they filmed on Eagles Nest at close to 300 feet. And I suspect that isn't close to his longest dive.

 

[Patoux01]

If there's an issue with them, you can be stuck with that **** in your eyes for quite a long time while trying to do deco... Not something I'd want. A prescription mask costs less than a 100$ if your eyes aren't too screwed up.

And yes, lenses do float away, they don't leave your eye, but they can go up or down, or even fold. Been there, done that, never again.

 

[LiteHedded]

well it all depends. he's asking if it's ok for the class and first few dives, yea it's fine for that. I think it's only ok while you're saving your nickels to put lenses in your mask (you may be able to get drop in lenses for a mask you already own)

i will add that fixing your contact underwater is next to impossible. so if you have a long way to go, you're not going to like having to do it with one good eye. also, taking your mask off to dick with things can lead to fogging. all these things are a bigger deal than they sound like if you have a good bit of time in the water. even more so if you end up cave diving and you have a long exit with compromised vision. been there and done that.

anyone who's done a good bit of technical diving with contacts would probably say the same things.

my longest dive to date is 9.5 hours but i stopped using contacts years ago when my dives were like 90 mins to 3hrs or so

 

[Bigeclipse]

If there's an issue with them, you can be stuck with that **** in your eyes for quite a long time while trying to do deco... Not something I'd want. A prescription mask costs less than a 100$ if your eyes aren't too screwed up.

And yes, lenses do float away, they don't leave your eye, but they can go up or down, or even fold. Been there, done that, never again.

interesting as I have had contacts since I was 15 and swim with my eyes open and have never lost a contact. Only time was when my friend shot me in the eye with the hose so maybe its just me but I have never lost a contact in water and I swim all the time with eyes open.

I will definitely save for prescription mask. The problem is my eyes aren't really bad as far as prescription goes but I do have astigmatism which means I will need the expensive mask prescription. I was quoted ~300$ from the scubashop.