Contact Lenses vs Prescription Mask

[Storker]

I don't know any agency that has OW course requirements that you look for and find objects under water without a mask

OTOH, stuff happens outside of classes. Now I have to admit that the only time I've lost my mask was during OW class, but I don't think it can't happen while diving normally. My Rx is moderate enough that I can find - and hit - the toilet bowl if I've had so many beers in the evening that I have to get up at night, so I really don't worry about lens washout if I had to open my eyes underwater without a mask. So most of my diving is with (monovision - yes, I'm getting older) contacts. I do, however, have a prescription mask for those days I don't want to bother with contacts. That's also the mask I use if I'm planning on training mask drills, just to be safe. And it's got stick-on reading lenses at the bottom to enable me to read my computer and see my camera's LCD screen.

tl;dr: Rx masks work fine. Contacts work fine. It's all up to personal preference. And Scubadadthree's post is a steaming pile of bovine manure incorrect.

 

[Rick Murchison]

When deciding on what prescription to use underwater, it's useful to consider the optical qualities of the standard mask/water interface. There are a couple of ways to look at it, both having to do with the "closer & larger" phenomenon we learned back in the OW class - (1) "Infinity" underwater is equivalent to about eight feet in air. That is, even if the visibility under water is 200', objects 200' away will be in focus just as objects about 8 feet away topside would. So, if the diver can see from close up to 8 feet out without a prescription topside, then most likely no prescription will be needed underwater. (2) put another way, a standard mask with no prescription is equivalent to (aproximately) a -2 diopter lens. That is, if a diver's nearsighted and has a regular prescription of about -2 or less (by "less" I mean less strong, not -3 etc), most likely the diver will be fine without any contacts or prescription mask underwater. If the diver is an old fart like me, a "reader" (those inexpensive stick ons) may be required in the bottom of the mask to read gauges.
If the diver is farsighted then a prescription is most likely going to be needed to see stuff up close under water, with readers as well (unless the prescription in the lens is bi(tri)focal.)
In my case, for example, I used to be nearsighted, with a prescription of -2, and I didn't need any corrective lenses underwater at all. Now (post cataract surgery) I'm farsighted with zip squat accomodation, and need a mask with +2 lenses and readers for my gauges to see well underwater.
The good news is that local dive shops should be able to get masks with lenses ranging from -4 to +4 pre-installed for very little more than a mask with a flat lens.
My only concern with wearing contacts instead of just a mask would be getting something under the lens that could irritate or grow, so I reckon it's a good idea to thoroughly flush contacts after using them underwater.

Rick

 

[TMHeimer]

I wear the DGX -3/-3 masks (cheap $50 or less I think). And they work fine. I wear prescription sunglasses on diving days.

I do dive with normal masks sometimes. I make it a point to flood my masks with my eyes open. It's a key thing for safety. You need to know what it's going to be like, and be an expert at dealing with it.

Fresh water makes the lens sticky and they may roll up and get stuck under my eyelid. That's pretty painful. Salt water seems much easier to deal with. Stings a little, but no more than contacts normally do.

I've never worn contacts, and having cleared a mask a million times, I would assume you would rarely lose a contact--unless for some reason you were practising, or had to clear a fully flooded mask. However, I most likely would play it safe and close my eyes. I haven't heard that eyes open during mask clearing is a key thing for safety--why so? I've never heard an instructor mention this to a class, and when I took OW myself (2 weeks after Lasik) my instructor said no problem closing eyes for the mask stuff.

In reply to other posts, the only time I've had mask straps (or buckles twice) break were on land or in 2-3 feet of water putting mask on or off. If I wore contacts though, and had very poor natural eyesight, I would probably have other (backup) plans should I happen to lose both contacts during a dive.

 

[Storker]

My only concern with wearing contacts instead of just a mask would be getting something under the lens that could irritate or grow, so I reckon it's a good idea to thoroughly flush contacts after using them underwater.

If I were using continuous wear contacts, I might be concerned about that. I don't however, and I take out my contacts in the evening. If I've been out in cold and/or wind, or if I've had a serious mask leak so that I've had a bit of sea water on my eyes, I usually take them out as soon as I'm home since that kind of things make them dry out and become a little irritating. Since I don't wear my contacts overnight unless in very special situations, I'm not really worried about growth. If something gets under the contacts and irritate (usually, though, it's not stuff under the lenses that is an issue, it's stuff sticking to the outer surface of the lens), I just pop them out (they're two-week lenses, so no big loss) and either get out the spare pair I have in my save-a-dive kit, or walk up to my car to put on the old pair of glasses I keep in my glovebox.

And although washout is a minor concern, it's not a huge one. I swim with my contacts, and when I was doing judo wrestling, I wore contacts. It takes quite a bit of bad luck to lose a soft contact lens that fits you well.

 

[Buliwyf]

I've never worn contacts, and having cleared a mask a million times, I would assume you would rarely lose a contact--unless for some reason you were practising, or had to clear a fully flooded mask. However, I most likely would play it safe and close my eyes. I haven't heard that eyes open during mask clearing is a key thing for safety--why so? I've never heard an instructor mention this to a class, and when I took OW myself (2 weeks after Lasik) my instructor said no problem closing eyes for the mask stuff.

In reply to other posts, the only time I've had mask straps (or buckles twice) break were on land or in 2-3 feet of water putting mask on or off. If I wore contacts though, and had very poor natural eyesight, I would probably have other (backup) plans should I happen to lose both contacts during a dive.

I close my eyes when I wear contacts and dive, and need to clear my mask while diving, but I always pull my mask off, open my eyes, and put my mask back on during safety stops.

I have to be an expert at what it's like with water in my eyes, mask gone, contact pain, whatever. Stuff happens. And it seems to happen alot to us. Mask off, half blind, needs to be "ok, no problem", not "panic and die".

If I lose both contacts, and/or my -3 mask, I can still read my gauges and surface safely. It's my buddy that suffers, not me, I might not be able to spot them.

 

[spc751]

One day disposable contact lens are the only contact lenses I will wear. No more cleaning or disinfecting contact lenses.

 

[diver42]

Until recently, in all of my diving (including more than a dozen years cave and tech diving), I had never lost a lenses underwater. Then I lost one at the start of deco on a 180-foot dive. I spent the entire time in deco glancing at the lense stuck to the inside of my mask, as I thought about the irony of not being able to fix it while floating in an ocean of saline. The absolute worst part was that I instantly discovered that I could read my gauges better without the lense. Other than that, it wasn't a big deal. And I replaced it at the surface.

If your concern is being able to deal with a lost mask, just bring an extra mask on every dive. It's a smart practice anyway.

 

[diverrex]

In normal life I use bifocal RGP lenses but at around $200 a lens I don't like wearing them for diving so I use daily bifocal disposable lens. I've never lost a lens diving but have lost a few while pulling my drysuit neck seal over my head and bumping my eyes. But at $1 per lenses it's no big deal, I carry about 8 extra lens for a 3 dive trip. I think I may have used max 2 extra one day.

As I've gotten older, even with bifocal contacts I have trouble seeing my gauges well in low light situation (typical for local SoCal diving, I have no problems reading gauges in clear tropical waters) so I started to use one of my wife's older prescription masks with readers attached to the bottom. So now for local diving I dive with both contacts and a prescription mask.

 

[robbiebubbles]

I'd considered buying a prescription mask, but thought I'd try with my contact lenses first.
I managed no problem with them, even with mask clearing drills.

 

[Spdcrazy]

same as many above. I use soft contact, and just finished my ow cert. just keep your eyes closed and flood/R&R your mask. clear it and open again. best thing for me, is with a mask I can't rub my eyes. so they stay in place easier.