Contacts Or Optical Lens Mask???????????

[cba191]

i went with lasik and love it!! went from 20/500 to 20/15!! if there have been over 10000 people with bad experiences, that is pretty good. that is well under 1%. it is surgery, and there are risks involved. i know a lot of people that have had it done and everyone loves the results. most of the bad experiences i've read about were the original beta testers and the disount jobs. if you go to a reputable dr. you shouldn't have problems

 

[DivingCRNA]

Hi DivingCRNA,

LASIK??!! Well over 10,000 people have had tragic outcomes from botched procedures, swept under the rug of marketing propaganda from LASIK mills, as explained by this non-profit organization. If you are personally delighted with your results, that's great, and your eye doctor was above average.

Here's an earlier post of mine about how to virtually eliminate the risk of eye infections from contact lenses -- just remove them right after diving, and use 1-day disposables when possible -- Doh!

I dive this: http://www.diveriteexpress.com/fins/masklenses.shtml The 2 lense non-prescription mask.

I might chase a $200 mask as it falls on a wall dive, or look for it low on air in a cave, but not a $60 mask..... I also use a $5 dive knife for the same reason. Just a thought before you drop big money on a mask.

Also-mask fit is the most important criteria. Not optics, not color, not fashion, not "my buddies all use it". Mask FIT is what matters most. The diverite might not fit right and the $200 mask might not. Get one that fits, no matter what you do. I bought an $80 mask that did not fit well when I was a new diver. I use it in the swimming pool now because I do not care if the chlorine eats the skirt.... Try before you buy.

Carefully consider any surgery. I work in anesthesia and know of women who DIED getting boob jobs. Anything can happen under the knife and you need to be well informed. I was and my lasik was great.

 

[Gilldiver]

I dive this: http://www.diveriteexpress.com/fins/masklenses.shtml The 2 lense non-prescription mask.

I might chase a $200 mask as it falls on a wall dive, or look for it low on air in a cave, but not a $60 mask..... I also use a $5 dive knife for the same reason. Just a thought before you drop big money on a mask..

I have used a US Divers mask with the plastic 0.5 diopter lenses for many years. They are a good alternative to a custom mask at a good bit less.

At one time I had a nice custom perscription mask, right up to the day I had it drying in the bathroom and heard it fall and shatter which the "cheep" polycarbonite will not do. So while not for everyone, they are an option and most dive shops should be able to get the lenses.

Last, the thing using a standard mask and contacts will help out in is if you loose your mask when away from home. In the islands you can get a new mask, but a perscription mask - maybee not.

 

[JonKranhouse]

How important is situational awareness?

Would you choose to save money by purchasing a car without airbags? Without seatbelts? Most everybody would choose ABS brakes.

Diving while blocking over 75% of your normal vision — which occurs with all flat masks — may be the way everybody dove until now. But that doesn’t make it the safest or smartest decision.

Restoring natural panoramic vision makes diving safer. By vastly improving situational awareness via a view almost 5X greater vs. flat masks, all dive skills are easier to perform. Not only when you’re relaxed, but especially if stressed by other factors, which further narrows your conscious field-of-view. Many well-documented studies prove that above-water stressful situations cause a “tunnel-vision” effect. Natural situational awareness helps the following tasks to be performed with greater precision:

Eye –hand coordination
Navigation
Buoyancy control via accurate depth-perception
​

When sport diving began in southern California in the late 1940’s, divers modified fire extinguisher bottles that had no pressure gauges... they just surfaced when it was hard to breath! The “J” valve was a “major” breakthrough (remember to start your dive with it UP), but the Submersible Pressure Gage took over 20 years to become “required.”

The value proposition of our Double-Dome masks have everything to do with safety.

Rather than assume our $199 price is gouging the market for what it will bear, learn what is included with our mask (e.g. high-quality retractor with no-rust Swedish-spring for CoverLens).

 

[Web Monkey]

It's a nice mask, but it seems to be made for little people.

If you could increase the overall size by maybe 15%, and make the nose pocket significantly bigger, you would probably sell more.

Because of the design and small nose pocket, it's difficult to equalize and almost impossible to completely clear because the domes alway seem to trap water.

I've talked to a number of people who have tried it and they pretty much all say the same thing.

Terry

How important is situational awareness?

Would you choose to save money by purchasing a car without airbags? Without seatbelts? Most everybody would choose ABS brakes.

Diving while blocking over 75% of your normal vision — which occurs with all flat masks — may be the way everybody dove until now. But that doesn’t make it the safest or smartest decision.

 

[JonKranhouse]

Hi Terry,

Actually, we have offered 2 face skirts since early 2006. Our S-3 skirt satisfies most who have a prominent nose bridge and larger faces.

We offer two skirt colors, which surprisingly makes a BIG difference in fit. The silver is very slightly harder / less compliant. However many people prefer this fit, claiming it is actually more comfortable. Conversely, the softer black is more compliant. This durometer difference alone makes the same skirt geometry feel and seal differently on each diver. We use the highest quality silicone available, and the addition of pigment -- black or silver -- changes the "durometer" slightly. The durometer scale is a way of measuring hardness / softness of a material.

A clear skirt is not an option for HydroOptix, because clear silicone always turns yellow. This is a well-known fact, not disclosed to divers by most scuba merchants. The addition of UV-blocking chemicals to the silicone would reduce the "crystal clear" appearance, which is what makes clear masks aesthetically pleasing if not less functional, due to internal reflections.

 

[Web Monkey]

I'll have to see which one we have at the shop.

Terry

Hi Terry,

Actually, we have offered 2 face skirts since early 2006. Our S-3 skirt satisfies most who have a prominent nose bridge and larger faces.

We offer two skirt colors, which surprisingly makes a BIG difference in fit. The silver is very slightly harder / less compliant. However many people prefer this fit, claiming it is actually more comfortable. Conversely, the softer black is more compliant. This durometer difference alone makes the same skirt geometry feel and seal differently on each diver. We use the highest quality silicone available, and the addition of pigment -- black or silver -- changes the "durometer" slightly. The durometer scale is a way of measuring hardness / softness of a material.

A clear skirt is not an option for HydroOptix, because clear silicone always turns yellow. This is a well-known fact, not disclosed to divers by most scuba merchants. The addition of UV-blocking chemicals to the silicone would reduce the "crystal clear" appearance, which is what makes clear masks aesthetically pleasing if not less functional, due to internal reflections.

 

[muddiver]

Before Lasik I dove with contacts and never had a problem. Think of it this way, if you lose your expensive corrected mask to a wave is it more or less expensive than losing one contact.

Got woth the contacts, you will be able to see topside as well when you pull you mask off.

 

[JonKranhouse]

Hi MudDiver,

I agree with you -- if the choice is between contacts and a Flat Rx mask, then contacts have the advantage of in-focus above water vision.

But please don't lump our Double-Dome masks in with traditional flat Rx masks. When someone who's naturally nearsighted can maintain their normal panoramic field-of-view when underwater vs. blocking over 75% with a flat mask, then the choice is, in the words of some SB posters who use our mask, "A no-brainer... a Double-Dome mask is the way to go!"

Even people who've had successful Lasik, like you, as well as divers who need bifocals, have gone back to wearing contacts, so they can see almost 5X more.