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

[SparticleBrane]

I just started diving with contacts and I have to say that I enjoy it much more than prescription lenses in my mask.
I use Focus Toric Visitint's, which are 1-month lenses. I take them out every night so I get to use them for 2 months...although I've had several that go 3-4 months or even longer. I'm OCD about keeping them clean, though that could be part of it.

 

[ClayJar]

I tried contacts a few years ago (topside, as I was still a latent diver then), but I gave up on them when my eyes decided to abandon apartheid and go all communist on me (i.e. the whites of my eyes became the Reds, more or less).

The morning after the first pool session of my OW class (*not* a weekend class), I went to the shop and sent my mask off to be prescriptionized, and I haven't looked back since. (Well, I had to get a pun or something in there somehow, eh?) I can actually see better through my mask (including topside) than I can see through my glasses, which is odd, as they're all the same prescription.

Anyway, if you're okay wearing contacts, as you can see (sorry), many people wear them diving, but if you'd rather wear a prescription mask, you wouldn't be alone there, either. Either way, being able to see that much better than without is wonderful. I had my prescription mask just in time for the last pool session, and I was rather fascinated at being able to see the entire pool instead of just the part within a meter or two of my face... but then again, since then, I've done lots of low-viz freshwater diving, so I'm all the way back to the beginning.

 

[rockjock3]

I wear 30-day contact lenses (actually last 60 or more) and have never had a problem. I love the full field of view over tunnel vision also. I have never lost one with my mask off and can see during the shore dive hikes and surface intervals. Also is better than having to wear a prescription mask to read my GPS paddling between sites.

 

[rockjock3]

Keep in mind that if you have a severe astigmatism it will be
more expensive regardless of whether you go with contacts or a
corrective mask.
If your astigmatism is slight, you may choose to not correct
for it and save money (I don't correct for mine in my contacts).

It really does depend on your perscription.

For example, if you need astigmatism correction, you will need
special toric contact lenses that have weights in them to keep
them oriented properly.
These cost more than simple correction lenses - sometimes quite a bit more.
I've never used a toric lens but, I'd be worried that they might not work as well in certain orientations, since toric lenses
are designed to work when your feet are pointing down
and thats not a normal diving position.
I'm upsidedown (head down, feet up) quit a bit
taking photos or sideways
(head and feet level with one shoulder down)
while swimming along a reef wall.

I have a severe astigmatism. I pay about $80/year for my monthly disposables/daily wear Softlens 66 lenses (torics). The prescription for Torics are not soooo narrow that they slightest little shift will cause a problem. If so then everytime you turned your eyes or blinked your vision would shift. It just doesn't happen.

I don't always dive horizontally. I sometimes kick along on my side to view a wall or look under overhangs and my vision has never changed due to shifting lenses.

Now, if you decide to swim on your back for extended periods then your lenses might shift, but short of this you shouldn't have any problem.

 

[NYHippo]

The other option is the hydrooptix mask. I used to dive with contacts, but I will not go back after getting this mask. I wear bi-focals and the hydrooptix mask corrects for both near and far. It has the added benefit of giving you actual size vision, not magnified like a regular mask

 

[diver 85]

"diver85, I use lenses that I change every 2 months. Should I get the daily wear ones for diving? I luckily haven't had any infections as of yet, but I agree with what webmonkey said about getting them. Your opinion?"
.............Really depends upon your Rx....If you have no astigmatism needing correcting(or a small amount that can be 'overlooked'), go with the daily wear ctl's, that way you can dispose of them @ the end of the day.....Should be no problem with getting an extra few pair for a dive trip....

 

[diver 85]

Donovano..."Everyone will choose what fits there lifestyle the best and contacts are much simpler than a custom mask for several reasons listed earlier but when it comes to my eyes, I don't like to gamble to much. Lots of people swim/dive with contacts and have no problems but if you happen to be the unlucky one, it can be very serious. For example: Acanthamoeba Keratitis ( http://www.eyemdlink.com/Condition.asp?ConditionID=42 ).

Your call, what are your eyes worth to you?"............
........This 'scare' had to do with the solution Renu (by B&L) & only that reason........Stay with Opti Free by Alcon & you will not have a problem.....This Acanthamoeba ulcer is one bad dude, one an eye doctor does NOT want to see sitting across his/her slit lamp............

 

[DivingCRNA]

I have done both contacts and a prescription mask and my favorite option is....



LASIK!

 

[JonKranhouse]

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!

 

[Ron Brandt]

I use a bit of both...contacts and a +1.5 bi-focal in the mask...

Ron