contacts while diving?

[FWADIVER]

My experiences with contacts, I wear monthly wears (can leave in for 30 days) and I usually never take them out until its time to change. With diving I usually have to remove and soak them the night after a day of diving or else they get really dried out. eye being non vascularized it would on gas and off gas thru the cornea, I have a feeling the offgassing contributes to the dryness, I also have a buddy that gets foggy spots in his vision if he does deco dives with contacts.

 

[geo88]

Might be a overkill here. I actually went and did LASIK eye surgury to correct my shortsight to 6/6 just for the sake of learning scuba diving. Cost me a few grand but I am pretty happy to wake up without looking for my spectacles and also wearing contact lens. FYI, I being wearing glasses all my 33 years of life and never touch contact lens before.

 

[Mossman]

I've worn disposable contacts on all of my dives and have yet to lose one. Seawater is more saline than tears so the lens tends to shrink against the eye and remain on even when it's necessary to open your eyes underwater (I've tested this in salt and fresh water and have only lost the lenses in fresh, so I'm sticking with my theory even if it's BS). I'll usually close my eyes if I have to demonstrate a mask clearing for any reason, though when I had to do a full mask removal and clearing in mid-water at 90' during a tech class, I cheated by squinting as it was otherwise difficult to maintain the same depth when my eyes were closed. Obviously if your mask were completely knocked off your head, you'd need to open your eyes to find it, but worst case scenario is having to abort that dive if you lost both lenses (you might want to put lenses in both eyes when you dive as a form of redundancy). As I've never lost a lens, I don't even bother bringing spares aboard a day boat anymore, but certainly have some packed back at the hotel (or when on a liveaboard) just in case.

J, on the other hand, has a custom prescription mask. She had two, a new one and an older one for redundancy, and managed to lose both on one trip in Bonaire (one has the lens shattered as she handed it to me and I dropped it onto a rock at Karpata, the other one misplaced in the commotion after she broke her ankle at Old Blue), so we got a new one. Unlike disposable lenses, you need to treat your expensive custom prescription mask with kid gloves, preferably bringing an equally expensive spare mask in case the original were lost or broken. J has a bad habit of setting the mask next to her as she doffs her gear and I'm always quick to snag it before it flies off the boat or someone else sits their tank on it. Also, she's practically blind if she doesn't bring her prescription glasses to change into right away. One time she left her glasses back on the Palau Aggressor when we were taking a skiff ride to and from the dive site. Unfortunately that was the day that the crew decided to give us a little boat tour of the Rock Islands and she had to view it through her mask which was getting quite fogged up on the surface.

 

[scubadiveilat]

I'd get a prescription considering that without the the contacts you won't see the gauges.

Surely it's an asset for you!!!

 

[diverchick1234]

I got contacts for the first time just for diving I am interestd in getting a mask, but am going to wait till my vision stops changes every year.

 

[irishsquid]

...You can get a totally adequate mask with "pop in lenses" at most dive shops for under $200.00 including the Rx lenses. Or you can order a mask ground to your exact prescription for $250.00 to $500.00...DivemasterDennis

Wow! That high? For $500.00, I can get a supply of disposable contacts for 50 dive days a year for almost 8 yrs.

I got contacts for the first time just for diving I am interestd in getting a mask, but am going to wait till my vision stops changes every year.

I started wearing contacts the first time just for diving also. Glad I did!

 

[--tom--]

Just a question, if you didn't have the contact in for reading, could you read with a magnifying glass? I so, that could be your "plan B" in your save a dive kit--not optimal, but workable.

 

[Sortsol]

I have two prescription masks...LOVE not worrying about getting my mask kicked off and my contacts flushing out because I didn't have my eyes closed. Nothing worse than a dive where you can't see anything!