DiveOptx / Bifocals

[carlislere]

Marral,
I had the same problem. Lost one and the other kept coming off too. I finally got prescription bifocal lenses and put them in a mask. Makes life alot easier and you can see too!

 

[steve from maine]

Thought I'd add my .o2 worth, not that it will probobly help assist Marral so many years after the question was first discussed on this thread. My eyes suck more then my air consumption on a shark dive.... I have a strong prescription (-7.25) for distance and at the ripe age of 49 now need bifocals to see my computer readings well. I walked into my local dive shop yesterday and was amazed that I was able to order a new high quality dive mask with lens that are being ground to my specific script including the bifocals for under 200 bucks! They even put me on the phone directly with the lens lab tech so I could ask my standard questions about fogging, durability and poss. need for any future stronger lenses. Compared to overall investment in my training and the rest of the gear I've collected over the years I think this is a great deal. And afterall, is not seeing well at depth the thing that wraps a smile around our regulators....I decided against the option of the one eye distance the other eye reading contacts out of concern that with any minor mask flooding the probability increases of a contact falling out. If I lost the contact for distance I would be left with only being able to see out of the eye with the reading contact. I better not be in a situation where I needed to see well for the rest of the dive! Or if the contact for reading fell out I'd not be able to read my depth and time info and that really makes me nervous. So for me a hundred and something bucks for a high quality piece of equipment that will last years AND make me a safer diver who can enjoy the scenery is a no brainer....and I'm the most frugal (friends would say down right cheap) damn yankee here in Maine.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I can't read anything at all without bifocals and I've used about everything on the market. All the stick in glue in junk will stay in through all your tests and weenie dives but they'll fall out just when you really need them! If you really need them to see don't mess with this junk! DD I'm surprised at you! If there isn't a strict DIR edict against those dangerous things, there should be. Just kidden about the DIR but I have had some interesting dives because of lenses falling out.

Anyway, I send my masks to a guy who puts real prescription lenses in them. On some masks he replaces the whole lenz and if he's done one of those masks before he'll have a pattern for it and you don't even need to send him the mask. He also does glue in stuff that stays in. If any one's interested I can get the name of the place for you.

 

[Allison Finch]

I have the same problem with the diveoptyx coming off. I have used them for several years and they always seem to come off during a long trip. I recently purchased lenses for my Mares Ventosa mask from Prescription dive masks and got their new "executive reader" lenses. They are not advertised yet, but they totally please me. They cover the whole bottom half of my mask instead of just a little "patch". Since I do underwater photo, I like not having to rock my head back and have to focus on a little spot. They were only 99.00, though you have to send your mask to them. Their service was extremely quick and I enjoyed my talks with Linda at the store.
They are really worth the price to have a RELIABLE vision option.

 

[Stirling]

Steve, no question there are tradeoffs no matter what decision you make.

In my case, if I lost the left (near vision) contact, I would probably read my gauges better than I can with the lens - I'm nearsighted and the left contact is a compromise between near and mid-distance so that the contrast with what I see from my right eye isn't disorienting. If I had one contact that was *only* for reading what was right in front of my face and another *only* for focusing on things at a distance, the overall effect would probably be pretty lousy.

If I lost the right contact, I would still have near and mid-distance focus with my left eye (and even my right eye unaided for near things) - probably as good as the visibility of the water will allow in many places.

I haven't lost a contact yet, and think the risk of losing both at once (and having to end a dive because of it) is very small.

Still, I'd like to see some other people weigh in and keep this discussion about their experiences going, because I might be willing to try something else if I saw a real advantage to giving up the contacts. (The one thing I haven't figured out how to do is to use wetting solution under water, and I don't wear contacts every day because I don't like wearing them for long stretches - a few hours at a time every once in a while is okay.)

 

[FrankT]

I was having the same problem untill I washed my mask about 3-4 more times to remove the factory coating. They will also lay flatter and stick better if you turn them over instead of installing like the directions tell you. They are made with a builtin curve and it seems to make it hard for them to initially stick down. I called their customer service and asked if it made any difference, and was told it was OK to do. Work like a champ now. Just be sure to let them sit for a couple of days before using.

I have also used them in my sunglasses for 10+years without ANY problem.

Also instead of spending the $ for the DIVE OPTX just get the Safety ones($18 on their web site). Same exact thing just little smaller, and actually fit my Matrix better than the larger ones would have. Remember the centers of the OPTX lenses should only be 2" apart. If your mask causes a problem with this you can trim the OPTX lense with a scissor to fit.

BTW if you call them and ask they usually have a discount code to use when ordering on their website.

Frank