Help for the optically challenged.

[deep_6]

I really hope I posted in the right forum.

I've been wearing glasses since I was 7. I cant eat, walk, work, without them.

I'll have to take them off during diving, I don't like contacts so I was hoping if there are any suggestions of prescription masks that would work for a DIR setup...meaning a DIR mask.

I was initially looking into the Mares ESA tech black.

Please don't suggest LASIK...it scares the hell out of me. I don't like the idea of burning a laser into my retinas while I'm awake and then go blind within the next 15 or so minutes hoping that my sight would return.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I hope I can sorta help you out. I am not DIR so if I say write something non DIR, please be understanding. That being said, I was in the same prediciment as you when I started diving. My contacts were custom made, so losing one under water was a big deal. The thought of Lasik is not for people like me who now are facing the facts of getting older and need bifocals! (I'm not THAT old, really!).

From what I remember, I purchased my mask and had it sent to some place in Texas that put perscription lenses in. I love it! I am sure if you do a search for perscription mask lenses you will find somebody who will fill your perscription.

Good luck. Hope I was of some help

 

[Web Monkey]

It depends on how bad up your eyes are.

You can get lenses bonded to the inside of your mask, but if you're very near-sighted, it's difficult to get the lenses aligned peoplely with your eyes, and hard to see.

Another other option is disposable contact, which work very well (that's what I use).

If somehow, you need about -4.5 diopters in each eye, there's a plastic bug-eye looking mask that's has that correction built in, and is supposed to have an amazing field of vision. (don't rememeber the name right now).

If your eyes aren't too bad, you could try HydroOptics stick-on lenses, which a lot of people use for reading gauges.

Terry

I really hope I posted in the right forum.

I've been wearing glasses since I was 7. I cant eat, walk, work, without them.

I'll have to take them off during diving, I don't like contacts so I was hoping if there are any suggestions of prescription masks that would work for a DIR setup...meaning a DIR mask.

I was initially looking into the Mares ESA tech black.

Please don't suggest LASIK...it scares the hell out of me. I don't like the idea of burning a laser into my retinas while I'm awake and then go blind within the next 15 or so minutes hoping that my sight would return.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[GoBlue!]

Check out www.prescriptiondivemasks.com. I hate the feel of contacts & have a very strong prescription. I had bought a Scubapro frameless mask, which I love, but it's quite low volume. They worked magic & put two fantastic lenses into my mask; feels great, and I can see. Because of the severity of my prescription, they needed to use high index lenses which ran me about $175 instead of $100, but it's well worth the cost. My prescription hasn't changed in years, so I decided to splurge on this now...

If my prescription had been changing significantly every couple years, I probably would've learned to deal with disposable contacts. That's what my wife uses while diving, and she loves them. Then again, she's got decent vision even without them, so if they get washed out of her eyes on an unexpected mask flooding or something, she can still see perfectly well to complete the dive safely.

Jim

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

As an added note: I have had my perscription mask for 10 years, I was even able to replace the mask and keep the lenses. Yes, I have bad eyesight. The last thing I do before a dive is take off my glasses, and hope all goes well for those few minutes until the mask goes on. (beach diving takes longer with the walk to the beach and getting past the surf line) I will get headaches if I try to focus on something for more than a couple minutes without corrective lenses. I also have a weirdo astigmatism....

The perscription has changed a little over those years, fortunately, it hasn't been major enough to warrent replacing the lenses.

 

[archman]

I am not DIR either, but I practice some of their stuff. That said, paraphrasing "the book" on p. 86, said masks should be low volume, durable, and fit well.

Most divers thus wear "DIR" masks without even realizing it! I certainly do. Just find yourself one that fits the above criteria (oh and is black), and can be fitted with optical-grade lenses. They don't even need to be custom ground most of the time, as many mask models are made to fit pre-fab lenses in increments of .5 diopters. These work very well for even severely nearsighted folks like me, are much cheaper (around 25-50 bucks per lens), and quicker to get ahold of. I would look into that option before opting for more expensive custom ground optics. Your LDS should have information on them.

As a footnote, be sly when purchasing your mask and keep the original lenses. You payed for them anyway, and if you decide to get corrective surgery later, you can have your corrective optics easily swapped out without costing you a cent!

 

[Jerryg]

The problems I found with prescription masks is that the lenses are farther away from the eye than they are with glasses and it takes some getting used too. It probably took me 10 dives to get used to my gauge readers. Suck it up and have the surgery. I did and I love it.

 

[Hallmac]

Well the company we use asks for the ppd and then measures the mask and corrects for the distance. They can custom grind any prescription. My students seem to be very pleased with thier work.

Hallmac

 

[deep_6]

I hope I can sorta help you out. I am not DIR so if I say write something non DIR, please be understanding. That being said, I was in the same prediciment as you when I started diving. My contacts were custom made, so losing one under water was a big deal. The thought of Lasik is not for people like me who now are facing the facts of getting older and need bifocals! (I'm not THAT old, really!).

From what I remember, I purchased my mask and had it sent to some place in Texas that put perscription lenses in. I love it! I am sure if you do a search for perscription mask lenses you will find somebody who will fill your perscription.

Good luck. Hope I was of some help

Thanks Scuba_Jenny! It's most likely that I'll be scouting around for a mask with prescription lens. I came across a company called Hydroptics but the mask costs around $200usd!

I don't think contacts would be safe for me...I can just imagine myself clearing my mask underwater and exposing my contacts to sea water...they might just pop out and float somewhere and lose them.

Again thank you for the post.

 

[deep_6]

It depends on how bad up your eyes are.

You can get lenses bonded to the inside of your mask, but if you're very near-sighted, it's difficult to get the lenses aligned peoplely with your eyes, and hard to see.

Another other option is disposable contact, which work very well (that's what I use).

If somehow, you need about -4.5 diopters in each eye, there's a plastic bug-eye looking mask that's has that correction built in, and is supposed to have an amazing field of vision. (don't rememeber the name right now).

If your eyes aren't too bad, you could try HydroOptics stick-on lenses, which a lot of people use for reading gauges.

Terry

Thanks Terry! Yes, I came across the Hydroptics site. They do have some tricked out mask! And they do have some hi-tech way of explaining stuff. But that mask is way too pricey for me..just like the sea vision masks. I'm thinking I could already buy one very good mask and some other stuff!

I'll let you know if I give this mask a try. Thanks!