Hydro Optix Mask worth the $200+?

[budgy]

I've also been wondering about the mask. I think seeing 5x more would be worth the extra. I'm 59 and dive regularly and often do some underwater hunter gathering. I once had good eyesight but now use + 3's for reading.

 

[Hawkwood]

Just a quick note regarding relative cost...

Nearly any diver who has custom ordered a mask with perscription lenses has paid more than $200 for a mask.

Certainly not all folks who wear glasses order custom masks, however, I went to one .

Even an "off the shelf" set-up is up gets pricey. I was able to get the lenses from my LDS as an in stock item - $41 for the mask and $100 for the lenses (-6.0 & -5.5). The downside is the limited field of view you get with the pre-ground lenses vs. custom.

 

[liberato]

I was curious about this mask so earlier this month I went to Ellie H. a contacts specialist and the only listed optometrist in Monterey (93940) from the HydroOptix webpage. She did vaguely know of the company and product (obviously, she had been signed up at one point). She had never been able to get sample masks she could keep on display, never had any further follow-up, never prescribed for the mask, knew nothing else about the company, and wouldn't prescribe for me until she found out more about the company and its mask (said she would look into it). In addition, there are 4 dive shops in Monterey (a serious diving destination) and none were retailers.

I mention this to suggest to the company that the marketing folks need more of the shmooze factor to keep the pros in the field as allies. They are doing something wrong if a listed DEC-Pro doesn't even trust the company enough without needing to look into it first. So, my experience (by proxy, admittedly) has so far been negative. This is obviously not an impulse buy product but it needs to be easier. I do still intend to to try the mask so these comments aren't meant to disparage the product at all.

 

[kyfrogman]

Good Point Liberato, I think the first step would be to educate your sponsors and get the mask out in the community. I have not run into many who say they have it or have ever seen it.. Unless it's geographically focused based on marketing budget at the moment. I'm sure my dive shop would gladly show a demo model to all it's patrons, Unfortunatley for this mask maker, based on on the feedback from you all ( which I base allot of my desicions on) and not being able to put my hands on one I already purchased a new mask.

 

[DanLVolker]

Hi Walter (and everyone),

I truly respect and agree with your many many many postings on SB which lament the dumbing down of quickie scuba training. Obviously, to be under-trained (lack of knowledge, lack of skill-repetition) is all too often the first contributing factor in the cascade of events that culminate in a scuba tragedy.

Just as obvious: to block 75% of your normal field-of-view with a traditional flat mask can only harm, not help, safety. Anything that enhances Situational Awareness (SA) helps safety. Laws prevent people with narrow vision from driving cars, or driving with sunglasses that have very wide temples which likewise block peripheral vision. Here is a good Wikipedia article about SA.

Walter, you more than most people know of instances when instructors lost sight of a student, who then got into trouble. In over 50% of scuba tragedies that start with an underwater "event," the surviving buddy had no idea that the victim was in distress. Only after the survivor surfaced, solo, did he / she begin to grasp what was unfolding. Do anything to improve your Situational Awareness, and you and your buddies will be safer.

Adoption of new technology always has a time-curve, but in recreational scuba in the USA, the time-delay is bizarre. Why did it take from 1956 to 1978 for the SPG to become "required" by the recreational scuba industry? Hmm... the SPG was called a "death-trap" by the insider Skin Diver magazine, and many stores preached "the company line." Meanwhile, insider equipment companies manufactured and profited from J-valves, which were too-often responsible for dive fatalities. Their valve was patented, and they didn't want to share profits with companies that made gauges. After 22 years, countless deaths, and the threat of government intervention, the SPG was finally adopted.

I do not believe the products made by my company are perfect. And no, I never thought everyone would rush to wear contact lenses. But I get angry each time I read an accident report, knowing that poor SA was a contributing factor to the cascade of sad events. I'm the first to know that not everyone's going to wear contact lenses. I'm actually surprised that of the thousands of divers around the world using our mask, almost 900 have 20/20 vision. People trust their own eyes when they do a proper A-to-B comparison.

The form-factor of our first mask, the 4.5DD, will remain optimal for acuity and field of vision, and future masks will be for 20/20 and other-vision divers who are unwilling to take that "leap of faith" to try contacts, or that <10% of the population who, for medical reasons, truly cannot wear contacts. We DO NOT recommend newbie 20/20 divers to use our Double-Dome mask -- learning to wear contacts + basic scuba skills is too much task loading.

With over 100 threads about HydroOptix on SB, these links include factually accurate information, warts and all. There's not a shill in the bunch.

1. Feb_07 A slow-to-adopt retailer bungles his chance + John Chatterton is a 20/20 user.

2. June_04 RoatanMan's comprehensive review + feedback from others.

3. March_05 Newer and more experienced HO users compare notes.

4. August_05 A 20/20 HO diver's comments + responses.

5. November_06 5-page thread with some tech / optical clarifications from me

6. March_07 Diving in PNG - NanoFOG + Magic Bifocal work as advertised

7. March_07 HO has customer service [we're not perfect, but we try]

8. August_07 NanoFOG really does work

If I wanted to buy this mask for freediving, how much of an added volume problem would there be compared to low volume freedive masks? If I want to drop down to 60 to 80 feet, I want to minimize how much air I have to remove from my lungs, to blow into the mask..on the otherhand, freedive speerfishinng would be dramatically enhanced with the increase in peripherol vision you are describing...
Thanks,
DanV

 

[crpntr133]

I think this mask lands with the HUD mask. There is a time and a place. Luckily I'm behind the times and lost even with a compass.

 

[D_B]

Just got back from a dive trip, used the mask on all but my first dive .. because it was just so much easer to use then to put in my contacts each day on the boat (livaboard, to Dry Tortuga's) and I had very clear vision with it, both close up and far away, much better than my contacts .. and you can see much greater angles from it, can keep buddy in sight without even turning your head
Also ...
...It still can fog, but after I used the included defog, it did not
... It is a very high volume mask .. you need to adopt a very different descent procedure (and this is coming from someone that has a Tusa Visulator, itself a higher volume mask)
a slower rate and ... equalize ears, equalize mask ... equalize ears, equalize mask ...
... When your vertical, it can bounce around from your exhaust stream bubbles and you can feel the buoyancy of the mask
... Leaks some, not a lot, but my other mask rarely leaks enough during a dive to purge it, so I'm spoiled
... The elastic on the neoprene protective mask cover tore at the stitching .. (Any help here Jon?)


That said, I will use it again, the Crystal clarity of my vision and expansive view are worth it so far

 

[JonKranhouse]

Hi D_B,

PM me with your contact info and we'll send you a new neoprene lens protector, gratis.

The NanoFOG effectiveness is reduced if saturated by chlorinated water, brackish water (rinse-tanks get pretty gunky), salt water, sun tan lotion, body oils, etc. The trick is saturating the membrane with bottled drinking water, just before your dive, which only takes a few tablespoons. This "puffs up" the membrane, preventing dissolved solids from being absorbed. Post-dive, dilute the salt water with a good splash of drinking water. At the end of the day, or days later... you can clean the membrane maybe our FAQs #53 / 54 will help:
http://www.hydrooptix.com/ty_faqs.html#Anchor-48-44591

For anyone's interest, the instructions can be downloaded here:
http://www.hydrooptix.com/ps_pdf_print.html (#4)

 

[aubie85]

I was looking at this mask myself. It seems like it is more trouble than it's worth. I decided on a 'Sherwood Scuba Magnum EX' mask. It's quite nice. I have a small forehead, so it's hard to find a mask that doesn't sit so close to the hairline, but the Magnum EX is just right.

 

[D_B]

Thanks Jon, PM sent

Very nice the way you stand behind your products ... I've seen here on ScubaBoard the kind of support you've given people in the past, including the sending of one of the new masks with different skirt to someone that had fit issues with an old one.
Solid Jon