Hydro Optix Mask worth the $200+?

[D_B]

Just got it, thanks for your help Jon

... looks like someone lost a nice Hydro Optixs baseball cap in my package though .. I think I'll keep it

 

[dannobee]

I just bought one of these and used it today for the first time. My prescription is -3.5, so I just dived it sans my usual contact lenses. All I can say is "WOW." What a difference. If you've ever dived in a pool without a mask on and your eyes open, that's about what your peripheral vision is like. After the first dive, I lent it to a lady whose diopter was -5.5 or so, and she too, couldn't believe the vision with this thing.

For those of you who fit the range and usually dive with a prescription mask, try one of these. You'll be amazed. It'd still be worth it if you have to use contacts with it, but it's really a no brainer if you need a prescription mask and you're "fortunate" enough to be able to dive it without contacts.

My daughter lost her prescription mask a while back and I needed to replace it. With the lenses and the mask, it ate up the better part of $200. This mask retails for $200 and, had I known, I would've just bought one of these for her instead. But there's no way she's getting mine.

 

[Matt S.]

I am the ideal candidate for this mask. My vision is exactly the right kind of broken. The Rx mask I use now has off the shelf lenses, so it costs a lot more than a plain mask and the correction is barely adequate. I dive a lot, and I want a better solution.

So, I am a great candidate, as close to a slam dunk as you could get, but I am not willing to risk $200. I can't find a local retailer that will let me return the mask if I don't like it, nor one that will rent one to me. I have never seen one on another diver, else I'd ask to try it.

For something so odd and so expensive, there needs to be an easy and cheap (if not free) way to try it. Hopefully someday I will get a chance to try one and let the community know what I think about it.

Jon, have you considered some kind of loaner/trial program for dive clubs? I'm in a big club, and I bet a lot of people would evaluate the mask if there was one to borrow.

Asides--

There also seems to be some misinformation/bad feelings out there among retailers. Half of the ones I spoke with have said it's worthless, a gimmick, or worse than useless--one guy at a major shop in my area said that the product causes nausea! It was clear to me that he didn't really know the product since he didn't know the name, but when I described it he seemed to know what it was and that is the story he told. I'm just saying, word on the street is not good, at least around Seattle.

Lastly, the front page of the company web site is terrible--sorry, Jon. The way the "enter" link fades in after seconds of delay? It will drive away anyone but a highly motivated shopper who has the patience to click around and figure it out. Make index2.html the main page.

 

[sunkarm]

I am nearsighted and after i bought the Hydroptix mask. i simply retired my old conventional mask and don't wanna dive with that old mask of mine. It would cost me more if i had 2 put 2prescriptionlenses on both sides on them rather than use that hydromask. with the hydromask i can use them for a very longtime as can be used all the way 2 -4.5 isghts. btw, i am currently -2.25 and -1.75 on the other eye.

 

[BuoyantC]

I'm another whose eyes match perfectly for use with this mask. I am normally a contact lens wearer. The recommended first try was in a pool, and the vision was spectacular. In open water I didn't notice so much the expanded view as it just seems 'normal'. You almost have to switch back and forth the realize how much is missing in a conventional mask. The clarity of vision is obvious.

I did have minor leakage problems, and on one boat dive I got vertigo at first entry from seeing the ripples of water on the inside of the curved lens. That was a new experience for me. Because the distance illusion is also corrected, I found myself swimming closer to objects and actually dragged over coral a couple times until I got used to it.

Upon surfacing, I did not like being 'blind' on the surface. I chose not to dive with the weird lens adapter for the surface which would have helped at the expense of ridicule from my dive buddies.

Long story short, the mask does what it claims. If those improvements are important to you, then I recommend the mask. A photographer friend loves it for the spectacularly clear closeup vision. If you're an old fuddy duddy like me and simple is better, well then....simple IS better.

D.C.

 

[Blazinator]

I, too was quite apprehensive about ordering one blind without trying it, but I was a perfect candidate - had nearsighted vision already.

My logic for making the leap was thinking about the cost of dive vacations, and all the time and expense for the very little time IN THE WATER experiencing the thrill of diving. So I realized just how important the visual experience is for me (much more than the other sensory thrills like weightlessness, feeling of flying over ledges etc.), and so for that little time, I want the most visually perfect experience possible. Same justification for Nitrox - you gonna spend all that money and time on the boat trip just to have only 25 minutes @ 90 feet on air while every one else on EANX 34 has 45? - no brainer.
Not going to spend all that time and money and then have to squint to see things in focus the whole dive, not to mention the depth perception adjustment with flat masks.

So I ordered, tried it in a pool and switched back and forth between my old and this new mask. I was immediately hooked. Not only crisp, in-focus vision, but HUGE field of view.

Sure, I had leak issues (solved now with silicone in the purge valves) but I did not have fogging issues, even in cold water. My descent squeeze was easy to get used to - even helps me equalize when I blow out hard through the nose.

I've done almost forty dives this past summer with it, and I just simply need a new mask cover and eventually will need to replace the main lens, but I cannot tell that there are scratches on the lens when I'm underwater.

My mom used it in Hawaii, as she is also naturally nearsighted, and I sent her off with a flat mask in case she didn't like it. She never used the flat mask.

 

[driftwood]

If you want a couple of Hydro Optix masks for $70 each PM me. Love the vision, just not the fit of the skirt.

 

[shoupart]

What if you need vision correction/prescription masks? I'm pretty near-sighted, and the first thing I did when I began diving was to order a prescription mask.

Not only does this cost a bit more than $18, I can now actually have a clear look at stuff when I dove, instead of some blurry impressionistic-style reef. Which is kinda important to me, to be able to enjoy what I'm looking at.

I personally can justify spending $200 for a decent mask (or a high-end mask), if it's helping me see stuff that I otherwise couldn't.

To each his own, but at least try it before you knock it. I do own a HydroOptix now- and absolutely LOVE it, no more distortion/magnification; why put up with that?- but I bought it for about $80.

No mask is worth $200. I paid $18 for my current mask and it works as well as any I've ever used, better than most.

Amen. Good example of the latest and greatest mouse trap or a $1,000 vacuum or a $150 toaster .... We love to take things to the extreme and there is always someone willing to buy it.

Full disclosure and in all fairness, no I have not tried the mask. For the life of me I just can't see how I would ever spend $200 on a mask that also requires me to alter my vision to use it. I already wear contacts but my eyesight is much worse than their target range. I'd have to get contacts to "improve" my vision but yet leave it in the required nearsighted range. I just can't get over how crazy that sounds.

 

[NudeDiver]

I just got one of these a couple of weeks ago. Had EXCELLENT pre-buy discussion with Terri. I was pretty skeptical (frankly, I think EVERYTHING is BS - the world's biggest cynic), but she was pretty convincing.

I've used it once in the pool today - finally - seemed a bit leaky. This weekend I'm going diving in Whittier (Alaska) and I am hoping to find that it is not so leaky. I dunno what I'm going to do if it is. I know the skirt comes in two styles - maybe they will let me swap it for the other style. How about it Jon?

By the way - I was in the pool today for a drysuit class. The instructor notice the mask right away - knew exactly what it was without me saying anything. He said he was thinking about getting one, but wanted to try one or find someone who had one before spending the money. I let him try it out in the pool and he seemed pretty impressed - said he could notice a big difference. I asked him if he would go through the trouble of wearing contacts so he could use it (he is far-sighted), he said, "oh yeah, definitely."

So, there you go. Personally, I'm hoping it is not so leaky this weekend, otherwise, I'm going to be pretty disappointed.

Cheers!

 

[Blazinator]

I have to shave the top of my mustache, and I get a pretty leak proof dive with my HO mask - otherwise I get leaks. Another trick I have tried, but really don't need to, is to use the mask sealant stuff they sell that looks like chapstick. That would take care of leaks. My leaks only occur on left and right side of my nose. The mask skirt has mold flashing (seam from casting the skirt in mold) at these points, so I took a dremel with a small grinder tip and abraded the flash off flush with the surrounding rubber, and that may have helped - I know that my mask simply doesn't leak if I shave.

I just got one of these a couple of weeks ago. Had EXCELLENT pre-buy discussion with Terri. I was pretty skeptical (frankly, I think EVERYTHING is BS - the world's biggest cynic), but she was pretty convincing.

I've used it once in the pool today - finally - seemed a bit leaky. This weekend I'm going diving in Whittier (Alaska) and I am hoping to find that it is not so leaky. I dunno what I'm going to do if it is. I know the skirt comes in two styles - maybe they will let me swap it for the other style. How about it Jon?

By the way - I was in the pool today for a drysuit class. The instructor notice the mask right away - knew exactly what it was without me saying anything. He said he was thinking about getting one, but wanted to try one or find someone who had one before spending the money. I let him try it out in the pool and he seemed pretty impressed - said he could notice a big difference. I asked him if he would go through the trouble of wearing contacts so he could use it (he is far-sighted), he said, "oh yeah, definitely."

So, there you go. Personally, I'm hoping it is not so leaky this weekend, otherwise, I'm going to be pretty disappointed.

Cheers!