Mask and corrective lenses. Pls help

[diverkristi]

OK, this comes from a former optician of 12 years who can wear, but hates contacts (and I do wear them for rafting and SOME extreme sports), and has had a prescription mask for snorkeling and diving.

Couple of things.
1) I did a bit of "research" for a friend who is getting certified soon. There is a mask available from leisurpro for a range of visions. And it is realy reasonable. http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/BDGMO.html
I called about it and was told it has gotten a great response....no complaints etc...

2) Since a mask fits further from your face than eyeglasses, you'll never get as precice correction with a mask as with glasses or contacts.
3) Since things look bigger in water, even with 20/20 vision, things aren't 100% accurate anyway.

That said, I have had my RX mask for 15 years. The RX is about 1 diopter weaker than my current RX (-5.25), and under water I can't tell the difference. I too have a tad bit of astigmatism correction. Again, not a big deal. I kept the non-rx drop in lenses in case I ever decided to do contacts. Glad I did now b/c Lasik is in the future next year for me.

If you would like to PM your RX, I can tell you what I would do based on availablilty (half diopter) stock lenses and your RX by splitting the difference etc...

 

[cagemaker]

Hi

I have been searching the Board but seems to be getting conflicting answers on the use of corrective lenses for near-sightedness (myopia). Assuming that I have a negative diopter -5.0 for my glasses, there seems to be 2 different suggestions on the strength of corrective lenses for the mask:

1. Use lenses that are 10% stronger that is -5.5

2. Use lenses that are weaker due to magnifying effect when underwater.

Please help on which is correct suggestion. Getting confused after reading so many threads

Thanks!!!

My correction is -3.5. The first set was made to that prescription. I had trouble reading the gauges. The second set, provided free by the optician, was weaker. The weaker lens gave me a greater depth of field. This allowed me to read the gauges easier because I could just thrust them out in front of me without concern for distance from my face.

Cagemaker

 

[spectrum]

My correction is -3.5. The first set was made to that prescription. I had trouble reading the gauges. The second set, provided free by the optician, was weaker. The weaker lens gave me a greater depth of field. This allowed me to read the gauges easier because I could just thrust them out in front of me without concern for distance from my face.

Cagemaker

I wear progressive lenses in my eyeglasses and they include astigmatism correction. I knew my near vison was not up to instrument reading so I needed to do something. After skindiving my eyes would tire quickly after getting out of the water so I wanted correction that would stay with me. Based on all that I went after contact lenses and had to go with monovision, one near and one far. That didn't work out because the weighted lenses kept getting spun by my eyelids that we diagnosed as tight! Back to square one...

For $150 a LDS sent my mask (new or existing, my choice) to an optician and had my bifocal prescrtiption cemented in the mask. Wow what a difference. Vision is better in every way. I now think that I was experincing eye strain while skindiving and not realizing it. Even after 2 hours in the water when I get out my eyes feel very comfortable and I'm not in a panic to find my glasses. When I look around topside my far vison is also great. No sticking lenses in my eyes. No recurring supply costs, No worry about using eye drops for me surely the way to go.

Even when I look I can't see then edges of the prescription overlays. My biggest concern was that when looking directly down the "near" segments would ruin the image but that's not even the case.

While driving hope from the LDS I stopped to eat and was reading a magazine. Just for the heck of it I strapped on my mask and started reading. The correction is actually better than my progressives! I do not know if an underwater allowance was made against my standard prescxription but they work.

Pete

 

[blues_diver]

Come dive in ireland on the east cost. With a vis of 16" you probably won't need to worry much abut lenses. :lol3:

Haha, I will take up that offer if I get the chance to go there. Btw, I been to Dublin and I have to say the Guinness is simply fantastic!

 

[blues_diver]

Hi All
thanks for all the GOOD comments! I went with the weaker option i.e. lower diopter than my present glasses and it turns out fine - saw the Mantas and Whale Shark clearly!!

Cheers

 

[Marek K]

There is a mask available from leisurpro for a range of visions. And it is realy reasonable. http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/BDGMO.html
I called about it and was told it has gotten a great response....no complaints etc...

OK, that's real interesting. The fact that BodyGlove is making a mask like this supports the idea that vision underwater is a lot more forgiving than in air.

Still, what worries me is that each of the three available "strengths" covers quite a correction spread -- almost 2 diopters. From my own experience, I wasn't happy with mask lenses that were about 0.75 diopter less correction than my actual glasses -- though I'm very happy with 0.25 diopter less.

The BodyGlove mask is quite a lot cheaper than a mask plus even off-the-shelf corrective lenses. Maybe if someone is very close to the actual correction of one of those lenses, they'd be happy -- I'd guess the actual prescriptions of the three lenses are somewhere around -1.00, -3.00, and -5.00.

Or if the price-vs.-vision ratio was very important to someone, and they could live with slightly fuzzy vision.

Oh... As much as I like LeisurePro, the advice of their sales reps should probably be taken with several grains of salt...

--Marek

 

[vjongene]

Come dive in ireland on the east cost. With a vis of 16" you probably won't need to worry much abut lenses.

... but you still need to read your instruments! Which is why I have corrective lenses on my mask, even though most of my diving is in near zero viz.

 

[vjongene]

- saw the Mantas and Whale Shark clearly!!

I want a copy of those lenses!

 

[Marek K]

thanks for all the GOOD comments! I went with the weaker option i.e. lower diopter than my present glasses and it turns out fine - saw the Mantas and Whale Shark clearly!!

I'm very glad it worked out for you.

What strength did you finally get, compared with your glasses correction? Were they off-the-shelf lenses?

And where did you dive?

--Marek

 

[blues_diver]

I want a copy of those lenses!

Haha, is of the shelf lenses... can send you a copy of those whale shark pictures though