Masks and glasses

[TheAlmightyHubbard]

At my local Divers Direct I bought the Tusa Liberator Plus mask for $50 and the replacement lenses were $25 per eye. They had them in diopters of .5 increments starting at 1.5 I believe. The Rx lenses were made by Evo.

The entire lens is removed and replaced with these. Works great for me. It was wonderful finally being able to see underwater. Another option is contacts, as long as you're comfortable closing your eyes when you know water could potentially enter the mask, such as clearing.

 

[Suave]

I cant use contacts any more. I can get one in my left eye but no matter what i do the right eye is always irritated.. so contacts are out of the question..

 

[diveprof]

I cant use contacts any more. I can get one in my left eye but no matter what i do the right eye is always irritated.. so contacts are out of the question..

You may have an ideal solution like me! I only wear one contact while diving. One (soft contact) for distance and none on the other eye for close up. Try it! You will be surprise that you may not miss the other contact!!! It is absolutely amazing how the brain compensates.

 

[divezonescuba]

I second the Tusa Liberator Mask with pop in lenses.

It was $49 plus $29 for each of the two lens. I have two sets and am quite pleased. One of the masks has gone down to 95 feet without problem. It is a bit of a pain to initially install the lens, but you only have to do it once. If your prescription changes over time, all you have to do is get a new lens.

Prior to the Tusa, I bought an EVO which looks exactly the same as the Tusa but is only $29. However, it leaked. From talking with the dive shop, I found out that less care is taken when molding the EVO versus the TUSA. The skirt is thicker on the EVO than the TUSA and not as flexible. Thats when I bought the TUSAs. The lens are exactly the same fit.

I also noticed that there are actually two or three companies that make the lens that fit in the TUSA and EVO masks. The actual correction level is somewhat different between the companies for the same spec lens. This means that if you want a spare mask, you need to use the same lens companies as well.

Before all of that, I had a mask made with my exact prescription. The lens were glued into the mask with silicone cement. It is 15+ years and still works ok, but I prefer using the Tusas even though the correction is not as exact. It was about $100 back then plus the cost of the mask.

 

[DiverLS]

Before I wore contacts I went to my dive shop and they had masks that I could be made into my prescription. They even had a variety of masks that I could use. I thinkt the overall cost was about $150 and I still have them. But that price was about 10 years ago. They had the lenses gound and then glued them in the mask. I still wear that mask when the contacts bug me.

Right after that I started wearing contacts. I do just like Diveprof and put a contact in only one eye. That way I too can still see my guages and the settings on my camera (more important to me )

I did that so long that I'm now wearing only one contact. Since I don't look my age, I can fool more people now

 

[BioLogic]

The mask is soooooo worth it. Being able to actually *see* the underwater world is the most amazing thing ever if (like me) you've never been able to see it properly. I'd buy one all over again even if I couldn't scuba and it was just for snorkelling/casual swimming.

 

[diver 85]

What's your Rx, you may have an 'usual' Rx that putting it in a mask would be contraindicatve..............I can think of a couple of cases that a Rx in a mask would not be good ie ani & antisometropia, high astigmatism, to name a few......If not, mask would be OK...Actually though, going back to CTL's would be the way to go, just get a supply for occasional wear---you'll need them for such a short period of time in the long run.........

 

[John_B]

Where can I get bifocal lenses? I don't need much correction for distance, but as I get older I find that my arms are getting too short. I've tried the sticky gauge reader inserts for standard masks but as someone else pointed out, they don't stay put. But I don't need the correction for all distances. Any help appreciated!

 

[Ed Palma]

Another vote for the TUSA liberator. Basic mask was around 25 dollars, and with my two prescription lenses (I'm nearsighted) the whole thing cost around 78 dollars. Worth every penny, considering diving is a visual sport!

 

[ScubaTexan]

Sea Vision - Your Single Source for Prescription Dive Masks