Review Off the Rack Bifocal Masks

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I was very interested in the Sea Vision product. Unfortunately there is no dealer in the region and I have a difficult fit. I contacted them and there is no such thing as a loaner or other means of checking the fit short of buying the mask. All in all pretty lame for a company that is offering online sales. Still it looks like a great product.

I wear progressive eyeglass lenses with moderate astigmatism correction.

The first thing I learned with some research is that with cylindrical (astigmatism) correction greater than 1 I really don't belong behind common diopter lenses, they should include the cylinder correction so that ruled out off the shelf pop-ins.

The next thing goes back to my previous bifocal overlay mask. Diving mainly in Maine we generally do not have what you would call magnificent visibility. While being able to keep track of a buddy in the 10-15 foot range is typical the prime visuals are closer and tend to be on the bottom. With the bifocal mask I tended to swim low, following the bottom like an anteater, nose down. In a moment of error I happened to loose this mask (another story) When I started diving my non prescription mask I had a sudden surprise. All of a sudden I was swimming 2-3 feet from the bottom and getting a more panoramic view! What I realized is that with the bifocal mask and the tendency to be looking down I was being sucked into the near vision portion of the lenses and adjusting my physical distance for some intense close-up vision. While my eye's would be a little weary after 2 dives I could still read all of my instruments OK so I finished the summer diving non prescription while I sorted this experience out. On top of that with the bifocal mask instrument positioning was a little tedious for the best vision.

The next thing I learned about was my diopters. It turns out that I am an oddball (what's new!) Both my near and far corrections are positives. Most folks have a negative diopter for distance correction and a positive for near. Due to this fact a single focal lens for one sort of viewing will ruin the other. In my case my prescribed distance correction gets me about 1/2 way to perfect near correction. Since I can already read my instruments uncorrected this is just fine. As an aside, nearly all of the off the shelf pop-in prescription lenses are negative diopters. There are some brands that offer a few positives but this will really limit your mask choices.

So now I have a brand new single focal mask with prescription overlays that is waiting for it's first dive. In topside tests it provides great far vision (nicer than my street glasses). The near vision tests were right where I expected and will be fine.

I hope this journey is helpful.

Pete
 
Heh - thanks for the tip - I'll have to see if I catch myself doing the subaquatic anteater thing on my upcoming trip (before my wife catches me doing it)
 
spectrum:
The next thing I learned about was my diopters. It turns out that I am an oddball (what's new!) Both my near and far corrections are positives. Most folks have a negative diopter for distance correction and a positive for near. Due to this fact a single focal lens for one sort of viewing will ruin the other. In my case my prescribed distance correction gets me about 1/2 way to perfect near correction. Since I can already read my instruments uncorrected this is just fine. As an aside, nearly all of the off the shelf pop-in prescription lenses are negative diopters. There are some brands that offer a few positives but this will really limit your mask choices.

So now I have a brand new single focal mask with prescription overlays that is waiting for it's first dive. In topside tests it provides great far vision (nicer than my street glasses). The near vision tests were right where I expected and will be fine.

After 10 dives in Florida springs where there was plenty of distant and near things to see I am very happy with the way this single focal lens mask is working for this biopic diver.

Pete
 
The next thing I learned about was my diopters. It turns out that I am an oddball (what's new!) Both my near and far corrections are positives. Most folks have a negative diopter for distance correction and a positive for near. Due to this fact a single focal lens for one sort of viewing will ruin the other. In my case my prescribed distance correction gets me about 1/2 way to perfect near correction. Since I can already read my instruments uncorrected this is just fine. As an aside, nearly all of the off the shelf pop-in prescription lenses are negative diopters. There are some brands that offer a few positives but this will really limit your mask choices.
Same problem here. Haven't ordered mine yet but found a skinny face mask that I like and will be sending it the this guy for lenses www.underwater-vision.com will post a report
 
I put the +2.5 diopter DiveOptix in an old ScubaPro mask and they work OK, they seem a little small. I now just got a H2O with +2.5 bifocals in them, going to try them out Tuesday. Many years ago I got corrective lens installed that one lens was +1.0 and the other +2.5. That was a suggestion from an eye doctor, sorta like what they were doing with contact lens, I never did completely get use to them nor could I get use to the contact lens....
 
Apologies for adding to such an old post but I found this when researching bifocal masks and since then my dive instructor said "don't bother if it's just for gauge reading and small critter viewing". He just loaned me his magnifying glass which he had on a retractor line and I had no problems at all reading depth & air. I was quite surprised that it worked so well as I had assumed lenses wouldn't work under water. I have now purchased a similar rig which I will take to Bonaire this summer. Far less expensive than fitting lenses to a mask, which always seems to not quite work 100%. No fogging problems. No lenses detaching and floating away. Cheap and easy to use. Cheap to take a spare in the luggage. Helps with camera settings, etc, although it can prove a bit awkward. I may try to rig one of those bendable strobe brackets to position an extra lens over the LCD screen. Such a cheap and easy alternative.
 
Are there no old farts like me on this board that need bifocals? :wink:
Come on people, fess' up, I know there are some old folks out there...



There are plenty--we call them presbyopes in my office.....I try them on mono-CTLs ---whenever possible---ie works better UW,...IMO...,than in air...:).....You might give that a 'look'........
 
There are plenty--we call them presbyopes in my office.....I try them on mono-CTLs ---whenever possible---ie works better UW,...IMO...,than in air...:).....You might give that a 'look'........

I use monovision contacts. It is never perfect but a lot better than not being able to find my readers. And I can always see my gauges.
 
I definitely need bifocals (as I found out on a horrible night dive where I learned I couldn't read my depth gauge without them) but the Gauge Reader didn't put the lenses where I needed them, so I went with custom bifocal inserts. Got them through our local optometrist -- I bought a mask and took it in, and they sent it off somewhere to get done. Took two weeks, cost $150. Ouch.


I wear a light-moderate prescription to see details at a distance (basically ~8 feet or farther) but if I want to look at something up close I have to remove my glasses. I'm at a point where I need a prescription mask to get the most out of diving as I am definitely missing stuff (e.g. people frenzilied pointing at what I later learned was an octopus 15 feet away acting crazy that I could not distinguish from the swaying corals). So I'm thinking I need bifocals... a prescription for distance, and non-prescription part for looking at gauges and up close critters. My concerns are:
- How do you know where to place the prescription part of the lens for distance viewing? Should it be on the top part of the mask or the bottom? And what percentage of the mask should be prescription vs. non prescription with this type of vision?
- I have 2 masks that fit perfectly. Does custom alteration change the field of view or the fit?
- I know I can bring my rx to my local dive shop and they will send off my mask for custom lenses, but is there anything specific I should ask for that I'm not thinking of?

I hope I am posting this in the appropriate place. Thanks all!
 
To update my previous post . .. I learned to HATE the glued-in bifocals, because they made all photographs of me look like I was on Quaaludes. I now use a Dive Rite mask with ground-in bifocals. Yes, they are placed inferiorly with the idea of reading gauges. Yes, I can use them to look at little critters, if I orient my head right. And they don't have that stupid line across the mask in photographs!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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