Diving while wearing contact lenses

[ruready7]

I wear contacts also. I have done my pool dives and open water dives while wearing them without any problems. I keep extra pair with me in case I do lose one. I also waterski and kneeboard and have done so for years without losing one (knock on wood).

 

[DwayneJ]

I use disposal lenses and I take a spare set with me diving. Closed my eyes during my training with no issues. I normally change to glasses after my dives. I have not lost a contact yet when my eyes have been open underwater.

Given the number of masks I have found on the ocean floor, there is a good chance you will lose your mask if it does come off for some reason (kicked in the face). Losing an expensive prescription mask would not be good.

 

[PinkPADIgal]

I have over 1000 dives, and teaching mask removal for nearly 6 years and never lost a contact lens. However, I have lost at least 6-8 masks. I have students ask about contacts vs perscription mask and here is the reality.

A perscription mask is going to cost $70-250 more than a regular mask. If you have to replace it, that would suck. Disposable contacts run about $1-10 each. If you lose one, you should have another to replace it with.

You are more likely to loose a mask than a contact lens.

For most people, you are also able to SEE better with contacts because you don't have any distortion from the corner of your eyes. Also, once on the surface, you can take your mask off and see with out it.

 

[NancyLynn]

I bought the best fit at the LDS, and then had them get replacement lenses with the correct prescriptions from the mask manufacturer. They were off-the-shelf items in I think 0.5 diopter increments, which was close enough. No optical shops were involved. Note this only works easily if you have a split-lens mask, with masks with separate lenses for left and right eyes, and can live without any astigmatic correction. Single lens masks or additional correction require custom-ground lenses, which are generally pricier.

My spouse is blind as a bat without glasses, and loves the mask we got at the dive shop. Underwater, whatever correction you have doesn't need to be as precise as it is above - so as long as the astigmatism isn't really atrocious, the lenses most dive shops have will be sufficient (and probably your cheapest option).

The diving thing didn't work out - but my spouse is now much more comfortable in the water for snorkeling and other activities, being able to see for the first time ever.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

I wear the 30 day lenses. I've been on 20 or so dives with them... Amazing!

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There was one post I read here about potential panic with a new diver/diver in training... I am sure an instructor could come up with a preemptive solution for that with a student. Such as something for the student to discuss with their dive buddy before the dive, "If I lose my contacts, I will give you this sign.... It means I lost them, and can't see my guages. I will depend on you to help me to the surface due to that issue..." That will probably relieve a new divers tendency for panic in the situation while they are "learning"
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The panic issue would be my biggest concern for a new diver... if sight is that bad.

I haven't lost a lens yet, but I carry re-wetting drops for SI if needed and an extra set of lenses in the event I lose one, or both during a dive. I do open my eyes under water and have not had an issue yet. My natural tendency is to squint when I am in salt water with the lenses on (Which is the opposite of what I used to do... open eyes wider... hmmm)

 

[Ber Rabbit]

There was one post I read here about potential panic with a new diver/diver in training... I am sure an instructor could come up with a preemptive solution for that with a student. Such as something for the student to discuss with their dive buddy before the dive, "If I lose my contacts, I will give you this sign.... It means I lost them, and can't see my guages. I will depend on you to help me to the surface due to that issue..." That will probably relieve a new divers tendency for panic in the situation while they are "learning"
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The panic issue would be my biggest concern for a new diver... if sight is that bad.

The only problem I see with this is what if the buddy has a problem and the "student's" contact gets lost? The contact missing diver is going to have to be able to help their buddy whether they can see or not. The loss of a contact should not mean the loss of a functional dive buddy. Ok, you can't see your gauges...so what? You're ending the dive and there are other means of determining your ascent rate. You may have to guess on the time for your safety stop but again that's relatively easy to do.

Performing the skills isn't hard when you can't see very well. We do an exercise with our students where their masks are blacked out with aluminum foil. They are expected to demonstrate their skills including hand signals and air sharing without being able to see then they get to go on a treasure hunt in the deep end. They manage the descent, search and ascent just fine without being able to see, they also figure out a navigation puzzle "blindfolded". The hard part about learning to dive without your contacts is seeing the demonstrations of what you're supposed to be doing. THAT'S where the pre-emptive solutions are important.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

The only problem I see with this is what if the buddy has a problem and the "student's" contact gets lost? The contact missing diver is going to have to be able to help their buddy whether they can see or not. The loss of a contact should not mean the loss of a functional dive buddy.

That would be fine if the student is above OW student in training (and I was also writing about the loss of both contacts, not just a single contact - and - this is assuming they were blind as a bat if that should happen)

OK, you can't see your gauges...so what?

We are talking about an OW student. You have a terror/panic situation, that's what

You're ending the dive and there are other means of determining your ascent rate.

Yes, there are, with practice and experience... an OW student has neither (and the hypothetical concerned an OW student who lost both contacts and was blind as a bat without them)

You may have to guess on the time for your safety stop but again that's relatively easy to do.

Again, the OP refers to a OW student, not someone seasoned and practiced... I would expect them to skip the "Safety" stop and get to the surface.

Performing the skills isn't hard when you can't see very well. We do an exercise with our students where their masks are blacked out with aluminum foil. They are expected to demonstrate their skills including hand signals and air sharing without being able to see then they get to go on a treasure hunt in the deep end. They manage the descent, search and ascent just fine without being able to see, they also figure out a navigation puzzle "blindfolded".

Please, please, please tell me you have NEVER done this with an OW student! I am quite sure these procedures are not part of curriculum for OW certification of any agency

The hard part about learning to dive without your contacts is seeing the demonstrations of what you're supposed to be doing. THAT'S where the preemptive solutions are important.
Ber :lilbunny:

Huh?

The hypothetical was based on helping the OW student not panic after losing both contacts at depth, AFTER certification, not during student training... as a means of preemptive solution... where it is important, yes.

I am only assuming your meaning on this last one, because I cannot make sense of it.

 

[Shark Gal]

I have been diving for over 10 years with contacts. I have the extended disposable contacts, which last about a month. My eyes change too frequently to afford prescription masks. So far, no problems. On drills, I close my eyes. In an emergency, I would have not problem scarificing lenses for safety.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

That would be fine if the student is above OW student in training (and I was also writing about the loss of both contacts, not just a single contact - and - this is assuming they were blind as a bat if that should happen)

So you're assuming just because it's a new OW diver or a student that nothing is going to happen to their buddy? If they are at a point in their training where they are in open water they need to be able to function period.

We are talking about an OW student. You have a terror/panic situation, that's what

If they are having terror/panic issues when they can't see their gauge for the short time it takes to do an ascent from the bottom of a pool then they have NO business in open water until they overcome that. A student in open water is a certified diver in a short time...terror/panic triggers need to be overcome before they are ever given their card.

Yes, there are, with practice and experience... an OW student has neither (and the hypothetical concerned an OW student who lost both contacts and was blind as a bat without them)

That's funny, I can have brand spanking new people doing 30fpm ascents in the pool without looking at their gauges in a very short time. Generally I only need to show them once, we all ascend together at 30fpm so they can feel how slow that is. Even my legally blind without his contacts student did just fine, in fact he said it was easy for him because he was used to using senses other than sight. The pool is a fine place to gain practice and experience on ascent speed.

Again, the OP refers to a OW student, not someone seasoned and practiced... I would expect them to skip the "Safety" stop and get to the surface.

They don't have to make the safety stop, some feel better if they make a stop of some sort and I'm simply pointing out that it's possible. When you give OW students a chance to exceed expectations it's amazing what they can accomplish.

Please, please, please tell me you have NEVER done this with an OW student! I am quite sure these procedures are not part of curriculum for OW certification of any agency

It's been part of our OW curriculum for nearly 30 years and the treasure hunt is a favorite of the students. Actually that exercise is the reason I teach today, I wanted to be on the staff side of it. The blackout mask OOA is done on the surface first to work out communication/execution problems then in the shallows with a staff member right next to them to intervene if necessary. It's an easy exercise that's done during one of the final pool sessions; one qualifier, the students have spend almost 20 hours in the pool by this time so it's not necessarily an appropriate exercise for faster classes but it CAN be done with OW students. Zero visibility is a possiblity at our dive sites (even on OW check-out dives) and the students need to know they have the ability to function and abort a dive without being able to see, we are not training them to continue dives when the vis goes to zero simply to exit a zero visibility situation if it occurs and we stress that.

Huh?

The hypothetical was based on helping the OW student not panic after losing both contacts at depth, AFTER certification, not during student training... as a means of preemptive solution... where it is important, yes.

I am only assuming your meaning on this last one, because I cannot make sense of it.

We train students without their contacts in and with their eyes open. Those who are "blind as a bat" sometimes have trouble seeing the demonstrations depending on where they position themselves in relation to the person doing the demo. We group our visually challenged students together and do up-close demo's for them to avoid that "What did they just do? I couldn't see it" bewilderment (a pre-emptive solution).

They shouldn't be in open water if they are going to panic if they lose their contacts. This is something that's so simple to deal with in the pool that it should never be an issue in open water.

Here's a scenario that illustrates what I'm hearing you say and maybe I'm just misunderstanding you.
Diver 1 "Hi, I panic if I lose both my contacts underwater"
Diver 2 "Um ok, how do you want to deal with that"
Diver 1 "If both my contacts come out I'll give you this hand signal"

You know what I'm going to do if I'm diver #2?
"Tell you what, take your contacts out and bring just your snorkel and come with me. We'll have you comfortable without them in no time."

A little patience and time and the panic issue can be resolved making the signal a moot point.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

So you're assuming just because it's a new OW diver or a student that nothing is going to happen to their buddy? If they are at a point in their training where they are in open water they need to be able to function period.


If they are having terror/panic issues when they can't see their gauge for the short time it takes to do an ascent from the bottom of a pool then they have NO business in open water until they overcome that. A student in open water is a certified diver in a short time...terror/panic triggers need to be overcome before they are ever given their card.


That's funny, I can have brand spanking new people doing 30fpm ascents in the pool without looking at their gauges in a very short time. Generally I only need to show them once, we all ascend together at 30fpm so they can feel how slow that is. Even my legally blind without his contacts student did just fine, in fact he said it was easy for him because he was used to using senses other than sight. The pool is a fine place to gain practice and experience on ascent speed.


They don't have to make the safety stop, some feel better if they make a stop of some sort and I'm simply pointing out that it's possible. When you give OW students a chance to exceed expectations it's amazing what they can accomplish.


It's been part of our OW curriculum for nearly 30 years and the treasure hunt is a favorite of the students. Actually that exercise is the reason I teach today, I wanted to be on the staff side of it. The blackout mask OOA is done on the surface first to work out communication/execution problems then in the shallows with a staff member right next to them to intervene if necessary. It's an easy exercise that's done during one of the final pool sessions; one qualifier, the students have spend almost 20 hours in the pool by this time so it's not necessarily an appropriate exercise for faster classes but it CAN be done with OW students. Zero visibility is a possiblity at our dive sites (even on OW check-out dives) and the students need to know they have the ability to function and abort a dive without being able to see, we are not training them to continue dives when the vis goes to zero simply to exit a zero visibility situation if it occurs and we stress that.


We train students without their contacts in and with their eyes open. Those who are "blind as a bat" sometimes have trouble seeing the demonstrations depending on where they position themselves in relation to the person doing the demo. We group our visually challenged students together and do up-close demo's for them to avoid that "What did they just do? I couldn't see it" bewilderment (a pre-emptive solution).

They shouldn't be in open water if they are going to panic if they lose their contacts. This is something that's so simple to deal with in the pool that it should never be an issue in open water.

Here's a scenario that illustrates what I'm hearing you say and maybe I'm just misunderstanding you.
Diver 1 "Hi, I panic if I lose both my contacts underwater"
Diver 2 "Um ok, how do you want to deal with that"
Diver 1 "If both my contacts come out I'll give you this hand signal"

You know what I'm going to do if I'm diver #2?
"Tell you what, take your contacts out and bring just your snorkel and come with me. We'll have you comfortable without them in no time."

A little patience and time and the panic issue can be resolved making the signal a moot point.
Ber :lilbunny:

Then I will say that you are one heck of a better instructor than any I've ever encountered. Amazing, and I salute your abilities as an instructor.