Prescription Mask Options

[tridacna]

That is my dive shop, that is NOT the company we use. We have about a 10 day turn around. California would make that impossible.

Actually they have a left coast presence in NC. We used them in NJ. Took about 3-4 days to turn around.

 

[kevjli]

Just me but I wouldn't touch them with a long stick. There are many reputable stores out there. This one looks cheap and dodgy.

Yeah, the website looks crummy. But they installed lenses and sent out my mask in a day. They're just popping in pre-ground lenses. But that's all I wanted. Even when I bought my previous Dive-Rite mask from DGE, it just got pre-ground lenses. If someone wants a special prescription, they should look at fully custom lenses. The mask I received from GetWetStore is good quality.

 

[lowwall]

As an aside. We've gotten to the point where the less slick a website looks, the more likely it is to be legit. Any scammer can grab some templates and make a site that looks like everyone else's. But a hand coded site probably means a company that's been selling on the web for 20 years.

This is similar to the reasoning behind this xkcd comic: Red Line Through HTTPS

 

[kevjli]

Also note that although I do NOT find the website/business to be sketchy, I would not be comfortable buying some of the products that GetWetStore carries. I'm comfortable buying masks because I believe that most masks are made in the same few Asian factories, and that many of the name-brand masks are merely logo branded generic masks. I personally would not buy an off-brand regulator from them. But some of their accessories look okay... knives, boots, fin straps, safety sausages, etc...

 

[lowwall]

Also note that although I do NOT find the website/business to be sketchy, I would not be comfortable buying some of the products that GetWetStore carries. I'm comfortable buying masks because I believe that most masks are made in the same few Asian factories, and that many of the name-brand masks are merely logo branded generic masks. I personally would not buy an off-brand regulator from them. But some of their accessories look okay... knives, boots, fin straps, safety sausages, etc...

Promate gets their regs from Ocean Divers Supply in Taiwan. ODS makes or has made regs for brands including DGX, Dive Rite, Oceanic, Hollis, HOG, SeaElite, and Deep6. ODS does custom manufacturing (e.g., the Deep6 Signature line), but the Promate first stages appear to be straight from ODS' stock product line.

REGULATOR – OCEAN DIVERS SUPPLY CO.,LTD.

www.oceandivers.com.tw

The gauges are made in Italy like everyone else's, so they should be fine as well.

 

[kevjli]

Promate gets their regs from Ocean Divers Supply in Taiwan. ODS makes or has made regs for brands including DGX, Dive Rite, Oceanic, Hollis, HOG, SeaElite, and Deep6. ODS does custom manufacturing (e.g., the Deep6 Signature line), but the Promate first stages appear to be straight from ODS' stock product line.

REGULATOR – OCEAN DIVERS SUPPLY CO.,LTD.

www.oceandivers.com.tw

The gauges are made in Italy like everyone else's, so they should be fine as well.

Thanks for the info. Makes sense that a lot of the regs are manufactured in common factories similarly to the masks.

 

[tridacna]

As an aside. We've gotten to the point where the less slick a website looks, the more likely it is to be legit. Any scammer can grab some templates and make a site that looks like everyone else's. But a hand coded site probably means a company that's been selling on the web for 20 years.

This is similar to the reasoning behind this xkcd comic: Red Line Through HTTPS

Just add an “about us” section so we can see who we’re dealing with.

 

[nippurmagnum]

Stay away from purge valves. Just another potential failure point. I’ve had several masks done by Seavision. They do a great job - you’ll appreciate it in the long term.

I also have had good experiences with SeaVision masks, and I got the bifocals.

FWIW, I bought a second pair as a backup, after being on a great white liveaboard in Guadalupe Island and seeing a diver drop his mask on the deck during the 30 hour crossing to the island. The glass shattered into a hundred small pieces. The guy just started crying in frustration, as he pretty much couldn’t see anything beyond the bars of the cage without the prescription mask. I don’t think I saw him again during the trip, I think he must have opened a bar tab on the liveaboard and drowned his sorrows in his cabin. I always travel with my two masks, it’s a small price to pay for redundancy on the most irreplaceable piece of equipment.

 

[happy-diver]

the lens will fit my tusa

Yes