Scuba Eye Exam?

[spectrum]

Keep in mind that if you think your vision is OK, marginal or "good enough for diving" you may be in for a distressing surprise. As light dims and clarity falls off with depth, night or turbidity focusing will be significantly harder and simple stuff like navigation or reading the minor displays on your dive computer may become difficult and distracting possibly leading to tunnel vision.

Don't blow off distance vision, seeing signals from the shore or the dive boat is not a trivial desire.

Do it right.

Pete

 

[Sieg@VU]

Here is a little summary of options for vision correction:

Vision Correction for Divers

 

[spthomas]

Ok, so I went to Wal-Mart and checked out the magnifier reading classes. Surely, I thought, my real spectacles that I pay $300 for are MUCH better at reading than the $5 version here. Well, lo and behold, 'taint so. I see very well with +3 magnifiers. They seem to have a focal point further out than my normal glasses (about 20 inches is the sweet spot for close up work) but they also help with my mid-vision (say 10-50 feet). So, since a +3 correction seems to be very helpful, I'm trying the stick-ons for my mask first. It's easy, cheap, and I can dive right away! I'll also try my contacts (they're +3.5 left and +1.25 right), but as I said my vision never quite handles that very well. I'll let you know the results of my experiment this weekend. And thanks all for all the comments.

Steve

 

[industrious95]

I'm nearsighted. I wore contacts for about 30 years, until my close up vision started to get fuzzy. If I take out the contacts, I can read perfectly.

I have bifocal contacts for everyday use. The bifocal helps overcome the reading problem, but it still isn't perfect. In low light, I still need reading glasses, even with the bifocal contacts in.

I got an off-the shelf "bifocal" mask with +1.5 correction. I think I paid around $75 at my LDS. But it works perfectly for reading gauges, which is what I need it for.

Bifocal contacts are an imperfect partial remedy to an age problem. They provide a compromise, not a solution. I've also been through 2 different brands and 4 different prescriptions to find the best compromise. Another nice feature is that the brand I wear, Alcon Air Optix, lets me sleep in them for up to two weeks at a time. I take them out once a week to give my eyes a rest, but it's nice not having to worry about falling asleep with my contacts in, and being able to wake up and just "get going" without messing with contacts.