Flooding your mask with Contacts??

[EFB]

I took a Resort Certification course and had to break the seal of my mask to add a little water and purge it, then halfway and purge it, and then fill it up. Yeah..I did all of them and on the last one, a contact floated out of my eye. What should I do as I know I will most likely have to repeat all of this in a certification class? Just keep my eyes shut the entire time? That could be a bit freaky when I am out of the pool and into the ocean, no?

And don't your eyes burn like crazy whether or not you have contacts and flood your mask?

When my contact flew out, I was more focused on that then the breathing and ended up holding my breath, which trust me, I know is a big no no.

I would appreciate any insight you guys could give.

TIA

On a totally unrelated subject, is there a list of acronyms or commonly used terms that could help a newbie like me. For example, I guess Divemaster is DM? And what the heck is a safety sausage?

 

[MurkyRockDiver]

Hi EFB,

You could look into getting a mask with prescription lens that would probably be the easy way to go. If you keep your eyes closed while flooding the mask it will also help but there is always the chance of the contact coming out.

A safety sausage is a signal device for showing your location while on the surface or it can be deployed while under water to show your location in the water while you drift or deco.

 

[Madvelazquez]

I've been using my contacts for over five years while diving. I flooded my mask the first time to see how it would feel. Yes it burned like hell, but honestly for me it was that first time. I've cleared flooded masks and have had no problems. I did change contacts for underwater activities. Doctor recommended I use dailies. Not sure if they are thinner and stick to your eyes more. Give those a try to see.

 

[jar546]

I just keep my eyes closed or will squint slightly to keep the contact from falling out. Have not lost a contact with this method or just swimming in pools since I started wearing contacts 30 years ago.

I hope this helps.

 

[fire_diver]

Just close your eyes while flooding and clearing your mask.

Once you get certified and want to stay in the hobby a while you can look into a prescription mask so you don't have to worry about the contacts underwater. They are a bit spendy, so make sure this is something you want to do for a while.

 

[EFB]

Thanks so much for the great replies! I know I couldn't be the only one out there with contacts!

 

[xyrandomyx]

I was told that if you wore contacts, you needed to close your eyes when flooding or removing your mask. I don't wear contacts and I've never tried closing my eyes out in the ocean, but I'd agree that it sounds freaky. To my knowledge, your other options are to not wear contacts (might be OK if your eyesight's not that bad) or get a prescription mask (no idea where from or how much they cost, but I know they exist).

Your eyes will burn a bit. How much it bothers you probably depends on your individual preference and how used to saltwater you are. It didn't bother me at all, really, but I'd been swimming in the ocean fairly regularly for a long time before trying diving. It also probably depends on the salinity of the water, though I'm not sure if local differences would be enough to make a difference to the burning sensation.

I don't know of a list of acronyms, but 'DM' is indeed 'divemaster'. A 'safety sausage' is a deployable surface marker buoy (DSMB). It's long and sausage shaped, inflated with your alternate reg and released (with a line attached so you can hang on to it) to signal to boats on top that you're under there. It has the advantage over the non-deployable sort in that you don't have to drag it around for the dive (or stick close to the buoy the entire dive). I generally use good old Google for figuring out the acronyms.

Anyway. I'm sure someone more experienced than me will chip in and give you some better answers (I'm just over on the opposite end of the 0--24 dives logged bracket).

 

[lsorensen]

Many masks can have prescription lenses added. The lenses seem to run between $20 and $40 each (and you need two of course), on top of the cost of the mask. I have two myself (my original Genesis mask, and now a Bare Duo mask that I like a lot better). My wife has much less need for prescription but did pick up a Tusa mask with prescription lenses in key west when we were there some years ago. They were very cheap to buy there ($20/lens) and $20 for the mask.

Of course the disadvantage with prescription lenses is that when you take of your mask, you can't see properly until you get your glasses, which can make part of gearing up a pain. I can see how contacts would be nice for that.

 

[TexasKaren68]

I kept my eyes closed. One time I opened one a teensy bit and squinted - just trying to see if I COULD open my eyes if I had to. My contacts stayed put.

My eyes did burn quite a bit with the full mask flood, even with my eyes closed. I'm glad I won't have to do that (on purpose) too much any more.

I have old eyes so I use a small little stick-on lens on the bottom of one side of my mask so I can read the gauges. My contacts are fine for distance, but useless close-up.

I doubt I'll ever get a prescription mask because I don't want the hassle of having to keep my mask on to see, until I can remember where the heck I put my glasses

 

[Splitlip]

Acronyms List - Scuba Diving Acronyms

http://wrolf.net/scuba_slang.html