Prescription mask worth getting or not ?

[The Kraken]

YES!!!

Safe dives . . . . . .
. . . safer ascents!

the K

 

[tridacna]

Kind of a waste of money if you don't need them.

Gee, thanks. Top notch advice.

 

[MegDiver792]

I wear contacts, so when mask off,I can still see everything.


I do have gauge readers for my computers though

 

[bowlofpetunias]

When I started diving in 1967 I did not have a prescription mask. It was much more of a big deal back then to get one. I finally got one and my first dive using it was to Catalina. It was amazing. I still remember that dive. Nowadays, it is much easier to deal with. Most of the manufacturers have masks where you can just order your prescription and the LDS just drops the lenses in. My problem is that one of my eyes needs a -10 diopter. The only one I was able to find that goes that extreme is the Aqualung mask. It ordered it, got the lenses and it has worked fine. If you take a less severe correction, then you would have more choices. Now I am scheduled for cataract surgery so hopefully I will not need glasses anymore for distance and can choose any mask that fits. We will see (no pun intended). Absolutely, you should get some version of prescription for your diving.

Yes there actually are some advantages to age. Prior to cataract surgery I had prescription lenses.I really needed them. I tried contacts but that just irritated my eyes too much. I do primarily shore dives at home so I carried an older prescription set of glasses in my pocket during. I needed the glasses to safely maneuver across the rock platforms to and from the exit.

After cataract surgery my I still wear glasses topside altho I can easily go without them. I was used to the crisp vision 40 years of wearing corrective lenses gave me I don't need correction in my mask anymore. The best part is that I now have a reputation as being one of the best "spotters". Best of luck with your surgery.

There is some good anecdotal information here but the final decision really should be made with a qualified professional who is also knowledgeable about diving.

 

[Diver0001]

Worth getting or not ?

I finished my OW course while wearingg a freediving Torelli mask. water was leeking inside the mask from the bubbles. I could see clearly however the bubbles were a problem. I know I was supposed to use a scuba diving mask not freediving. I wear glasses since I was 4 years old. Now I'm 24. So my question, is it worth getting a prescription mask ?

I literally can't read my meters without a prescription mask. If it's worth getting for you, I don't know.... but for me there is no question. I need it.

R..

 

[RJP]

I'll join the list of folks who suggest trying contact lenses first... you can get free "diagnostic" lenses from your optometrist to see if you like them. As others have said, with contacts you can see what you need to see on the boat, the dock, on the surface, etc.

With most vision insurance plans (and most prescriptions) the out-of-pocket costs for a year's worth of contact lenses is less than the cost of a prescription mask.

 

[SeaHorse81]

I need corrective lenses, but my eyes are too dry for contacts. I tried diving for a couple of years with a regular mask, just assuming I'd have to not see as many cool things underwater as everyone else did. I got frustrated with seeing blurs where other people where seeing critters, and found that a prescription mask was not all that much more expensive, yet improved my dive experience tremendously. I don't need to update my mask as often as I update my glasses--maybe every 3rd or 4th prescription change. I went to bifocals in the mask shortly after I needed them on land, because I couldn't see my gauges without them.

For me, dollars spent on prescription mask lenses have been an incredibly good return on investment.

 

[covediver]

Started diving in July 1984, got first prescription mask a few months later when my optometrist bonded lenses into my existing mask. Since then I have had a dive mask up until getting lasiks a few years ago which eliminated the need. I even had bifocals in the mask at one point to read instruments under water. Well worth the investment. Rather than use off the shelf corrective lenses I would get a mask that fits real well and then send it off for lenses to be mounted in the mask.

 

[azmodan50]

Gee, thanks. Top notch advice.

Yes, because that's all that I said. When everybody else is saying to get them, they are worth it.

Point is, just because you wear glasses doesn't mean you need a prescription mask.

But thanks for your helpful reply.

 

[jbomb001]

Personally I have had glasses forever. Like idk 25 years I don't have awful eyes but need them to drive watch TV read...live.

That being said I never had contacts and actually got contacts for the purpose of diving... big mistake! ! I hate them I've tried them above water day to day tried for months to get use to them,I never did. So I would get a mask with scrip !! I still don't have one and use my contacts that I hate but I can't just throw them out till I at least use up the supply of them I have. Then I'll get a scrip mask. Fwiw I only got a six month supply And they have lasted for years due to only using them to dive.


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