Extremely poor visibility without mask (skill)

[Storker]

I do well with progressive eyeglasses - but I just cannot adjust to the progressive contacts.

Yes, they can be tricky to adjust to. Did you know that they work quite differently from progressive eyeglasses?

We all know that in progressive eyeglasses, the lower part of the glasses are corrected for near and the upper part for far vision, and we tilt our heads to see through the appropriate correction zone. Progressive contacts, OTOH, have the correction zones arranged concentrically around the center. You have two images on your retina, and your brain filters out the fuzzy one, helped by the fact that you pupils contract slightly when you look at something close up (the near correction is at the center of the contacts).

Is the datamask display inside the glass? If so, you could get some contacts that give you good near vision and put some prescription glass into your mask for far vision outside the mask

 

[kimbalabala]

Yes, they can be tricky to adjust to. Did you know that they work quite differently from progressive eyeglasses?

We all know that in progressive eyeglasses, the lower part of the glasses are corrected for near and the upper part for far vision, and we tilt our heads to see through the appropriate correction zone. Progressive contacts, OTOH, have the correction zones arranged concentrically around the center. You have two images on your retina, and your brain filters out the fuzzy one, helped by the fact that you pupils contract slightly when you look at something close up (the near correction is at the center of the contacts).

Is the datamask display inside the glass? If so, you could get some contacts that give you good near vision and put some prescription glass into your mask for far vision outside the mask

Yeah - I had no idea how they work - it's amazing science! I just wish I could gut it out long enough to make it work for me! I think I'm just a big baby!

Interestingly, the datamask computer screen is inside the glass and it doesn't seem to matter what your prescription is. It is clear for almost everyone regardless of their vision. I say 'almost' because I have heard of one or two people who couldn't use it. But my husband and I both have used it without problem and we both need correction for distance and close up. Our next dive trip isn't scheduled until July so I have some time to play with it ... Thanks so much for the input.

 

[CT-Rich]

I had a single glue in gauge reader lens on my old mask, it was good for reading gauges but not much else. My current mask has built in readers. The nice thing about this mask is that I can look at a critter up close by looking at it through the readers. The one I bought has a 2.0+ in both sides and cost about the same as a regular mask.

 

[kimbalabala]

Ok, I've made a 2 week commitment to trying to make the multi-focal contacts work. I'm on day 3 and my eyes seems to be making an adjustment. On day 1 I could see well far away but the near vision was really bad. Today I see well far away and have gained a good deal of the 'in between' distance vision. The near vision - reading my speedometer in the car, for instance - is just 'ok', which is much better than day one. Reading this computer screen is blurry but it works. My goal is to be able to see my camera screen well enough to take pictures in the water. I'll update after two weeks in case there's anyone else thinking about this option. Hoping it works - crossing my fingers (and not my eyes!).

 

[Frosty]

The other possibility is that the OP has eye issues with the chlorine in pools. -I struggle to do anything with mask off in a pool but Im happy swimming along with my mask in my hand in sea water.