Fins And Stuff

[Steve the new guy]

OK then. Might need to do a bit of searching for the proper lenses. I am a small business owner and am willing to pay more to the little guy. Its just a principal thing with me. I don't buy foreign cars either. LOL

 

[tursiops]

OK then. Might need to do a bit of searching for the proper lenses. I am a small business owner and am willing to pay more to the little guy. Its just a principal thing with me. I don't buy foreign cars either. LOL

i suggest you search around a bit -- Amazon is a good place to start -- find some brands, get some prices, and then discuss some price-matching in the LDS.By the way, you are going to have to look long and hard to find any fins, masks, or snorkels that are made in the USA. I know of one fin, that's it. How far do your principles go?

 

[Steve the new guy]

I like that idea. Will look on Amazon and get some numbers. Ha! If its not made here I have no choice. I think I will call the shop in Islamorada tell them my vision concerns, what brands they carry, then I can do a bit of price checking online. Very helpful. My wife and I were hooked after 20 minutes of our first and only dive. I am always one to ask for help and you have been very helpful

 

[Fogest]

I like that idea. Will look on Amazon and get some numbers. Ha! If its not made here I have no choice. I think I will call the shop in Islamorada tell them my vision concerns, what brands they carry, then I can do a bit of price checking online. Very helpful. My wife and I were hooked after 20 minutes of our first and only dive. I am always one to ask for help and you have been very helpful

You just sometimes have to be careful with diveshops that they are not trying to sell you something more expensive and advanced than you need. Most shops are pretty good and they won't do that as they want you to come back for more stuff at their shop, but you never know. There is the odd bad shop. So that is why doing some online research and knowing the kinds of prices things go for can be pretty useful. I personally also like shopping at diveshops because I feel like I am supporting a local business. I also like physically seeing the items, and the diveshop I go to has always been helpful and gives me lots of professional advice based on their diving experience and other customers experience. I may be paying slightly more than if I shopped online, however since I'm in Canada the American prices always look good but always end up costing more once it is converted to Canadian dollars and shipping costs are applied.

Buying used is okay for some items. as @tursiops mentioned, things like snorkels and fins are really just that. It is pretty obvious if these items are working or not working. Just taking a glance at these items you can tell. That means it is very easy to buy these used without having to worry if they are broken or about to break on you. A mask however is something that is a good investment and is probably best bought new especially if you have vision concerns.

 

[Slym]

I got my gear with the same budget you have, I went over because of taxes but I believe without I hit the budget of 200.

I need glasses to drive but am fine underwater, Maybe if you go to the dive shop and see if different gauge sizes make a difference that might be a cheaper option, but most of the rental gear I have seen are the 1 to 1 1/2 inch gauges.

As for fins listen to the advice telling you to get the jetfin style (or actual jetfins) fins, as I bought the Sherwood Fusion and they are not too bad but one time I got caught in a heavy drift and couldn't even keep myself still or get to the bottom without heavy amounts of exercise... it was scary being a brand new diver with that issue. Having spring heals are great though!

 

[tursiops]

As for fins listen to the advice telling you to get the jetfin style (or actual jetfins) fins, as I bought the Sherwood Fusion and they are not too bad but one time I got caught in a heavy drift and couldn't even keep myself still or get to the bottom without heavy amounts of exercise... it was scary being a brand new diver with that issue. Having spring heals are great though!

I know my experience differs from a lot of folks, but for me jetfins (and their clones) suck. Yes, they give good propulsion, but that is because they are relatively stiff, but so are lots of other fins, like DiveRites. My problem with them is they are heavy, and it drags my lower body down. I've had three pairs, at various points in my multi-decade diving career, and I've sold them all. Similarly, I don't like split fins....they are too soft to give good propulsion, and their design requires a fairly rapid, short-stroke kick. they are also hard to use in precision maneuvering (like U./W photography) or non-flutter kicks (like frog or back). If you want to zoom around in no current, they seem fine. That is not the way I dive!

 

[KeithG]

the are 3 ways to fiddle the optics of your mask
- stick on cheaters that you place inside your existing flat lens
- drop in replacement lens ( available for most masks)
- a set of custom ground prescription lens

I have used the first 2, my divebuddy uses #3 as her prescription is very strong.

The stick on cheaters i tried failed due to instant and permanent fogging. The manufacturer confirmed that spit would not work and recommended a commercial defogger. They also provided a free set of replacement lens. I have not gotten around to trying them again as i can still (mostly) read my gauges and prefer spit.

When i started diving i took my prescription to my LDS and they "guessed" at which drop in lens i would need. my prescription was very weak so this worked fine. As i aged i was able to transition back to plain lens. This approach may or may not work for you. depends upon your prescription and the ability to guess which lens you need.

My dive buddy buys a mask that fits and then sends it and her prescription to prescription dive masks for a set of custom ground lens. Hers are now bifocal. She loves them. The only challenge with the bifocal was determining how high to position the transition line. Since she always has a backup mask, we put the transition at a slightly different position on each mask.

 

[islanddream]

I've been using the NEOPTX stick-on bifocal lenses for several months now. I ordered them from Amazon. It took a few tries to get them to stick on properly, but I found by not using much water they stuck on my mask really well. (I was following the directions but decided they were recommending way too much water to stick the lenses onto the mask.) I've taken them off a couple times and moved them around my mask to get the best placement for me. I don't spit in my mask. I use a 50-50 solution of baby shampoo and water in a small spray bottle that packs easily into my mask case. The stick-ons haven't ever fogged up on me. My husband got contacts to use when diving. He was having a hard time reading his gauges so he opted to go that route.

Welcome to the wonderful world of diving!

 

[tursiops]

the are 3 ways to fiddle the optics of your mask
- stick on cheaters that you place inside your existing flat lens
- drop in replacement lens ( available for most masks)
- a set of custom ground prescription lens

I've used all of these, settled on the latter as my best solution. But, I recently had cataract surgery in both eyes and now need no corrections whatsoever, near or far, underwater or on land. Woot! That, and occasional wisdom, are rare but good parts of getting old.

 

[claymore]

A mask that does not fit is almost worthless. There are masks at lots of price points and designs. Fit is more important than cost. A $75 dollar mask that fits is worth more than a $200 mask that does not fit. You can get stock prescription lenses for masks and they are not that expensive when you get them for one of the masks that they are made for. Ground to prescription lenses are expensive and the masks they fit in is limited.

As far as fins are concerned if you are going to be scuba diving get fins that are designed for scuba not snorkeling. Snorkeling fins tend to be shorter and do not provide as much thrust as a scuba fin. When you are wearing all your scuba gear you have a lot more resistance going though the water than when you are snorkeling so it takes a fin that provides more thrust to move you through the water.

Snorkels are a real personal choice. There are so many styles to chose from that you may end up trying several to find one that you like. I bought one that was supposed to be a great snorkel, I hated it., it is now the backup to the backup.