Question About Prescription Masks

[dreamr]

Hi,

For those of you who have or have used a prescription snorkel mask... does it just 'magnify' things like those cheapo reading glasses that you can get at certain stores?

 

I have been debating getting a prescription snorkel mask... but just out of curiosity, I tried on a pair of 'reading glasses' at a store tonight and while the glasses did make things appear larger, everything was still very, very blurry (I'm guessing that's due to my astigmatism?).

 

I don't want to spend nearly $100 on a prescription snorkel mask and then discover that it doesn't help me at all. :/

 

If that's the case, I'll just go ahead and accept the fact that I'll be squinting in the water while snorkeling and save my money for something else. lol

 

Thanks. :)

[Capt_BJ]

well it depends

 

most 'perscription masks' that I've see are on the shelf and come in the same strengths as the reading glasses you mention. One of the most popular 'systems' currently carried in larger dive outlets is sold in parts, a frame and right and left lens in the common strengths. You put it together yourself.

 

daughter has a stig' and as we were ordering new contacts just last week I was mentioning to the dr that last time around it took nearly 2 months to get the darn things delivered. He mentioned that the issue was the stig' ... there are thousands of perscriptions possible for treatment of a stig' he told me, and while glasses are made to order, the contacts are made in batches and for a less common perc' there is a supply and demand issue.

 

So for your mask you have the same issue. Off the shelf perscriptions aren't gonna cut it cuz I don't think you'll find a stig' persc' lens. But there ARE places that will make what you need, just as they'd make a pair of glasses. It will cost more of course.

 

btw dd wears her contacts SCUBA diving ...

[dreamr]

So it's a good thing I tried out those reading glasses before ordering a prescription mask, because the mask that I'd be ordering from an online vendor probably wouldn't do me any more good than a pair of those reading glasses, right?

 

Unfortunately, I don't wear contacts and I don't think I have enough time to try to get them and get used to them before my trip. Maybe I will try to see if I can find a mask that will allow me to wear a pair of glasses in it (I know that isn't recommended because of the seal, but it can't hurt to at least try, right?).

 

Thanks for the reply! :)

[Stevesan]

Hi,

For those of you who have or have used a prescription snorkel mask... does it just 'magnify' things like those cheapo reading glasses that you can get at certain stores?

 

I have been debating getting a prescription snorkel mask... but just out of curiosity, I tried on a pair of 'reading glasses' at a store tonight and while the glasses did make things appear larger, everything was still very, very blurry (I'm guessing that's due to my astigmatism?).

 

I don't want to spend nearly $100 on a prescription snorkel mask and then discover that it doesn't help me at all. :/

 

If that's the case, I'll just go ahead and accept the fact that I'll be squinting in the water while snorkeling and save my money for something else. lol

 

FYI: If you are only moderately near sighted, you won't need prescription lens. The water has a magnifying effect.

 

Thanks. :)

 

Take your prescription to the dive shop. If you are only either near or far sighted, they will likely have a mask with your corrections in stock. If you have astigmatism, they will need to order the mask with your prescription requirements.

 

My mask was an order and cost about $150.

With age I developed some astigmatism along with being near sighted.

Now I have to have bifocals for driving, readers fro close up, and distance for movies, etc.:rolleyes:

 

FYI: If your are only moderately near sighted, you won't need prescription lenses. The water has a magnifying effect.

[dreamr]

Yeah, I know you can get custom prescription masks made, but I don't foresee myself snorkeling often enough to require me spending that kind of cash. I was going to order the $70 mask from snorkel-mart... and even that seemed a little excessive to me, given that I may not use the mask again. So I definitely don't want to spend twice as much as that. :/

 

Thanks for the reply! :)

[Capt_BJ]

well I took a look at Snorkel Mart's web site

 

from what I see I'd probably call or e-mail them a question about my Astig' Rx

 

the details for the $70 mask say lens' in stock and ships the next day .... which to ME sounds like standard near sighted / far sighted issues.

 

the details for the $219 mask say A custom grinding service to match your prescription exactly.

 

My guess is the astig' Rx is gonna require $219 service ... but I might be wrong. There is a place to send questions, that costs you nothing! (on line chat during bus' hours too)

 

if $70 bucks can give you your correct astig' Rx I'd say that's one heck of a deal.

 

****

I just read more - they have a page about lens selection which does address astig'

 

http://www.snorkel-mart.com/optical_lens_calculator.cfm

 

so we might be back to ' is it worth $70 for one time use?'

 

from their page:

 

The prescription may contain some terminology that we may need to clarify.

 

OD (Ocular Dexter) refers to your right eye.

 

OS (Ocular Sinister) refers to your left eye.

 

Sphere Refers to the degree of correction needed by your eye, measured in dioptres. For nearsighted people this is always (-) negative.

 

Cylinder Refers to the amount of astigmatism in your eye (the degree by which your eye is not uniformly round).

 

(There may be other terms on the prescription such as Add, PD and Axis, but these values are not considered when selecting a Step Dioptre Lens)

 

Although step dioptre lenses do not correct for cylinder, the cylinder number does affect which lens will best suit you. {emphesis added}

 

****

 

how strong is your astig'? DW's was nearly off the charts and she wore thick glasses for a long time ... 8 years ago lasik let her live w/out glasses for the first time since early childhood. Sadly she's just been told she'll need to wear glasses to drive - but nothing like her old ones! But I digress, a slight astig' may be less expensive to fix by 'lens' .... but what do I know? Glasses people hate me, I'm retired for years now but eye exam last week said I'm still 20/15.

[Capt_BJ]

p.s. they have a decent return policy . . .

[dreamr]

Yeah, I've already been chatting with the guy from snorkel-mart for a while now. When I told him my prescription, he said the mask would work... but he's a salesman, so I would be very surprised if he had told me to save my money! :P

 

My prescription is:

 

Right Eye:

SPH: -5.50

CYL: -1.25

AXIS: 075

 

Left Eye:

SPH: -5.25

CYL: -0.75

AXIS: 085

 

About the return policy, I only have 25 days until we sail... so if I were to order the mask, receive it and decide that it doesn't work, I don't know that I'd have enough time to send it back and get my money back before time to leave. So it'd just be 'wasted' money that I could have taken with me to be used for something else. :/

 

Haha. Lucky you! I've been in glasses since I was a kid. Luck of the draw, I guess! lol

[Capt_BJ]

well, you've covered all the bases

 

if you think this is a one time use at best, don't do it is MY recommendation

[lovecruzin]

If you are going on a snorkel excursion, sometimes the tour operators provide Rx masks...so maybe you will get lucky! Have fun!:D

[ksg]

I am horribly near-sighted with severe astigmatism. I bought off-the-shelf lenses in a sporting goods store for distance that I popped into the mask. For snorkeling use it works great, particularly as the water corrects for nearsightedness too. No problems seeing the coral and fish. Note that in order to do this I needed to buy a new mask with two separate lenses. It won't work for the one-piece-across-the-eye-type mask. I also need reading glasses - I use verilux lenses in my glasses, but the mask lenses aren't corrected for this.

 

I only snorkel, so I don't need to read any scuba valves and such, in which case I would have opted for the very expensive, custom lenses. I had once investigated this with my optometrist, but the cost to order lenses that actually were my prescription was crazily expensive.

 

Also, and I think many of you will appreciate this - the prescription mask is great coming out of the water when beach snorkeling - no stumbling around to find the blanket!

 

For those of you in the New York City area, I used Paragon around Union Square. They had a fine selection of lenses of different strengths.