RE: Masks and glasses

[firefighterjake]

OK, try not to laugh too much . . .

 

I was short on time and I didn't want to go too crazy by opting to buy special lens for my snorkeling mask . . . since I have very, very bad vision the magnifying properties of the water just wasn't cutting it (I tried using my mask alone without any visual aides in my spa and even there I had problems seeing things clearly).

 

I looked at various alternatives such as getting the special mask inserts, lens, etc. and in the end I settled on what best can be described as A Maine Redneck Mask for The Visually Impaired.

 

I realize this may look absolutely ridiculous and is in no way the best solution but I thought this might help future CC.com members who might elect to go this cheaper route . . . at least until they decide they want to invest a little more money into better gear for snorkeling.

 

What I did was take some suggestions I read here and modified them a little bit. I bought a relatively cheap snorkel set from Dick's Sporting Goods, bought some heavy-duty silicone like material (Lexel) from the local hardware store and an old pair of glasses with a messed up frame and came up with this.

 

 

 

After popping out the lens from the glasses and cleaning them and the mask thoroughly I used the Lexel (expensive stuff that takes a while to set up and firm up, but it is very strong, clear and adheres to just about anything and is good in water) to attach the lens to the outside of the mask . . . running a bead (although not a very nice looking bead) around the exterior of the lens of the glasses. I put the glass lens on the outside of the mask to avoid any potential fogging on the interior, but in retrospect I suppose I could have gone with an interior set-up . . . I just know that when using my firefighter SCBA mask that the glasses inside that mask sometimes fogs up badly.

 

After cleaning up some of the excess adhesive that dribbled on to the lens of the glass I allowed the whole kit and kaboodle to set up for a couple of days. I will admit that I opted to slather on quite a liberal amount of the adhesive on to the mask/lens since I was in mortal fear that I would take the very first dip . . . and then have the lens pop off the mask . . . in retrospect I probably used way, way more adhesive than was necessary. A patient man could probably make this look a lot better.

 

The good: The set-up worked for my purposes. Having never snorkeled I didn't want to spend an excessive amount of time or money into buying expensive gear only to find out that it would not be something I would use in the future. The lens attached to the outside allowed me to see relatively well (at least better than the mask without the lens).

 

The bad: One lens apparently has a pin-hole leak in the adhesive as it would slowly allow water to enter the space between the lens of the mask and the lens of the glasses . . . this wasn't a real issue, but the resulting small bubble could sometimes be distracting.

 

The ugly: If you elect to go this route you will not win any beauty contests. This whole MacGuyer'ed set-up looks like something that a Maine hick would come up with . . . if you really, truly want something that is functional for not a whole lot of time or money you can go this route . . . but be prepared to look like Erkel!

[scubaran]

The bad: One lens apparently has a pin-hole leak in the adhesive as it would slowly allow water to enter the space between the lens of the mask and the lens of the glasses . . . this wasn't a real issue, but the resulting small bubble could sometimes be distracting.

 

This is the exact issue with trying to use old lenses from glasses, they're not meant to be a flat seal all the way around (in fact most curve very substantially along their edge). You probably didn't use too much sealant because of this. Glad you're happy with the work, you apparently put a lot of thought and effort into it. :p If it helps any, you probably wouldn't have been happy putting them inside the lense because the edge would have been too far from the inside of the mask lense and you would have had to reduce your amount of visible seeing surface in order to get it sealed (plus it would be a bear to get anti-fog solution in all the contours.

 

Randall