Ok, I finally broke down and got prescription lenses for my dive mask. Got tired of futzing with my contacts. It arrived yesterday and had this cloth with a bar of what smells like neutrogena soap. It says that instead of using defogger, put a spot of this "stuff" on the lens and buff with the cloth. I got the lenses from Prescriptiondivemasks.com. Anyone have any experience with this "defogger" bar?

I am actually really excited to go diving on Saturday and try it out!

Hey Cynde...Roger has had different prescription masks and uses plain ordinary baby shampoo as a defogger (no problems yet). See you soon! Karen & Rog

hey rog and karen, thanks. i have a liquid defogger that i really like, but didn't know if the prescrip lenses needed to be treated differently! Yep, gonna take traveling half way across the globe for us to hook up again!

I've tried and discarded the same sounding stuff before, Cynde,I think it was called 500 PSI. I use sea drops on my "glue ins" prescription lenses, work great as long as the mask is clean and I don't rinse it too well. I clean it at least once per trip with toothpaste or some blue gunk I got at the dive shop. Any silicone contamination can cause fogging.
So did you get one piece or glue ins?

Thanks Seb, I think i got the glue ins. i thought that they would replace the lens in the mask, but they glued the lens in the shape of the lens on the mask to the mask. hope that makes sense! the defogger drops i use work sooo well for me, that i don't want to get down and have issues with this new thing. it is a little square of stuff (like i said, it smells like neutrogena soap). guess i will have to experiment...and check the stuff i currently use for silicone. good tip thanks.

Nah, there won't be any silicone in what you use now, Cynde, some folks use silicone to help seal their mask, I've been known to put it on my mustache. Your stuff should work fine.
The reason the fogging is important is that you often have much less room in the mask to swish around water all the time with the glue ins. Depends on the volume of your mask.
The only problem I ever had with the glue ins was when I had them overhead (read:freezer)in the plane and took them out to check them in the superheated airport, and one lens delaminated, but was later glued back in. I have also had the lenses removed and switched as my prescription changed. Once the mask is marked, I just mail them off to my local optometrist who has been making them for 40 years.

seb, thanks...silicone on your mustache? you theatre types! my mask is the "big eyes" so i think there is still enough room that hopefully i won't have any problems with fogging! i am actually excited to get in the water saturday and not have to deal with my contacts! wooohooo!

Yeah, I have mostly switched to no petroleum lip balm instead, but when I forget it I still have a little tub of silicone in my bc I can swipe my mustache with, otherwise I get leaks. Sometimes I do my cheek a swipe too if I haven't shaved in a while

Cynde~

I also wear contacts while diving, one for reading my gauges and the other for distance; I'm as blind as a bat without them. Do have prescription lens mask also but only wear them when I'm tech diving; usually wear full face mask with my contacts. I would love to get lazer surgery and finally get rid of all these lens! I'm chicken.... to have the lazer done...someday!

jimini

Seb ... my husband Mark will like the idea of no petroleum lip balm for the moustache. He currently uses Vaseline but hates how "gucky" it is and also knows it can break down the mask skirt. Now I can't wait to go diving next month and check out the lip balm for him. Do you have a favorite brand?

What I use is Unpetroleum, I get it in a health food type store. Once it goes on I forget all about it.
The silicone works great too, frankly, and food grade silicone is ok for you so far as I know, and does not harm the mask.
I'm chicken too Jim, though it seems everyone I know is getting it.

Hi Jim and Seb,

I had PRK (the precursor to LASIK) 6 years ago and it has been GREAT! I went from 20/400 and 20/600 to 20/20 and 20/30.

However, before having the surgery you should make sure that 1) you find a doctor that has done LOTS of them 2) get personal recommendations from people that have used that doctor if possible.

I would do it again in a heartbeat - after wearing glasses for 30 years it is wonderful to be able to see without them!

Belinda

seb and jim, i'm also too chicken to do it! i knew a doctor that had it done at cedars in LA, and they did the WRONG EYE! that pretty much convinced me that i don't want to do it! LOL!

jim, i can't wait to try the lens' out tomorrow diving and the contacts thing is just a pain and i soooo look forward to not having the hastle. when we went to bonaire, after a dive i went to the bathroom and grabbed a bottle thinking it was my eye wetters and it was swimmer's ear drops...needless to say we were done diving for the day. my eye burned for hours and i couldn't open it!

Seb, I know exactly the brand you mean. thanks! I too am chicken about the laser surgery. Until two years ago i wore semi hard contacts and then lost one after a snorkel. At that time I decided to try soft lenses and have never had a problem diving with them. Is there something I should anticipate Cynde? Mark wore glasses for years and tried to convince himself and me that the magnification of his mask was enough until on one dive he almost ran into a shark and then several moon jellies. Shortly after that he got soft lenses and realized what he had been missing! But now we are both considering the little stickies for magnifying like our reading glasses so we can see our computers! Yikes -- we aging divers with our eye needs!

susan, i wear soft contacts. the problem is that if my masked flooded, or got any amount of water in it i often lost a contact. or, if they became dry while diving they were uncomfortable...knowing that i can clear the mask if i need to and not have to worry about losing my contact (have lost one twice this way) is one less stress, and will make my dive experience more enjoyable. i had to giggle about your husband running into a shark and jellies..."i thought it was dirt specks on the inside of the mask...really."...i am not to the point where i need the stickies for my gauges yet, but i have heard good and bad things about them. i contemplated getting the bifocal lens, but i really don't need them at this point to read my gauges. i will let you know how tomorrow goes, and i am sure i will probably be wishing i had done it 4 years ago!

Cynde, the reason I have stayed away from a prescription mask is because I am not sure how I would get TO the water without it on! My distance vision is so bad that I would need a guide dog as well as a dive buddy! Mark and I have a pretty good system going of helping each other out with the flooded mask, sort of like the instructors do in class when they tap you so you know you are no longer flooded. Last trip to Bonaire my mask came off in a pretty strong current and it was a bit disconcerting keeping my eyes closed til it was rescued! So I really am looking forward to hearing how you like it! Blow good bubbles tomorrow!

Susan, ok, stay with the contacts so you and your hubby can get to the water safely, either that or put it on and walk around the resort with it on and and simply state that it is a new "style!" LOL! Where were you diving that the current was so strong it ripped your mask off?

Susan, here's my secret: put the mask on. I tighten up the strap going in and coming out, and loosen it completely once I am about to submerge, or even on the swim out.
Here's my second trick: don't believe your own hype! See how much you can get around w/o glasses, and you might be surprised, especially if it's been years since you've tried. I no longer store my specs bedside, but in another room. No I can't see the big E on the eye chart.
One reason I like a wrist mounted computer is I can put it in my face next to my bifocal mask.

Cynde, the current was ripping in front of Eden Beach on our checkout dive. Since it was our first dive of the trip I may have been overly anxious and not put the mask on securely which might have been part of the problem.

Seb ... is there a big E on the eye chart? Where is the eye chart? I also keep my glasses in another spot -- maybe I should have Mark move them periodically and not tell me -- then I can go on a scavenger hunt. I mean, I do know where they are now so can get there without tripping over the dog. Oh wait a minute that is the laundry basket! LOL

I can't see the "E" eye chart either! And find going or coming to a divesite by shore sucks without my glasses on. I do wear my mask if I'm heading in or out of the water until I can locate my glasses. It's surprising though to swim for a long time without any mask under water and truely come to realize that one can see fairly good without a mask on. Tech diving teaches that with exercises diving without masks for a period of 5-10 minutes. I could even make out what my dive instructor was hand signaling several feet away. Maybe open water classes should teach the same thing to let people know they are not totally helpless without a mask on. So far I haven't heard any horror stories that lazer went bad...but still I feel I only have two eyes and I would hate to try to better myself only to suffer worse eye damage than I have now... Than again a person doesn't get anywhere if they don't take a chance. I now wear soft contacts but when I first started wearing contacts thirty eight years ago [man,that sounds terrible>thirty eight] they were the hard ones.

Sue..can I encourage you and Mark to get perscription masks..they are soooo wonderful and really give you the freedom to not worry abt losing your contacts...sometimes I put my mask on to see from shore to entry, but in general you don't have to read any signs ...perscription masks are the best ! I have friend who tried diopters and not happy with them at all....better to go with your perscription..hey..you'r hooked on diving..might as well go with it

Do any of the dive shops rent prescription masks ? I'd like my husband to try one when we are there.

You would more likely have to buy it and try it out with the option to return it if it didn't work for your husband.