custom prescription mask

PHXAZCRAIG wrote:

I'm interested in ordering a new prescription dive mask in the next couple of weeks. I've been using my current mask since 2006, and I'm told some of the leaking I get with it may be due to the age of the rubber.

This is the only mask I've ever had that I can see out of. I have a 6.0 and a 6.5 diopter lens, though 6.25 and 6.50 would be more accurate. The mask is a US Divers sold originally by Sports Chalet before they went under. It has two removable eye pieces that you simply swapped out for ones of the correct diopter. They had a stack of them in 0.5 increments.

That sort of mask doesn't seem that popular now, and it looks like I'm going to have one custom cut. Any advice on this? Mask to start with? Anything like bifocals available so I can see in the distance but still read my gauges? I'm quite nearsighted.

I assume I need a recent prescription, but that's all I know.

Located in Phoenix, Arizona.

My mask with bifocal prescription lenses glued in worked great for many years until the mask glass (not the lenses) shattered on a slight impact - a freak accident. The lenses were ground according to my prescription and worked as well as my daily glasses. Initial cost, lenses only, $325. I salvaged the lenses and had them put into a new mask of the same model for $125. That mask has a single glass plate that bridges across the nose from one eye to the other. I wondered if the single glass piece made it more vulnerable to breakage.

The loss of the mask terminated my diving in Hawaii last month. So, I considered the renewed mask as a backup; and looked for another mask with lenses as a primary. I reviewed several suppliers, local and out-of-state, and finally went with this one: https://seethesearx.com/. They seemed to be the most knowledgeable and fast to respond to questions via email. I'm expecting to receive the mask from them any day now. This mask has a separate piece of glass for each eye, which I assume will make them less prone to breakage. (Many suppliers say it will not.)

Recent experience with normal glasses and mask lenses has impressed on me the importance of getting the PD (pupillary distance) correct, in addition to the basic prescription. I would not go with a supplier who does not ask for the PD value. Also consider that you need a lens design that allows easy application of anti-fog liquid, for flooding of the mask and for complete removal during a dive, as when another diver accidentally kicks it off with his fin.