prescription glasses suggestions

[zach_]

I am guessing that some of you wear bifocals. I need bifocals well. Some of the shooters that I shoot with said that they wound up buying a second pair of bifocals glasses specifically for shooting and driving that differ from their standard glasses. Any suggestions? I will ask the optometrist today, but a shooters opinion would help. I plan on getting the Transitions brand of lenses. I want to get it right the first time. I hear the size/location of the reading area is the variable.

Thank You

[wogpotter]

Frequently different grinds (patterns) are possible within a prescription. I get whats called a "computer" grind, or a "TV" grind. You might want to discuss this with the optometrist.

[dangthathurt]

I'm in the same boat.
I have two solutions that work for me depending on the shooting situation.
1. Bifocals with big lenses (for wider field of view) with the lower bifocal put lower down on the lens (the optometrist can do this.)
2. A single contact lens for my dominant eye for long distance vision and nothing on the other eye. If I need to see something tiny I have cheapo readers.

Btw I dislike transition lens. They won't darken if you drive a car since the UV is filtered out by the windshield.

[oldpapps]

I have found that it helps if your optometrist is a shooter.

I have trifocals, transision with 'no-lines'.
I'm near sited and have ocular degeneration.

For open sights on a pistol, head level, center/long distance view.
For open sights on a rifle, not that easy. I shoot right side but my control eye is my left. I flop my head over the stock and twist my head to shoot from the center of my glasses.
For scoped rifles, hum, well.. I take my prescription glasses off and with my near sightedness, can see the view on the scope lens better and do well with no tilting or twisting of my head.
As for the ocular degeneration. I didn't know I had it and after my Doctor told me and explaining about it, I realized that I have been shifting my eye sight to see around (OK, not around but to the side or between the clouds) the gray spots for a better view. 20-20 is great except for the clouds.

Hopefully your Doctor is a shooter or understands what you need/want.

Good luck,

OSOK

[C7AR15]

Transition lenses ( no line, Distance at top of lenses , turning to reading glasses at bottom of lenses )

Also get a bigger frame with bigger lenses , not smallish rectangular frames. This will give you more viewing area.

When shooting I tilt my head slightly to get the front sight focused just perfect.

Been working for me for past 5 years. And now enjoy shooting handgun again!

[Surculus]

Your biggest problem is going to be getting your opthalmologist to understand that you need your primary correction [for distance] to be ground off-center in the upper lens [to the left if you shoot right-eye dominant, rt. if you're a southpaw.] Think about it: you don't look through anywhere near the center of your lenses when you're shooting [or for archery, where I 1st encountered this dilemma.] The correction used will also be to optimize viewing of your front sight, at whatever distance that is [usually, somewhere between .5 - 1 meter from your eye.] The correction for your non-aiming eye will be normally placed in the center of the lens, & corrected for normal distance viewing. The lower half of the bifocal lenses will be all normal.

Getting your Dr. to grasp this and then write an adequate prescription for the lens grinder [who is NOT going to like this one little bit!] and then getting frames that will work for you, aye now, there's the rub!

[wogpotter]

Fortunately we live in an are where shooting is a common sport so even the "mall eye doctors" understand custom grinds for shooters.
Try asking the ophthalmologist, you might be surprised.

[zach_]

Thanks for the input everybody. The first optical sales office screwed up my two hour visit. They sold me some frames that wouldn't work with my prescription. The second place explained the error of the first place. They sold me some different style frames. Time will tell if the second office knew what they were doing. I explained what I needed. They had a setup for shooters that allowed focus at arms length for handgun, and good peripheral for scopes. Very pricey compared to standard bifocals.

The optometrist that I used said they would check the glasses I purchase for free.

I have no choice but to get glasses. I would fail my drivers license vision test coming up in a few months. You can only renew online or on the phone if your previous renewal was at a licence branch in Tejas. That would be bad.

DON'T LET YOUR PRESCRIPTION PAPERWORK OUT OF YOUR SIGHT.

[sig220mwxxxx]

I had trouble focusing with my bifocals and read about something called the Merit optical device. I have heard the explanation as to how it works and I honestly can't remember it but I can tell you it has made a difference with my ability to focus and I now shoot better. It is a small aperture type that attaches to your glasses via a rubber suction cup. The aperture is adjustable. Just follow the directions as to how you want it adjusted. The damn thing works. Now suddenly my front sight and the target are both clear when I use the thing. The only problem with it is that it is awfully small to cost $60.00 but I will buy another if this one breaks or I lose it. I have been using it for several months now and it keeps on working. I shot pretty well already but at 25 yards especially my focus was not good. This thing really helps and I am 62 years old. I got mine from Midway USA but I am sure other outlets have it also. I was considering a separate set of glasses but tried this instead and am glad I did. I am assuming you are talking about handgun shooting for the most part.

[zach_]

Thanks again for the input everybody. The transitions type no line progressive bifocals work well for me for rifle with scopes. Their "HD" product have no noticeable distortion for me near the edges of the lenses. I will shoot handgun and non-scoped today or tomorrow. The first 2 days with glasses was not pleasant. I wound up very nauseous by the end of the day.

[wogpotter]

They take getting used to. You basically have to re learn "looking" by turning or tilting the head instead of swiveling the eyes.

[lwestatbus]

I have the same issue and am mostly concerned about handgun shooting.

I have no-line trifocals where the middle area of the lens is my "computer distance". It turns out that this is the area that works best on focusing on pistol sights. There are two issues to be concerned with (or aware of):

1. There is no way with normal glasses to focus on all three objects of interest, front and rear sights and target.
2. With normal everyday wear trifocals you will have to tilt your head up slightly in order to bring the correct area of the lens into play.

I actually have 'computer glasses' with no distance area that I keep at my computer at home and work. This keeps me from having to tilt my head up while working on the computer and these work well at the range.

But... I decided that I did not want to get used to one set of muscle memories at the range that would have to be changed in a confrontation. So I strictly use my everyday trifocals at the range and am used to the head tilt I need. It then becomes a different problem to get a point of aim that works but that is practice.

As my Dad used to say, "Getting old isn't for sissies."

[Frank Ettin]

Originally Posted by lwestatbus

...There is no way with normal glasses to focus on all three objects of interest, front and rear sights and target....

There's no way for a 20 year old with 20/20 uncorrected vision to do that either. Even with perfect vision we can only focus at one distance at a time.

In any case, I've worn progressive lenses for years and find they work well. It's just a matter of getting the "middle distance" correction in the right part of the lens. I haven't had a problem making a good optician understand what I wanted and how I wanted my lenses set up.

[wogpotter]

There's no way for a 20 year old with 20/20 uncorrected vision to do that either.

That is one reason why red dot, holographic & telescopic sights are "better" they fake the optics so the reticule & target are in the same plane & so sharp at the same time.

You can only ever focus in one plane at a time, regardless of eye health or age.

[Chuck Dye]

Run a search on "stick on bifocals." Get some that match your prescription as nearly as possible and experiment with positioning on your main lens. Bear in mind that the stick on lenses are easily cut for size and shape. For about $15 and a bit of effort you can take a tested layout to your lens grinder. You may even decide that $15 is all you need to spend.

[RC5129]

I have an eye Dr appointment coming up and I have questions for those of you that have had your Rx altered for shooting. I currently wear transition trifocals. If the middle distance is set for shooting, how well do you see through the rest of the lens - ie reading and distance? My doc is always telling me everything is a trade off, and I can't have all three perfect. Have any of you tried using bifocal contacts? Also, do you have photogrey lenses? I always have, but am thinking I may go without this time.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I have progressives and I shoot with the glasses I wear everyday.

Having 'shooting' glasses might be great for competition but I'm not changing out my glasses in a real world incident.

[wogpotter]

I don't have them "altered" I just get the style of grind that allows me to get the best vision on at the distance to the front sight in the best place on the lens.

Its usually a "computer" or "TV" grind. The ophthalmologist will know what you need & be able to assist you with his equipment he can position the grind for best effect. He might also be able to set the nose pads up so the lens rides higher. That way you're not looking through the edge of the frame. A friend of mine attaches a rubber band to his hat to pull them up for shooting which does the same thing if not as elegantly.

[sig220mwxxxx]

Try the Merit Optical Device. I have had all of the problems you guys are talking about and this thing worked.

[JohnFLand]

The Merit Optical Device is essentially a wearable peep sight. Nearly every long gun I own that doesn't have optics has a peep sight or ghost ring sight for a much improved sight picture.

[zach_]

Finally got to shoot handguns with the new glasses. Sight picture, front sight image much improved. Shooting still the same. I can see targets much better at 25 yards with irons or red dot with an ar. 25 yard handgun is outside of my range.

I found a bad spot on the left lens edge while shooting weak handed through scopes. The optometrist, and place where I bought the glasses said that should be expected. I called foul. Got my money back on the "digital" feature.

I recommend buying your glasses from the optometrist that does your prescription. I went through the finger pointing game using 2 different places. I had no option as the first place screwed up and sold me frames that wouldn't work with my prescription. I did not trust them after that. Should have got my optometrist fee back as well. Make sure the money back guarantee includes all fees including the optometrist. Their scam is being a contractor within the store. Read the agreement. Do not take their word as reality.

[sig220mwxxxx]

See my earlier post #9. There I stated that it was an adjustable aperture sight.

Apparently others posting on this subject either don't believe or understand what I am talking about and would rather spend money on another set of glasses. The Merit device worked for me and enabled me to use my bifocals without buying more.

[JohnFLand]

I'm not disagreeing with you, since I think the Merit has great merit! As in a camera, by stopping down the aperture, incoming light is constrained to the least curved part of the lens, resulting in a greater depth of field-- thus, more of what you are looking at is in focus (the trade off is less light). A peep sight works on the same principle. I prefer peep sights so that every shooter among family and friends gets the improved sight picture. A ghost ring doesn't give quite the same benefit because the aperture is larger than a peep sight, but still helps out some.

[zach_]

Sig, that device sounds interesting. If I have further issue, I might peruse that option.

[FITASC]

If you like colored lenses for shooting, check out Randolph Rangers XLW - you can get a scrip insert so you can use regular colored lenses in a wide variety of colors. Otherwise, they also make the colored lenses in scrip strengths, but if your eyes change, it is a lot cheaper to get a new insert than all new lenses. They are great for driving, shooting, fishing, etc.

Tom Donahue at TX Shooter's Optical has AWESOME customer service