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Prescription shooting glasses


Dusty Boots

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Looking for some guidance regarding prescription shooting glasses. I am far sighted and wear progressive trifocals. I have heard that having shooting glasses with two single focus lenses with different prescriptions (one for distance, one for near objects) allows the shooter to get/maintain a better sight picture. The questions I have are, has anyone done this and how much improvement is there? The other question is which eye gets which prescription? My left eye is dominant. I am right handed and shoot revolvers right handed, but shoot long guns left handed so I can keep both eyes open.

Advance thanks to any and all who can shed some light on this.

DB

 

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It is pretty common. 

Most people can do it, but some cannot adjust to the different focal lengths.  It just take me a couple minutes.

 

You put the closer focus (set to your pistol sight or between pistol and rifle sight) on you dominant eye.  The other eye is set for long distance.

 

For my my guns, I found I could just point my finger and it was the corect length, so I didn't have to take my guns in as I originally did.

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I didn't like it when I tried it. I ended up getting a pair of prescription safety glasses with progressive lenses for general use (I also need safety glasses for work) and another pair with s prescription so I could see the sights (basically reading glasses).

 

I put the reading glasses on when I head to the lodging table and switch them back out at the unloading table. 

 

True, everything not within about 24 inches is blurry but this worked better for me. 

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If you want to test if you can do it, buy some relatively inexpensive readers that focus where you want for close.  Then remove the other lens and see if you can adjust in a few minuts.

 

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Such lenses shaved seconds off my average stage times.  However, with you shooting right-handed and left-handed I have no advice how to set them up.  Perhaps both lenses at the distance of your front sights might work.  It takes about twenty minutes to adjust to the glasses.  Readjusting to my regular bifocals is almost immediate.

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Measure the distance from your eyes to the distance to the front sight of your revolver - rifle - end shotgun of shotgun barrel.  Take the measurements to an optometrist and start trying on lenses so you see each front sights clearly.  Probably end up with a trifocal pair of glasses

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I just did this in November. I took a blue gun ]the plastic ones holster makers use] in with me and had the center distance done based on the distance needed for the front sight. It works great, the front sights on both handguns and rifles are clear again. +1 on ANSI safety lenses.

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If you get multi-focus lenses, they must have the proper focal just where you need them.  They can be a problem when moving and different shooting as you are not always lined up just right.  At least that has been my experience and a common report from many others.  So I prefer the fixed - mon-vision as they call it.  Mixing of two lens.

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+1 on taking a blue gun and getting a custom "sports" prescription (as documented by my enlightened eye doc), it really helps me as long as I remember to switch to them.

 

And get them in single vision, not progressive or multi-focal lenses (though I have read some shooters getting a benefit from "flipping" bifocals with the close distance in the top half).

 

I can always recognize when a shooter is wearing progressive lenses, the head bobs up and down causing them to raise and lower the firearm for alignment. Besides being a training opportunity to focus on the front sight and only on the front sight for actual focus (I teach fundamentals of shooting), it points out how we learn to use progressive lenses subconsciously for what we are focusing on. This is bad juju when it requires a stable relationship between our eyes, neck, arms, and wrists. It all changes with a slight bob of the head. The first lesson for me is to not shoot with progressive lenses.

 

High impact poly-carb meeting "industrial" standards are good, but maybe not good enough for all ricochets. Without additional shields, the lenses alone will not prevent brass getting in between the frames and your face. Fortunately, most folks have reflexes fast enough to limit burns to the outer lid.

 

I have severe near-sightedness, my "sports" prescription does work for shooting, and I can drive with them but street names in suburbia are too blurry to read at a reasonable distance. I do need to allow at least half hour to get used to a glasses change but then I do forget I changed them. But dang, I do love seeing that sharp front sight!

 

On edit: Both eyes on my sports prescription have the same focus, the front sight. If I get into skeet I may revisit this so one eye can see the clays and the other sees the shotgun front bead. Maybe. Not yet qualified for that detail. But for SASS, 3Gun, IDPA, BUG, and Steel Challenge, my sports prescription works well.

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I wear trifocals daily also.

Also right handed and left eye dominant.

Have my shooting glasses set as one lens so my sights are CLEAR.

To keep my left eye from taking over. I shut it. I know. You are to keep both eyes open.

But it never worked for me. 

I tend to do alright that way.    

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I wear bifocals but had my latest shooting glasses made with one prescription, that is the focal point of revolver and rifle sights. 

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Same situation as Anvil Al.  Left eye dominate and shoot right handed.  Had my right lens set for my sights.   Had the bottom of my right lens set for distance and had the top frosted to prevent double vision.   

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Agree with the others here on the non-progressive lenses for shooting.  It needed to much head movement to find the sweet spot for me.  I went with the inexpensive Elvex brand safety glasses that has the full lens single magnification.  I bought a couple strengths to test. they are less than $10 a set.  These work great for me.

 

 

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12 hours ago, John Kloehr said:

On edit: Both eyes on my sports prescription have the same focus, the front sight. If I get into skeet I may revisit this so one eye can see the clays and the other sees the shotgun front bead. Maybe. Not yet qualified for that detail. But for SASS, 3Gun, IDPA, BUG, and Steel Challenge, my sports prescription works well.

When shooting Skeet once you have the beads lined up as you like them your eyes should never focus on the barrel when shooing with both eyes open.  If your eyes go back to the barrel after you have called for the bird you no longer can see the target and it will probably be a lost target.

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I wear progressive lens glasses for daily use. Would shooting glasses with a fixed lens in the dominant eye and progressive in the non dominate work? I tried the ones from Dillon with the small square in the corner by the nose and just couldn't position my head right for all guns.  Wish the search worked better here, there have been many other posts regarding this issue. I need new glasses, so now is the time. Can't wait to walk downtown Hanover carrying guns! (Dartmouth college town) Thinking of notifying the PD B4 going. Or that may cause more hassle.

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6 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

I wear progressive lens glasses for daily use. Would shooting glasses with a fixed lens in the dominant eye and progressive in the non dominate work? I tried the ones from Dillon with the small square in the corner by the nose and just couldn't position my head right for all guns.  Wish the search worked better here, there have been many other posts regarding this issue. I need new glasses, so now is the time. Can't wait to walk downtown Hanover carrying guns! (Dartmouth college town) Thinking of notifying the PD B4 going. Or that may cause more hassle.

Having different prescriptions in each eye doesn't work for me, but could work for you.

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I had progressive lenses put in my shooting glasses.  Same as my regular glasses.  Only took a while working with my Optometrist.  If memory serves me correctly, they had to move the prescription up in the lens a bit, so it was easier to make the adjustment.

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I have been using prescription glass for years. I was at a shoot and having a lot of misses with pistols.

When i was home and cleaning , pistols . I had my reading glasses on . Help up a pistol looked down sights. Couldn't believe how clear the sights were.

Went and told them what i do . He said that he knew what i needed. He hade glasses for police officers all the time.

I can read with them and shoot.

He took my numbers for Distance and Reading . Split them in half have been working well .

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Have ESS glasses with the insert for prescription (small wire).  Anyone know who fits prescription lens at a reasonable price?

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7 hours ago, Kirk James said:

Have ESS glasses with the insert for prescription (small wire).  Anyone know who fits prescription lens at a reasonable price?

My local optometry office has facilities to cut lenses on site.  The lenses for the inserts don't have to be ANSI rated since they are protected by ANSI rated outer lenses, so they are less expensive.

 

I have the ESS ICE glasses as well.  Two problems I had with these were hot/humid environments and shooting in the rain.  Water/fog can get between the two sets of lenses and be a PITA to see through/clean.  If you don't shoot in the rain, shouldn't be an issue/

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I had the wife measure between face and front sights with rifle and pistols.  For me, this was 34 inches for both.  Taped a pencil to a yard stick at 34 inches and took that to the eye Dr.  I am right eye dominate and so the right lens has a focal length at 34 inches.  Left lens for distance viewing.  It does take a couple of minutes for my brain to adjust when I first put them on.  I have to take them off to read stage instructions for the posse.  I shoot gunfighter and this seems to work for that also.

 

Chancy

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My daughter is an optometrist and she helped me with prescription shooting glasses.  First, she talked to her frame rep and we decided to use ballistic glasses from Smith.  They cost a little more but I couldn't justify savings here for eye protection.

https://www.smithoptics.com/en_US/sunglasses/OUTBACK-ELITE-SUNGLASSES.html

 

Next, she determined the strength needed for the distance to my rifle site.  She had me purchase a stick on bifocal lens and placed it onto the glasses I bought.  You can cut these with scissors to the size and shape you want and locate it in the line of vision to the front site of the rifle.  I used this set up in a few matches and I could easily adjust the stick on bifocal and was sure I had the size and location that worked best for me.  The stick on never came loose at a match.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hydrotac-Bifocal-OPTX-20-Diopter/dp/B00IF9375I/ref=sr_1_10?crid=ZH10B8CHVRV3&dchild=1&keywords=stick+on+bifocals&qid=1614693950&sprefix=stick+on+bi%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-10

 

She then talked to the lab that makes lenses for her.  They were very helpful and understood what we wanted.  They made lenses for the frames that have my regular prescription and then added a spot in the lens that accommodates my shooting.  I have my normal distance and reading prescription with the addition for shooting.  

 

 

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I have trifocals, but the lined type because I can't stand the progressive lenses - I have worn glasses since age 5 & lined bifocals since age 7.  My shooting glasses are prescription, but the right (dominant eye) lens is the midrange prescription so that I can focus on the sights & the left lens is the distance prescription.  I added a stick-on bifocal on the left lens so that I can read stage instructions & keep score.  I have had this set of glasses for almost 2 years & they work really well for me.  When I first put them on, the different lens prescriptions is apparent, but after about 10 minutes I don't notice it any more & can wear them all day with no adverse effects.

 

I chose a sporting-type safety frame with side shields from WalMart & were less than $100 with lenses as I recall.  I did have my longtime optometrist write the prescription - he is a hunter & knows what is needed for shooting.

 

Holler

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I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I am nearsighted and wear progressives. I tried to shoot with my progressives and the front sights are always blurry.  One day I got frustrated and took my prescription glasses off and put on regular safety glasses (no prescription). Yee Haw!  The targets were blurry, but I could make them out OK. The front sights - I could see them quite clearly. Well, at least a lot better than with the progressive glasses on. Since them, I just wear regular safety glasses when shooting. Makes it kinda hard to pick brass or spot, but my shooting improved. 

 

Sam Sackett

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Trying not to be a wet blanket here...

 

I have pretty bad eyesight. I am right eye dominant and right handed, so I have that going for me.
 I tried a couple of different methods of changing eyeglass prescriptions to help me with shooting.


The right lens for close up and the left lens for far off literally made me queasy. I could not get used to it.


I had a set of single vision lenses made with the focus on the distance of the front sights of my revolvers and rifle. These were okay but I could only wear them when actually shooting. They were disruptive to me otherwise.

 

When my eyesight warranted bifocals I had progressive lenses made but talked my optometrist into stretching the focal point from the center of my pupil up and to the left on my right eye so I could see rifle sights easily. This worked but it took three sets of lenses before it worked well. This actually was the best of the three experiments that I tried. Unfortunately, my vision is such now that this option cannot be done with my prescription...or lens crafting is so automated they can’t make the lenses. Either way, it’s not an option for me any longer. 
 

So, I rely on contrast if I cannot easily see a sight. I utilize the SASS legal front sight colors to give hard to see sights contrast between the front sight, the rear sight and the target. 
Currently I shoot stainless Rugers. I mar or dull the front silver sight so it’s non-reflective and I blacken the rear sight. 
My shotgun bead is brass. 
Luckily I have no trouble with my rifle sights but I am considering an “ivory” bead. 
 

Good luck in your venture @Dusty Boots. It can be very disheartening and time consuming but have faith. You will figure something out that works for you. It just takes perseverance. 

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I went to my eye Doc and arranged to bring long gun and revolver then he made adjustments with both weapons we did it out back to keep his others calm

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23 hours ago, Kirk James said:

Have ESS glasses with the insert for prescription (small wire).  Anyone know who fits prescription lens at a reasonable price?

Kirk,

 

If you are interested in exploring another alternative, there is a company that is located near you (Scottsdale) that specializes in selling frames and prescription lenses for shooters.  Their Hy-Wyd frames allow you to easily replace a lens whenever you change your prescription.  Here is a link to their website. I have been using their products for over 8 years and been very happy with just having to get replacement lenses.  

 

 

 https://www.decot.com/product-category/sportglasses/

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