need glasses. Help

[Kleanbore]

Here's a column on a person who adresses the problem. I've talked to him--sounds promising.

http://www.gunblast.com/LT_SafeVision.htm

One problem many of us who are avid shooters face as we get older is that our prescription glasses may no longer aid--but may actively hinder--our shooting. This problem normally arises because the prescription that allows us to see the target at a distance makes the front sight blurry or the prescription that makes the sights clear makes distant target acquisition difficult. There is a solution, however. A few opticians--in my experience, very few--specialize in making prescription shooting glasses or prescription glasses for other special applications. I am fortunate that SafeVision, LLC, (www.safevision.net) which makes prescription shooting glasses and other specialized prescription eyewear for industry, military, law enforcement, and sportsmen all over the world is based in St. Louis, MO, where I live. I will note right now, however, for readers that it is not necessary to visit SafeVision in person to get specialized glasses. Chris Vogler, who is the specialist in prescription shooting glasses, has a lot of experience in working with shooters over the phone to get the information necessary to produce the glasses they need.

Before getting into that process, though, let me talk a bit about how prescription shooting glasses work. I've been using a pair for the last few years and recently had to get new pairs because my prescription has changed. When I first got my glasses from Vogler I was amazed at how much my groups tightened up. In the case of my glasses, the right lens is ground so that I can see the sights on a pistol, combat shotgun, or battle rifle with my dominant eye (right in my case) when I assume the shooting position. The left lens is ground so that I can see the target. Since I shoot with both eyes open I had little difficulty learning to use this system, though I will note that for the first hour or so using this type of shooting glasses, you will feel a bit odd. However, this passes quickly and the glasses work great. I now put mine on when I arrive at the range and leave them on throughout the day, even if I have to drive from rifle to pistol range. My glasses also have a lower bifocal section so that I can read instructions for optical sights or see dials when zeroing optics.

At first I didn't see how the prescription that works for pistol sights could also work for battle rifle and combat shotgun sights. However, if you hold a pistol in shooting position, then hold an AR15 in shooting position, you will see that the front sights are actually about the same distance from the eye. Although they are not recommended for full-time usage, shooters who may occasionally shoot a rifle or shotgun with a radically different sight radius (i.e. for Turkey Shoots) can also have SafeVision produce a press-on bifocal which alters the normal shooting lens for the longer sight radius.

SafeVision also specializes in making prescription glasses for military personnel, law enforcement personnel, industrial applications, and various other tasks. Many of the military and law enforcement personnel order goggles or tactical-type glasses such as those from Wiley-X. SafeVision can also do prescription gas mask lenses or lenses for other types of masks. Because SafeVision specializes in glasses for applications such as industrial and military usage, they are designed to be very tough. Years ago when I first had Chris Vogler make me a pair of glasses, he showed me a pair one of his customers had sent back for him to examine. The customer, a bird hunter, had taken a blast of shot in the face at relatively close range. The glasses had not shattered despite being hit by pellets and had saved his vision.

A specialized type of prescription shooting glasses offered by SafeVision is especially applicable for law enforcement, some military applications, and those with concealed carry licenses. Vogler calls them reverse bifocals. Reverse bifocals take your normal prescription and add a prescription bifocal at the top of the glasses at the point where one looks with the dominant eye when acquiring the sights. I wear mine just as I would my normal glasses, but if I have to draw my gun, the sights are crystal clear. I mentioned these reverse bifocals some years ago in a column I did for a law enforcement magazine, and the response was overwhelming. Various officers from around the country sent Vogler e-mails thanking him for letting them stay on the street since they had been having trouble qualifying before they got the reverse bifocals. I also heard from some officers thanking me for drawing their attention to the specialized prescription glasses.

When I had my standard prescription shooting glasses made this time, I also decided to have two pairs of Wiley-X glasses made for use when I do tactical training or for everyday wear in some cases. SafeVision specializes in Wiley-X prescription glasses and prescription shooting glasses and sells a large number of pairs to military personnel. The Wiley-X frames sold by SafeVision are OSHA approved safety frames. The folks at SafeVision tell me that because the Wiley-X glasses look good as well as work so well, they've helped reduce eye injuries in the combat zones substantially--BECAUSE THE TROOPS WILL WEAR THEM!! I'll admit I like the way they look--they have a high CDI factor, as the SEALs would say.

I ordered one of my pairs of Wiley-X reverse bifocal glasses with the breathable gasket which may be installed for use in dusty, sandy environments or when it is very windy. These have proven a real boon for troops deployed in the Sand Box. I also ordered this pair of Wiley-X with the transitional lenses so that they darken in bright sunlight or in high glare situations. These function as my prescription sunglasses, too. My other pair of Wiley-X glasses employs the PAF (Premium Anti-Fog) treatment which SafeVision has found works very well in industrial situations. This is an anti-fog coating which keeps the glasses from fogging in virtually every condition. I've worn mine a half dozen times in situations where my glasses always fog and so far they've stayed completely clear. Just last night, my wife ordered me to empty the dish washer as soon as it had completed its run. This is a task that normally fogs my glasses immediately so I stuck on the Wiley-Xs with the PAF treatment and they stayed completely clear. Note that the PAF treatment cannot be used with certain other treatments which may have been applied to the glasses.

Anyone who's done tactical training for military or law enforcement wearing a gas mask knows the problems with lens fogging when carrying out any strenuous activities. In fact, when we used to train Army MP Special Reaction teams, one of my associates, who was former SAS, always made it a point to take the soldiers on a brisk run before we did shooting in gas masks to get them used to shooting with them fogged. SafeVision can produce prescription or nonprescription gas mask lenses with the PAF treatment--problem solved!

Even though SafeVision ships glasses all over the world and often has one or more of their optometrists travel to distant sites to give eye tests or take measurements for glasses, they remain dedicated to individual service via the phone and/or internet as well. Chris Vogler and Joel Wishne take care of the Optometric duties, Alicia Steward (who is ex-military herself) grinds specialized lenses, and Lynn Ryan deals with customer service and shipping. They are especially dedicated to getting glasses out quickly to deployed troops.

In addition to shooting glasses, SafeVision offers prescription glasses designed for an array of other sports including fishing, hunting, trapshooting, golf, pool, etc. And, of course, SafeVision specializes in prescription safety glasses for a wide array of industrial applications. The SafeVision team told me stories about how much quality control had gone up at some plants after they provided safety glasses with the workers' current prescriptions. Quality control in your shooting will go up as well!

For those who want to order prescription shooting glasses from SafeVision, you will need a current eye exam within the last year. Have whomever performs the exam include the pupillary distance on the prescription and mark PD next to it to make sure the folks at SafeVision will note it. There will be a few other measurements necessary, but Chris Vogler has walked hundreds of shooters and other sportsmen through the process over the phone and does it very clearly and concisely.

I am very impressed with my Wiley-X and standard shooting glasses from SafeVision. I am also very impressed with the SafeVision staff who really take customer service seriously and provide glasses which help the user do what he or she needs or wants to do more effectively. When I'm doing gun tests these days and shoot an excellent group--an event that doesn't happen as often as I would prefer!--I note the gun, optics used, and load for the article, but I also give a silent thanks to SafeVision.

For more information or to begin the process of ordering glasses go to SafeVision’s website or give them a call. For prescription shooting glasses ask to speak with Chris Vogler.
SafeVision, LLC

 

[Jungo2]

Paul,
I'll echo what some of the others have said. I use very mild reading glasses when I compete (USPSA). They are +.75 and were $16 delivered. They are not shooting glasses, however they do offer some protection. I wanted to first try an inexpensive solution to assess if the +.75 magnification would work before ordering $125 inserts for my shooting glasses. I realize that this is subjective, but the .75 glasses work very well for me. They clear up the front site while still maintaining very acceptable distant vision quality. Get a set of off-the-shelf readers in +.75 and try them out. What's one more set of reading glasses? I have them all over my house and garage

 

[Howard Roark]

This is the best article I've ever read about competiton vision correction:

http://www.nrapublications.org/ssusa/index.html

The best glasses maker in the world is useless if the vision isn't properly corrected and the lens is ground to exactly the correct diapoter. Instead of the industry standard of + or - .10

 

[Hungry Seagull]

I emerged from a one hell of a exam today. Normally I will keep things to myself until I actually shoot with a pair of glasses.

I had a implant to replace a cataract recently and the doctor that did the implant was aware of my double vision caused by lazy eye. He chose a lens that made a correction for the double vision a little bit.

It so happens that the wallet card for the implant contained numbers for the eye which throw off my current doctor....

Anyhoo. Im sitting in the chair and exam was progressing nicely at about 20/30 field on the healed eye when the doctor asked if I still have double vision. I said "Just a touch" and showed him with hand just about how far apart the target light at 20 feet (Just happens to be my hand gun distance) and it moves about an inch and equals a width of a human, 2 feet on the yonder paper.

He thought about it a minute.

Called the wife in told me to shut up and listen. By the time he finished both the wife and I understood three simple things. No bifocals, NO prisms (Those are very expensive and horribly capable of making one's vision screwed up and are only brought out in very special cases...) and YES I can still see 20/30 at anything past a foot, glasses off to read.

Oh, and he eyeballs me carefully while I walk outside to fetch wife from car, looking for things like how my hand is aiming for and grabbing the door knob in his office, my balance and my ability to correct with head for the slight drift which he already knew about. And he is a old tech doctor too. That meant wearing something that was holding 7 little lenses and a bunch of pegs like something out of a bad frankenstien movie.

The previous doctor who did the implant spun the wheel on the newer model eye prescription maker and had numbers within 8 seconds and his numbers were EXTREMELY CLOSE to the long, agonizing and precise exam with the old fashioned chest of many lenses.

Then he says Im to go back to the eye glass place that made the original prescription for the good eye which is somewhere at 20/8 or so and told me to make sure that they order this new prescription using the exact same zeiss material, the same transitions and the same specific numbers that is on record for the left eye lens.

So here I sit thinking I just dont need to spend a bunch of money to get several glasses so I can shoot on, but need to have a right lens made on the SAME frame Im using NOW... (Ugh...) so that the doctor can check me again in several weeks to see where I am at vision wise.

I have good trust that the doctor understands perfectly my situation but half tempted to shoot off a round of targets and show him the ones after the new glasses lens are made and tell him that they are adequate for the job.

It's very hard to find eyedoctors who understand shooting. I believe I found one who knows about the situation specific to my eyes and considers everything related to real life hobbys like shooting, driving, FAA etc irrevelant until he knows that the new lenses are "Goot".

Now who is more headstrong? Me or the eye doc?

Im going to go with the eyedoc and get that new lens made and we will see where we are at when range trip is finished.

There is one little thing about the glasses I think is important for shooting. Whatever prescription you are wearing you either need to have a special safety wrap made for your head or have a safety glasses that are plain to keep out the powder grains being blasted by your stall mates.

Ive been on a long journey with this whole eye thing and hope that when that new glasses is on that face and shotgun is on shoulder that stupid bead or rear sight is center mass and that exactly is where the round is going to go.

What is really crazy is without any sort of lens at all in that implanted eye, I have enough to shoot on a human 10 feet with any of my weapons. Crazy huh?