Shooting Glasses

[tdbmd]

My eyes are getting older and I need to use readers. So, I needed some shooting glasses that had either a prescription or magnifier in them. Ended up purchasing some top focal glasses from SSP. I have to say, these are awesome. The magnifier is in the upper portion of the glass and so when you bring your head down on sight, now I can see the sights in focus. Gives the target just a minimal blur at handgun ranges. Great product.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I use 1x readers from the dollar tree. I can see the sights and my target.

 

[tdbmd]

The problem I had with readers was that I have to lift my head to use them

 

[12Bravo20]

I spent the money to have a pair of prescription shooting glasses made. For me it was money well spent. And I do wear bifocals.

 

[doubleh]

No more cararacts allows me to use regular safety glasses. I take along a pair of 2X readers in case I have to do some close up gun tinkering.

 

[tdbmd]

I don't need any correction except for reading so the top focal shooting glasses worked for me.

 

[Bob Willman]

My everyday glasses are trifocals. For hunting and serious target shooting I add a stick-on bifocal to the upper corner of the right lens where I look for the front sight. The stick-ons are flexible, can be cut to size, put in place wet, stay there when dry and can be peeled off and reused.

NRA Benefactor Golden Eagle Looking forward to Indianapolis

 

[alfsauve]

I had cataract surgery and opted for straight out 20/20, of course I couldn't focus close up. SSP (and there are others) allowed me to put the "reading" lens in the upper quadrant for shooting iron sights. SSP because I don't need distance correction. Otherwise I'd have to pay a optical company for all this.

Here's a tip. Buy a set of cheap readers. 1.5, 1.75, 2.0, 2.25....etc. Using them practice sighting with each one to find the power that is best for you and your guns. Once you find the power that works best, then place your order.

ALSO, order a plain set and a set with your regular reading power on the bottom. Now what you do is trade out the lenses so you end up with the "reader" on the top on your dominant side and the bottom of the other side. (or you can just put the plain one on the non-dominant side.) But wait, for CO or shooting with optics, put the plain lens on your dominant side and the lower reader on the other.

 

[Riomouse911]

I had a set of trifocals made that allow me to see up close, mid-distance (like front sights) and at distance with minimal head movements. This has made handgun, shotgun and open-sighted rifle shooting a whole lot easier. (For scopes I can dial in the focus so plain shooting glasses work best for me.)

Stay safe.

 

[Armored farmer]

Get regular eye exams and then buy yourself some real shoot glasses. Mine are Decot HyWyd.
It's not fun to walk around in a blur.

I need to follow my own advice.....
I went to my home club last Monday evening for the first time in like..... four years. My front sight was very blurry.

 

[anothernewb]

I had prescription glasses made specifically for shooting, presbyopia and astigmatism make for interesting combinations.

Oddly enough, the lens/frame choices straight from my eye dr were far more cost effective than any of the alternatives I found online. Ended up with a monovision style for shooting pistol/iron sights and a slightly different arrangement for shooting with a scope.

Will probably end up with lasik one day to correct the astigmatism in the dominant eye. That seems to be the best and all around longest lasting compromise. Until they make a massive breakthrough in the materials they use for replacement lenses, or finally get those bio engineered ones we were promised 50 years ago off the ground. there really isn't any cure for presbyopia other than readers or a multifocial setup.

 

[trackskippy]

I use the Top Focals as well, and they solved the problem for me nicely. I use them as my sun/safety glasses as well, and pretty much always have them on when out and about anyway.

Only downside to them, for me anyway is, I dont like the magnification on my weak eye, as I shoot both eyes open. With the magnification on the weak eye, the target isnt clear because of it. I ordered another set of lenses that dont have the magnification, and it solved the problem, left eye sees the target clear, and the right eye sees the sights clear.

I asked them if they would sell lens sets that way, but they said no. So for it to work, its going to cost you more for the second set of lenses.

 

[anothernewb]

I asked them if they would sell lens sets that way, but they said no. So for it to work, its going to cost you more for the second set of lenses.

ask your eye dr for a set of monovision. that's exactly what you're asking for. one for up close, one for distance. I have my set the same way. dominant eye is set for sights, non dominant is set for the target. cost me zero difference to have them made that way.

 

[trackskippy]

I dont normally wear glasses these days, just $3 Walmart cheaters for long reading or small print/fine work. I only use the magnification on the Top Focals to sharpen up the sights, other than that, I dont need the correction.

I haven't worn prescription lens for about 20 years now, since I broke my progressive tri focals at work and couldnt get to the eye dr to get them replaced at the time. Just started wearing my safety/sun glasses in their place. Came to find I was doing OK without them, and I swear, my eyes have gotten better over the years now that Im not wearing them.

Of course when I asked the eye dr at the couple of checkups Ive had since, they didnt seem want to hear or talk about that when I asked.

I went from $400-500 every other year or so for glasses, to maybe $20 a year for safety glasses and readers. The SSP Top Focals cost me around $50 a set. I just buy the frames and lenses separately. Their big "sets" are a bit of a rip, unless youre into that sort of thing. Better and easier to just have two pairs (I use copper and yellow lenses) of glasses at hand for whatever.

I understand people need eye glasses, and Im not saying otherwise here, but personally, I have to wonder sometimes just how much the majority of people who have them, really need them, and much of that business isnt just a racket. The fact that once you get them, they always seem to increase the power of what you have/get each time you go (at least they did for me for the years I was wearing them), and if that doesnt just make your eyes weaker over time, and not work as they should, and just makes you need/rely on them more.

 

[westernrover]

If you get prescription glasses, I recommend Trivex. Polycarbonate is just so awful I don't know how anyone can look through that. CR-39 and glass are good but not suitable for impact protection and shatter resistance.

To be fair, I will use poly for $10 safety glasses shooting or reloading, but I see no point to paying $500 or more for prescription glasses and getting them in poly, or wearing poly all day.

 

[westernrover]

Even if you don't think you need glasses, get an eye exam to head-off any diseases before they progress (glaucoma and cataracts are common, but there are many more). Also, you might be surprised. I got a prescription for -0.25 in one eye, and it changed my visual acuity from 20/20 to at least 20/15. I paid a lot of money for clear glasses and polarized sunglasses, but it was totally worth it. I used to be somewhere between 20/15 and 20/10 when I was young and I hadn't even realized that my vision had degraded over 50 years. I wouldn't even think that .25 diopter would be noticeable, but it's very evident when I lift my glasses or lower them.

Look, you should probably be wearing glasses for eye protection (from injury) and also to protect from UV damage outside, and you'll want polarized lenses if you drive (to cut glare from the dashboard, hood, road etc.) So instead of buying overpriced designer fashion glasses, get some that might actually help you see even better. I can't help that you'll probably overpay for them also.

 

[westernrover]

Beware that both "blue-blockers" and all the current photochromics (Transitions/Photofusion/etc.) block some short wavelengths and tint everything yellow. I remember those cheesy TV ads from the 80's for "BluBlocker" sunglasses. So it's hard to believe this silly fad has not only persisted but is now a popular upsell for techs at optomotrists everywhere. They usually pitch it for people that stare at "devices" all day because of blue light from LED's, but outdoor light has far, far more in this part of the spectrum. Personally, I can't stand the yellowish cast they color everything with. I want to see natural colors.

 

[tdbmd]

I use the Top Focals as well, and they solved the problem for me nicely. I use them as my sun/safety glasses as well, and pretty much always have them on when out and about anyway.

Only downside to them, for me anyway is, I dont like the magnification on my weak eye, as I shoot both eyes open. With the magnification on the weak eye, the target isnt clear because of it. I ordered another set of lenses that dont have the magnification, and it solved the problem, left eye sees the target clear, and the right eye sees the sights clear.

I asked them if they would sell lens sets that way, but they said no. So for it to work, its going to cost you more for the second set of lenses.

One of the packages is for a set of 3 lenses with the top focal and one set "plain". I don't remember for sure but I think it was about $170, then you can put the top focal lens on one eye and a plain lens on the other

 

[James K2020]

I use these OFFEYE stickers on my shooting glasses and they seem to work. I'm near-sighted and w/o correction can clearly see front sights on my handguns up to 8-inch barrels. Normally I wear single script glasses for distance and driving but they blur at reading distance. Sometimes I wear a single contact in my strong eye so I can read or see both the car's gauges and distances.
It turns out that at the 21 foot range I'm better off with no correction other than using the OFFEYE stickered glasses. Really don't need them at that distance. Sometimes I use normal shooting glasses or sunglasses outside. At longer distances I'll use correction and sometimes it's the single contact with OFFEYE, sometimes the distance glasses. Haven't found the perfect set-up for 30-50 feet. I go back and forth.

 

[gifbohane]

Excellent topic. I have 20-20 vision but need reading glasses. I had an eye doctor prepare my reading prescription for expensive shooting glasses. Front sights are crystal clear. But target is a blur and between shots, walking around, everything is blurry.

So, I ordered another pair with the reading prescription on the bottom and no prescription on top 2/3rds. Now I have a choice clear sights OR clear target. Not both, so I am a lot poorer and back at square one.

 

[westernrover]

You can try those shooting glasses or attachments with the iris apertures and occluders: Dynamik – innovative shooting glasses – Brillen Müller Manching (mueller-manching.de). Those will increase the depth of field that is in focus. Dave DeLaurant | The High Road has that gear in his avatar, so I imagine he knows something about it. You can also try an optical sight of some kind -- reflex and holographic sights for example. The reflected dot of a reflex sight is in focus at the distance of the target, so you only need to focus at distance. I have bad presbyopia myself, a result of aged lenses that don't flex to focus at close range anymore. I can see the front sight well enough, but if anything is closer, I need +2 readers. I like a red-dot optic (Trijicon). I recently started using a aperture rear sight on a rifle. The rear sight almost disappears it's so far out of focus. But as long as I'm looking through it, front sight focus is not too hard.

 

[tdbmd]

I have one handgun with an optic on it, a green one, as I have a bit of color blindness and green is much more visible than red for me. On the top focal shooting glasses, I with with less correction than I normally would get with readers so the amount of blur at distance is less. I normally use +1.5 readers and the shooting glasses are +1.25. I can still see the target out to at least 15 yards using the corrected area of the glasses. Have not tried to shoot any farther with them yet but I can always bring my head up a bit and use the non-corrected area of the glasses for distance or when using the optic.

 

[anothernewb]

Excellent topic. I have 20-20 vision but need reading glasses. I had an eye doctor prepare my reading prescription for expensive shooting glasses. Front sights are crystal clear. But target is a blur and between shots, walking around, everything is blurry.

So, I ordered another pair with the reading prescription on the bottom and no prescription on top 2/3rds. Now I have a choice clear sights OR clear target. Not both, so I am a lot poorer and back at square one.

flip the reader to the top instead of the bottom. seems weird, but works. Or only get the the reader for the dominant eye (still at the top, not the bottom) and leave the other uncorrected. It's interesting to get used to- but works, that's how mine are, and now I have clear sights and clear target (using both eyes) and if I look out the bottom of the glasses, I can move around with no issues.

 

[drband]

https://www.mueller-manching.de/dynamik-shooting-glasses/

WAY out of my price range! But very interesting.

 

[tdbmd]

flip the reader to the top instead of the bottom. seems weird, but works. Or only get the the reader for the dominant eye (still at the top, not the bottom) and leave the other uncorrected. It's interesting to get used to- but works, that's how mine are, and now I have clear sights and clear target (using both eyes) and if I look out the bottom of the glasses, I can move around with no issues.

I am thinking I will buy a set of uncorrected lenses and put one in the left eye frame, then as you said, shoot with both eyes open and have the left for distance and right for the sights.