To those of us who depend on glasses......

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rantingredneck

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..........how much practice do you do without them??

I've thought about this for awhile and have recently started practicing shotgun and handgun without glasses, both at the outdoor range and indoors without the range lights on using my surefire to light the target. Basically my thinking is if I'm awakened during a breakin I won't have time to put them on. I'll have to rely on my (increasingly poor) uncorrected vision.

I was surprised when I started how little difference there is for me. I was expecting groups to open up more than they do, but it's not hugely different. My eyesight, while getting worse, is not THAT bad yet I guess.

So how much trigger time do you put in without your specs on?? How much nightfire without your specs??
 
By without glasses I mean without corrective lenses. I wear non-prescription safety glasses when I do this.




Didn't wanna get jumped on by the safety Nazis. :D
 
My vision is so poor without glasses/contact lenses, practicing without them probably wouldn't be safe.

I can identify outlines of people within a couple of dozen or so yards, but I couldn't make a positive ID on exactly who they were unless they were very close. I just make sure I have glasses close by any time I'm not wearing my contact lenses.
 
My vision is so poor without glasses/contact lenses, practicing without them probably wouldn't be safe.
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Same. It's also bad enough that I wouldn't have a chance of identifying someone. Unless I wake up and someone is attacking me right in my bed, I'm going to reach for my glasses before my gun.
 
After years of wearing glasses, I had the Lasik procedure done. Best money I ever spent.

If you can afford it, DO IT!

Before the Lasik, I was legally blind in both eyes. My right eye was 20/400 and my left was 20/1000.

After the Lasik, my right is 20/20 and my left is 20/30. The difference is night and day. I easily breezed the eye exam when I had my driver's license renewed.

Plus the added bonus that several of the ladies at work think I look a lot better without glasses. ;)
 
Without glasses I'm effectively useless. I think I could identify "downrange" but not much else. Lasik sounds like a good option but I have a very strong blink reflex and the thought of those eye clamp things horrifies me deep down. I couldn't sit still for it. But it would be nice to have perfect vision - it'd probably improve my skeet score. :D
 
Actually, I can see handgun sights much better without my glasses than with them.

The "target" is a bit fuzzy but at inside the house distances I don't think I would have too much of a problem. There is only the wife and I living here now, the doors are always locked, and I really don't think that anyone who breaks in in the middle of the night has good intentions.
 
Plus the added bonus that several of the ladies at work think I look a lot better without glasses.
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Yeah, but you were wearing coke bottles with that 20/1000 vision of yours. Heck, I'd probably tell you that you look better sans goggles.

I'm itching to have Lasik done. It would not be safe for me to shoot without contacts or glasses...
 
I'm planning to practice mad monday drills at home in bed.
okay that sounds pretty mall ninijaish.. basically my buddy wakes me up in the dead of night by pounding hard on my door (we arrange this in advance). the gun at my bedside is an airsoft handgun (carefully making sure that all real guns are locked away the night before).

I have to scramble, grab the gun, get up to the wall (away from facing the door), and be able to hit him with the airsoft as he comes thorugh the door. the door is locked and he uses the key.. about the same amount of time (including fumbling for keys) that it will take for a guy to break down my door.

my vision is -750 -800

im blind as a bat. wish i was daredevil.
 
My vision is so poor without glasses/contact lenses, practicing without them probably wouldn't be safe.

I can identify outlines of people within a couple of dozen or so yards, but I couldn't make a positive ID on exactly who they were unless they were very close. I just make sure I have glasses close by any time I'm not wearing my contact lenses.
Click to expand...


Ditto, i just make sure I have my glasses. I want the lasik but money is going elsewhere since we are getting a new President.
 
I've tried a little practice without my glasses, but I'm basicly minute of fuzzy shape at anything further out than my outstretched gun. A gun that point-shoots well is a good thing here. I've come away from IDPA stages where I point-shot and wondred how the heck my score was anything other than horrid. Then again that's when I can ID my target as paper and not as, say, a wall.
 
I guess I should elaborate a bit on my OP. I have an astigmatism, but I'm neither near nor far sighted. Basically everything is a little blurry and my depth perception without correction stinks. That being said, target identification isn't a problem. I could PROBABLY still pass the eye test for my drivers license without glasses, but it'd be a bit of a stretch. Shooting at typical SD distances for me isn't so bad, just don't ask me to read anything without my glasses or to hit a target 200 yds away with an unscoped rifle. At that point I'd be saying "what target?"
 
I have myopia and astigmatism, and I regularly practice without corrective glasses.
 
Wow! I'm another one that is really blind without specs or contacts. I had never even thought about shooting blind before you brought it up! It is definately a tactical problem worth consideration. It gives me yet another reason to seriously consider lasik (although I'm not sure I'd qualify - or can afford it).

I will try shooting without my glasses next time at the range - probably no more than 10 feet. If I can do that accurately, it will give me the confidence to at least shoot across the bedroom if need-be.

I am so used to grabbing glasses when I wake up, I don't think it would be too much of a problem before going for the gun in an actual emergency. But glasses can get knocked off, broken, etc in close quarters. Hopefully the "belly gun" will do its thing at that distance.
 
Another one here with bad bad eyes. I sleep with mine on, and usually carry a pair just in case. Without my glasses, even in the best light I wouldn't accuratly be able to identify anyone much past 10 feet. Shoot at something I can't accurately identify? Don't think so - not even on a range.
 
As a medical student, I've noticed my vision deteriorating, and it really upsets me. I have a pretty basic prescription, and am borderline now as far as needing corrective lenses to drive, but I'm still not that bad yet.

Sitting all day and night staring at a computer/books is horrible for your eyesight - pretty much all my classmates wear some sort of lenses now. I guess it's just another sacrifice we make so we can better serve our communities.

That being said, I always practice at pistol ranges without my glasses. I find my accuracy to be very good, but it could be better if I were to wear lenses. However, I believe that doing this is good for my eyesight, and will continue to do so.

Whenever I go to my local rifle range (read: the desert) I wear prescription polarized sunglasses. Without these, I believe my accuracy would just be unnacceptable. In my mind, if I can't hit a beer bottle while standing at 100 meters with my HK, then my vision needs correction.

EDIT: Another thing I've noticed, however, is that being nearsighted is not so bad for shooting. When I shoot, I always use my rear sights as a window, to look through, and focus my eyesight on the forward sight. The target always will be blurry, so it's not too disorienting since I'm use to distant objects being blurry. The problem is that if I cannot focus on the target at long range, then I can't accurately place the forward sight, and then I cannot hit it. But again, this is long range rifle shooting, with the ironsights. If I use optics, it's a non-issue, and it definitely isn't an issue for home defense.
 
Dad needs them, I'm his "consultant".

I don't wear glasses, but both my parents do and I'm the family "security consultant". Here's the advice I gave them. BTW, both are effectively deaf when asleep due to wearing machines for sleep apnea. I can only imagine they look like aliens in stasis covered up with masks and hoses visible.

Keep the glasses handy, I.D. is mantadory, even under stress. Leave them in the same place, same position, every night. No deviation, ever. Leaving them unfolded is best, fumbling with the arms under stress makes you likely to break them.

Make you "bump in the night" equipment part of your morning routine. Ex: put on glasses, put on shorts, place light and pistol in the drawer for the day. Dad puts his light and pistol in his pants, but the theory is the same.

Practice shooting after losing your glasses. In a close quarters fight, losing your eyeball equipment is a real possibility. Dad is a pastor and the deacons have instructions in the event of a night time emergency that requires his participation 1) Call, 2) show up and bang on the door, 3) use the stashed key to get in and wake him up. I.D. before the shooting starts is a must, seeing as well as possible after it starts isn't mandatory. In short, practice identifying your target, taking off your glasses, and finding out ahead of time what works for you.
 
Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark. --Heinlein.

To which I add 'glasses'. Otherwise I am shooting by braille.
 
My left eye is 20/20 my right eye is 20/60-70 or thereabouts.

My right eye is my shooting eye for long guns. My left eye is my shooting eye for handguns. I got a new pair of glasses a few years ago and for two years I missed every dove, duck and goose I aimed at. One day, I went outside because grackles were making a racket, must have been 400 of them in my back yard trees. I grabbed my pellet gun took aim (without the glasses) fired and hit that bird right were I aimed... Only then did it dawn on me that the glasses were "warping" my vision. I rarely miss. But bird hunting is tough and I just thought I was losing my touch. This season, I went without glasses and was 6 for 10. Previous season I was 0 for 14.

I ditched the glasses. I shoot better without them. Instead I am going to save money for lasik.
 
20/400-ish here with both eyes.

I can point-shoot well enough out to 10m.

Even so, I would not shoot without my glasses due to target ID issues.

When I go to bed, my glasses are on the nightstand next to me. A flashlight is next to them. Ready-to-roll firearms are in the quick-access box below.

My choice of glasses is somewhat to my advantage. I chose the strongest, lightest lenses. The frames are titanium alloy and sprung, so that there is no hinge.

In the Army, I would sleep with BCGs/Go-Fasters on. I don't do that anymore, but they are close.
 
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