Advice on Shooting Glasses

[One Shot]

Any recommendation on prescription (bi-focal) wrap around shooting glasses would be appreciated.
I've tried the inserts (Revision military), but they don't work well for me. Maybe my astigmatism.
I think I want a prescription polycarbonate lens, probably tinted.
Thanks,

[The Annoyed Man]

How much are you willing to pay? These are pricey, but they are a pretty well made product. I know the local rep., and I've seen the product up close. They can handle prescriptions. You get bifocals lenses that are covered by the safety lens.

[B3XD]

go by U of H College of Optometry.

[Skiprr]

One Shot: What type of shooting do you primarily do? There are different options driven by that choice. IMHO, no single choice is going to work well for all types of gun work.

[Twincannons]

I use Wiley X glasses in my Rx, I have 3 pair, broke one set and they replaced them. The Wiley X will only do Rx lenses for Military and Police but you can go to here and order your Rx http://www.opticsplanet.net/wiley-x-pre ... ggles.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

JD

[Commander Cody]

Mr. Cotton had a post about "stick on lens". I have used them sinse reading his post. They work well for me. Do a search on stick on lens.

[ChuckW]

As previously stated Wiley X can be custom ground to your prescription. Just get a listing of optometrists near you from their web site. The same can be done with ESS glasses, Oakley and a few others.

One thing to think about: I normally wear bifocals and have recently started target shooting with regular non-prescription Wiley X tactical glasses. Without the bifocals I can see the front sight very clearly and still see a slightly fuzzy target - exactly the same sight picture that a person with normal vision is supposed to see! With the bifocals I have a hard time achieving a well focused front sight. I should quickly state that my vision w/o glasses is not that bad so, depending on your vision, YMMV. But, it is something for you to think about.

Also, unless a person's vision is very bad, I don't think that it is a bad idea to do some target shooting w/o glasses. In the event of a home invasion there may not be time to both get your gun and find your glasses!

[One Shot]

Appreciate the advice.
I do some steel shooting, so that's why I was considering polycarbonate.
I'll consider the Wiley X. I've used them with my contacts and like them, but now that I need bifocals, contacts and reading glasses are a pain.
I'm also looking at prescription safety glasses.
As far as practicing without my glasses, well, my vision's bad enough that I don't think I would take the shot without glasses.
Thanks,

[TLE2]

I've used the stick on lenses to help me see the front sight better. They work.

Also, I think Oakley makes rx available in some glasses. I used to use Half Jackets, until my grandson made off with one of the "temples". The lens are ANSI Z87.1 compliant.

[Zero_G]

I've heard a lot of talk about SunBusters on GunTalk and as sponsors for some professional shooters. Their shooting glasses list for right at $100 (often with extra lenses) and have prescription lenses available. http://sunbuster.info/shooter.html

[solaritx]

I wear bifocal lenses and have solved the problem this way.

I went into my TSO here in Richmond and explained that I wanted a pair of glasses made with the bifocal on the top and the regular glasses at the bottom (reverse bifocals if you will) and they made them for me. They work great not only for shooting but for work on the computer.

I have to admit though that it did cause come confusion both in the TSO and at the place where the lenses were made. The place that ground the lenses (plastic with auto-grey) called multiple times to the TSO office to make sure. When they came in, the person that was helping me showed them to one of the Dr's working there. The Dr looked at the glasses and simply stated .......no lie..........What Aggie ordered these glasses?"

My suggestion.....go to TSO or similar place. Tell them what you want and I got mine for the regular "sale" price they had on bifocals. Now when I get new glasses and they have the get one and the second is special price....well you all know what my second pair of glasses are always for.

Garry N

[One Shot]

I went into my TSO here in Richmond and explained that I wanted a pair of glasses made with the bifocal on the top and the regular glasses at the bottom (reverse bifocals if you will) and they made them for me. They work great not only for shooting but for work on the computer.

Ok,
Now you have me wondereing.
One lens (say your dominant eye) to correct your near vision to focus on the front sight.
And the other lens to correct your far vision.
Might even make both-eyes-open shooting easier,

[AFJailor]

I use ESS ICE glasses with prescription inserts, they clip into the nose piece and feel great. Only problem is that they are a little front heavy and felt awkward until I got used to it.

[Skiprr]

I went into my TSO here in Richmond and explained that I wanted a pair of glasses made with the bifocal on the top and the regular glasses at the bottom (reverse bifocals if you will) and they made them for me. They work great not only for shooting but for work on the computer.

Now you have me wondereing.
One lens (say your dominant eye) to correct your near vision to focus on the front sight.
And the other lens to correct your far vision.
Might even make both-eyes-open shooting easier,

That's exactly what I do for handgun shooting. I found that getting any sort of wrap-around lens in a bifocal was darned near impossible, and that a single-vision prescription was way cheaper than bifocal, or my regular variable lenses (which would probably equate to tri-focal).

I measured the actual distance from my eye to my front sight when in normal stance (5-inch barrel), and explained to my optometrist what I wanted: dominant eye (right) focused right there, left eye focused at full distance. I'm on my third pair like that now, and they work as well as anything I've found.

For real-world handgun practice, I simply wear my normal small-lensed variables (spectacles got tiny, and short-pants got long; who can figure fashion). A 10-degree tilt of my head and I'm looking over the top of my glasses. I can see the front sight acceptably that way, though not crisply, but the target will be a blur, worsening with distance.

This is where low-light training comes in. You use the flash only briefly, to identify the target. You flash, identify, extinguish, move, and shoot. Same thing--only simpler--with your regular glasses (assuming it's easy for you to look over the rims). Head up; identify target through distance-vision portion of glasses at top of lens; head down slightly to look over glasses and obtain best-case sight picture with handgun, move, and shoot.

All will be blurry once you look over your glasses, however as with the flashlight, you've accomplished a clear-target visual and can shift--so long as the shift is in microseconds--to a less-clear image of the target. But the same rules apply both for flashlight and old-guy combatives: You don't shoot what you can't identify.

That's why I asked earlier about your intended use. The two different single-vision lenses option is fine for conventional-sight handgun, but is miserable for red-dot or holographic optics, or for iron-sight rifles.

Let us know what you decide!

[Mithras61]

I've taken a slightly different approach to the whole bifocals thing than lots of folks I know. I wear contacts for close work (reading, computer stuff, pistol shooting, etc.), and add a pair of glasses for distance vision (driving, watching TV, etc.). It sort of reverses the effect of reading glasses. I came up with this because I often spend 12-15 hours a day at the computer and reading glasses get pretty heavy, and this lets me do without them. I can even add reading glasses for those really tiny P000 screws that turn up every now and again.

Anyway, when I'm practicing with my pistol, I wear plain old yellow lens shooting safety glasses without my distance glasses. The target isn't particularly crisp (that is, I probably couldn't tell eye color) at 15 yards, but I can see a silhouette or pistol circle target just fine (I'm probably at about 20-45 or 20-50 in old school prescription style with just my contacts). I can add my distance glasses if I need to (I got the impact resistant lenses - I know it isn't as good as shooting glasses but it does work for a quick switch), or switch out to full-strength contacts for longer distances like rifle practice.

The contacts I use are extended wear disposable as well, so I even sleep with them in (no fumbling for glasses at 4:30 a.m.).