Could use some help with eyeglasses

[USMC22]

I finally broke down and went to the eye doc.

Doc wanted to give me several sets of eyeglasses because my eyes aren’t working together.

I’ve compensated a long time by just shooting left handed (dominant eye).

Anyways, we’re going to start with one set. Any suggestions on inserts for shooting glasses or just in general?

 

[_Windrider_]

I finally broke down and went to the eye doc.

Doc wanted to give me several sets of eyeglasses because my eyes aren’t working together.

I’ve compensated a long time by just shooting left handed (dominant eye).

Anyways, we’re going to start with one set. Any suggestions on inserts for shooting glasses or just in general?

ESS has good options for prescription in ballistic lenses.

 

[diggler1833]

I use my old military issue glasses for shooting since my prescription hasn't changed much. Short of a catastrophic weapon fail, I think they'll do fine to keep a blown primer etc... out of my eye.

Plus I look damn sexy in my BCGs.

My vision has deteriorated to 20/30 in my right eye, and 20/50 in my left, but I almost never wear my glasses. So putting an old pair on makes me feel like I can see a whole lot better.

I know that there are guys who rock inserts, and I'm sure they'll be able to help more than I. I had ESS inserts when I was in.

Edited: Somebody just beat me to it.

 

[Major Wader]

Don't know how old you are, but Lasik changed my life.

 

[atepointer]

I finally broke down and went to the eye doc.

Doc wanted to give me several sets of eyeglasses because my eyes aren’t working together.

I’ve compensated a long time by just shooting left handed (dominant eye).

Anyways, we’re going to start with one set. Any suggestions on inserts for shooting glasses or just in general?

@lash

OP this guy helped me a lot my eyes stink....he's married to an eye pro too!

 

[E. Bryant]

I don't know exactly what you're looking for, since you haven't provided a detailed description of your condition, or what activities you're looking to engage in with this new eyewear.

As someone who's worn corrective lenses since age 10, here's some general advice:

- Minimize the number of individual lenses in your field of view. That means wearing dedicated safety glasses instead of an insert behind your normal eye pro, for example.

- Learn to clean them correctly.

- Lenses should have anti-reflective coating whenever practical. The aforementioned coating is extremely fragile. It's easily scratched, and will break down if exposed to moderate heat (such as that from cleaning with hot water, or even looking at a campfire).

- If you have astigmatism correction in your lenses, it's extremely important that you look through the optical center of the lenses (generally the thinnest part). This might require a dedicated pair of glasses for rifle shooting, for example.

- Shop around. Also, buy your glasses from retailers that offer good warranty service.

- If you're old enough to have presbyopia (age-related farsightedness), then this introduces a whole 'nother level of complexity. Talk to your doctor about options.

- Contacts work really well for some people and not so much for others. I'm in the latter category, but several friends use them exclusively. Don't be afraid to try them, because they offer advantages to corrective glasses (like throwing them away at the end of the day or week).

 

[HitEmHard]

My local Oakley store was actually very helpful when I had similar questions. They can do the whole show from start to finish, as long as you have your prescription. Also contacts! I never realized how bad my shooting vision was until I got my first set of contacts.

D

 

[johnnyvw]

FWIW, both my wife and I have found that anti-reflective coatings are dirt magnets, which means more frequent cleaning and more opportunity to scratch the lens. YMMV...
Get the best scratch guard you can. I work in an environment with a lot of abrasive particles, and my lenses hold up much better now with the newer coatings.
I have worn progressive lenses for about 10 years. They do take some getting used to, but they are an absolute necessity for me. They do make shooting irons sights a bit difficult, as I have to adjust the tilt of my head to get the front sight in focus. That's why I have scopes on all my rifles now since I can adjust the focus for my vision.
Personally, I have found I am very sensitive to astigmatism correction. I have basically had to tell my optometrist to leave that alone.

 

[USMC22]

Thank you very much for all the responses, a lot more than I got notified for. I’ve gotta go through them because it looks like a lot great info and I really appreciate it.

 

[USMC22]

I’m 35 and like long walks on the beach so any glasses need to be good for that

I’m really just looking to correct the vision for spotting / shooting. I’m not sure what is out there / what I need for protection.

will look into ESS and Oakley.

here is the prescription, doesn’t mean much to me but maybe will to someone more knowledgeable:

 

[NoDopes]

I have bifocal contact lenses that work great. But I also have glasses, computer with near/middle, then pure distance lenses.
I like contact lenses because you can also use them when doing sports, scuba, whatever without needing anything special and can wear high-end regular sunglasses as well. right tool for the right job as they say.
Also, Costco has some good prices on glasses, just get their high end glass, the lower end had chromatic abrasions I didn't like, especally when looking at computers.

 

[Deputy Dan]

Years ago doc said my eyesight wasn't bad enough to warrant a real prescription so I was using Dollar Store readers. When I started shooting USPSA I discovered that, with the strongest "standard" cheap glasses, the focus was at the rear sight, not the front sight. So I had a pair of prescription glasses made with my dominant eye focused at the front sight and the non-dominant eye "unfocused" with the thought I didn't need any help beyond the front sight. Big mistake. Only worked when I actually had the gun up to aim. Any other time wearing them I just got dizzy; managed to run through a stage, but had to take them off right away after. Too much hassle so quickly had the non-dominant lens replaced to match the dominant. Still my shooting glasses today, though over the years my eyesight in general has declined and I now wear progressives to watch TV or drive. Lesson I take from it - unless you're already accustomed to having your focus out of balance, you want both eyes working together!

 

[lash]

Fwiw, early in through my personal journey to find what works, I tried inserts in my ESS and they didn’t work worth a shit for long range scope work. They worked okay for pistol, but that’s about it.

In the end, I’m just fine using my no-line trifocals as is. I found the trick for me was to change how I mounted the scope and my head position on the stock. On of the toughest things to get past is the myth that your head has to be plastered to the cheekpiece and your scope has to be mounted as low as possible on the rifle. Get past that.

Put your scope in some higher rings/mount and adjust your cheek rest and position so that you are addressing the rifle with a more head’s up approach. It’s not only a more comfortable position to hold, it helps put the scope and sight line more towards the center of your glasses lenses, where you get you best sight picture.

There's more to it, but that’s the basics.

 

[stemikel]

I have used the ess inserts. I have one set for pistol and one for rifle. Just determine what focal length you need and have the optometrist develop a prescription for that specific length. Kind of a pain but I find it to work well.

 

[E. Bryant]

I’m 35 and like long walks on the beach so any glasses need to be good for that

I’m really just looking to correct the vision for spotting / shooting. I’m not sure what is out there / what I need for protection.

will look into ESS and Oakley.

here is the prescription, doesn’t mean much to me but maybe will to someone more knowledgeable:
View attachment 7668453

You're slightly far-sighted, and a bit more in the right eye than the left., and you have mild astigmatism in both eyes. I'm guessing that indoors stuff like staring at a computer and watching TV is probably causing some discomfort over a long period of time. If you're right-handed, focusing on iron sights may be slightly more difficult than when you were younger. You'll soon be needing reading glasses for staring at your smartphone screen. But honestly, for age 35, your eyesight is really good - especially at distance.

Maybe it'd be wise to look at glasses for close-in stuff (perhaps a nice pair w/ coating for computer work and sitting in the living room, and then a pair of cheap safety glasses for the workshop), but man, I really don't know that it'd be worth the hassle yet to wear glasses at the range (especially not behind a scope, since a twist of the diopter ring will take care of that +1.25 adjustment). Honestly, I think you might be introducing more problems than you're solving in that particular situation.

For reference, I'm near-sighted with -7.25 in the right eye and -7.0 on the left. Put into different terms, that's worse than 20/500 vision. Your uncorrected vision is almost certainly better than my corrected vision once real-world effects are considered. Consider yourself to be quite fortunate.

 

[E. Bryant]

I found the trick for me was to change how I mounted the scope and my head position on the stock. On of the toughest things to get past is the myth that your head has to be plastered to the cheekpiece and your scope has to be mounted as low as possible on the rifle. Get past that.

Put your scope in some higher rings/mount and adjust your cheek rest and position so that you are addressing the rifle with a more head’s up approach. It’s not only a more comfortable position to hold, it helps put the scope and sight line more towards the center of your glasses lenses, where you get you best sight picture.

This, x1000. I run a 1.5" Spuhr on my AXMC (which is already fairly tall).

Interestingly enough, I've also found that it works best for me to mount the scope a bit lower than typically on AR platforms (like 1.35-1.4" heights instead of the "standard" 1.5-1.55") in order to get proper alignment of my eye, corrective lenses, and optic.

Using contacts generally allows one to avoid this problem.

 

[Badfinger]

Ranger Shooting glasses.

Semi-rimless prescription insert sold separately
Adjustable nose bridge and arms for a custom fit
Offset nose pads to prevent fogging
12 interchangeable NexPC™ lenses* produced by Carl Zeiss Vision
Lifetime warranty against manufacturer defects on all solder joints on the frame and one year manufacturer’s defect warranty on the lenses
Package includes RANGER XLW frame, cleaning cloth, and semi-rigid nylon carrying case with storage for up to 6 lenses

 

[_Windrider_]

I’m 35 and like long walks on the beach so any glasses need to be good for that

I’m really just looking to correct the vision for spotting / shooting. I’m not sure what is out there / what I need for protection.

will look into ESS and Oakley.

here is the prescription, doesn’t mean much to me but maybe will to someone more knowledgeable:
View attachment 7668453

FYI, Oakley owns ESS, at least they used to before they sold to Luxottica.

 

[Alphatreedog]

Pretty sure these are rated for frag mitigation . Not sure who makes em .