Rifle Scopes Eyeglasses for shooters??

[LibertyOptics]

Hey Hiders,

Hope you can help. I need recommendations for prescription eyewear that has worked for you.

Background: I used to have eyes like a hawk. 20/10 vision for a long time and when my eyes went "bad" they were still 20/25. But I'm getting old (lol).

I currently wear tri-focals. The lowest lens is for extreme closeup, the middle lens is for 18"-36" and the rest is for distance vision. They work well for daily use but suck for rifle shooting with iron sights (I still like to do that when I can). For handgun shooting with my butt sitting at the range they are ok, I just tilt my head up and down to alternate between focusing the front sight and target and let it rip. But for any kind of training "on the hoof" it is not instinctive at all. BTW I am far-sighted without correction. Can't see anything close.

For scoped rifle shooting with adjustable diopter and adjustable parallax (focus) I just go without as the optic compensates for my vision defeciencies. But I still enjoy handgun shooting and my old milsurp rifles but need a solution.

I plan on getting a new set of glasses that eliminate the very close setting and expand the "middle range" area and try that. The issue is that when you have your head tilted with a cheek weld on the stock, weird things happen because the lenses are made to work with the head in a normal position.

The last issue is ruggedness, I need a pair of glasses with rugged construction and an athletic band or other sporty earpiece to hold them firmly in place.

What about contact lenses?

Any feedback from those of you who have worked this out is much appreciated.

Best,

Scott

 

[RHutch]

Tagging in as I have an identical story and am eager to hear what others have done.

 

[300Norma1959]

Do you want glasses just for shooting or to shoot and every day wear?

There are solutions for shooting that won’t workfor everyday wear such as monovision or reverse bifocals

 

[Craigm63]

As someone who went from having good vision to, “holy shit I need glasses” I would suggest contacts if you are able to comfortably wear them.

 

[Badfinger]

I have used these for 20 years and haven't found anything better and they can be made to your prescription. The style I used has an adjustable nose piece to allow you to raise and lower the lens and not to have to look through the very top edge and the lenses pop out for color change.

Randolph Rangers

 

[b2lee]

I do primarily rifle...and just take them off and let the scope focus for me as you do. I guess I have middle vision...red lights at 100 yards are blurry...and I can't read the date on a penny to save my life. I just use 1 lense and just don't read pennies.

For Shotgun clays..I'm golden....see just fine...guess that is mostly in my middle vision....for pistol...I can see fine with or without my glasses as long as the targets are < 50 yards. For AR's...wear the glasses and an EOTech and do just fine....but I don't cheek weld an AR like I do my bolt actions.

So...I've tried contacts...hate them...can't seem to get my finger in my eye without flinching over and over. I've thought about Lasik surgery.

 

[Bolo]

There was a similar thread going last week, considering Lasik in the near future. Some of the hide members had good experiences with contacts, I'm gonna give that a shot.
My current shooting solution is Nike sport frames, impact-rated polycarbonate lenses, transitions and cristal coatings. They've been a solid performer.
Since the right lens is a monofocal set to 36", the big drawback is that I now have to squint or close my left eye to maintain the sight picture. It's somewhat annoying, but doable.

 

[LibertyOptics]

Do you want glasses just for shooting or to shoot and every day wear?

There are solutions for shooting that won’t workfor everyday wear such as monovision or reverse bifocals

Good question! If I had to pick one, it would be having a set of glasses just for shooting.

 

[LibertyOptics]

I have used these for 20 years and haven't found anything better and they can be made to your prescription. The style I used has an adjustable nose piece to allow you to raise and lower the lens and not to have to look through the very top edge and the lenses pop out for color change.

Randolph Rangers

Thanks for that. I will need to contact them to see if they can take my prescription

 

[gunsnjeeps]

I got into the glasses problem about 9 or 10 years ago. I ended up buying three pairs of the same frame over 2 years. It is not in production anymore but it has a brow bar like the Rayban Shooter frame. I like the brow bar to keep eyebrow smudges off the lenses.

I have a pair of single vision clear lenses to shoot rifle in. I have a pair of bifocal polarized sunglasses for scoring and range wear the rest of the day. For pistol shooting I have clear bifocals.

In the transition from iron sights on rifles to scoped rifles I havent noticed a difference with glasses.

 

[LibertyOptics]

I have a pair of single vision clear lenses to shoot rifle in. I have a pair of bifocal polarized sunglasses for scoring and range wear the rest of the day. For pistol shooting I have clear bifocals.

What do you have the setting on the lenses for (distance wise?)

Thanks

 

[300Norma1959]

For static pistol shooting I have reverse bifocals. Bifocal is on top

For action pistol I use monovision

 

[AbbyKatt]

I've settled on glasses with my strong side mono-vision at reticle/front sight distance and my support side mono-vision for distance. They seem to work well for all the various shooting I do.

My latest set is from Hunters HD Gold. https://huntershdgold.com
They specialize in shooting glasses and are a sponsor of USPSA events. They were great to deal with. You don't pay until after you receive, try and are happy with their product.

 

[gunsnjeeps]

What do you have the setting on the lenses for (distance wise?)

Thanks

I'd have to get copies of my prescriptions. From the end of winter into spring I've noticed a shift in my vision. I used to be able to focus on the front sight on my distance perscription and not my reading insert. Now it seems I am loosing that focus. Bummer since I just ordered new lenses in December and got them in January then went on travel again. I came home to a self quarantine that lead to everything closing.

 

[CBDR]

Hey Hiders,

Hope you can help. I need recommendations for prescription eyewear that has worked for you.

Background: I used to have eyes like a hawk. 20/10 vision for a long time and when my eyes went "bad" they were still 20/25. But I'm getting old (lol).

I currently wear tri-focals. The lowest lens is for extreme closeup, the middle lens is for 18"-36" and the rest is for distance vision. They work well for daily use but suck for rifle shooting with iron sights (I still like to do that when I can). For handgun shooting with my butt sitting at the range they are ok, I just tilt my head up and down to alternate between focusing the front sight and target and let it rip. But for any kind of training "on the hoof" it is not instinctive at all. BTW I am far-sighted without correction. Can't see anything close.

For scoped rifle shooting with adjustable diopter and adjustable parallax (focus) I just go without as the optic compensates for my vision defeciencies. But I still enjoy handgun shooting and my old milsurp rifles but need a solution.

I plan on getting a new set of glasses that eliminate the very close setting and expand the "middle range" area and try that. The issue is that when you have your head tilted with a cheek weld on the stock, weird things happen because the lenses are made to work with the head in a normal position.

The last issue is ruggedness, I need a pair of glasses with rugged construction and an athletic band or other sporty earpiece to hold them firmly in place.

What about contact lenses?

Any feedback from those of you who have worked this out is much appreciated.

Best,

Scott

At 62 I have also have wrestled with this challenge. 20-10 was something to be proud of. Now it's frustrating. So after trashing / losing several pairs of nice glasses in the dark / field. I have multiple sets of glasses from the dollar store. In the box stand, in the Jeep and in my shirt pocket. Forget about it.

 

[jphil108]

You might call your eye Dr. and see if you can bring a rifle in so they can evaluate what you need. Obviously unloaded and mention that you would be willing to come in at the very beginning or end of the day and work with them in keeping customers unaware of what’s going on. I have a lot of musicians in my family and as we have aged most have had to get glassessses that can focus at music stand distances and at about 10 yards for a director or lead sivsimilarly weird conditions for shooting sports. I like the previous post about having your dominant eye set up for a good front sight picture and your non dominant eye set up for longer distances but keep in mind that may mean you can only wear them to shot and it . A good set of polycarbonate lenses in a good polymer frame with added side protection, make sure that the lenses aren’t so massive that they change your cheek weld or get pushed to a point that it changes your vision. I just have prescription safety glasses that work bought me, nice nerdy looking BCGs but have kept a number of chips and light speed springs from finding my corneas.

 

[NewsShooter]

Didn't read all the replies but I recently got a set of progressive transition lenses in Flak Jacket frames that I wear all the time. Clear inside, dark enough outside, though not as dark as a typical pair of sunglasses. I too used to have eagle eyes and really was interested in having readers built in but the ophthalmologist said I needed a bit of distance correction too. They're great, shot a long range match today, easy to see my turrets and everything else at distance. Didn't even need to adjust my reticle focus. And they were cheaper with my insurance than if I had just bought a pair of flak jackets, got the original lenses too. Oakley does them, but mine were made in a local lab. Another cyclist I know worked with Oakley when they started doing prescription lenses for cyclists.

 

[SD Carpenter]

I've been using Oakley prescription glasses and sunglasses for years. I need the anzi z87 rated for work and I've always liked them in general.

 

[RC556]

Contacts + Aegis Arcs never failed me or my friends.

 

[tngambler]

i am very nearsighted and with my age need something up close.. my glasses are progressives and work good for me. pistol or rifle.

 

[LibertyOptics]

My first try at this...prescription long range monovision non-polarized sunglasses for outdoor range use. Set for visual acuity at long range. With my current trifocals, I can see the sights on pistol and rifle "good enough" while having a sharp view of the target looking through the top of my glasses. So, we will see!

 

[BullGear]

I had my eye doctor fashion a pair of glasses where the bifold was on top. The prescription was made for my shooting rifles. It made shooting a pleasure once again. It was no more expensive than traditional bifold lenses, except for the safety glass they we made from.

 

[JAS-SH]

Hey Hiders,

Hope you can help. I need recommendations for prescription eyewear that has worked for you.

Background: I used to have eyes like a hawk. 20/10 vision for a long time and when my eyes went "bad" they were still 20/25. But I'm getting old (lol).

I currently wear tri-focals. The lowest lens is for extreme closeup, the middle lens is for 18"-36" and the rest is for distance vision. They work well for daily use but suck for rifle shooting with iron sights (I still like to do that when I can). For handgun shooting with my butt sitting at the range they are ok, I just tilt my head up and down to alternate between focusing the front sight and target and let it rip. But for any kind of training "on the hoof" it is not instinctive at all. BTW I am far-sighted without correction. Can't see anything close.

For scoped rifle shooting with adjustable diopter and adjustable parallax (focus) I just go without as the optic compensates for my vision defeciencies. But I still enjoy handgun shooting and my old milsurp rifles but need a solution.

I plan on getting a new set of glasses that eliminate the very close setting and expand the "middle range" area and try that. The issue is that when you have your head tilted with a cheek weld on the stock, weird things happen because the lenses are made to work with the head in a normal position.

The last issue is ruggedness, I need a pair of glasses with rugged construction and an athletic band or other sporty earpiece to hold them firmly in place.

What about contact lenses?

Any feedback from those of you who have worked this out is much appreciated.

Best,

Scott

I went through this same thing a number of years ago specifically for iron sight handguns.

First, I wear progressive lenses, have done that for years now and would not do it any other way. I could never get used to bifocals. That said, when wearing those I still had to tilt my head up to see the front sight and that was not good for my shooting. Then I had a an ejected case hit my $500 regular glasses, placing a major scratch on the right lens. I needed a better answer.

The answer was ESS. They provide ballistic eye wear for the military. AND, they have RX inserts that go behind the regular lenses. I called them and they put me in touch with an RX specialist that crafted the RX inserts for me. He did the RX for the inserts. I have the ICE RESPONSE model, which is what the military issues. It comes with two sets of glasses, one with clear lenses and one dark gray ones. The grey are not polarized, the military does not issue polarized glasses.

It was weird at first but I got used to them quickly. I'm a right hand shooter. So, how this works is you contact the RX specialist who gives you detailed instructions on how to measure the distance from your eye to the front sights. Then he makes a lens for the shooting eye specifically focusing on the front sight, while the other eye gets your distance prescription. Website and pictures of my glasses below.

Website:
ESS Website

What's in the case. the Clear glasses have the inserts clipped in them:

This is the lens for the right eye. It's difficult to photograph but you can see an outline of a circle on the insert's lens. That is what you look through when you wear them so the right eye focuses exactly on the front sight. I had never seen a clearer front sight!:

 

[~JM~]

Check out the articles to the right:

Mental Vision - Decot Hy-Wyd Sport Glasses, Inc.

By: Bud Decot (1925-2014) This may be the most provocative article you’ll ever read in a magazine. Try to have an open, searching mind so you can understand the essence of this article. Many of you have heard me quote one of my favorite wisdoms, “You only LOOK with your EYES, you really SEE with …

www.decot.com

 

[spamassassin]

Over the years for me it's been best with aspherical, uncoated, near vision optimized single vision lenses. You get the least weird optical effects.

 

[MLS2GO]

I have used Decot glasses for several years. I have bifocals made with a small reading lense in the bottom and far vision in the top. I have both Astigmatism and a prism issue. The glasses take care of all that. I use them both shooting in USPSA with a red dot and behind a scope. They work great for both.