Prescription Shooting glasses - Bifocals or not?

[willforu1]

I am going to order some prescription shooting glasses with yellow tinted lenses. I have a strong stigmatism in my right eye which makes me near sighted. Also, I just ordered work glasses with bifocals in them. My question is do bifocals cause a problem in shooting glasses? I will use them for shotgun and rifle and for hunting and on the range.

Any opinions?

 

[slow1911s]

Check with the folks at Decot Sport Glasses - The Best Sport & Shooting Glasses Under The Sun! or Titanium Shooting and Sport Glasses - Prescription and Non-Prescription Lenses | Post 4 Optics They probably know as much about this subject as anyone.

 

[AFA1CY]

I have progressives and they work fine.

 

[WhitleyStu]

I have progressives and they work fine.

Same here. You use the upper portion of the lens when shooting so bifocals are fine.

 

[Jay]

I would say that as long as your shooting glasses give you the same "vision" as your regular glasses, you're fine. My only concern would be if you have glasses made for shooting, and they provide you with different head positions, different sight picture, or different peripheral vision, than your regular glasses, it could cause you problems in a defensive situation. I shoot with, and train with the same glasses I wear all day, every day.

Of course, what works for me may not work for others..... just my two cents....

 

[willforu1]

Thanks, I am going elk hunting in Colorado and they said that sun glasses are a must so I thought I would get a pair of prescription sun glasses and I could use them for pheasant hunting, clays etc. To give you a little background, I am a right handed shooter with a dominant left eye and a stigmatism in my right eye so I wear my glasses when shooting a shot gun with a small piece of tape over my left eye...just enough to obliterate the front sight on the end of my barrel. The corrective lenses correct the stigmatism in my right eye. I just recently found that I need pregressive bifocals because the corrective lenses to help my myopia make it impossible to see type up close. I just ordered bifocals for work and I wanted to know if they would cause a problem for shooting. I thought it would be nice to have the tinted prescription lenses for this purpose. I will check out Decot.

Thanks guys!

 

[jimbo-indy]

I wear tri-focals. They caused problems when shooting pistols as I had to look into that skinny middle lens to get the front sight in focus. The top, distance, lens was fine for shoitgun. My solution was to order my shooting lenses ground with the mid distance lens covering the bottom half and the long distance lens covering the top half. When shooting pistol, just be sure the glasses are sitting as high as possible and all you see is the "mid" correction. When using shotgun, let the glasses slide down on the nose a little and all you see is the distance correction. Since I seldom read with shooting glasses on, the lack of the close up reading correction doesn't matter.
I( use ESS ICE glasses with the removable prescription lens holder that clips behind the safety lens. The colored lenses are changable too. I highly recommend these glasses and use them for pistol, rifle, black powder and anything else where close up reading isn't needed. Lens Crafters ground the "special spec" lenses without a problem and at reasonable price.

 

[Rotor Talker]

I'm in the same boat, I went and saw Dr. Craig McManus up in Lafayette, my shooting glasses are better, manly because he moved the focal point of my glasses out and minimized my bifocal progressive lower. I'm still not completely satisfied though.

Not to say he didn't help, I just need some moderate to fine tuning, just not sold, and it's been over a year. My shooting glasses are better, just not there yet.

If you want his info, PM me be glad to help out.

 

[pfeigert]

Bi-focal shooting glasses

I wear lined bi-focals and have had no problems adjusting while shooting. Rather than having a special pair of sunglasses made, I just wear my regular glasses and put a set of clip-ons over them or use a set of those "HD" glasses which fit over my regular glasses. I've found that either of thise options works well for me and negates the need for expensive prescription sunglasses. Hope this helps.
Pete

 

[Taney37]

Well finally something I can respond to, I work at LensCrafters. I am the General Manager and have been there for 12 years so I have some experience with this. The problem with progressives and guns is they won't work the same for handguns vs long guns. The top section of a progressive is designed to work at about 20 to 30 inches the bottom of a progressive (the bifocal portion) is designed to work at about 15 to 18 inches. I have found that my progressives make it a chore to focus on the front sight of a handgun, don't have long gun (yet) but the distance would work better. What you need to do if take your gun in with you to the eye exam (make sure it is ok with your Dr.) We have done this twice for customers, the Dr. can measure the distance from your eye to the sight. If you are a serious shooter you will need 2 pairs. The yellow lens is the best the although you will need to get a plastic lens vs a polycarb lens to get the lens yellow enough (polycarb lens don't tint as good as plastic). The deeper the yellow the better the contrast. Just my worth from a eyecare professional. Hope this helps.

 

[Rotor Talker]

Taney, you need to post or PM me with where we can hook up, Dr. McManus has gotten me close, but not quite yet, sounds like youre on target my friend, + repped, thanks

 

[hc4sar]

Taney that's what the guys from Decot told me at the NRA convention. different focal distances for hand guns and long guns=2 pair of glasses. great post on a uncommon subject. repd.

 

[Rotor Talker]

Where this gets interesting is.......

If one is at a class, or at a transition type shooting match, say 3 gun, or I think Cowboy, I know they did it in the Indiana Subgun matches at Richmond a few times, is to transition to another firearm, Rifle (subgun, shotgun) to pistol.

What would be the best recommended combo for that?

This was my basis for consulting Dr. McManus, and I think we need to do some tuning least wise in my case, any thoughts?

 

[r3126]

Tandy37 - thanks for clearing up a problem that has bothered me for years.

 

[Taney37]

Not to do some overt self advertising, but i am located at LensCrafters in mishawaka. (don't just show up with your weapon though our mall does not allow guns, although we can work something out.) If you don't live in the area and your doc does not feel right about bringing a weapon to their location measure the distance from your eye to the front sight of each weapon you wish to use. Honestly I would not advise progressive lenses for shooting (due to the distortion off the center of the lens) You can get a set of lined bifocals with the long gun on top and the hand gun in the lower. Although you would not have any distance with these glasses. There is just so much you can do because of the way glasses work, the best you are going to get are two distances (trifocals are just to low to work the way you need them to). If you go to your eyecare provider and explain what you want any reputable outfit should be able to help you out.

So, here would be the best I could recommend without seeing you.

• Lined bifocal with the bifocal portion raised to just below the pupil.
• Just shooting glasses (not going to be much good for other activties)
• Take weapon in if possible (most malls will not allow but we brought them in through the back door)
• If you can't take the weapon take accurate measurements
• Plastic lens (tint better)
• Get safety glasses (cost less generally) and are OSHA approved.

If you are in the mishawaka area stop and see me I will help if I can, otherwise talk to your doctor and optician so they fully understand what your needs are.

Semper Paratus to all

 

[Rotor Talker]

If I could rep you again, I would.

This is great, great information here, exceptionally useful, especially for those of us with these issues.

thanks a lot and welcome aboard.

 

[snake-doctor]

I wear bifocals, and the way I see it is, if I'm ever in a situation where I need to defend myself, I'm either going to be without glasses at all, or wearing bifocals.
So I would not practice in anything other than the exact type of glasses I wear, or without any prescription glasses on at all.

 

[Dee]

I want to get some shooting glasses myself. Does anyone have any recommendations for the Indianapolis area?

 

[slazar16]

Shooting glasses recommendation

For the shooting glasses I would recommend Decot Shooting glasses. These guys know what they are doing when it comes to Shooting eye-wear (considering its all they do) and they have options to fit most budgets. I would give one of their dealers a call. The one I use is on eBay. (Decot HY WYD HY Lo Plano Shooting Glasses RX Bifocal Polarized Available | eBay)
His phone number is 602.903.5029 and will consult you based on your specific shooting needs, be it front sight clarification to simply varying lighting conditions.

I got a full set for everything I'm doing (Sporting clays, rife and pistol) for around $300. Cant recommend them any higher.

 

[XDLover]

While looking, I found this place, they make them for the military and I'm thinking about getting me a pair, you can get them RX inserts as well.

Revision Military | Shop
The RX stuff is on the side.