My eyesight has gone to hell, how do you guys shoot with glasses?

[Lefty Trigger]

I have been putting it off way too long and I'm going to have to start wearing glasses problem is I just cant shoot with them on. I cant seem to get around behind the scope to look through the glasses, I fricken hate them! I go back to the eye doctor in March and may try contacts again but could not stand them in my eyes.
How do you guys do it??

 

[rwj]

Share your concerns with your optometrist/ophthalmologist. Mine suggested a shooting set with lens made for optimal focus near/at the scope’s focal plane, they work well for me. I’d stay away from progressive and bifocals and avoid large frames as they may contact the stock.

 

[mike a]

I have been putting it off way too long and I'm going to have to start wearing glasses problem is I just cant shoot with them on. I cant seem to get around behind the scope to look through the glasses, I fricken hate them! I go back to the eye doctor in March and may try contacts again but could not stand them in my eyes.
How do you guys do it??

Have you had eye surgery? I had ocular implants “new lens” like I got new eyes. Except the floaters.

 

[JSH]

I have been wearing glasses most of my life.
If your a shooter, you need an optometrist in the same line of thoughts. Mine put me in bifocals a few years back. He has now retired and this new young fellow doesn’t get it. Last two pairs I have had I hate.
For shooting, spend the bucks and get a pair to shoot with. My shooting glasses are 5 years old. After wearing them for most of the day, my eyes adjust. I really wonder if I need the blasted bifocals at times.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Glasses, stigmatism and rt eye has a blocked tear duct.. Not to mention I am age challenged

 

[memilanuk]

Most of the above are good suggestions. The optical center of most prescription glasses are ground for looking forward, and a little down - like you would be looking at a book, or a screen. Unfortunately, most of us are looking through the upper corner, and depending on the way the lenses are ground, you might actually be trying to look through some edge distortion right there. Most of the time when you're shooting prone or even at a bench, your head is tipped further forward and down than you realize (it's worse if you're talle).

Pushing the glasses up a bit can help - I've seen some people go so far as to tape some foam ear plugs under the nose pads to prop the glasses up to help with this a bit. Not sure I'd recommend it as a long term solution, though.

Something you might consider, is looking at a pair of Decot Hy-Wyd shooting glasses. The nose piece is specifically designed to put the center of the lenses higher, and you can get them with a set of non-prescription / 'plano' lenses to start. Go to your doctor, and get in position like you would be behind the gun (unless you have a very accommodating doctor's office, you're going to have to approximate this some - maybe they'll let you bring a blank stock?), and the doctor can mark with a sharpie on the plano (cheap) lense where the optical center needs to be for your shooting eye - at which point they can custom make you one to fit in the Hy-Wyd frame.

 

[hoz53]

I have been putting it off way too long and I'm going to have to start wearing glasses problem is I just cant shoot with them on. I cant seem to get around behind the scope to look through the glasses, I fricken hate them! I go back to the eye doctor in March and may try contacts again but could not stand them in my eyes.
How do you guys do it??

have you considered contact lens--- Im Not knowlegdeable enough to give optical advice but they work for me.

 

[Forum Boss]

Soft contacts.

They are much better than before -- more comfortable.

Honestly, get the high grade ones and it will be fine.

Yes in the first 15-20 minutes after you slip them in (after not having anything in your eyes before) you may blink a lot, your eyes might get a little red, and a little teary. But honestly, man up, just relax it will be just fine.

With the new high-grade soft contacts you won't even know they are in your eyes after a few minutes.

I would tell you how long I have had a soft contact in my eyes without irritation, but you wouldn't believe it, and my Opthomologist would get mad at me.

Yes I also have prescription shooting glasses. In my opinion, quality soft contacts are WAY, WAY better. But I do also always wear eye protection.

BTW, you can have one contact in and one naked eye. I do that during most of the day so I can read small print (I am naturally near-sighted).

 

[BoydAllen]

Everyone who shoots should be wearing eye protection...glasses. The only difference would be whether or not they have corrective lenses. For shooting you want big lenses. With that style I have had no particular problem, except perhaps when the weather is hot and I start to sweat a lot, and even then, a sweat band solves the problem. I think that we need some specific information to be of any help. Something like these would be my preference. https://www.google.com/search?clien...&ved=0ahUKEwjth4OuqovtAhUNna0KHcjcD3oQ4dUDCAs

 

[Juppe12]

I just bought new glasses. For ordinary life and safety glasses for shooting. Was much too expensive, alltogether about 1500€. But with ordinary glasses just can't shoot, need to have specific glasses for shooting. And my eyes has been like that from childhood.

 

[Outrider27]

Guess I was lucky, lol. Last time I needed glasses for shooting, my optometrist, who was not a shooter (but enjoyed a new challenge), had me smuggle the rifle (took it apart, so it fit in a case that wasn't obviously holding a rifle) into her office and when I showed her my shooting positions, she laid out a rather different prescription (with regard to vision center location) that was super.

 

[blvedere]

I take my prescription glasses off when I am shooting and have the scope ocular adjusted for clarity.

 

[Cecil S.]

I dial it out in my scope but this is becoming a challenge. Ugggghhh

 

[rjtfroggy]

I went through this for almost 2 years, my progressive lenses were not right. They were measured wrong as to placement, vision would be fine for a couple days then get blurry again. After three new sets of lenses I gave up with the Drs. eye glass guy and went somewhere else. ( Costco)
New frames, new lenses Half the price and now I have had these for 4 months and so far no problem, and my scores went back up to where I was before all the problems. Only thing now is a cataract in my shooting eye, causes a blank spot at 7 a clock when looking through spotter, same place on all score targets, some times I think I'm hanging on ten ring but am on outside nine ring. Need to get this fixed now, but it is a long winter to get it done.

 

[Lefty Trigger]

I may have to try the contacts again? I have had 4 pairs of glasses made and the biggest problem is getting them to place right so I'm not looking through the frame or an edge of a lens. The last four months or so I have noticed it becoming more difficult to see targets or the crosshairs. I have had to wear glasses for a few years but have been able to shoot fine without them but it's just not gonna work that way anymore.

 

[jelenko]

+1 on having the lenses in your eyes replaced - assuming the issue is caused by cataracts.
I went from 'fussing' with different prescriptions to no prescription at all after having mine replaced.

 

[dskogman]

I went thru all the options and ended up getting big aviator style frames that ride high and getting the best SINGLE vison lenses I could find Zeiss Single Vision Trivex-PureCoat PLUS. A plus is the Trivex is impact resistant.

 

[Ccrider]

I could not wear the hard contacts. But, I tried again when they came out with the soft contacts. World of difference. Like Forum Boss said. Give them a try and give them a chance. In a few minutes at most you will not know you have them on.

 

[yotehater]

I'm at 60 now and have worn them my whole life. I've learned to slightly shift my glasses slightly lower at my dominant eye and peer over the lens. Kind of a crooked eyeglasses posture but avoids that trying to focus through another line of lens. And avoids the scope hitting the lens. I have all of my scope oculars adjusted to my dominant eye uncorrected vision. Someone else can look through one of my scopes and go, nuts. But after shooting my glasses are right where they need to be. Yeah I hate glasses and every pair seems to be worse as I get older.

 

[jpx2rk]

Back in my younger days, I wore toric hard contact lenses that were ground on the back to fit my eyes. I have a pretty bad case of astigmatism (eye doc said "think of a seam on a football ) this at the age of 14 y/o. Wore those for 40+ yrs with very little if any prescription change over that time frame. New lenses on occasion but not very often. Doc tried soft contacts and they just folded over where everything was a blur. LOL.
I gave up contacts about 15 yrs ago and now have tri-focals. Also have floaters, glaucoma, and current eye doc wants to do cataract surgery with lens replacements before the flomax I NEED changes my eyes to the point where the surgery will not do any good. I'm just glad I can still shoot sub moa groups at the range, and make a pdog move when I go on a pdog trip.