Eye Glasses Question

[WNCRob]

I recently had cataract replacement procedures in both eyes.  Now I have distance lenses in both eyes (20/20, no correction needed) and use cheap readers for close-up work.  About 1.50 works for me out to about 3-4 feet. After that it begins to get fuzzy.  So for pistol shooting, 10 to 25 yards or so, what lenses should I get?  Maybe mild magnification in my dominant eye and plano in the other?  If anyone has been through this situation, I'd appreciate your suggestions.

[bang bang]

jmo,

have you had a chat with your optometrist?

believe it or not Doctors are human too and some do shoot.  Some also do other hobbies and have families.

but i would contact your optometrist and ask them first.    You may need to get some bi/trifoclas, but ask them first and go from there.

also, not sure if they expained what was done, but your OEM lenses are flexible.  with the surgery you have replacement that are not flexible.  So you more or less have "fixed" lenses now.  If you try to read something in front of your nose, you cant focus on it for example.

but your Optomomologist should have asked you want type of lenses you want.  Some can customize for your needs.  Such as for closeup or far away work.  Some people have both so they switch from eye to eye, but your doc should have a better idea on what you maybe able to tolerate or use. 

good luck

[George16]

I had the same problem when I was shooting production in USPSA. What I did was to talk to my optometrist to let her know about my problem. She did the tests by having me have my arms out as if I was shooting to gauge where to put her testing apparatus.

It worked to out to be .50(I’m using 1.50 readers). The front sight was still clear (but not as clear as using my 1.5 readers) but the distant is still clear (not as clear as my distant vision). This was a happy medium to be able to still make out the targets and get good hits.

[WNCRob]

George, I was thinking of doing the same thing, but did you discuss with your doctor only correcting your dominant eye?  I had toric lens replacements, so I can resolve pretty well to about 4-5 ft., but its fuzzier than I'd like at closer distances.

[George16]

Yes I did. I also have a pair of mono vision shooting glasses. The left lens has no magnification but the right lens (right eye dominant) is magnified to .75. In this manner, I can see the front Sight clearly using my dominant eye and see far objects clearly through my left eye.

My optometrist is a shooter and actually have a blue gun in her office. She had me hold it out as if I’m shooting to find out how far I extend my arms when shooting.

With the mono vision setup, I put it at least 30 minutes before shooting to get used to it. You’ll feel a little bit dizzy initially but you’ll get used to it. It’s amazing how our brains adapts so quickly.

[WNCRob]

George, so, which set-up do you use?  Does it depend upon the range or game you're shooting?  What are the factors that dictate which set-up you use?

[M1A4ME]

I want to be able to see the front sight clearly.

If I'm focused on the front sight the rear sight and the target will be blurry.  Just the way it is.

Easy to put a sharp/clear front sight on the target.  Not so easy to try to keep a fuzzy front sight lined up on a sharp/clear target.

Sometimes, seeing the target clearly can be "bad" thing.  Put that first bullet on the target, put the second bullet on the target and you can't see where it hit, put the third bullet on the target and realize the single hole is just a tad bit bigger than it was and (unless you're one of those experienced target/competition shooters) a serious world of stress drops down on you and you will not be able to keep putting the rest of the magazine in that hole.

I've heard rifle shooters make similar contents.  Sometimes you can put a lot of stress on yourself when the first two or three shots are nice and tight and you start working too hard to keep the rest of the group that close together.

[George16]

George, so, which set-up do you use?  Does it depend upon the range or game you're shooting?  What are the factors that dictate which set-up you use?

Since shooting Carry Optics and PCC with a red dot, I just use my photochromic Oakley glasses now.

However, when I decide to shoot production or any iron sight gun, I use the mono vision. Like M4A1 said, it’s a lot better to see the front sight clear. You also need to learn to call your shots so you wouldn’t be looking for holes in the target while transitioning from target to target. Of course, this applies mainly if you’re shooting in competition.

[DenStinett]

As others have said, I want my Front Sight sharp, so I had my Optometrist put these together:


The BiFocal is for 3-5 feet, placed in the top-inside corner of each Lens and the Main Lens (for me) is my "walkin' around" Lens

[Psyop96]

I use the top focal glasses from SSP Eyewear. With two pairs of lenses included (one plain and one set with top focals), it’s easy to match the dominant eye. You can use the stick-on type bifocals on the bottom of the lenses for reading up close.

https://sspeyewear.com/search?q=Top+focal


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Dan Wesson]

You might try these before spending a lot.  You just need to know your magnification-- just go to a drug store and try on the readers until you find what works at arms length.  Then order a pair of the 3m dual readers in this link in the same strength.  I find that the 1.5x magnifications works quite well for me.  The magnification in the top AND bottom of the lenses with a clear center allows me to see the sights, target and to read and perform up-close tasks.  It's very much like the expensive top-focal glasses mentioned earlier.  Less than $13 for pretty good correction.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007JZ1XD2?tag=duckduckgo-osx-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

[WNCRob]

drband, these are interesting...do you find the lens quality decent? There are several comments stating they are not so good for shooting, as the upper bifocal area is a bit too high & small.  But for $13, what the heck.

And the SSP top focal glasses look interesting, as well.  Good stuff!  Thanks all.

[Dan Wesson]

drband, these are interesting...do you find the lens quality decent? There are several comments stating they are not so good for shooting, as the upper bifocal area is a bit too high & small.  But for $13, what the heck.

And the SSP top focal glasses look interesting, as well.  Good stuff!  Thanks all.

I find them entirely adequate.  Like you said, $13 is a cheap cost to find out if they work for you.  I found them to be just fine for target shooting at the range.  I have never used the others (SSP top focal) since the 3M glasses worked out for me.

[mszvetecz]

I had had shooting glasses made like DenStinnet's ($$$), but on my most recent set of progressive bifocals, I asked them to move the transition area higher up on the lens; now these every day glasses work better for shooting than my old shooting glasses; I'll need to get around to getting a set made with high impact lenses/frames.

[2morechains]

About 4 years ago, more or less the same time I started needing to wear reading glasses to see up close, I realized I wasn’t able to focus on my front sight. 

As you’ve noticed, wearing the readers brought the sight in focus but blurred out the target.  On the advice of some friends of similar age I experimented with different strength glasses, and discovered that a diopter strength that was 1/2 my reader’s was a good balance of being able to focus on my front sight and still be able to see my target clearly enough. 

For competition shooting, I found a pair of safety glasses in the right diopter strength and use those whenever shooting iron sight guns.  But caving to the inevitable, I ultimately made the switch to red dot sights on my comp guns (Carry Optics and PCC in USPSA, RFPO in steel challenge, Open div in 3-gun).  I also started adding red dot sights to my carry guns because I realized that I probably wouldn’t be wearing my special safety glasses if I ever had to pull my gun.