Eye Glasses and Scopes

E

El Paso Mark

Guest
Greetings all. A question for those that wear glasses- Do you focus your crosshairs/eye-piece (And shoot) whilst wearing your glasses, or without glasses?

I wear glasses for distance vision correction and I've always focused crosshairs (And shoot) without my glasses, using the scope as a "Monocular" and wearing just regular ol' shooting glasses. I'm wondering though if this is the wrong approach.

What do y'all think? What do you do? Thanx.

Cheers,

Mark
 
glasses and scopes

I wear my glasses all the time because I can't see anything without them. No way I could tell what the flags were doing, if I didn't have my glasses on.
 
Glasses and shooting

Whether you wear glasses or not, you should wear them when shooting.

One never knows whan a primer or case is going to let go.

One can adjust most scopes for focus on the cross hairs and for paralax.

It is not about being macho. Escaping gas can blind one forever in a split sceond.

Nat Lambeth
 
I too wear mine all the time, but they are a bother because I get down on my stock so far and find I am looking through the extreme top of my glasses, and I cannot believe the correction is the same as looking through the center. My vision is not good. However, I have taken them off several times and looked through my scope. Much to my surprise, I could still see well enough to shoot. That said, I will probably continue to wear them.
 
I wear mine too.

Joe, you might consider having glasses made specifically for shooting. I have a set made on redundant frames from a set of interchangeable colored lens shooting glasses I used when I shot with contact lenses. The focus of the shooting eye lens has been located to suit my head position when shooting.

John
 
I wear trifocals. I have tried shooting without them, adjusting the scope's focus accordingly, but I didn't like that. The fact that I can't read flags well without them and the added safety of their polycarbonate lenses are enough to convince me to leave them on when I shoot. I am looking at the possibility of having a pair of shooting only lenses made so that my non-sighting eye can focus on the flags and the sighting eye down the tube of the scope. Problem is that as soon as I save up enough to make that happen I get a flier from Cabela's, Sinclair, Midway or somebody else that includes offer I can't refuse. :rolleyes:
 
Rustystud said:
Whether you wear glasses or not, you should wear them when shooting.

One never knows whan a primer or case is going to let go.

It is not about being macho. Escaping gas can blind one forever in a split sceond.

Nat Lambeth
Click to expand...

Nat- I wear shooting glasses (Non-prescription) when shooting. Always. I take my prescription glasses off and put on regular shooting glasses to shoot.

Cheers,

Mark
 
I need bifocals in my eyeglasses, but I NEVER wear them when I shoot. Never.

The focus correction ring of my scope brings the target in bright and clear.

This may not be safe, but it is what I do. All I care about is what gives me the clearest picture when I shoot.
 
I have worn glasses since I was 6. I always wear mine when shooting as I am near sighted and everything beyond about 6 inches is extremely blurry without glasses. I have recently had a pair of lenses crafted without the bifocal for shooting, but haven't had a chance to use them yet.

I would suggest that anyone wearing perscription glasses for shooting get Trivex lenses. They are a bit lighter than polycarbonate, but much stronger for impact. They cost a bit more, but eyes are irreplacable.
 
Rustystud said:
Whether you wear glasses or not, you should wear them when shooting.

One never knows whan a primer or case is going to let go.

One can adjust most scopes for focus on the cross hairs and for paralax.

It is not about being macho. Escaping gas can blind one forever in a split sceond.

Nat Lambeth
Click to expand...


Hey Nat,

While I completely agree with you I must note that so does the OP Mr El Paso Mark as evidenced by his post. :) I'm not trying to be picky, just feel that the OP may well feel slighted!

al
 
I had Lasik surgery and my vision is 20/15...

But I wear safety glasses when shooting. I have recently switches to safety glasses with a reading lens in the bottom. I found some really good but cheap safety glasses at national welders.

Nat
 
Hi Al. Nah, no problemo. I probably could have worded that a bit better so Nat probably just missed it.

Cheers,

Mark
 
Olympic makes safety glasses with a bi-focal. I think up to +3.
Can find them a MSCdirect.com. Cabela's.
Wrap arounds.

I have a spare pair of work safety glasses. Mostly for the bi-focal.
You can order the bi-focal any where you want it.
I have mine set up 5mm higher than normal. My Grandfather had his on top and bottom. Great for working on your back or under something.
That will be my next pair.
 
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John Kielly said:
I wear mine too.

Joe, you might consider having glasses made specifically for shooting. I have a set made on redundant frames from a set of interchangeable colored lens shooting glasses I used when I shot with contact lenses. The focus of the shooting eye lens has been located to suit my head position when shooting.

John
Click to expand...

John;

That sounds like a winner. I would perhaps have to come to Australia to get that done, because it is near impossible to achieve that hereabouts.

That meaning...
quality on just about everything imagineable has gone down the tubes.
My experience in this area has been, that even though my Optometrist/Optometrists ( and i've used more than one) may have the correction as it should be, the "labs" that do the grinding don't seem to have a clue.

Furthermore, years ago when the transition was made from glass to plastic, it was always Polycarbonate. Nowadays, they just use what appears to be acrylic, because if you touch the lenses with anything that is NOT soft, the dang things will scratch. I'm about at the end of my rope with the people in these parts .
But...thank you for your input.

Joe
 
I was talking

with a customer the other day in regards to wearing glasses. I have been wearing them for 34 years now and even though they are a pain in the butt sometimes I am glad I have them on.

My place of work pays for my prescription safety glasses. When hunting trudging through the bush I never worry about getting a stick in the eye. Ever been out bushing push for whitetails when it is about -20 deg celcius and get a smack in the facewith a twig????? It will make you cry. Same ifyou get one in the eye.

I would never be able to see my flags as well. Cannot see clearly more than a couple feet..

Calvin
 
Well the last time I was sighting my 6mm Norma BR in at 300 yards I took my glasses off to look through the scope. I am near sighted and have been wearing progressives that get darker in the sun for 30 years. My cheap scope always looked like crap until I took off my glasses. DUH!!! Boy was it crystal clear. Now I'm getting a new pair that does not change color. :):):)

gt40
 
Greetings all. Thanx for your response and input. Seems like it’s evenly divided, or nearly so, between those that do, and those that don’t, wear their prescription glasses. Actually, I’m a bit surprised at that as I thought most folks were wearing them when shooting.

What prompted the question was that I’m having a real hard time seeing the ultra-fine crosshairs and 1/8 moa dot on my newest scope, a Lyman STS 30X. Whilst holding the scope in my hands and pointing at the sky I tried focusing both with and without my glasses and I could barely see the crosshairs either way. Hope to get out to the range tomorrow so will mount scope on rifle and try it again.

I don’t have an astigmatism, I’m just near sighted, though I do have, and have had, a problem with floaters (Spots, wiggly lines, periodic partial blurriness) in my right (Shooting) eye for about the past 6 years. I probably need to make an appointment with both an opthomologist and optometrist as my current glasses are about 5 years old.

Decot “Hy Wide” glasses were mentioned so I may look into a pair when I get a new prescription. I’m reading Nancy Tompkins book and she too mentions them-

http://www.sportglasses.com

Again, thanx for all the response. Oh, and I always wear eye protection when shooting (If not my prescription glasses then regular shooting [Safety] glasses). In my original post I didn’t word that clearly I guess.

Cheers,

Mark
 
"I'm wondering though if this is the wrong approach."

There is no right or wrong here, all that's needed is to focus the scope the way you expect to shoot.

For range work most of us wear safety glasses. Most of us who need them for vison correction wear them all the time. Those who don't need correction may not wear safety/shooting glasses while hunting but their glasses don't normally have correction so nothing changes if they do.


"I do have, and have had, a problem with floaters (Spots, wiggly lines, periodic partial blurriness) in my right (Shooting) eye for about the past 6 years. I probably need to make an appointment with both an opthomologist and optometrist as my current glasses are about 5 years old."

There's nothing the docs can do about that, it sucks and it doesn't get better with age! Some of the vision vitamin suppliments will help tho; "Occuvite" from Sam's Club helps my floaters quite a bit.
 
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Two more points. No commercial scopes I know of correct for astigmatism though they can correct for nearsighted/farsighted if they have enough adjustment range.

Likely more important is that you really do need to have eye protection close to your eyes if you ever rupture a case (or worse) . I wear prescription safety glasses when ever I shoot. My glasses have saved my eyesight more than once. A >good< optometrist can properly center a set of glasses for shooting though a scope. Also anti-reflection coatings will greatly improve contrast when using higher power scopes. Light from the sun reflecting off your eye then off your glasses and back into your eye just washes out the image.
 
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