Prescription Pistol Shooting Glasses for Bifocal Wearers?

[Phineas7]

I wasn't sure what forum to post this in, but "tools of the trade to help you make the shot" seemed the closest match.

I'm wanting to try my hand and USPSA pistol shooting, but the only way I can get the sites in focus is to lean my head back and look thru the near vision part of my bifocals, and that's just not going to work.

Just wondering if anyone who wears bifocals had had shooting specific glasses made.
If so: What strategy did you use?
Single RX at front sight distance?
Inverted bifocal?
Shooting eye near RX, weak eye far RX?

I've been looking at these: https://www.decot.com/ Single RX will cost ~$350 and I'm a little wary about mail ordering glasses, especially at that price.
I also found these https://www.randolphusa.com/re-ranger/ but to get RX I'd have to go to a retailer 2.5 hrs away. They're even more $$$.

I had some single RX safety glasses made at walmart about 3 years ago for riding dirt bikes, for less than half that cost. They are set for distance, since I just needed to see the trail right in front of me.

Has anyone ever tried glasses where one eye is for near and the other for distance?

 

[4cDragon]

I gave up on my bifocal glasses for shooting. I have a script for distance only to use for my shooting glasses. The front sight and target are focused, but the rear blade is not. I have very long arms, so that might make a difference as compared to others. I have been using "persimmon" Oakley for sunny days and orange for over cast cloudy days. The depth perception and highlighting is great with this combination. Sadly I need my Bi's to do any bench work, writing or scoring...............

I had a big name shooting glass manufacture make me a low/small % area for close up and the majority for distance, but that drove me crazy and the glass was nothing like the "persimmon" Oakleys.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

If you like the look/style of Decots, give them a call to discuss your needs and concerns. If you can get him directly (and assuming he's still there), Bob Lewis is very knowledgeable.

I've been using Decots for shotgun since the 1980s and still use the original set. They last. I've switched to wraparound Rudy Projects for rifle shooting, but the Decot pistol-specific-scripted set comes out for pistol matches. My prescription needs are different - I've had cataract surgery and have excellent distance vision but no ability whatsoever to focus up close, so I have various up-close glasses for different purposes.

 

[Spdy]

Watching this with interest. I have had bifocals for years and notice it’s harder to get a good sight picture when shooting my target pistols with narrow rear sight notch. Sucks to get old.

 

[Downtown]

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...tion-shooting-with-glass-vs-contacts.6908987/ This is a fairly comprehensive post on the subject.

 

[bogey]

Sport Rx makes good RX sunglasses with lots of options

 

[ShtrRdy]

There is a division called "Carry Optics" which allows you to mount a dot sight on a standard 9mm pistol. This allows us with aging eyesight to see the sights and target.
This is not "Open" division.

 

[Phineas7]

There is a division called "Carry Optics" which allows you to mount a dot sight on a standard 9mm pistol. This allows us with aging eyesight to see the sights and target.
This is not "Open" division.

There is a limited, but it also introduces power factor. Production is open site and is fully competitive with a 9mm.
Plus I have many open site pistols I've collected over the years I'd like to be able to shoot as well as I used to.

 

[elwarpo]

I also gave up on Bifocals, for pistol ranges (up to 50 yards, I use my computer prescription. The gun is a bit closer than my computer, it puts the front sight in the perfect focal plane, but I still can see the rear sight and the target (though slightly blurry.
However I am going to red dots on all my guns now because it is a lot easier.

 

[ShtrRdy]

There is a limited, but it also introduces power factor. Production is open site and is fully competitive with a 9mm.
Plus I have many open site pistols I've collected over the years I'd like to be able to shoot as well as I used to.

The division I'm suggesting is like "Production" but it allows a dot sight to help us with aging eyesight.

 

[bobke]

Am in this boat as well. Worn bifocals forever and had surgery and lens implants eventually done in both eyes, but a frustrating year apart. Because of pretty severe astigmatism, fix was for distance only. Have good, but not perfect distance vision but still use bifocal readers for close work and a little help at distance. After trying the ‘head back, look through lower bifocal to see sights’, it just wasn’t working. Simple fix came with single vision .75 safety glasses that allow me to see rear sights and passable distance vision for Steel and IDPA matches. A very significant improvement for $15/pair. Elvex RX500 and are on Amazon.

 

[insidetheten]

I wasn't sure what forum to post this in, but "tools of the trade to help you make the shot" seemed the closest match.

I'm wanting to try my hand and USPSA pistol shooting, but the only way I can get the sites in focus is to lean my head back and look thru the near vision part of my bifocals, and that's just not going to work.

Just wondering if anyone who wears bifocals had had shooting specific glasses made.
If so: What strategy did you use?
Single RX at front sight distance?
Inverted bifocal?
Shooting eye near RX, weak eye far RX?

I've been looking at these: https://www.decot.com/ Single RX will cost ~$350 and I'm a little wary about mail ordering glasses, especially at that price.
I also found these https://www.randolphusa.com/re-ranger/ but to get RX I'd have to go to a retailer 2.5 hrs away. They're even more $$$.

I had some single RX safety glasses made at walmart about 3 years ago for riding dirt bikes, for less than half that cost. They are set for distance, since I just needed to see the trail right in front of me.

Has anyone ever tried glasses where one eye is for near and the other for distance?

I have a pair of ESS shooting glasses with the prescription insert. I shoot USPSA and Steel Challenge. I am left eye dominant, so I had my optometrist make the left lens so my left eye could focus sharply on my front sight. The right lens focuses my right eye at distance. Your brain will blend the two. NOT bifocals, full prescription lenses. Works great for me. The insert comes with a dummy lens you can give to the lens maker as a pattern. ESS are way cheaper than Decot or Rudy, so if you don't like the results, you haven't dropped a lot of coin. I tried the inverted bifocals, and they did not work for me, as the bifocal part of the lens was not quite in the right spot.

 

[seansmd]

I had progressive lenses and with my head tilted on the stock I had a real challenge getting a good sight picture. I have since move to contacts and in the "mono" vision where one eye is for close, and one eye for far. My right eye is stronger and I can use the ocular adjustments to see a strong clear reticle, and target, and my left has the lens for close up sight to see turrets, dope, etc.

 

[pell1203]

Phineas7, have a look at zennioptical.com for a very cost effective way to try out some options that may work for you.

I went with a pair with my regular far prescription and added some close up correction to my shooting eye. On the order of +3/4 to +1 diopter correction on the one eye should put you in the ballpark to allow you to focus on the pistol sights while still maintaining your far vision with the other eye.

To further clarify, I chose single vision distance glasses with an overall added correction of +3/4 diopter applied only to the shooting eye.

 

[mikehotel]

For my old and aging eyes ...I switched over to a vortex venom red dot sight. I really like it,

 

[KML7201]

I used shooting glasses from SSP Eyewear that have magnification in the top portion of the lens. You tilt your head down and look through the top.
I recently had a single prescription set of glasses made that allow me to see my sights clearly but do not completely blur things at distance.

 

[308Gunner]

I have a buddy that had the bifocals switched and he said he loves them for shooting

 

[Tahoe333]

I split the difference. I typically use 2.0 reading glasses but i found that using a 2.0 to shoot pistols would leave the target fuzzy. I started using a 1.0 and it allows me to see the front sight and the target clearly. Its even better if i put a 1.0 contact in my dominate eye.

 

[kriller134]

I was listening to a podcast about this company https://www.tacticalrx.com/ they said you can also use your FSA with them if you have one. They claim they can put the bifocal anywhere on the lens.

 

[Ted Bell]

I used to shoot international pistol, and the following guide was heavily used by shooters with their eye doctors to get specific prescriptions for shooting. It's Dr. Norman Wong's Bullseye Shooters' Guide for the eyecare professional:

https://www.starreloaders.com/edhall/nwongmain/eyeguide.html

I used it with my own eye doc and he actually let me bring my pistol in and did all the measurements of my eyes while I held my pistol in my shooting position focused on my front sight. I strongly recommend that approach, or a substitute sight redius device like is pictured in the article. Then you have a set prescription and can have any type of glasses made to those specs.

Thanks,
Ted

 

[KML7201]

I used to shoot international pistol, and the following guide was heavily used by shooters with their eye doctors to get specific prescriptions for shooting. It's Dr. Norman Wong's Bullseye Shooters' Guide for the eyecare professional:

https://www.starreloaders.com/edhall/nwongmain/eyeguide.html

I used it with my own eye doc and he actually let me bring my pistol in and did all the measurements of my eyes while I held my pistol in my shooting position focused on my front sight. I strongly recommend that approach, or a substitute sight redius device like is pictured in the article. Then you have a set prescription and can have any type of glasses made to those specs.

Thanks,
Ted

That’s basically how I had my prescription shooting glasses made up. I showed the doctor where I needed to be able to focus clearly and explained that I needed to be able to see at distance without completely blurring the target. She put a pair of glasses with adjustable lenses on me and adjusted the strength until I could see clearly where my front sight would be while still being able to see fairly well at distance. They make a world of difference. They even help me when shooting rifles with iron sights.

 

[earthquake]

SSP top-focals.

 

[Downtown]

https://www.starreloaders.com/edhall/nwongmain/eyeguide.html
Thank you. That's a great link. Not totally applicable to my sport, but nice to show to a doctor.