Attention fellow geezers: A word about progressive lenses

[Questor]

Got a tip for you:

I need bifocals and have progressive lenses in my glasses. I can shoot handguns OK with them, but often have difficulty when shooting a long match of slow fire shots. As the match wears on it becomes harder to focus on the dot of my red dot sight. This got to be really annoying so I switched back to a pair of my old glasses that are single vision and have larger lenses than are fashionable today. This helped enormously. They serve only as distance lenses for me now, but I can keep good focus for many more shots than I can with the progressive lenses.

[Siskiyou]

I sure understand the issue.  Before my retirement I normally had three pairs of glasses.  Single vision when out in the field or serving warrants, bifocals around the office and home, and a pair of computer glasses.

I am due for new glasses.  I am going to ask for the bifocals with the division lower in the lens.

What do you think of the progressive lens fir hunting?
 

[Questor]

They work great for me. I like them for general use. My only complaint is that long reading sessions are better with computer/reading glasses and target shooting is better as I described above.  I wear them for everythiing outside the house except target shooting. Inside the house I give them a break and wear computer/reading glasses.

My hunting is mostly in the dark woods. I spend more hours hunting rabbits with my beagle than anything else, and I hunt a lot. I've also used them in Wyoming and South Dakota in the wide open spaces. I consider them a great invention. For long target shooting sessions the root of the problem seems to be that there is a relatively small area in the lens where I get best sharpness and I tend to hunt for that spot when lining up my eye on the target. That causes extra strain and leads to some vision fatigue.

[257 roberts]

I use my Progressive Lenses as an excuse when I miss.

[Steelbanger]

My preference is trifocals. I can always return to the same area of whatever lens I need to be looking through. I've never tried a progressive lens but I did try progressive sunglasses some years back. The constant changing of light and dark made it always seem like clouds were moving past the sun. Drove me nuts (although my wife says it would be a short drive).

[Questor]

The important thing to know about progressives is that some people adjust to them easily, others don't. I know people who had theirs for months before adjusting to them. I adjusted to them immediately.

[Jim n Iowa]

I wear tri-focals, and its very difficult shooting pistols with iron sights, forget the rifle unless it has a receiver sight. I found that glass's with the mid range glass, and the small reader in the lower works for me, even with a scope.
Jim

[rockbilly]

I had to have three pairs of glasses too.  One for office, one for the computer, and one for work.  The work glass were bi-focal both lower and upper.  The nature of the work required a lot of looking up, trying to work and read numbers required me to get my head in a position to see through the bi-focals.  With bi-focals in both top and bottom and bottom portion of the lens life was much better.

Once I was proud of my pistol shooting, but the glasses have eliminated a lot of the Xs that were easy before.  It is really weird how quick you can go from 20-20 to requiring glasses.  I passed a flight physical about four mounths before the doctor told me I was blind.  During that four month period I was in and out of several doctor's offices being treated for head aches that the doctors said were caused by high blood pressure.  All the time it was my eyes causing the problem.

[quickdtoo]

I've been wearing eye glasses for about 50yrs, got progressive lenses in about 1990 or so when I first needed them, never did use  bi or tri lenses, took to em like a duck to water, have never needed to look back!! They work well for everything and I have no regrets on them. I did have a pair of shooting lenses made that have the optical center slightly to the left of normal center for right handed shooting, but they never worked out too well.

Tim

[Glockman]

Before buying the progressives give a serious thought to the trifocals.   My middle power is perfect for computer screens and pistol sights.   The whole progressive fad is about not showing a line or two.  pure vanity.  There is also a bifocal that is progressive in the lower patch.  Costs more but doesnt have all that fuzzy side stuff going on.  I think the trade name is Smart Seg.  google that.

[jhm]

I am an old guy to some but if we ever get together I will be the one with a pair of the darned things tied around my neck with a string, outside of 18 in. I have almost perfect vision no glasses but inside that distance I have to put on the glasses, as far as hunting goes its no glasses as I use optics on all long guns and when shooting handguns the extended arm allows me to get outside my sight problem, but when working on one I will be the man behind the glasses with the rope tied to them.   JIM

[Castaway]

I'm going to muddy the water on this one.  Bifocal contacts!  There's a compromise in very close in work and some at distance, but all-in-all I prefer the ability to see near and far without contorting my neck.  This is especially true when rifle shooting with heavy recoil calibers.  I want my cheek to be firmly welded to the stock, something I can't do with my progressive lens.

[oldandslow]

Wish I had tried them a few years sooner. Bifocals were bad enough but trifocals about drove me nuts. Seemed to spend all my time nodding my head up and down trying to keep things in focus. I took them off going down stairs so I wouldn't fall and break my neck. Then I tried progressives and I'll never go back to anything else. They have even helped using iron sights. Strangely enough my wife can't wear progressive lens.

[Jim n Iowa]

Is there a good safty device to go over a shooters eyeglass?
Jim

[Mikey]

My 'melded' bifocals were ok to shoot with but the progressive lenses I have hain't worth a dang when I'm at the bench with a handgun.  Makes it a real pain (inna eye, ya know).  Mikey.

[Wingman26]

I wish I had the answer, because glasses and shooting are really messed up for me, I can shoot but I cannot focus on the front sight, and that really screws up my shooting. 

[Dand]

My first try at progressives drove me nuts and I exchanged them for old fashioned bifocals. That was ok but at times the divider line was irritating. When I needed an up grade  they accidentally provided me with progressive lenses. I ave them a try and it took about 10 days to get used to them.  I feel I do ok with them but its a compromise.  I have a small face but like big glasses for being out doors. Especially driving boats, I like the protection of a large lens rather than little ones funneling air and rain into my eyeballs.  Trouble is I don't get the peripheral vision I had hoped with the progressives.

So they may be a great excuse for my mediocre pistol shooting. I need new glasses now. Mine are badly scratched, frames bent, and I feel some eye strain.  Great post and great timing for me. I'll have to consider some of the solutions suggested here.

Great topic, maybe we should provide a link from the GB Optics forum for wider interest?

[nrb]

For competitive shooting with iron sights, I have a pair of corrective glasses provided by my optician that work great. These were called "painters lenses" and have the mid distance correction at the top of the lens so I can focus on the front sight of rifle or pistol with no difficulty. They work great. For scope there is no problem.
best,       nrb

[barber]

I had bi-focals made, about 1/2 lens to  to see out about 6 inches past my outstretched fingers, and they work great for me, Did the same for  conputor,only not  bifocal.