Gadgetech Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I wear and have worn contacts for about 20 years (I'm only 37) and am near sighted. I have always kept a pair of glasses as well just in case a contact goes rogue. I have been wondering if there is a preference among the shooting community between the two. I wear daily wear contacts (wear 1 time and toss) and I don't really notice a difference b/w those and glasses in terms of clarity so I'm inclined to continue wearing my contacts but I'm curious what others are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Between the 2.. I liked Contacts.. then I cold wear whatever sunglasses, goggles, I wanted.. Contacts would trap dust more then I wised up and got lasik.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgetech Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 I don't have too much trouble with dust but boy when that speck gets in there. My thoughts on Lasik are that I'll be wearing bifocals in a couple years anyway and my vision can be corrected to 20/15 so I'm not sure I want to spend the money only to wear bifocals in a few years...plus I'm a chicken when I think about eye laser surgery. Sent from my WP7 using Board Express Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBB Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 (edited) I too have had lasik with I think is better than either option. However, between the two I think contacts are better for shooting. The reason I think this is because the correction that glasses provide is not 100% uniform throughout the entire area of the lens. As you move your head and/or your eyes your vision may change. With contacts the lens is directly on your eye making it easy to maintain a fixed relationship between your eye and the corrective lens. If I were going to shoot with glasses (who knows maybe I will especially as I age) I would work with an eye doctor to make sure the glasses I was using for shooting provided the correction I needed in my typical shooting position. I wouldn't assume that this correlates to sitting in the chair and looking at the eye chart in terms of how you position your body, your head, and your eyes. I also think it's worth noting that glasses can be somewhat of a fashion accessory. Styles change over time. Really small lenses may look cool but don't make it easy to consistently get the correction you need since the center part of the lens it so small.' (edited to correct typo) Edited October 28, 2011 by BBBB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollymon32 Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 BBBB makes an excellent point and may explain the sense of disconcerteness that I sometimes get when wearing my prescription glasses and running a course. I may switch to contacts for a match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgetech Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 BBBB makes an excellent point and may explain the sense of disconcerteness that I sometimes get when wearing my prescription glasses and running a course. I may switch to contacts for a match. Yep, I had forgotten that only the center of the lens is designed to give you the best clarity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTSCMike Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Contacts all the way...that is until you get old and need readers to see the sights. I just had my first pair of prescription shooting glasses made. They have wrap around lenses and clarity throughout the lens is pretty good. It was a necessity due to old eyes but man I miss my contacts on match days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuke8401 Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I just went from shooting glasses to multi focal contacts. These My link multi-focal give perfect distance vision and just enough near correction to see the sights. I have tried multi focal with more near correction but could not get used to them. I do need more correction for reading and carry cheap compact reading glasses. My vision for shooting has never been this good. David E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want2race Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I was the opposite. I think glasses are far better. You can tell your Optimitrist to make the focal point higher in the lenses for shooting with a slight head down posture. When I tried contacts that corrected my vision properly I could see the sight crystal clear but everything beyond it was a total blur. If I looked at targets, the sights were not just blurry, but nearly gone. The focal length (area in front of and beyond my point of focus) was so short that anything I wasn't focused on was terrible. For rifle I couldn't even see the rear sight to center the front in it. Glasses have a longer focal length. I'm not sure on the correct terminology. The distance from glasses lens, through eyeball lens, then to retna is longer. My glasses corrected my right eye to 20/30 before I went to replace them. This gave me an even longer focal length. I could see the sights well AND the target well. Things in front of and beyond my point of focus were much clearer with glasses. I've spoken to many eye docs about this and the theory behind it. Glasses give you more fudge factor. Example. Looking through the sights but focusing on a 10 yard target, with glasses I could still see a (although somewhat blurry) sight picture well enough to see the front was centered. With contacts doing to same test, I couldn't even make out the front sight. Yes, I know..front sight focus. This was a test. The opposite was true. Focus on front sight with glasses, 10 yard target was visable enough to make out the C vs D zone. Contacts, target image was very bad. In the end, I got Lasix. I requested they "dumb down" the correction factor. Thay can do a 20/10 correction although they don't gaurantee it. I requested 20/20-20/30. They complied. I was 20/25 the day after surgery. A year later I'm 20/15 in both. If I want the same, longer focal length that I with my old glasses, I can wear +1 lenses to acheive it. I've since adapted my shooting to use no corrective lenses. For gunsmith work, I now use a 5x Optivisor with 10x loop. Whereas I used to just be able to take my glasses off and see 2inches in front of my face. It's the best money I've ever spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ofishl1 Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I have been leary of corrective surgery, my long vision is not that good, but I can see my front sight very well, so I put one contact in my left eye, and now I can see the A zone clearly and still pick up my sight with my dominant eye, has made a huge difference in my accuracy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
392heminut Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I had Lasik about 10 years ago and love it! I use +1 glasses from Wal Mart for reading, but don't need any correction for shooting yet. My 19 year old son wears contacts (about +2.25) and would not even consider wearing his glasses for shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astephenson Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 (edited) I prefer contacts while shooting. Edited October 30, 2011 by astephenson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfrey Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 One more vote for contacts. That way I can wear what ever shooting glasses I want over them and still see clearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Contacts for me; strong side/aiming eye corrected to FS distance, the other for distance. Works for my old eyeballs. The technique is called monovision, and I had this set up specifically for shooting. In deference to the need to do a lot of reading and writing in my other, nonshooting life, I wear bifocal glasses over the contacts, which also correct my dominant eye to shorter reading distance as well and distance. I take the glasses off for shooting. I tried shooting with glasses. It might be that I just didn't give it a good enough trial, but using the contacts is easier for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want2race Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I should have specified my correction of -5.25, or somerset around there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainmcphersn Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Contacts for me. I am very near sighted and am corrected -10.0 in right eye and -10.5 in the right. With glasses, I have no peripheral vision and have to turn my entire head to shift focus to another object. With contacts, it's also a simple matter to swap lenses for different conditions as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aglifter Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I find it more comfortable to shoot in glasses - but I also found out that my last order of contacts was defective, and not permitting enough O2 to my cornea, so... (When/if the capillary goes back down, I might try contacts for shooting a match, but I've gotten pretty used to glasses again) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Big Ugly Glasses are the way to go for me. Contacts just didn't work for me. Small glasses just don't work very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggieddad02 Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I do a lot of deer hunting and just got started with USPSA and find that contacts work best for me. I am not at a point yet where I am totally dependant on reading glasses and that may be why contacts work best for me but unlike glasses, with contacts there is no problem with fogging in the cold or when it rains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgetech Posted November 2, 2011 Author Share Posted November 2, 2011 I've been wearing my glasses for the last few days to see what it would be like and while it isn't the end of the world, I do prefer my contacts. The constant pushing the glasses up on my nose is aggravating and I don't think I could get a lighter pair of glasses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 The constant pushing the glasses up on my nose is aggravating and I don't think I could get a lighter pair of glasses. This is what I found too. I prefer contacts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 (edited) I'm in the -6 range. I generally wear my contacts because my glasses do not provide proper eye protection and I don't want to wear two pairs of glasses. LASIK would be like a gift from God. Edited November 2, 2011 by twodownzero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Glasses should be shooting specific. Not just your daily wear glasses. I got mine from Walmart for about $50. Right eye set to give good vision of front sight, left eye on distant. I am in bifocals so I need that setup. But you don't have to pay a bunch to get good shooting glasses. Just pick a pair with BIG frames (look at the sunglasses aisle). Then when you get your prescription have them give you a extra prescription for your strong eye set to the distance of your front sight. We spend all this money on guns and ammo, etc. You need properly set up glasses as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baa Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Great thread. I was just at my eye doc the other week and we had a long conversation about eye correction for shooting. My doc spend a lot of time with me getting my eyes dialed in for shooting. Interestingly, she said the opposite of Want2Race's doc.. she said that ultimately contacts allow for better correction than glasses. I don't know who is right, but consider this- I am pretty blind without contacts (-4.7 and 5.0 in my eyes) and have an astigmatism in my shooting eye. Contacts provide me with clear vision at both my focal point and peripheral vision. Glasses give me clear vision at the focal point and do jack for peripheral vision. I think we rely pretty heavily on ALL of our vision in shooting, so I want the most clear vision possible all around, which means wearing glasses In order to get the most clear vision possible, I am going to try hard contact lens for a couple of months as they can provide better clarity vs. soft lenses. We shall see if I can stand to wear them though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgetech Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 baa - I have an astigmatism as well however my vision correction is 1.5 in both eyes. I wear soft lenses but they are daily wear. Wear them once and throw away. No cleaning but they are a bit more expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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