Shooting Glasses - Prescription

[jkushner1]

I usually like cool looking glasses and was considering Oak-M's or Rudy's, but I am going to go with the overly traditional looking Decots. My questions is this:

Decots offers an "upside down" dominant eye bi-focal lens that enhances front sight focus using the small bifocal portion of the shooting eye only lens. The other lens is at your normal vision precription.

QUESTION: ARE THEY USPSA LEGAL ?.

I have used similar enhamcements on my AR and M1A peeps from Bob Jones which were CMP/DCM legal except for the national championships which didnt mean a whole lot to me. I also where noise atten. headsets for hearing protection and the wire temple of the Decots vs. the Oak-M's and Rudy's will allow a much better seal for sound.

Thanks,

Jon

[spd522]

I tried a bifocal type lens insert in a pair of Oakleys. I found that unless you look through the center of the lens, it can distort the view. For rifle or fixed head position shooting, it wasn't bad but for pistol, I had problems. Especially when doing reloads as you had to make sure you had the pistol and mag in the perfect spot or else you were splitting the lens and distorting your view. Whatever was in the bifocal lens was magnified and what wasn't was standard view. Made it look like the gun and mag were on two different planes and distances. Does that make sense?

So, I had prescription shooting glasses made where I get my eyes examined, glasses, and contacs. I am nearsighted but at age 50, also have the problem with seeing the front sight, reading, etc.

At my eye exam, knowing I would be wearing contacs while shooting, I wanted the left lens with no power, just the tinted lens. But for the right dominant eye lens, I wanted something that would clean up the front sight. We tried several different power levels and settled on .50 power for the entire lens. This cleans up the front sight and yet I can wear the glasses without the power being too strong and giving me headaches or depth perception problems. And I see the whole gun and mag during reloads even though I don't perform them like I can see them sometimes.

I picked out the frames I wanted. Lightweight and no frame around the sides or lower to interfere with side vision.

I chose the color I wanted. I went with the closest thing to Oakley Persimmon I could get as it is a good all around color. Didn't want too dark for days of shooting when it's cloudy etc. And not too bright for sunny days.

I've used them about 2 years now and they are one of the best investments I could have made.

[Vlad]

I found that all glasses screwed with my earmuff seal and I recently went to high NR ear plugs. And on topic, I just shot my first match with my prescription glasses and they were Rudy. I certainly like the glasses, but the only complaint I have is that the prescription insert is a bit to small for my face and I see the outer rims a bit more then I would like. Look me up next time you come to Old Bridge and you can take a look at mine, I use a pair of Rydons.

Jim Norman swears by his RB3's and maybe you can get to look at his too.

The cool thing about the Rudy glasses is that you only need on set of prescription lenses no mater how many color ones you want.

Vlad

[Flexmoney]

QUESTION: ARE THEY USPSA LEGAL ?.

I don't know of any restrictions on glasses...other than that they are safe to use for shooting?

[lynn jones]

[Vince Pinto]

Hi Jon,

The relevant rule from the January 2004 Edition rulebook is:

5.4.6 If a Range Officer deems that a competitor about to make an attempt at a course of fire is wearing inadequate eye or ear protection, the Range Officer may order the competitor to rectify the situation before allowing the competitor to continue. The Range Master is the final authority on this matter.

The word "inadequate" essentially alludes to "coverage", and provides a mechanism for an RO to prevent a competitor with, say, minimalist "John Lennon" type glasses from proceeding, because they fail to provide adequate coverage of the eye. The brand and configuration of your eye protection is not an issue.

And on topic, I just shot my first match with my prescription glasses and they were Rudy. I certainly like the glasses, but the only complaint I have is that the prescription insert is a bit to small for my face and I see the outer rims a bit more then I would like.

FWIW, most of my guys in Hong Kong who need prescription lenses wear Bolle glasses. I don't know if the inserts are larger than Rudy Project, but you may want to investigate.

[Tangram]

Decots offers an "upside down" dominant eye bi-focal lens that enhances front sight focus using the small bifocal portion of the shooting eye only lens.

The link below is for an alternate supplier of the reversed bifocal glasses made specifically for pistol shooting. I know nothing about these folks other than the URL so ....

http://www.hansenseagleeye.com/index.html

[LPatterson]

I normally wear tri-focals but for shooting I have the DeCot FT45 (inverted bi-focal) with intermediate and distance perscriptions. In the last 3 months I have raised my scores about 5-10 percentage points per stage. I am still in the learning phase of changing my focus between targets when moving but standards are coming along nicely with just a front sight focus.

[jkushner1]

The Rudy's with instert were dfinitely cool and as vlad said I worried about the size of their precrip. insert being a little small and not geting a good seal on my headset. Same for the Oakley's but less prescription choices. The Bolle's had the largest insert, but something kept bringing me back to Decot, The have the most unobstructed field of view, their customer service was strong, the gentlemen that helped me, Robert, had just returned from the USPSA and IDPA nationals to observe so they could better understand what action pistol/rifle shooters needed. We canned the bifocal altogether and I went with the Hy Wyd's with the Hy Lo adjustability. Decided spend my entire allowance and bought three sets of lenses - indoor = Gold 15; outdoor low light/overcast = Light medium target orange; sunny = Bronze 2. They also have very thin wire temple (the part that goes back to your ear), so I should get a good headset seal. Werent cheap but I bought the whole shootin' match. Thanks for the rules Vince.

Thanks,

Jon

[Vince Pinto]

Hi guys,

Of course the other solution is to wear your prescription "street" glasses under a set of Bolle (or other brand) goggles.

Sure, some people will think you either look like a dweeb or possibly a "wannabe" SWAT type but, at the end of the day, guys who wear prescription glasses want to be able to see and to do so comfortably.

I don't know about you guys, but I stopped trying to look cool when I hit 20, and that was many moons ago. I mean, if TGO turned up at a match wearing goggles, plaid golfing pants and flippers, who's gonna laugh?

[Rob Boudrie]

I mean, if TGO turned up at a match wearing goggles, plaid golfing pants and flippers, who's gonna laugh?

Everyone under 20 would be busy trying to find out where they could buy plaid pants and flippers. Same goes for a lot of the over 20's as well.

[eric nielsen]

http://www.visioncareproducts.com/34/len_comp.html

You might want to look at the Zeiss Prio "Browser" and the Essilor "Interview" lenses.

[Jim Norman]

I started out with Rudy RB3s and had my regular prescription installed. The same Varilux I wear all the time. Problem was finding the "Spot" where the front sight was in focus. my optician and I had the bright idea to raise the center of the lenses about 3mm so that the "Spot" was centered when I shoot. Works OK for fixed position shooting, not for shooting on the move and with all the odd positions we need. The Dy-Cot rep at teh Nationals and I worked out a reversal of my regular prescription using various lenses and I had a single correction lense set intalled. I see the front sight perfectly and they work for SG and Rifle, weak and strong side. I can see distance at an acceptable level, not perfect, but good enough. Only problem I seem to have is holding scorecards out far enough to read them. My arms are about 3" too short. I can read perfectly well without glasses, so I am in a sort of between range. Having made this correction to my lenses has picked up my times by probably 10-20%. I can see the font sight like I never thought possible.

Jim Norman

PS. And yes I do swear by my Rudys. THe simple fact that the correction lenses are in the plane of the frame and not behind the frame is what makes them so nice. Everything else I tried had the corrective lenses behind the plane and they were just too close to my face and eyes.

Jim

[MasterLefty]

FWIW, most of my guys in Hong Kong who need prescription lenses wear Bolle glasses.

Jon,

I will second Vince's observations. I have been using Bolle's with their SOS insert for over 8 years. They work for me, but another guy I shoot with has tried them twice and couldn't adjust to the insert. You need to see what works the best for your particular situation.

Everyone under 20 would be busy trying to find out where they could buy plaid pants and flippers. Same goes for a lot of the over 20's as well.

Ah, yes the "Robbie factor." If TGO showed up with blue mud in his navel, a lot of people would be trying to buy some.

Kenny

[racine]

I shoot with the Bolle' prescription inserts that I've had for the last 7 years. They are my medium strength glasses and work for rifle, and shotgun. For pistol I use my weakest and oldest set of glasses as I see the front sight very well. My newest script will give me a sharp long range target but I need to use the bifocals to see the front sight. My only complaint with the Bolle's is that the prescription lenses are too close to my eyebrow and lashes that they get smudged too quickly during a running match and that the lenses are made of polycarbonate which are the worst for visual acuity. Also I can't get polarized lenses for the bolles. I'd like to try the RB3's but can't find any in my area to try on before I buy. I also hear that the have polarized lenses which would be a big plus for trout fishing. Thanks to the many for sharing your experiences to us newer shooters.

[Vince Pinto]

Hi guys,

While doing some research, I stumbled across Shooting Glasses Guide and All About Vision, and both sites provide useful information.

[John Baier]

Just picked up a set of Bolle' glasses this week. trying to figure out which color lens to go with.

-John

[Vince Pinto]

I use Bolle, and I have a tinted set for outdoor ranges and clear set for indoor ranges. I also have a set of yellow lenses which are sometimes useful on outdoor ranges during certain conditions.

[John Baier]

Vince, went to the range today, partly sunny. found that the red inserts worked pretty good.

[Vince Pinto]

John,

Interesting. I've never tried the red lenses - what was the effect?

I find the yellow ones quite useful during late afternoon, especially if the side and back berms are covered in deep green grass - they seem to make typical cardboard coloured paper targets sharper and crisper.

[John Baier]

Vince,

Seems a alot crisper. I still have to try the other colors. funny but in the set I have there isn't a true yellow color, it's more of a gold. of course there is a down side - now I can see the misses more clearly.

[jkushner1]

I bought the Decot Hywydes with three seperate lens sets of differing tints. They are exceptional in fit, finish and quality. Not as cool as the Rudy's or Oakley's, but I don't care. The quick adjust bridge height is excellent for multi gun events - with one hand you can elevate the lens portion of the frame which makes rifle shooting, especially shotgun and the associated recoil, that much more functional - no more comb smack to the bottom edge of the lenses.

Thanks,

Jon