Prone and eye glasses

[rowdyb]

When shooting prone on my stomach or on my side or sometimes even kneeling into a really low position I often have to look through the edge of the lens in my prescription glasses. I have found it is impossible to get any sort of clear focus when looking through the extreme edge of my glasses.

Especially when there is more than one target and after I've gone to the ground just trying to move my eyes for target transitions rather than my whole head.

What has anyone else done to improve looking through their glasses while prone or other positions that force you to look through them in a less than ideal way?

[Craig N]

I wear my contacts when I shoot 99% of the time. When I do wear my glasses it's because it's rainy or something. Maybe some larger lens/frames would help. I know with my stylish glasses I can see the edge of the rims if I just move my eyes.

[newboy]

I take a position 45 degrees off of perpendicular. Then I lay my head on my right arm. My head is parallel with the ground. My shooting elbow is on the ground. It is very stable and comfortable. And I can see out of the center of my glasses. But I only have one hand on the pistol.

I had to try a lot of different positions before I found what worked.

[rowdyb]

I guess where I am finding the most problem is when setting myself up at speed. The movement into the position ending up such that I can see through my glasses perfectly and it is compounded immensely if there are multiple targets. I can not get the sights into focus at all unless looking directly through the center of the glasses.

I wear the popular rayban/nerd style glasses so they are pretty big. I have never had contacts as this is my first pair of glasses.

I am even tried just using foam earplugs to see if I can't get my head and eyes into a better relative position to the sights and targets. Guess this is going to take some back tracking into dry fire practice to see what I can develop.

I am right handed, right eye dominant. I shoot a plain black rear .140 notch and a f.o. .100 front post. So I feel like I'm maximizing my potential for a clear sight picture. And like I said, I can see great in any other shooting position but the various prone and low cover kneeling ones I end up in.

[WeDefy]

This is no help at all to the discussion- but one of the best decisions I made in life was to get eye surgery (this being one of the many reasons).

[Alan550]

Assuming these are prescription lenses, any time you use an area other than the optical center (OC) of the lens, you will have image displacement. The stronger the Rx the more displacement you get. The OC is placed directly in front of your eyes when the glasses are fitted by the Optician/Optometrist with you in a "normal" position looking straight ahead. I used to set the OC "high & inside" for rifle shooters for the reason you mention, and nearly 100% of the time their scores went up. The same applies with pistol shooters who duck their heads to shoot, as many tend to do, whether they are aware of it or not.

The old Weaver stance was particularly conducive to this type head position, so the sight picture was similar to shooting a rifle.

Alan~^~

[rowdyb]

I spent about 30 minutes actively playing with this at the range yesterday. I think I have found an adjustment or two to my head and arm positions to make things better.

This is my first pair of glasses so I'm still learning what is normal when using them.

[tkheard]

@rowdyb - I am incredibly farsighted with a significant astigmatism. For everyday, I have progressive lenses, but they're awful for shooting. My doc suggested doing lined bifocals for shooting, with my non dominant lens normal, but doing the dominant with 1 diopter less than my reading correction in the main section and making it up in the reading section. This was for USPSA "normal" shooting so I could actually see the front sight. It has worked well for me. The bonus, I've found, is with rifle and prone. With the main lens (without progressive), any part of the upper works as it does for normal paper and steel. Like I said, works for me. YMMV.

[LegionShooter]

This is no help at all to the discussion- but one of the best decisions I made in life was to get eye surgery (this being one of the many reasons).

This. But since you're asking specifically about shooting prone in glasses...bigger lenses help, but glasses that hug your face closely are better for this. Oakley M-frames or similar that you can get made for your prescription work well. The Half-Jackets also work great and are what I use for work and for matches. My eye surgery was nearly 15 years ago, so I have a set of light prescription lenses in them for the range to fine tune the bit of fuzziness that is creeping back into my vision.

[rowdyb]

Thank you. My eye doc knows I shoot every day, so I will bring up the idea of sport specific glasses.

[Blackstone45]

I use a bit of blu tac (not sure if it's called the same in the states) to keep my glasses from slipping down my nose

[ChuckS]

3 gun presents you many awkward positions. What I found to cope is the Decot glasses with the adjustable bridge.

Edited September 28, 2014 by ChuckS

[DougCarden]

Rowdy, my primary shooting glasses are Randolph Rangers, with interchangeable lenses(similar to the Decots). They sit high on my nose, and work perfectly when I go prone at Bianchi. If you only need the prone every once in a while you may end up doing the rollover prone position.

DougC

[Jaxshooter]

Look at the Rudy Project Genetyk and Ability glasses. Larger lens area so you may not be looking at the extreme edge of the lens. They are available with RX lenses. If you want to go that route contact me for an excellent discount program.