Choices in correcting your vision

[STI2011]

I have seen a number of forum posts about near sightedness and far sightedness and various measures people take to correct for it in their shooting but, I haven't seen a comparision topic covered.

Background-

I have bad eyes and with the past couple of prescriptions my doctor set me up with progressive lenses (kinda like no-line trifocals). I’ve realized that these don’t work out for me very well while shooting because I can’t see my sights clearly (Thankfully I am right handed and right eye dominant so I don't have that problem to further complicate matters).

I recently took a pair of sunglasses that allow prescription inserts and had the non dominant lens set to distance and the dominant lens set to arms length. This allows me to see my sights and get better hits but, it takes a good hour before my brain adjusts after switching out my glasses and I'm not sure this is the best answer, though certainly better than my regular glasses. I tried the tape once but, I wasn’t wearing single vision lenses so, I’m not sure that it was a valid test. As far as comfort goes, I feel more balanced seeing out of both eyes than with tape over one eye but, tape may provide a sharper image of the front sight if I went with standard glasses. I’m not sure. All I know is that after 6 months of not seeing what I need to see to break the shot and getting poor hits because of it, I have finally bought into the “there is no speed, there is seeing and there is not seeing” ideology.

This brings me to the question:

I’d like to hear from people who have tried both of these methods (or any other methods that worked) and what they thought of each and what they ended up doing in the end and any adjustments they made to make it all work for them. (Maybe we can turn it into a poll at some point?)

Edited February 8, 2009 by glockman2000

[gfmun]

I am also interested as I have tried everything I can think of. I have tried the dominant eye prescrition to front sight length and that is great if the targets are 10 yards or closer. Also I got headaches as I could not adjust. I also tried the bifocal to the top of the lens....not good for me...Right now I have a fairly fuzzy picture of the front sight ( I use a good fiber optic ) in bright red and the rear sight opened up so I have more room on each side of the front sight. This is the best I can find so I am very interested in what other shooters do...

thanks,

George

[Paul Burtchell]

Perfect timing. I too am struggling with the same problem. I am very near sighted, but now I have to have bifocals because I can't see close up either. I have an eye appt. in about 10 days. I am going to ask about monovision glasses. I am going to have my right lens set with the bifocal only, set to be in focus on my front sight, and my left lens set at infinity.

I have a friend who said this has worked for him. He to has to put them on 30 minutes or so prior to a match to adjust.

I think OPEN is calling.

Edited February 8, 2009 by baerburtchell

[Vulture]

I have the same problems but i wanted to be able to wear sunglasses. The precription insert did not work for me. So i got a set of single vision contacts with the focal length set to arms length and backed down one power in my dominant eye. It allows me to see the front site clearly and the targets arn't that bad when i focus on them. I can't read anything smaller than a stop sign but being that they read the stage briefing to you, i guess i don't need to read anything anyway.

[fiddler]

I had Lasik eye surgery done about 7 years ago. I can see when I get up in the AM, when I swim and when I ski. At the ripe old age of 42 I could finally hit a fastball. I can see the sights just fine though I need reading glasses for up close work.

I had my vision tested at 20/15 in the left dominant eye and 20/20 in the right eye just this week. It was the best elective medical money I ever spent.

Highly recommended.

Roy

[RangerTrace]

I had Lasik eye surgery done about 7 years ago. I can see when I get up in the AM, when I swim and when I ski. At the ripe old age of 42 I could finally hit a fastball. I can see the sights just fine though I need reading glasses for up close work.

I had my vision tested at 20/15 in the left dominant eye and 20/20 in the right eye just this week. It was the best elective medical money I ever spent.

Highly recommended.

Roy

I am leaning towards lasik. Without my contacts I can read just fine, but I'm like 20/400 at distance. I just turned 40 so reading glasses are just around the corner anyway. My only worry is, if I have Lasik, will I be able to focus on the front sight. I would like to hear from more shooters who've had lasik to make sure they can still focus on the front site too. Even if I quit the sport tomorrow, I have another 10-15 years of mandatory shooting.

[ChuckS]

As a newly-minted 58 year old, I can share what I found. I am old, have astigmatism, prism, myopia, and some cornea damage in my dominate eye.

Progressive bifocals: I use them every day. They will work for shooting but far too slow for anything but bullseye (I am guessing at the bullseye since I do not have the attention span for that!)

Fixed bifocals: Too slow.

Hard front sight focus: OK for 10-15 yard targets max. It may work for most IDPA stages but not USPSA stages. We typically have shots out to 40 yards or more and with this vision correction 20+ is a crap shoot at best.

Soft front sight focus: The best answer I found. The dominate eye focus is set somewhere past the front sight where the sights and distant targets are "equally" blurry. I find that I really have to work at a distant target sight picture but it works better than any of the above methods.

Lasik: I was told if I had lasik, I would likely still have to wear lenses to correct for prism. it seemed dumb to pay multiple K$ just so I can continue to wear glasses. I know about 8 folks who have done lasik over the last 5-8 years and they are all back in glasses. YMMV.

The answer: Shoot open . Single vision lenses set at distance. Dot at distance. Targets at distance. No mono-vision vertigo or headaches. No time lag "getting used" to the weird vision. Put on your shooting glasses and rock. And you can use the glasses for other things

Keep searching the forums, there is a ton of info here.

Later,

Chuck

[mcattack]

Shoot open. I have tried everything and never satisfied with anything. So I shoot open it is the only way to go when you go blind. Cant keep up with the 20 year olds but I can at least enjoy shooting.

[Jman]

Open shooting is definitely a strong option. Another is finding a devoted shooting eye doctor. We can only correct our vision so much for pistol shooting. How much is to much? Their are as many answers as their are shooters. Thing is it's all about compromise. What we correct in one aspect we loose in another. The key is "less is best". If you can see your targets really well with no correction but can't see your sights perfectly, give Open a very serious look. It is important that your doctor understand your requirements as a pistol shooter. One that doesn't can do more harm than good to your game. FWIW.

Jim

[megathumpzilla]

I am pretty sure I got the idea of this board somewhere...

I wear progressives with a little astigmatism correction. My head is sort of trained to move around to maximize focus, I lift my head and look down to get detail This gets learned in the first little while of wearing progressives. The astigmatism thing makes it hard, it somehow tries to correct my natual eye focus on one side.

I don't want my head moving as a range finder, and I want my eyes just relaxed as I can get them.

I got some reading glasses that focus exactly at my front sight distance. My head calms down, I can see the sights crystal clear with both eyes open, and it made everything way easier.

[STI2011]

Thanks for everyone's input....keep em coming.

So far, I'm thinking that my choices are:

1. Switch back to using a pure target focus and accept the loss of accuracy on distance targets and accept that I'll never get to (M) or (GM)--not that I had any realistic expectation of getting to GM anyway.

2. Use single vision glasses with tape and try to adjust to it. It just doesn't feel right to me. Does that feeling go away after a while?

3. Continue with my present course of adjusting to and practicing with these new shooting glasses. I gives me an ok (not perfect) view of my sights without making me feel off balance like the tape does. I don't have enough time and practice with them yet to know but, I have to believe that it will give me better accuracy than using a target focus.

4. Switch to an open gun (after spending all this money on my limited gun, is just not a viable option any time soon) added to that, what if I don't like or can't adjust to an open gun after spending all that money on one? I've heard people say that shooting an open gun isn't the easy switch they thought it would be and that some never adapt to it. I have never shot an open gun so, I have no idea if I would like it or not. It sure would be nice to be able to rent one for a day and see.

I think that #3 is probably my best near term solution while I save up for #4. I'm guessing I'll need to save up about $4,000 or so for a decent open gun?

Edited February 8, 2009 by glockman2000

[Gary1911A1]

I had Lasik eye surgery done about 7 years ago. I can see when I get up in the AM, when I swim and when I ski. At the ripe old age of 42 I could finally hit a fastball. I can see the sights just fine though I need reading glasses for up close work.

I had my vision tested at 20/15 in the left dominant eye and 20/20 in the right eye just this week. It was the best elective medical money I ever spent.

Highly recommended.

Roy

I am leaning towards lasik. Without my contacts I can read just fine, but I'm like 20/400 at distance. I just turned 40 so reading glasses are just around the corner anyway. My only worry is, if I have Lasik, will I be able to focus on the front sight. I would like to hear from more shooters who've had lasik to make sure they can still focus on the front site too. Even if I quit the sport tomorrow, I have another 10-15 years of mandatory shooting.

I just had bladeless lasik done last week at the Cincinnati Eye Institute. I thought about monvision with my dominate right eye corrected for up close since at the age of 56 I need some form of reading glasses, but I didn't want to take a chance on not adjusting well to it for all things through the day. I have done monvision with contacts and it worked for me, but I'd start to have headaches after awhile. I plan on getting some shooting glasses with the right lens set for close. I'm happy not to wear glasses as their weight and inconvenience was a daily pain and I hope my eyes continue to improve better than 20/20. So I'll post my final results in the future. Wish they could do something for old eyes.

[Steve J]

Perfect timing. I too am struggling with the same problem. I am very near sighted, but now I have to have bifocals because I can't see close up either. I have an eye appt. in about 10 days. I am going to ask about monovision glasses. I am going to have my right lens set with the bifocal only, set to be in focus on my front sight, and my left lens set at infinity.

I have a friend who said this has worked for him. He to has to put them on 30 minutes or so prior to a match to adjust.

I think OPEN is calling.

No bifocal. The whole lense for your dominant eye set to focus on the front sight. If you think you have to have a bifocal, make sure it is in the upper half of the lense, not the lower like for reading. We use the top of our lenses when shooting. Better to just use the whole lense.

p.s. open is... well you know.

[Paul Burtchell]

Perfect timing. I too am struggling with the same problem. I am very near sighted, but now I have to have bifocals because I can't see close up either. I have an eye appt. in about 10 days. I am going to ask about monovision glasses. I am going to have my right lens set with the bifocal only, set to be in focus on my front sight, and my left lens set at infinity.

I have a friend who said this has worked for him. He to has to put them on 30 minutes or so prior to a match to adjust.

I think OPEN is calling.

No bifocal. The whole lense for your dominant eye set to focus on the front sight. If you think you have to have a bifocal, make sure it is in the upper half of the lense, not the lower like for reading. We use the top of our lenses when shooting. Better to just use the whole lense.

p.s. open is... well you know.

[thefiremeister]

Same problem. I have to have glasses to read and can't see my front sight with out glasses.

I went and had some single vision sunglasses made up with my reading prescription. So far it works great. it only takes a few minutes to get used to the new glasses. I can see my front sight and the glasses help me find the sights faster because the sights are the only thing in focus now.

The targets are a little blurry but not bad. Their suppose to be blurry anyway right?

Try single vision reading in both lenses. Its great.

[STI2011]

Same problem. I have to have glasses to read and can't see my front sight with out glasses.

I went and had some single vision sunglasses made up with my reading prescription. So far it works great. it only takes a few minutes to get used to the new glasses. I can see my front sight and the glasses help me find the sights faster because the sights are the only thing in focus now.

The targets are a little blurry but not bad. Their suppose to be blurry anyway right?

Try single vision reading in both lenses. Its great.

That's an interesting thought. I kind of simulated that the other night by putting tape over my nondominant eye in my shooting glasses. This blocked the lens that is set to distance so I only had the short distance lens to see out of. You are correct in that all that was in focus was the sights. I guess my eyes must be much worse than yours because the targets were so blurry that I couldn't see my hits.

Has anyone else tried this that would like to comment on having both their lenses set for close distance?

[wileecoyote37]

I bought, on line, a set of "stick on with water" bifocals to the strength needed to add to the upper portion of my regular glasses (tri-focals). Cut the bifocal to proper size with a pair of sissors and stuck it on my right lense. When I tilt my head forwward to view the sight the stick on bifocal makes the front sight clear. I can see every thing as normal except when using the sights. Works for me.

wileecoyote37

[Storm52]

I am near sighted and wear the transition lenses. Fortunately, I can read without glasses and able to clearly see at arm's length. Instead of going only with single lense distance correction, I chose a distance on top and clear bottom bifocal with a smaller area on bottom than normal. I can access the target and not be bothered with the tilting head or bouncing eyes to see the front sight. It didn't take any adjustment or learning curve. Couple this vision deal with being right handed and left eye dominant and not able to use a patch over left eye. The Gawds not only put my brain in backwards, but also upside down. I have been reduced to plinking and having to use my old 870 for any success at that!

[Keninaz]

Chech out Decot Hy-wyd here:http://www.sportglasses.com/ They are in the Phoenix area, (bring your gun with you).

After they hooked me up, I put the open gun down and only shot guns that had a front sight. (I still suck, but at least I can see the front sight again. Before going here I had not seen a crisp front sight picture in 15 years!).

If your eyes are really bad Open is where you will end up. Distant vision mostly.

Kendall

[STI2011]

Chech out Decot Hy-wyd here:http://www.sportglasses.com/ They are in the Phoenix area, (bring your gun with you).

After they hooked me up, I put the open gun down and only shot guns that had a front sight. (I still suck, but at least I can see the front sight again. Before going here I had not seen a crisp front sight picture in 15 years!).

If your eyes are really bad Open is where you will end up. Distant vision mostly.

Kendall

Since they are local, I guess I will have to check it out. If I decide to try out a pair, I'll post my results.

Thanks for the info

[Charles Bond]

What I about to pass on is based on what I have been told and not personal experience.

If you want prescripton, go with bi focals and not tri focals or progressives. I have been told this by MDs who shoot and by the sunglass retailers who insert presciption lens.

Some of our local shooters have also had lazik surgery with one eye set for arms length and the other for distance and they like it. So far I have not heard of using corrective lens, even if just for shooting, but I do not see why that might not work.

My advice is find yourself a doctor who shoots. Shooters usually make no secret of it and if the assistant who answers the phone does not know, assume the doctor does not shoot. Your personal MD is also likely to know which eye doctors shoot because of course your doctor is a shooter. If your doctor is not a shooter...............shame on you.

[Joe A.]

For what it worth , I had Lasik done about 9 years ago and time is slowly catching up where I need an enhancement and I will not hesitate to have it done . Why to start with I put up with coke bottles for lens for years and being able to have 20/20 at distance was unbelievable . Yes I did need some cheep "Wally World" (Wal-Mart) reading glasses for very SMALL print. I was happy to live with that. As for sights ,well , I use 30 MM. red dots on my "run guns" and AR's and never worried about my skeet guns. Now you need to talk with a doctor who is very good at this. I had it done a Duke Eye Center N.C.. This is my understanding of it - unless you have nerve damage , if you are near sighted and have enough cornea material to reshape odds are that you could be after Lasik very close to 20/20 . Now here the neat thing about the process - I would say that most of the procedure is controlled by the computer that is running the laser - based upon what a perfect eye is. The laser first measures the thickness of the cornea than the distance from the edge of the cornea to your optic nerves . it calculates the focal distance for you eye and what amount of corneal material is needed to be removed to reshape your eye . AND IT DON'T HURT AT ALL! a few doggy downs and a few eye drops to get er dune . . it aint cheep but if you can afford a totally tricked out 1911 comp gun it will be worth it ... I speak through eyes of experence - email me if you need more info Joe A. <aircavvietnam@yahoo.com>

[JWBooth]

I had an Eye Docter tell me that a lot of people have to use eye drops daily, after Lask surg. because their eyes could not make the necessary tears . Do any of you have this problem? Also is there a age when Lasik is not advisable or a not good return on investment, as far as good results? I'm 63 yrs old? --JWB

[Graham Smith]

I had an Eye Docter tell me that a lot of people have to use eye drops daily, after Lask surg. because their eyes could not make the necessary tears . Do any of you have this problem? Also is there a age when Lasik is not advisable or a not good return on investment, as far as good results? I'm 63 yrs old?

Like anything, some people will get more out of Lasik than others. I had it done a few years ago (I'm 59 now) and it put my vision back to a mild prescription for reading glasses. But I have other eye issues including astigmatism that make shooting a challenge.

This may not work for everyone, but I know someone who went from wearing progressive glasses to mono-vision contact lenses. One eye was corrected for reading and the other for distance. It took her a couple weeks to get used to it, but once the brain adjusted, it has worked just fine for her.

It just goes to show that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

[Doug H.]

I'm 52 and have astigmatizm and also need correction for reading and to see the sights. I also shoot 3 gun in addition to pistol so the monovision option is out. At first I used regular bifocals with the lower reading part moved higher on the lens but that was kind of an on or off deal on the sights. I switched to progressive lenses with the magnification moved up on my right eye. Now I can adjust the angle of my head slightly to get the sights in sharper view if necessary. Lenses and frames are Rudy Project, I have 2 sets, one with the prescription lens behind and one with the prescription in the main lens. Must be at least grand I have in shooting glasses.

Doug