I found out yesterday that after only 52 years and much prodding from my wife that I need distance glasses. I knew that my eyesight wasn't as good as when I was 20 but didn't realize the huge difference between 20-30ish+ and 20-15 or better. Since I barely ever even wear sunglasses I have very little idea of what features I need in distance glasses for hunting. Anti-reflective coating, special lens shape to retain periperal, color or tint of lens, frames that stay on well? Will I need to re-focus my rifle scopes?

Suggestions from more experienced folks are welcome, I ordered a "plain jane" pair to get used to wearing them, she indicated there would be an adjustment period. She seemed very good but had little knowledge of what might be encounterd hunting the mountains in late fall and winter and what would be helpful spotting game. Thanks for any ideas you can share.

You lasted longer than I did. I started with progressive lenses and have found them to be the best for full-time wear.

For hunting in Africa I require sunglasses and have found that some, like the Bolle Vigilante and the current G.I. issue, whose name escapes me, come as regular sunglasses with an optical insert that can be mounted behind the sunglass lens. You can then use the lightest weight optical lenses without all the "extras", since the actual sunglass provides all the extra protection you need.

Progressive lenses are much more expensive than bifocals, but they have proved their worth to me.

I also have a pair of shooter specific Rx sunglasses from a company no longer in business. They work well but are no longer relevant to the discussion.

Best of luck with your choice. And remember, your eyesight will likely continue to degrade for some years before it stabilizes.

Thanks for the good advice Mike, I looked at a pair similar to what you described with an insert behind a more protective glasses with a tint. I'm not sure I'll need progressives my up close vision is still very good.

The "continue to degrade" wasn't exactly the pick me up I was looking for but I wouldn't be surprised.

Welcome to the "I'm also getting older" club...

Yes, if you start shooting with optically compensated glasses, you will likely have to readjust the "focus" - or rather, diopter compensation - on your rifle scopes as well as your binocs. Btw, this is the time when you realize how much easier it is to adjust a European scope (type) diopter compensation - compared to the miserable adjustment offered on Leupold scopes, say. (I hasten to state, that I otherwise like Leupold scopes and that they have never let me down, but diopter compensation adjustment has got to be one of their worst features...).

A friend of mine had great trouble with shooting a scoped rifles with his (newly acquired) glasses, until he figured out that the strength of the optical compensation varies across the surface of the glass. I.e. most glasses do not offer perfect optical compensation at the edge of the glass. Solution: for glasses to be used for shooting and hunting, it is advantageous if you get a glass which extends quite far up towards (or past?) your eyebrows. Narrow glasses will not be as suitable for shooting....

Also, welcome to the "wonderful" world of having to deal with fogged up glasses, and remember a spare pair when you go hunting.... Man, isn't it a pain in the posterior to get older....

- mike

Think about a set of frames made of one of the memory metals - a titanium-nickle alloy.
I wear Autoflex by Marchon. I am not promoting these but I have had good use out of 3 frames over more than 10 years.

They are very light, comfortable and tough.

Light - meaning comfortable, easy to keep on your face, an they will not dent your nose

Tough - being new to glasses your first pair will likely be destroyed unless you are very careful.

Next wear a strap behind your head with them on like a football player. This will keep them from falling in the urinal when you take a leak.
It will also keep them on your face the first time you fire a 12 ga or a 30-06.

You gotta have progressive lens.
Tell them if you work on a computer a lot. They might adjust the near vision higher to keep you from bending your neck back.

You should not have to adjust much of anything on rifle scopes unless they find you also need a close focus prescription in the lens. But that is no big deal. If you have to refocus a few scopes it is worth it to tell the collie dog across the field is really a Hereford cow.


>>>I'm not sure I'll need progressives my up close vision is still very good.<<<

Your eyes will still need to switch between a distance prescription and no prescription otherwise you will have that old grannie line in your glasses.

I can see I have some catching up to do - my intent is to wear them for driving and outdoor activities but you are probably right that I'll likley want the improved vision for everything.

Good frames and progressive lenses are now on the list, I'm still looking for moer info.

SR4759 - Were you on Tarawa? My father-in-law was a teenage replacement for one of the Marine units there and then eventually in Nagasaki. He didn't recommend that as a way to grow up but the service you guys did for the country was incredible.

I don't have progressives just plain old glasses for near sightedness. My last pair I made a huge mistake and got the auto darkening ones and I hate the bloody things. In the thick bush it makes it too dark to see anything and I'm forever running into low hanging branches.

If you can remove your glasses for shooting or binoculars that's the way to go.

I am far sighted and now I need glasses (50 yrs) for reading and such. If I go into a resturant without them it is a nightmare trying to read the menu..

When hunting though I am still able to do fine without them. If not for scoped sights I would probably use glases.

Pardon the ignorance, but what are "progressive lenses"?

I'd go with contacts. They are a pain in many ways, but I see better with them, rain and fog isn't a problem, and they don't get in the way with binoculars and scopes. The new soft ones correct for many problems that couldn't be solved with contacts before and they are comfortable and relatively easy to care for.

You will lose them occasionally, especially in the wind. When hunting, I just carry a little pouch on my belt with a couple of extra pairs of lenses and some saline solution in case I lose one.

For hunting I use contact lenses as I dislike the interaction of glasses and binoculars. For only shooting I go with my glasses as well, but on hunting I only use contact lenses...

all above is good, go LIGHT if you get glasses, titanium is great, don't get the little granny glasses, you need some room for the progressives to work correctly, get the scratch resistant coating, the "thin" lenses (they have a name for them and I can't remember it) and the anti-glare coating...it's going to cost for the 1st pair, even with insurance I pay about $200 for new lenses annually but since I got a nice light titanium frame about 8 years ago, I've not needed any new "free" frames. Keep an extra set in the truck. I shoot both eyes open with any iron sights (rifle and pistol) and don't even see the sights on a shotgun (you shouldn't either). ... {8>

I got all this experience by being old...it wasn't always ez.

VR
Earl

Some people call progressive no line bifocals. Bi focals means two focal planes--sorta like off/on--you are either using the top or the bottom. With progressive the lower reading part is not just off/on it gets progressively stronger as you lean your head further back. He doesn't need near help as his reading vision is good, so progressive wouldn't apply. I do like transistion lenses--the ones that automatically darken in stronger light.

I really like the transitional lens for hunting. These change with the amount of light from nearly clear to quite dark. I use them for golf and hunting. I would check out the shades to see which you prefer. My next pair will be brown.
There is a company that makes shooting glasses with your prescription. I believe their name is Decot Hy-Wyd. Frames are stout and a pal just sends them his new prescription and new lens appear in two weeks. I think they have a good web site and offer lots of shading options. They used to be extremely popular with trap shooters when I was shooting.

I'm not advocating for anything here, I'm sure all these solutions work. But what I like about contacts is that I can have sunglasses or reading glasses if needed and still look through a pair of binoculars.

I'd recommend you seek input from an optometrist having experience with shooting sports. I use Lt. Col. Alan Toler who is a doctor of optometry and is on the National scene in shooting sports. As to glasses, I was introduced to Randolph Rangers (now Randolph Engineering) while shooting National competition out of Quantico. I switched over to this system and have used them ever since in numerous disciplines of shooting sports, hunting, combat, as well as day to day. I'm turning 50 this year and my vision is not too bad at around 20-25, but the vision of my youth was 20-15. Good glasses correct my current vision back to this 20-15, which I much prefer, while giving me that crystal clear sight picture when afield. As to binos, I always use eye protection when hunting afield regardless if needing corrected vision. So I tend to use binos with large eye relief having turn down eye cups designed for use with eyewear. I've had no issue.

Find yourself an eyedoctors having experience correcting vision for hunting and shooting sports. It can make a difference with the end results.

Good Luck

I have worn fixed power glasses for years and never had any problems...until I switched to progressive bifocals...

They gave me fits for a while...my groups became very strange...a five shot group with 3 shots in one area and another group an inch or more away..

I just could not get a uniform sight picture...I imagine I was positioning my head differently from shot to shot...bad technique.

I use an older pair of non bifocals for benchwork now...I hunt with bifocals and find they work well enough..

Just my 2 cents worth...if strange things start happening when you are shooting a known good rifle and load...suspect your new glasses.

Good luck! Getting older ain't fer sissies.