Glasses

[Silvius]

I had suspected for a while that my eyesight was not what it used to be so I bought my first pair of glasses last week. Wore them out in the woods this morning and bloody hell I had forgotten how beautiful the woods are. I can see a whole lot more going on now and I will be much better able to see deer before they see me but could people who are used to wearing glasses tell me how best to approach shooting with glasses please?

How please do I shoot best in glasses with
A rifle and binoculars or a thermal imager?
A shotgun?
A bare bow?

This probably sounds really dumb but is the scope going to bash my glasses in when I fire a rifle? If it will, then presumably I have to choose between going out without glasses, removing them before the shot or learning to shoot with a different head position, which is preferable? Will glasses do anything strange to shooting a shotgun or a bare bow?

What about reflections off the glasses giving you away? Are there special lens coatings for hunters? are they worth it?

Thanks. I am basically a total beginner when it comes to glasses and considering these things for the first time, so any advice will be gladly received.

 

[Pete1774]

I had suspected for a while that my eyesight was not what it used to be so I bought my first pair of glasses last week. Wore them out in the woods this morning and bloody hell I had forgotten how beautiful the woods are. I can see a whole lot more going on now and I will be much better able to see deer before they see me but could people who are used to wearing glasses tell me how best to approach shooting with glasses please?

How please do I shoot best in glasses with
A rifle and binoculars or a thermal imager?
A shotgun?
A bare bow?

This probably sounds really dumb but is the scope going to bash my glasses in when I fire a rifle? If it will, then presumably I have to choose between going out without glasses, removing them before the shot or learning to shoot with a different head position, which is preferable? Will glasses do anything strange to shooting a shotgun or a bare bow?

What about reflections off the glasses giving you away? Are there special lens coatings for hunters? are they worth it?

Thanks. I am basically a total beginner when it comes to glasses and considering these things for the first time, so any advice will be gladly received.

Try soft contact lenses. I've used them for over 20 years. I use extended wear type which last about a month and you just take them out once a week for 24 hours. No hassle with bninos, scopes etc.

 

[Scapegoat]

I have a complicated sort of prescription and wear varifocals. They are ok with binos and the thermal, but a nightmare with a scope. I tend to set the diopters for my right eye without glasses and put them in my pocket!

Same with shotgun. Varifocals are a massive hindrance so I shoot without them.

Contacts may be the way to go for you,but I was told they would only ever be a compromise for me so I didn’t bother trying them.

 

[Tim1]

Try soft contact lenses. I've used them for over 20 years. I use extended wear type which last about a month and you just take them out once a week for 24 hours. No hassle with bninos, scopes etc.

This is the correct answer. I use daily disposables just for when I’m shooting. They’re a pain and after about three years, I’m still far from an expert at putting them in first time but it’s the only way in my opinion.

Kind regards,

Tim

 

[McKenzie]

If you're bothering to wear glasses get safety ones (Zeiss for me).

 

[Tim1]

I have a complicated sort of prescription and wear varifocals. They are ok with binos and the thermal, but a nightmare with a scope. I tend to set the diopters for my right eye without glasses and put them in my pocket!

Same with shotgun. Varifocals are a massive hindrance so I shoot without them.

Contacts may be the way to go for you,but I was told they would only ever be a compromise for me so I didn’t bother trying them.

I use varifocal glasses as well. My prescription for contacts is such that they are focussed for spotting deer at roughly 200 to 500 yards. The compromise is that anything close up is a bit out of focus whilst I’ve got my lenses in but I can get by.

Tim

 

[Haggis Hunter]

Have worn glasses all the time for last 30+ years. Now on varifocals. Was never able to use contacts (my failings, not theirs).

All good for shotgun, rifle, binoculars and thermal. Just took a bit of getting used to (stick with it). Have never mashed glasses into my face with recoil from rifle scope, maybe because l have set up scopes according.

I’ve two pairs of glasses. One with slightly deeper lenses (top to bottom), they are easier to use with a scope. The trend for tiny lenses in recent years was not an advantage for me in shooting terms.

Get yourself a hat with a brim for shitty weather days, to keep most rain/snow off the glasses!

Much easier to hunt/hit things now I am wearing my specs.

Good luck!

hh

 

[charlieboy-shooter]

I would agree with others as mentioned above if contact lenses are suitable for you, go with them. Just wear the glasses for normal day to day use. If however you can’t use contacts, larger framed glasses may help when you mount the gun. I haven’t hit my glasses with scope yet but I generally only wear when at the range. As having worn glasses now for a few years. I personally find that come the prime times as the lights going the glasses actually hinder my vision, get a type of glare or mist effect and get better clarity without. So I remove them. Pain to use with binoculars or thermal and often if they have slid down a bit you are half looking through and half over the top of the glasses when you mount the gun which gives a less than ideal sight picture. Equally at night I don’t wear them at all as in the dark I/we can’t see in the same detail as daylight so no benefit. Although I have in my pocket if I needed to be used with a light.
Should have gone to SpecSavers, oh I did.

 

[Scandially]

If you couldn't' see the woods before perhaps ask your guide dog to take the shot? (joke).

 

[Silvius]

Thanks gents. I will look into the soft contact lenses then. The sight picture with the glasses seemed ok to me with the shot gun, so I hope I can use the glasses ok there. Should help avoid a "should have been to specsavers" moment when I blast some protected bird anyway. What did amuse me though was that I don't seem to be judging the distance to the gorund right. I was going along looking at the ground trying not to break twigs but it was like the ground was an inch lower than I had been expecting it to be and it made balance harder when looking where to step!

 

[slider]

I wear Varifocals and its a complete pain when shooting. I'm fortunate that my distance vision is not too bad and I take my glasses of when shooting.

Have tried to go down teh route of contact lenses with the idea of reading in one eye and distance in the other (apparently the human brain sorts this out!!) but just cant get lenses in my eyes.

 

[Utectok]

personally i shoot rifles with my glasses off or on my forehead/or dropped on my nose and I have pre adjusted the scope diopter to compensate. Binos the same. One less piece of glass to get wet misty ect. Shotguns I have special shooting glasses zeiss_shooting_glasses and use a small dot on the wrong eye to keep me seeing straight and stop my eye dominance changing Home (that's a new think since I have seem to have gotten older with crappier eyes). Oh and a bit of "fogtech" on the lenses for walked up shotgun shooting so you can see!

 

[25 Sharps]

I had suspected for a while that my eyesight was not what it used to be so I bought my first pair of glasses last week. Wore them out in the woods this morning and bloody hell I had forgotten how beautiful the woods are. I can see a whole lot more going on now and I will be much better able to see deer before they see me but could people who are used to wearing glasses tell me how best to approach shooting with glasses please?

How please do I shoot best in glasses with
A rifle and binoculars or a thermal imager?
A shotgun?
A bare bow?

This probably sounds really dumb but is the scope going to bash my glasses in when I fire a rifle? If it will, then presumably I have to choose between going out without glasses, removing them before the shot or learning to shoot with a different head position, which is preferable? Will glasses do anything strange to shooting a shotgun or a bare bow?

What about reflections off the glasses giving you away? Are there special lens coatings for hunters? are they worth it?

Thanks. I am basically a total beginner when it comes to glasses and considering these things for the first time, so any advice will be gladly received.

Disposable contact lenses are my solution to shooting in glasses

 

[FISH BOY]

Another who couldnt get on with contacts. Going slightly against the grain here, have used prescription glasses for the past 20 odd years and never noticed a problem - I just set everything up to be used with them.

One thing I would say is that, I have glasses that tint in sunlight, which makes viewing a thermal next to useless.

 

[owdnorthener]

I get what you say re things looking a foot away from actual distance, but keep wearing your glasses and you will soon become used to them.
Bino's have been fine for me, as is shooting shotgun. Set up your scope whilst wearing glasses and set accordingly and all will be fine.
Good luck.

 

[Silvius]

Thanks everyone for the advice. There is a lot of valuable information here that it would have taken me a log time to find out. I am very grateful.

 

[User00018]

Yes I would echo what others have said here, I have shot with glasses for the last 35 years omg I'm old.

Twice I have been saved by wearing glasses when shooting once when an air rifle ricocheted of a steel pellet trap and knocked the specs off my head and more worryingly on an indoor range at 10 yards where the rubber linatex ricochet shield had worn out

Its not nice having tiny bits of .38 lead smack you in the face, especially when they are not your .38's (the organiser stopped shooting the event apologised profusely and they hurriedly replaced the rubber backing, I really should have milked that but I felt cool walking away with a new set of blackheads, I felt young again

I feel blessed for being blind because I could have been blinder, if that makes ant sense at all.

I cannot wear contacts as my prescription is pretty complicated without my Eddie the Eagle jam jars strapped on I'm blind as a bat.

A couple of caveats for me I find red dot sights are not round more like red egg sights when I'm wearing my specs, not that i suppose any of you guys use red dot sights for hunting?

Lee Enfield's will scratch your glasses if you are not careful; my Smelly wrecked 2 pairs.

I was flummoxed as, to what was causing these vertical scratches on my lenses. Until through a Columbo like forensic investigation I realised I was smacking the Enfield bolt into my lenses when I operated it. Unless maybe I've got a weird shaped head

Depending on your prescription and scope you can just adjust the ocular lens at the rear, to compensate for your newly found HD vision

Another thing to try (only if the damage to your eyesight is mild enough,) you can actually adjust the scope, so that you can compensate for your bad eyesight, however it will look absolutely horrible for anyone else looking through the tube.

Having a hat helps not just for shooting but also for style, also get decent set of face masks with a stout metal nose clasp, {bendy piece of metal)one that wont deform and fog up your lenses...little tip from the NHS

Also having a set of prescription sunglasses is good because you can say, "I forgot my regular glasses" and look like a dude even at night time..

 

[Erik Hamburger]

There is no issue shooting while wearing prescription glasses - keep wearing the glasses while stalking, glassing, looking through your scope, and using a thermal. Don't swap and change because it will all become very confusing - and a misty blur...
I can recommend a specialist optician who can help with all kinds of shooting related eye issues: J.H.Steward (Bisley) Ltd | Shooting Sports Vision Opticians | Prescription Shooting Glasses for Clay, Game and Field Shooting | Call: 01275 838 532 | Home
Their Zeiss shooting glasses are excellent. Maybe shotgun/clay focussed, but I wear their yellow tinted glasses as it helps me with a specific type of colour-blindness I have (seeing browns in green ) and increases contrast and definition for me. zeiss_shooting_glasses

I do have a bit of problem when it rains when the glasses become wet, as do all your other optic lenses, but a wide-rimmed hat is useful in a drizzle/light rain - but with very wet/windy weather I simply don't go stalking.

 

[Red Dragon 2]

I have had glasses for the last 50+ years and never had any problems when using rifle (scoped), shotgun and pistol. Just get used to them on and forget that they are there.
Mind you have just received a pair of glasses for using at the computer and the only place they focus is about 3 inches from my nose (glasses direct) yet my distance glasses which arrived yesterday are perfect.

 

[Chiyuan]

No one mentioned reloading while on target so I add this.

After a shoot, I have no problem reloading a second round while keeping my head on the stock at the same place, eye on the target through the scope. The bolt does not go back far enough to touch my glasses.