Eyesight changes...what to do?

[RA40]

Eye doc prescribed some updated contacts and they work really well for long distance and the left eye for reading. HOWEVER there is a dead spot-range that neither contact covers well and guess where that spot is? Went to the range and the front sight is a pretty fuzzy blob. Reading type glasses haven't worked well at that arms distance.

The left eye is almost in range but then I'd be shooting cross eye which has not been my usual hold-sight picture. For those that have had this situation what were your solutions?

 

[entropy]

Yup, monovision (One distance contact and one near contact, which is what you have) has no intermediate distance correction. The supposedly 'progressive' contacts out there that do, but I have no experience with them, can't tell you how they work.
Most hunters and target shooters opt for glasses instead of contacts, and set the focal length at the distance to the front sight. That must be in focus.

 

[pauli]

This sounds like a job for a red dot.

 

[entropy]

For the red dot to be clear, it would have to be held in the near vision zone (0-40cm.) On a rifle, doable, it might require a modified hold for pistol.

 

[Pete D.]

One other idea is to use an adustable aperture that fits on your glasses.
The Merit optical disk is one.
Gehmann makes another that clips on eyeglass frames and flips up when not needed...the Gehmann Shooter’s Iris.
Find them at www.champchoice.com

 

[roval]

I'm used to having my front sight fuzzy since i shoot with the distance part of my progressives. i do an upward nod to check sight alignment by bringing the sight in focus and then i try to maintain the same fuzzy sight picture. sometimes i find myself tilting my head slightly up as im shooting . when you see that, thats a guy shoouting with progressives.

i had high hopes for the merrit disk but found that it didnt work well for me. as i shoot, i lean my head slightly forward and so the aperture gets moved to the side, further limiting my field of view or blocking it altogether..

i found small readers in different diopters that was able to fit into sunglasses. the front sight was in perfect focus. the problem was everything else was too blurred.

 

[sgt127]

Go see you eye doc and explain the problem. Mine told me to bring my gun with me. We did the “better here? Better here?” For a couple minutes and the front sight is back in focus.

I wear bifocal contacts. She upped the power slightly in my left eye, reduced the nearsighted correction in my right eye. And left the close up correction the same.

She said she could get me a focal point within about a 1/2 inch. She did.

I’m also going to have some prescription glasses made with the “front sight in focus” setting in the top left corner of the right lens since that’s how I tilt my head when I shoot.

My optometrist is a Princess, I’m lucky. But, Any good doc should be able to do that for you.

 

[sgt127]

Hmm. Weird double tap.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I agree, tell your eye doctor the problem and I'm sure it can be corrected.

 

[entropy]

sgt127 has a good point. Usually, monovision contacts are set for distance and near. If requested, an optometrist or opthalmalogist should be able to set the focal lengths as his did. I as an optician have fit many people for glasses as sgt127 describes. It's actually how I got my start as an optician; I was a lab tech that shot, so when the opticians had someone come in for shooting glasses, I was called out of the lab to fit them.

 

[otasan56]

I'm nearsighted, a common thing for men of Japanese descent. My problem is that I keep breaking the frames of my glasses.

 

[RA40]

Great suggestions, thanks! The left eye is a toric mono type and the right eye is a multi focal prescription. The right eye is dominant and with the old set of contacts it was easy for the right eye to take over at the intermediate to long distance. These new contacts, I noticed that the left eye was still pulling in focus so shooting both eyes open I had to consciously pick which sight picture to concentrate on. From the compressed ready presentation those first few shots was like "I see two front sights (fuzzy), which one?!" LOL Closing the left eye really brought out that the intermediate distance was off in the right eye.

The prior contacts were fine although for clarity at distance they were a bit soft. These new contacts are from a different maker where she states they are a bit more aggressive than the prior set even with the same prescription. I also noticed a similar intermediate distance issue on the computer.

Set an appointment for this Saturday and we'll do some testing.

 

[Boarhunter]

For practical shooting at self-defense distances, trigger control is more critical than crystal-clear front sight. My shooting improved measurably when I accepted that fact.

Beyond that, I wear one contact for distance and rely on the uncorrected eye to give reasonably-clear focus on the front sight.

BOARHUNTER

 

[chicharrones]

For the red dot to be clear, it would have to be held in the near vision zone. . .

A red dot isn't the perfect solution on a handgun for all people with vision issues, but a nearly focused red dot is much more usable than a fully unfocused front sight blade. At least in my experience.

 

[wally]

For the red dot to be clear, it would have to be held in the near vision zone (0-40cm.)

No,no,no. You do not focus on the dot with a red dot optic, you focus on the target and look "through" the dot, when you do focus on the dot and your astigmatism makes it look "not round" you are sure to have poor results.

Been through all this starting circa 2005. Glasses & contacts didn't work for me, so eventually I had Lasik monovision done (2008), right eye near left eye far and it was wonderful (be careful here, before agreeing to Lasik monovision a good doctor will make you try it for a couple of weeks with "extended wear" contacts, as not everyone can adapt to it). I tried both options and much preferred right eye (dominant) near. But circa 2013 my "far-sightedness" progressed to where the left eye was out of focus everywhere and my right eye was perfect at distance and with the change my ability to use iron sights without "reading glasses" evaporated so I made a pretty complete switch to red dots, and had my left eye Lasik redone for near vision -- my "walking around vision" has been outstanding among people old enough for Medicare, I only really needed reading glasses for long term comfort, or when doing computer or other detail work.

Starting last year my left eye has remained stable but my right eye progressed to nothing in focus, so last week I had Lasik redone on it for near vision -- looks like I can use iron sights effectively again! Yesterday was my first time out post-op, only shot .22lr, but using a red dot was fine, no change of zero and was drilling 3" plates at 25 yards although there were lots of new "details" in the dot I had to ignore when looking through it. Removing the red dot and using the irons was amazing! After adjusting the irons I was hitting the same 3" plates at 25 yards almost as good although had to shoot slower, I suspect speed will return as my brain finishing its re-adaptation.

So, if you have no problems with monovision and wearing contacts just get an extra set to allow good focus on your front sight when shooting.

 

[entropy]

A red dot isn't the perfect solution on a handgun for all people with vision issues, but a nearly focused red dot is much more usable than a fully unfocused front sight blade. At least in my experience.

A valid point, unless the dot becomes so sloppy as to become useless. I find using the top of the intermediate zone of my progressives sharpens the dot up a bit without fuzzing up the target much-I still focus on the target.

No,no,no. You do not focus on the dot with a red dot optic, you focus on the target and look "through" the dot, when you do focus on the dot and your astigmatism makes it look "not round" you are sure to have poor results.

I know that. See my reply to chicarrones.

 

[Mike OTDP]

Over in the precision disciplines, it's normal to have a dedicated pair of shooting glasses with the shooting eye adjusted for the distance to the front sight. It's very close to a computer prescription.

 

[springer99]

If your vision is clearly changing(which is normal as we age) holding a clear sight picture with multiple focal lengths is almost impossible. In that case, if you're looking for defensive sight improvement, then the obvious solution is either Tritium sights or a laser sight. If you're still playing the bullseye games, then a red dot is definitely worth looking into.

 

[vba]

nah, nah, nah..na na close eyes

Be the target....feel the target

 

[entropy]

nah, nah, nah..na na close eyes

Be the target....feel the target

You forgot the rest: "....I.....I'm a veg, Danny."

 

[rskent]

For competitive shooting, special lens setups are great. For every day, not so much.
For my everyday handguns I settled on yellow Trijicon HD sights. They are big and bright.
With my normal everyday glasses, they are fuzzy, but I can still make them out.

 

[ms6852]

I have to types of prescription glasses one for everyday use and reading and than one specifically made for long distance vision. This setup works great for driving at night as well, and works better than the contacts.

 

[cowboy77845]

So. I have cataracts. What lenses should I request. Close or Far? I am thinking distance.

 

[entropy]

So. I have cataracts. What lenses should I request. Close or Far? I am thinking distance.

Different situation. With IOL's, it's either acommodating, or not. Some have toric correction also. The non-accomodating ones aren't at settable focal distances; you get 20/20 distance vision, minus any internal refractive errors, and since they do not accomodate, you must use reading lenses. (contact or glasses.) The accomodating ones will refocus between near and far vision, but the jury is still out on long term-use, as they just haven't been available that long. This article explores where the state of the art in accomodative IOLs is, but it is heavy with optical jargon: https://eandv.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40662-017-0077-7

 

[NMPOPS]

20/20 right, 20/30 left with slight astigmatism in left eye. Reading lenses are different for each eye. If I tilt my head just right and close my left eye, the sight are clear but the target is blurry. Solution: Both eyes open look over my pistol at a blurry sight picture. I manage to keep then all to within 6 inches out to 15 yards. Good enough for me!

 

[RA40]

She dropped the prescription .25 in the right eye and that gave another inch or so at just out of arms reach distance. Still not quite there but better. Will evaluate more over the next couple days as the eyes and brain acclamate to this change. Of course this also changes long distance vision. I kinda want her to reduce the left eye so that it falls off quicker. Having such visual acuity in the left eye at arms distance is a challenging adaption because I don't consciously realize which eye is relaying the info for that given close range. Have to really concentrate to get the right eye to be dominant but the front sight is much clearer in the left eye for the time being. That is the difficult part now. Aging eyes...