Using trifocal glasses

[labloverva]

Just got these Friday.
How long did it take you to get used to the positioning on your face for distance, arms length as in pistol shooting, and reading? The trifocals did remove the double image of the pistol front sight, and the bifocal is fine for reading. But I am constantly moving my head up and down, especially looking at the keyboard.
I didn't have any trouble skeet shooting thru the new lenses today and felt the targets appeared sharper.

Thanks for your observations!

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I had similar problems acclimating to bifocal lenses about 20 years ago. At the time I was spending a lot of time driving to and from job sites and going up and down ladders. Both of those activities were very stressful, as my old eyes could not easily transition from close to distance and vice-versa.

Most recent eye exam I requested single-vision lenses for distance, primarily night driving, and reading glasses for close work. This is working out well for me.

I wear neither glasses when shooting at the range. I figure that I have to assume a worst case scenario for self-defense, so I don't count on eyeglasses.

Best regards.

 

[Bobafett]

If you mean progressive lenses personally I still struggle after 4+ years of having them. I have had to change my prescription 3 times now, my dominant eye being worse.

Definitely better than not having glasses, I can see distant targets better and red dot sights appear clearer but not perfect.

 

[ccssid]

Got my new tri-focals (progressive ) 2 weeks ago. Still trying to figure them out at the range. Had cataract surgery on both eyes, but due to my eyes , doc and I decided to get monofocal lenses. Medium distances , I see fine without glasses....but real close and real far no dice.....require the glasses.Good news, I am getting used to them. At the range they are definitely beneficial . You will get used to them...eventually. on top of it all, I installed new Dawson sights on my TRP a week prior to picking up my glasses.!!!

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

 

[URIT]

I've been wearing trifocals for ten years now. I had the midrange set at arm's length for shooting and computer work. It took me about a month to get used to them. Your glasses should be fitted to your face so don't adjust them. You simply need to move your eyes up and down depending on need.

I found learning to shoot with both eyes open to be helpful in keeping those annoying lines from appearing when focusing on the front sight.

 

[Peak53]

I tried progressive lenses but gave up after a month. They left me feeling dizzy and disoriented, liable to stumble over something on the ground. That may or may not be my general state, but whatever. Like Lobo, I went to two sets of glasses for distance and reading, with no correction for shooting. This is less than ideal for target shooting... The only viable solution I have read about here on the forum is to have a prescription calibrated to your front sight. And we know that forum dwellers have the answers.

 

[BC38]

Listen to Bill Cosby's routine on bifocals.
Not quite as bad as that, but they do take some getting used to.

 

[Bob L]

When I went from no glasses to bifocals and then again to trifocals, it took 3 or 4 days before they began to feel comfortable without the feeling that my head was spinning any time I moved it. Anymore, I just seem to move to where my eyes are in focus without thinking about it.

 

[ccssid]

Just found a Target.... reading glasses vs my tr-focal (progressive)

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[Ranger17]

I've been wearing progressives for years now so am used to it. The same pair regardless of work or play. There can be times at the range i have to alter my head position to be clear on the front site but am usually close.
Unfortunately i also have double vision without my glasses so always wear them and always shoot anything with my left eye closed. That way if for some reason i need to aim without my glasses I dont have to think about anything.

I may pick up a 22 rifle with a scope for fun; will be curious what it will be like viewing thru a scope will be like wearing glasses

 

[Jimmyjones]

I got glasses at 40. I'd never worn glasses so adjusting to the progressives was easy, I call them my 'Stevie Wonder" glasses. I just move my head till what I want to see is in focus. I was told to point my nose at what I want in focus.

I just had cataract surgery in my left, it's ~20/30 great distance but I need cheaters for reading. I got a new pair of progressives with no correction for distance on the left, like my right used to be.

My eye Surgeon is a also a handgun shooter, so after I've been happy with my left eye for a while, we'll talk about where the focal length should be for the front sight. I don't mind wearing glasses.

 

[Real Old Navy]

How long did it take you to get used to the positioning on your face for distance, arms length as in pistol shooting, and reading?

It takes exactly 3 weeks 2 days 14 hrs, 23 mins and 8 secs...you'll hear a lil bell go off (ding) in your head, which means your adjustment time is up. No two people are alike buddy...we's all got different eyebulls. The more you wear the glasses the faster you'll get use to them. My Optometrist told me I needed bifocals...spent over $200 for expensive titanium twist frame coated glasses...ran over them with a company truck a week after I got em by mistake, fell outta my pocket...I didn't see them. Turns out I just needed $20 reading glasses.

 

[Toter]

Takes a bit to adjust but becomes natural. You learn to move your head to look at things, not just your eyes. For pistol shooting, I bought a pair of SSP Top Vocals. The magnification is in the top of the lens and keeps you from having to tilt your head back to see the sghts.

 

[rkittine]

Most be a shotgun shooter too. Just answered this subject on Shotgunworld.com

Took me 6 weeks to get used to mine, but I only shoot with RX lenses in my Shooting Glasses made for the distance I will be shooting. So I have them for rifle, pistol and shotgun.

Bob

 

[Wee Hooker]

I only use glasses as readers/ fror close to mid length tasks ( so far). A few years back, I tried a set of $360 tri focus glasses from the optitritions office for a bit but I'm not sure they were made right. I just always seem to struggle with them and they tired my eyes. I lost them within a couple of months (and am OK with that.) I now use Foster Grant Multifocus glasses which essentially accomplish the same thing at about $20/pair. Love these things. Much more user friendly than plain readers or bifocals. I'm now very accustomed to look forward for far away and mid to low to focus on the rest. I have a good dozen of them floatign around the house, truck, range bag......

 

[CBStuard]

2 yrs ago I tried progressives. Went for a full year thinking I would get used to them. Hated them. Went back and got tri-focals old school w/ the lines. Much better. But not for shooting since I see through the top long distance. I can shoot w/ them and the sights are somewhat fuzzy. In slow fire at the indoor range I could push the glasses around and tilt my head some to see through the mid lens but then I started local competition and there in't enough time for that. So I got another new set when our insurance changed. My 'shooting' glasses have the front sight distance in the entire dominant eye lens. The other has a bifocal w/ distance and mid range. Works great for me as long as I close the not dominant eye (but I do that anyway no matter the glasses).

 

[walkinghorse]

Hardest thing for me was tilting my head back to view up close.
My first progressives had a central viewing area, and towards the edges were fuzzier.
You can get the close portion up top, or elsewhere if desired, but normally it is top for distance, middle for middle, and lower for up close.
You can also get an enlarged central viewing area, in my experience you pay for anything other than standard.

 

[silentflyer]

After trying many different glasses/prescriptions and making my eye doctor be able to afford many of those nice over/under shotguns he likes for skeet shooting, I now put Burris Fast Fire optics on my target shooting revolvers and scopes on my rifles...

 

[samnev]

I tried trifocals for 6 months many years ago but couldn't get use to them. Switched to progressive poly carbine photo chromatic lenses. Took a few days to get use to them and been very happy I made the change.

 

[WVI]

I have a hard time shooting pistol while wearing trifocals. Added to them, pinched nerves and such in my neck make it hard to enjoy shooting.
I plan on trying to put a cheap red dot on my M&P40 and see how that goes. I played around with a used optic mounted pistol in my LGS, and thnk that will be my go to....just need to do it.

 

[labloverva]

Most be a shotgun shooter too. Just answered this subject on Shotgunworld.com

Took me 6 weeks to get used to mine, but I only shoot with RX lenses in my Shooting Glasses made for the distance I will be shooting. So I have them for rifle, pistol and shotgun.

Bob

That's me Bob!

 

[ISCS Yoda]

I have been wearing "trifocal progressive lenses" for many years. Even as used to them as I am I still sometimes get caught by surprise going down stairs, looking to the side, etc. But then I laugh and remember why the weirdness happens.

I shoot just fine using them. I just relax and let the lens and the front sight do their job. Sometimes it's blurry but I know what I am looking for so it's never really an issue. For point shooting it is not an issue at all because I am not using the sights, anyway. For longer distances I just take my time and it's all good.

 

[ScaryWoody]

Exact reason I just bought a red dot.

 

[webfarmer]

I too have been wearing "progressives" for quite a few years. I remember the day I got the first pair, I had to go to the supermarket from the optometrist. I was freaking out - even stumbling some walking. Got used to them after several weeks and now they are second nature. No problem shooting so I must automatically adjust for that (scope or irons). I do not like them when up high (20 feet) in a ladder stand so I wear straight distance glasses for that. You'll become accustomed to them to the point you don't notice the weirdness about them LOL. Good luck!

 

[CBStuard]

The main reason I got rid of the progressive tri-focals was the narrow width of the middle and lower sections. Used to wearing bi-focals for many years but the progressives required me not only moving my head up and down but also left and right. I read a lot on a nook w/ maybe a 5 inch wide screen. I had to move my head left to right because the whole 5 inch line of text wasn't all in focus at the same time.

 

[WR Moore]

There's a bunch of related threads on this. I was in trifocal denial for several years. I tried progressives and couldn't make the transition. What I did was get a set (and a spare) of conventional trifocals for general use. For pistol shooting I got a set of industrial safety glasses (actually all my specs are industrial safety glasses-they do have style now as well as protection and are a bunch cheaper) in an occupational grind. This lens setup has the middle distance Rx at the top, distance in the middle and close Rx at the bottom. All I have to do for handgun shooting is a very slight downward nod of the head to see pistols sights, a very slight upward nod for distance. Easy to do, easy to learn.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Well, I am no expert, for sure, and I never owned a set of trifocals, because I can get along with bifocals, but I DO have a bit of experience with what is going on with me, almost none with what is going on with you. Nevertheless, maybe some of my comments will help.

First off, it depends on what you are trying to do. In my case, no glasses = close reading distance. Also, I am almost old (74), so ability to see at different distances comes from spectacles or bright sunlight, not eyeballs.

At my age, experience and daily routine, the top segment is corrected for infinity, certainly common practice, and, by my choice, the bottom segment is +1.75, meaning that I can see well at about 22.5 inches, just right for computer use, acceptable for reading, and excellent for dashboard instruments in my car. For extended reading of small print, I simply remove my glasses. Note that there is a lot more flexibility outdoors, where the light is brighter, which results in much greater tolerance of incorrect focus.

I find that the best position for the separation of upper and lower is such that when I look straight ahead (through the top segment), the division is just below where I take notice. The optometrist's assistant notes that this puts the separation (when I am looking straight ahead through the top segment), right at the bottom of the iris, which is generally considered the dividing line for the top of the middle segment of trifocals. This seems to me to be consistent with normal use of trifocals.

Because I am old, though not quite palsied, I usually shoot two-handed. This makes my +1.75 lower segment quite acceptable for target shooting, although even target focus can be usable with proper attention to sight picture.

It sounds to me like your (?) choices of segment prescription are quite appropriate, and positioning, as well. Nevertheless, the choice is ultimately yours, not your optometrist's.

It can easily take a couple of days to get used to any new prescription, or even just a new pair of glasses, with apparently identical prescription. Technical reasons abound.

I'd give it a few days, or more. You will learn to deal with your computer. Glad to hear that things (apparently) went so well with you. If it becomes clear that they haven't, post further and, God willing, someone will help out.

 

[Jaysq]

It took me over a month for them to somewhat feel natural. I could never get them to work for the computer and resorted to "over the counter reading glasses". I felt they were, at best a compromise. My vision changed and I no longer needed glasses for distance, so I stopped wearing them. If I had to go back to wearing glasses for distance, I would not go for the trifocals.

 

[ancient-one]

I have worn trifocals for years for shooting they were a pain. Had a single vision pair made for the computer and shooting. Clear sights and a target a little fuzzy sure beats fuzzy sights.

 

[Trailryder50]

I've been wearing progressives for several years. When fitting for new lenses, while wearing your glasses, they mark on your old lenses where the center of your pupil is.

About 3 years ago I discovered that if I have the lens maker move the progressive range all the way to the top of the lens instead of centering it with my pupil, it makes for much better sighting when using guns, whether it be from looking thru a scope to focusing on sights at arms length. Same for reading. This works well for the size and oval shape of my frames. If you wear a larger frame/lens, you'd determine how many mm's to move the progressive range upward to bring into focus your sight range, with your head at a more comfortable and natural position.

When I measured that for myself the first time, I held my pistol out in front of me in my normal shooting position/stance, closed my eyes and settled on what head position felt natural. Opened my eyes to see the sights out of focus and then estimated how much head movement it took to bring them into focus. I had the center of the progressive range moved up by that much in my new lenses, with the stipulation to the lens maker that he not run the distance range off the top of the lens to achieve that.

The size of my frames are such that I can tell them to move the beginning top edge of the progressive range(distance)all the way to the top of the lens, which for my frames, moves the range up about 5-6mm.

A noticeable and helpful distance for the shooting sports and all around everyday life.


I don't have to cock my head back to focus on those ranges. It was really bad trying to focus in on a scope retical.

For distance vision, I only slightly dip my head. I'd rather slightly dip my head for distance than to have to cock my head back for close up.