Progressive eyeglass users?

[Deleted member 20812]

I’ve been incredibly fortunate with vision my entire life, and still have 20/15 vision EXCEPT I am losing my reading distance vision very rapidly. It’s making some aspects of my job difficult and I get tired of putting reading glasses (or looking for them) all the time.

For those of you who have gone to progressive lenses, what are the cons to doing so, if any? Do you wear them in the field while hunting? Do you wish you’d done it sooner or, or was it not as worthwhile as you thought it would be?

Thanks.

 

[TXLonghorn]

They suck when shooting a pistol. You have to hold your head in an unnatural position to focus on front sight.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

They suck when shooting a pistol. You have to hold your head in an unnatural position to focus on front sight.

Right, I’m aware of that. You can use a red dot sight for this issue.

I haven’t even shot my bow in two years (where it’s really gotten bad). Same issues? I don’t focus on my pins when I shoot, so maybe not?

 

[Wildabeest]

I’ve been wearing progressives for about 5 years. I like them way better than OTC cheaters or bifocals since they have a graduated and more natural transition from the magnification area of the lens to the non-magnified area. Thus you don’t find yourself having to move your head so much to go from viewing something close to viewing something far away. I spend a lot of time on a computer, and I think they are well suited to that vs the other options. My distance vision is 20/20 (after lasik 20+ years ago), so I usually don’t wear them when I’m hunting or shooting.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

When I only needed them for reading I didn't wear them while hunting but carried a dollar store pair in my pack. Now I wear them all the time except for glassing and ranging. Then I put them back on to read my drop chart. With the rifle scope I'm ok with them on or off. I'm going to town tomorrow to pick up my new set that has 8 levels. Could be interesting getting used to those.

 

[Sytes]

I wear glasses for distance. They presented progressive lenses to alleviate the on/off glasses however, I opted to wear a narrower framed lens that enables my nearsighted vision an uninhibited line of sight under my frames.

Opposite your setting and less likely to fulfill your interest vs someone in my position. If I were the reverse for vision, I'd prefer reading glasses, or lasik.

Meh, sharing for sake of progressive lens discussion.

 

[rtraverdavis]

I’ve worn progressives everyday for the last five year or so. They were very easy for me to get used to, but that isn’t the case with everyone. They gave my dad a vertigo sort of feeling and he went back to always wearing/carrying two sets of glasses.

As far as shooting and hunting, I don’t shoot a bow so can’t comment on that. But haven’t had any issues lining up correctly and comfortably through the scopes on my rifles. I will say though that I hate wearing glasses period. Especially in the field. They get fogged in cold weather, and smudged often—and I spend a lot of time cleaning them because I can’t stand the distraction of dirty lenses. I’d wear contacts, but can’t due to a condition that causes chronically dry eyes. Hoping for the laser treatment soon, if the dry eye thing doesn’t make that a no-go as well. Also, as I’m sure you know, wearing any kind of glasses while looking through optics sucks. I have to choose between wearing them and having a drastically reduced field of view, or not wearing them and losing clarity.

Since for now I do have to wear glasses, progressives are where it’s at for me, especially with as much time as I have to spend in front of a computer now. If you do get them, don’t skimp. Get the blue light blocking coating.

 

[BAKPAKR]

My dad had problems with them much like @rtraverdavis’s dad and said they made it difficult for him to walk in the woods.

I have had a couple of pairs now and both have had higher grade lenses. I have not had the same problems Dad complained of. For me, there is a “sweet spot” for any distance and that sweet spot is fairly narrow left and right, as well as up and down. So, I can no longer sit and scan with just my eyes - I have to turn my head. This added movement can impact some types of hunting such as predator hunting (at least that is what I am blaming my poor success at predator hunting on ).

 

[peterk1234]

I use progressives with my bow, pistols and rifles. I do not have an issue with them. Every once in a while it may get a bit wonky with pistol, but I can't really complain. Make sure you do not get too small of a lens. I had one of the smaller ones before and it wreaked havoc on me when bow hunting out of a tree. The angle down would put my eyes into the reading part of the lens. The larger the lens, the larger the transition, which will be key.

 

[tarheel]

Make sure you do not get too small of a lens. I had one of the smaller ones before and it wreaked havoc on me when bow hunting out of a tree. The angle down would put my eyes into the reading part of the lens. The larger the lens, the larger the transition, which will be key.

I'll second this suggestion. I had three pairs of Serengheti Driver sunglass frames with broken lenses and they are of the large aviator style so I just had my last lenses made to fit the Serenghetis for an extra 20 bucks and never intend to go down to smaller lenses.

 

[grandejuan]

Progressives are fine for me at home and general use. At work I use specially cut bi-focals or loupes. For hunting and outdoor activities I wear soft contacts. I learned the hard way not to use progressives outdoors when I was training for a Stone's sheep hunt. Living in Flagstaff AZ the Mt Elden lookout trail is right in town. It rises from 6800 ft to the summit at 9300 ft in 2.5 miles. I'd climb it every other day after work. One day I forgot my contacts at home so I used my progressives. Going up the steep trail was not a problem but coming down was a mess. I couldn't focus on the trail beneath me. Well it finally happened and I took a header. Messed my right knee up badly and luckily just got a lot of small cuts and scrapes. It was near sundown and that didn't help getting down the trail at all. Anyway, I did finally get down without any further incidents. I had to stay off the knee for two weeks and lived on Ibuprofen and gradually it healed enough for the sheep hunt in six weeks. Never again for any kind of bi-focals or progressives while climbing any steep trails or any kind of trails. FWIW. GJ

 

[pointingdogsrule]

Progressives for 20 years. I bow hunt. No issues. You are focused on the animal not the pin.

 

[marshman]

I have worn them for many years. Much better than bifocals or fumbling with cheaters. Welcome to the latter part of life - the eyes. You will get used to them and things will be fine.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

If I were the reverse for vision, I'd prefer reading glasses, or lasik.

Lasik isn't an option for this. Honestly, even if it were, it's deteriorating enough each year it probably would never justify the cost. I've gone from +1.25 to +1.75 in three years.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Hoping for the laser treatment soon,

My wife was 20/100 when she had Lasik done 20 years ago. She's still 20/20. She said it was worth every penny.

 

[gouch]

My close up vision started going in my early fifties and now I can't read without glasses unless the print is large. Then my distance vision started going. I don't need glasses yet for everyday activity including driving but things just aren't as clear as they used to be. I now always wear my progressive lenses while hunting. Those critters can be hard to see even with great vision, I hate to think of all the animals I didn't see because of poor vision before I got the glasses. I shoot a bow instinctively so that isn't a problem. Scopes are no problem and I haven't had any trouble with the iron sights on my muzzle loader. I don't shoot hand guns much so I can't hit anything anyway.

 

[Djfan]

I couldn't do them. They asked me to try when I first got glasses about ten years ago, then again last year. They don't work for me at all.

 

[406dn]

There are few insults to old age that bug me more than vision changes. It's been so long now that I really don't remember how great my vision used to be.

That said, I've had progressive lens for a good long while. The only time they annoy me is when trying to read something printed vertically,, like book titles in a book store.

I've not had trouble with depth perception going down steps etc, but I know it can be a problem.

As mentioned above,, get used to dealing with them fogging up in colder weather.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Thanks for the feedback so far, some great stuff.

What about driving? Any issues there? I was test driving a car with my mother-in-law last week, and without my readers I couldn't read the control buttons on the steering wheel. The dash is a little blurry, but the numbers are big enough I can still read them.

 

[406dn]

Thanks for the feedback so far, some great stuff.

What about driving? Any issues there? I was test driving a car with my mother-in-law last week, and without my readers I couldn't read the control buttons on the steering wheel. The dash is a little blurry, but the numbers are big enough I can still read them.

They work very well for me while driving. You will very quickly learn to look thru the portion of the lens to get a focused image.