Old age is catching up

[NightStalker]

It occurred to me today that I no longer have the eyes to transition from rifle to pistol without changing glasses. Glasses are new to me so kinda upset glasses are required now, but now not sure what to do about this problem. Only thing I can come up with is a red dot on the pistol or rifle and pistol.  
so with this said surely someone has faced this already, what do I do?

[98Z5V]

What's the vision-issue that's causing this?  I recommend @Armed Eye Doc in this situation, pending your response.

[dpete]

My no line tri-focals don't interfere with sight pictures at all that I've noticed.  Shooting a handgun the sights focus in one section, looking through a scope on a rifle the focus is through a different section.  Granted, everyone is different and YMMV.

[Armed Eye Doc]

21 minutes ago, dpete said:

My no line tri-focals don't interfere with sight pictures at all that I've noticed.  Shooting a handgun the sights focus in one section, looking through a scope on a rifle the focus is through a different section.  Granted, everyone is different and YMMV.

Like everything else in firearm training, practice is what makes proficiency.

[Sisco]

My eyesight is so screwed up now glasses don’t seem to help anyway. I am left eye dominant and shoot a rifle left handed with my left eye. I shoot a pistol right handed using my weaker right eye, which is near sighted anyway. Don’t use glasses for shooting either. Only thing I can say is it works for me.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Sisco

[MtnMike]

I've been using multi-focal contacts for a few years now and that seem to work well in most situations.  Remember actually taking multiple brands with me to the pistol range to see what worked better when I first started wearing them.  My eye doctor is good about letting me try multiple trial lenses. There's a bigger difference between the brands than I would have thought.  (Especially using open sights and driving at night in the rain.)  I ended up going with Alcon Air Optix, which are good for a month and you can get deals if you order them online.  I also did eventually add a Holosun 507K-X2 micro red dot to my EDC (SS365XL).  I work in a shitty neighborhood and have a ways to go before I can retire. Don't expect the neighborhood or my eyes to improve in the next 10-20 years.  Everybody is different.  Keep trying different things until you find what works best for you. But that's what's working for me.

Edited August 7, 2022 by MtnMike
grammar - spelling

[Armed Eye Doc]

8 hours ago, NightStalker said:

It occurred to me today that I no longer have the eyes to transition from rifle to pistol without changing glasses. Glasses are new to me so kinda upset glasses are required now, but now not sure what to do about this problem. Only thing I can come up with is a red dot on the pistol or rifle and pistol.  
so with this said surely someone has faced this already, what do I do?

There are surgeries that can get your vision close to what it used to be.  However, surgeries come with risks and costs.  

Other than surgery, glasses (especially for near) are an inevitable consequence of the aging process for those with perfect vision at distance.  As @dpete said, progressive (no line) lenses can function well with proper prescription and fitting.  

Multifocal contact lenses can also help to improve all around vision.  They have a range of vision from distance to near within each lens.  They offer a more natural vision when they work properly.  There are even a couple of options that correct for astigmatism.  As with all options, it depends on the individual as to how well it will work.

I have noticed that people who never wore glasses before needing reading glasses tend to be harder to please with any of the above options.  They want their eyesight from when they were 20 years old.  There are some eye drops in development that may be able to help with that if they do what they are reported to do.  The drops that came out earlier this year Vuity are not terribly effective in my opinion.  They shrink your pupils to give a pinhole effect.  This does not work as well beyond 60 because pupil size naturally shrinks with age.

 

TL;DR find an eye doctor who can help you decide what may be appropriate for you.  Them them you are having trouble adjusting from sighting with open pistol sights to a scoped rifle.

[Armed Eye Doc]

20 minutes ago, Sisco said:

My eyesight is so screwed up now glasses don’t seem to help anyway. I am left eye dominant and shoot a rifle left handed with my left eye. I shoot a pistol right handed using my weaker right eye, which is near sighted anyway. Don’t use glasses for shooting either. Only thing I can say is it works for me.

The front sight is the important thing to have clear.  That's why your nearsighted eye does well with the pistol.

[Sisco]

55 minutes ago, Armed Eye Doc said:

There are surgeries that can get your vision close to what it used to be.  However, surgeries come with risks and costs.  

 

That is where I am sitting. Since I had a torn retina four years ago I have had some occluding matter in my left eye that leaked in before the laser surgery fixed it. It is a PITA, but doesn’t really affect my eyesight. The Retina specialist I saw said the surgery to remove it has a 5% chance of causing total blindness in that eye, and suggested doing nothing unless it starts to impair my vision. As I have just the beginnings of a cataract in that eye, I will probably wait and consider having it done at or near the time I have cataract surgery, if I have it done at all. I can live with it for now.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Sisco

[NightStalker]

9 hours ago, 98Z5V said:

What's the vision-issue that's causing this?  I recommend @Armed Eye Doc in this situation, pending your response.

Ok here’s my issue:

I need glasses for things up close, and I have a slight prescription for distance. 
Now with that said most days I can see distance just fine, but others everything is blurry.  
My glasses are transitions I think there called, three levels of magnification, but can’t get my head back far enough to see pistol sights. I bought shooting glasses with a 1.25 mag on top but that helps with pistol but messes up seeing through a rifle scope. 
It dawned on me last night maybe a taller scope mount might help

 

[Rsquared]

1 hour ago, Armed Eye Doc said:

 

I have noticed that people who never wore glasses before needing reading glasses tend to be harder to please with any of the above options.  They want their eyesight from when they were 20 years old.

This would be the camp that I'm in.

My vision was fine until about 5 years ago or so. With my work, I noticed that up close stuff was blurring on me. Plain reading glasses compensate for that. I'm still fine with distance though. Scopes seem to land just far enough away from my eyes to not be a problem...........yet.

[dpete]

39 minutes ago, NightStalker said:

Ok here’s my issue:

I need glasses for things up close, and I have a slight prescription for distance. 
Now with that said most days I can see distance just fine, but others everything is blurry.  
My glasses are transitions I think there called, three levels of magnification, but can’t get my head back far enough to see pistol sights. I bought shooting glasses with a 1.25 mag on top but that helps with pistol but messes up seeing through a rifle scope. 
It dawned on me last night maybe a taller scope mount might help

 

It sounds like you and I are in a similar situation with trifocals.  The middle section of mine is what I use for pistol.  It becomes clear at about the 2ft mark from my face.  Although you most definitely have a different distance from sights to face with a pistol.  Arms straight out to my sides measured fingertip to fingertip I'm somewhere around 83" wingspan. 

[dpete]

9 minutes ago, Rsquared said:

This would be the camp that I'm in.

My vision was fine until about 5 years ago or so. With my work, I noticed that up close stuff was blurring on me. Plain reading glasses compensate for that. I'm still fine with distance though. Scopes seem to land just far enough away from my eyes to not be a problem...........yet.

Yup, thats how I was.  Age will get ya!  I used readers for almost 10 years and then it was straight into trifocals.

[Armed Eye Doc]

3 hours ago, NightStalker said:

I need glasses for things up close, and I have a slight prescription for distance. 
Now with that said most days I can see distance just fine, but others everything is blurry.  

The main causes of occasional blur to vision is dry eye.  This can cause burning eyes, gritty feeling, and even excess watering.  Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and avoid excess caffeine and alcohol.  Fish oil or other Omega-3 supplements can also help.

Uncorrected vision, tired eyes, allergies and uncontrolled diabetes are also causes of variable blur to your vision.

[NightStalker]

48 minutes ago, Armed Eye Doc said:

The main causes of occasional blur to vision is dry eye.  This can cause burning eyes, gritty feeling, and even excess watering.  Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and avoid excess caffeine and alcohol.  Fish oil or other Omega-3 supplements can also help.

Uncorrected vision, tired eyes, allergies and uncontrolled diabetes are also causes of variable blur to your vision.

This is all good info thanks

[jtallen83]

7 hours ago, Armed Eye Doc said:

Like everything else in firearm training, practice is what makes proficiency.

^^^That's it, learn to use what you have to your best ability. Most of it is sight picture, once you know the correct sight picture, blurry or not your gonna hit. We give concealed carry permits to blind people.

[NightStalker]

2 hours ago, jtallen83 said:

^^^That's it, learn to use what you have to your best ability. Most of it is sight picture, once you know the correct sight picture, blurry or not your gonna hit. We give concealed carry permits to blind people.

I carry a firearm for a living blurry is not an option, and noticed my qualifications are dropping. 

[Cunuckgaucho]

 

I'm also in the same boat, my distance is fine just up close. Where I noticed an issue was up close and working over my head. I got some double D segmented safety glasses

I found for me these work great for shooting pistol being able to transition between front sight and target without moving my head. Also easy for shooting through rifle scope works.

 I find with my regular progressives I can shoot just need to tilt my head and not as fast/accurate as the double Ds

I'm lucky in that my optometrist been very interested in the whole shooting and glasses thing and benifits is picking up the tab for the glasses. These are much better than the plastic safety glasses.

[sketch]

Nope 🙅‍♀️ 

[NightStalker]

1 hour ago, sketch said:

Nope 🙅‍♀️ 

Haaaa

[BrianK]

I went to optics on all of my firearms, rifles, handguns, and shotgun,  that can take them. Many that couldn't take them were sold.  I need to get a mess of 1911s milled for red dots. It's not that I can't use open sights, it's that my effective range has been voluntarily reduced. 

Aging isn't for sissies.

[NightStalker]

57 minutes ago, BrianK said:

I went to optics on all of my firearms, rifles, handguns, and shotgun,  that can take them. Many that couldn't take them were sold.  I need to get a mess of 1911s milled for red dots. It's not that I can't use open sights, it's that my effective range has been voluntarily reduced. 

Aging isn't for sissies.

I’m looking to do the same I think

[shooterrex]

Before I had my cataract removed I used Crimson Trace laser grips on my carry gun. Couldn't see the sights well but I could see the red dot on the target.