# Shooting with glasses



## dswelfelt (Aug 30, 2021)

70-year-old compound target archer learning to shoot with glasses. Any suggestions how to learn to deal with the distortion in the upper corner of my glasses.
Solutions?
Wear contacts?
Shoot with plain 'readers?'
I use a 4x lens on my scope for 20 yard indoor shoots.


----------



## Hege (Jun 2, 2020)

I wore progressive glasses and felt the same problem. Switched to multi-focal style contacts for astigmatism and feel much better about it all.
Haven't picked up glasses since. Arrow and target clear in view now.
63 summers behind me FWIW

YMMV, I don't shoot compound.

Something something something, clarifiers, magnifiers, peep sights ??


----------



## dswelfelt (Aug 30, 2021)

Hege said:


> I wore progressive glasses and felt the same problem. Switched to multi-focal style contacts for astigmatism and feel much better about it all.
> Haven't picked up glasses since. Arrow and target clear in view now.
> 63 summers behind me FWIW
> 
> ...


Very helpful! Thanks much.


----------



## Wildbill34 (Jan 11, 2020)

I had to adjust my anchor point a bit to keep my line of sight through the peep out of the corner of my glasses. Shortening my draw length just a touch allowed me to square up my face.


----------



## 50CalTy (Sep 19, 2014)

I use a peep verifier. The pins are blurry without it. The make different verifiers that unscrew from the main peep. Pretty much like different prescription reading glasses. Maybe that would help?


----------



## NockTuner77 (Feb 7, 2021)

I use a stronger clarifier to shoot without my glasses. A #2 clarifier works well with a 4x lens for me to take mine off to shoot. I gotta go to a number 3 if I’m using 6x


----------



## Dale_B1 (Jan 31, 2004)

Like was mentioned if your using progressive bifocals get rid of them for shooting. Progressive bifocals take up half of the lenses. I went to lined bifocals as low in the lenses as I can get them.


----------



## JoeBear1958 (Feb 21, 2018)

I bought some trap and skeet glasses off eBay and had my prescription put in with low lined bifocals. The lenses come close to touching at the nose bridge. Then got a single pin slider with 4X scope lens. It’s made a huge difference. No perfect way to fix wearing glasses. You can find something that will work out pretty good. Good luck man!


----------



## dswelfelt (Aug 30, 2021)

NockTuner77 said:


> I use a stronger clarifier to shoot without my glasses. A #2 clarifier works well with a 4x lens for me to take mine off to shoot. I gotta go to a number 3 if I’m using 6x


Very helpful...thanks


----------



## dswelfelt (Aug 30, 2021)

JoeBear1958 said:


> I bought some trap and skeet glasses off eBay and had my prescription put in with low lined bifocals. The lenses come close to touching at the nose bridge. Then got a single pin slider with 4X scope lens. It’s made a huge difference. No perfect way to fix wearing glasses. You can find something that will work out pretty good. Good luck man!


very helpful as well! thanks


----------



## Dan Villars (Oct 24, 2021)

I shoot with readers just so my pins are less fuzzy but that makes the target fuzzy. I am going to try less magnification today to see if I can find happy middle


----------



## Dale_B1 (Jan 31, 2004)

Dan Villars said:


> I shoot with readers just so my pins are less fuzzy but that makes the target fuzzy. I am going to try less magnification today to see if I can find happy middle


Your eyes can only foucus on one thing at a time. A very, very few can find that happy combo that both are fairly clear but not always. I would rather have a very clear target and a slighly fuzzy pin rather than the other way around.


----------



## kballer1 (Aug 31, 2010)

Try opening up your stands so you are not turning your head so much to align with the peep. GET rid of the Progressive's lens as the sweet spot is so small you have to adjust your head to find it! Shot for 50+ years with glasses & tried 5 pair of the Progressive's before going to the stright lens.


----------



## Pwesterfield (Jun 10, 2021)

I also found that I can see the target better with my glasses off. I have a black dot on my scope lenses. The target is nice and sharp and the dot is a nice "fuzzy" thing floating in between.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk


----------



## marklight (Oct 19, 2021)

I tried it but it does not work for me. They get in the way


----------



## Gimli's Ghost (Jun 29, 2021)

Its a common enough problem with rifle shooters using iron sights.
Some use a ring cut from tape to circle the sweet spot on the lens but best fix I've run across is to use a set of hinged clip on plastic sunshades with a hole drilled to line up with the sweet spot.

I gave up on wearing glasses at all when I found my eyesight had improved greatly with age.
Normal eyesight usually begins to be far sighted as one ages which results in older folks needing reading glasses. Those of us who were very nearsighted when young sometimes find the same mechanism of aging of the eyes will work to cancel out the nearsightedness to varying degrees.
In bright daylight I can see with acceptable clarity out to 50 feet or so. I still have serious astigmatism, if anything worse than ever , but have learned to ignore it .
The more I do without glasses the better my vision improves.

Since I always wore polarized lenses or clip ons and spent less time in the sun than most I haven't had any clouding of the eye so far. I was very careful about this since early cataracts were common in my family.

My eyesight, though not that great, is better now than when I was a teenager.

I did take eye tests at the selective service center (don't remember the exact term) and later at my my workplace which revealed that with corrective lenses my ability to distinguish patterns was three times better than that of the average person. Something about my retinas being more dense. I forget the explanation. It also allowed better night vision.
This allows me to "see" things I shouldn't be able to with my poor vision.
Probably a matter of accomdation or side effect of adapting to the disability of near sightedness.


----------



## Averagejoe299 (12 mo ago)

The skeet and trap glasses idea sounds interesting. Worth a try


----------



## JoeBear1958 (Feb 21, 2018)

Bought a couple Decot shooting glasses for the frames off eBay. Worked really good. They have the wire ear piece. Holds them in place super good. Makes using range finder and binoculars more aggravating for me. Still good trade off.


----------



## Longdraw59 (Jun 22, 2011)

I found going to blue fiber with a light to control pin brightness that I was able to do away with a verifier that was needed for green and red pins. Target is now clear and pin is now only very slightly blurred. At 62 I’ll take that!


----------



## southgaboy (Jan 28, 2007)

I put the string lightly on the side of my nose . It enables me to see through the center of the lens .


----------



## bodoia (May 14, 2012)

dswelfelt said:


> 70-year-old compound target archer learning to shoot with glasses. Any suggestions how to learn to deal with the distortion in the upper corner of my glasses.
> Solutions?
> Wear contacts?
> Shoot with plain 'readers?'
> I use a 4x lens on my scope for 20 yard indoor shoots.


Go back to your optomitrist and describe what you need and they can give you a persciption to meet your needs. Worked for me.


----------



## DaveHawk (Jul 16, 2009)

When I first started wearing glasses, I was looking over the bridge of my nose directly between the lenses. I had to change my form to face more directly at the target rather than turning my head so far left (right handed). I also have to push my glasses as close to my face as I can or sometimes I see a double image. I've been shooting with glasses for several years and although it's better now, I still struggle with them sometimes.


----------



## Bigbairbunter (May 17, 2021)

I've been trying to find what will work for me and my old eyes myself. Was new to glasses so I let optometrist talk me into progressive lenses. Sounded like best option at the time, but wasn't. They gave me a slight tunnel effect when judging yardage and had trouble shooting with them. Image distortion in peep if not perfectly aligned a certain way. Tried judging with glasses and shooting without. Worked to help my eyes in lower light conditions and had less eye fatigue on a long day, but still thought I could do better. I had optometrist order me daily contacts in prescription for distance only and played with clarifiers again to find combo that didn't sunburst or distort pin and cleared up image in scope. I also stopped mushrooming end of fiber to keep in up pin. A 5x lens and a .5 clarifier is working for me. I also was able to drop back down to .019 from .040 fiber. I can clearly see target to judge and have good sight picture. If I couldn't wear contacts I would have went with lined bifocals and had it as low in glasses as possible. Hope this helps someone. It took me a little less than a year to get something that gets me back close to when I was 30yrs old.


----------



## Dale_B1 (Jan 31, 2004)

Bigbairbunter said:


> I've been trying to find what will work for me and my old eyes myself. Was new to glasses so I let optometrist talk me into progressive lenses. Sounded like best option at the time, but wasn't. They gave me a slight tunnel effect when judging yardage and had trouble shooting with them. Image distortion in peep if not perfectly aligned a certain way. Tried judging with glasses and shooting without. Worked to help my eyes in lower light conditions and had less eye fatigue on a long day, but still thought I could do better. I had optometrist order me daily contacts in prescription for distance only and played with clarifiers again to find combo that didn't sunburst or distort pin and cleared up image in scope. I also stopped mushrooming end of fiber to keep in up pin. A 5x lens and a .5 clarifier is working for me. I also was able to drop back down to .019 from .040 fiber. I can clearly see target to judge and have good sight picture. If I couldn't wear contacts I would have went with lined bifocals and had it as low in glasses as possible. Hope this helps someone. It took me a little less than a year to get something that gets me back close to when I was 30yrs old.


Exact reason I dumped progressive bifocals in the matter of one day. Went to lined bifocals as low in the lense as possible. Problem cured immediately. I have also helped customers with this also when they couldn't figure it out.


----------



## rhoover800 (11 mo ago)

I am having the same problem with my everyday glasses. I have 2 solutions I am working on. 1. I shoot without my glasses. I shoot target with a 6X lens which works well until you have to change your sight range. 2.I fortunately have a spare set of glasses which are wider and the lens sits closer to the bridge of my nose. It's not perfect but it works.


----------



## jeters66535 (Jun 19, 2020)

I fought my glasses fogging up. Got fed up and started trying things. For bowhunter indoor I used a Hamskea "C" clarifier and no glasses. Sight picture was similar to what I had with glasses on and no lens. For outdoor I use a "B" clarifier and a 4X lens with no glasses.


----------



## Piper06 (12 mo ago)

I need to try a peep verifier I didn't know something like this was available. Thanks


----------



## Willis Hiatt (Jul 29, 2015)

I wear progressives and it helps to keep my head erect at anchor


----------



## Jeff Z (3 mo ago)

I put a stronger magnifier on my sight, but I only shoot target so it was like putting on reading glasses and looking at a menu!


----------



## straightShot45 (Feb 12, 2007)

I have an astigamatism and wear glasses with a progressive lens. For archery, I use just my distance prescription without bifocals in either glasses or contacts and have a verifier as a peep (others might need the 'clarifier' version). The sight is much clearer and less blurred, but the target isn't perfect. It's the perfect mix for me, though, and helps me put my pin on target and helps to tighten my grouping. I did end up getting extra verifier lenses until I was comforatble shooting, spending more than just the cost of one lens, but being able to screw the different aperatures in and out with the different power verifiers helped me dial it in prior to hunting and was worth it. The downside is the need for cheap readers in my pouch or pocket for in-close vision while in the woods.


----------



## Skis (3 mo ago)

Hege said:


> I wore progressive glasses and felt the same problem. Switched to multi-focal style contacts for astigmatism and feel much better about it all.
> Haven't picked up glasses since. Arrow and target clear in view now.
> 63 summers behind me FWIW
> 
> ...


I have tried my glasses (progressive), single vision contacts, and nothing at all. The contacts are better but I still to have clear pins and a fuzzy target. Will clarifier’s help clear up the targets? I use a Specialty podium peep.


Hege said:


> I wore progressive glasses and felt the same problem. Switched to multi-focal style contacts for astigmatism and feel much better about it all.
> Haven't picked up glasses since. Arrow and target clear in view now.
> 63 summers behind me FWIW
> 
> ...


----------



## NockWorst (3 mo ago)

I like bodia's answer...go to an optometrist and have them meet your needs. I have progressive bifocal and have no problems. However, I don't shoot any kind of competition archery.
Aside: I heard of either a plumber or electrician who had a pair of bifocals reversed so he could work overhead. Otherwise, used regular bifocals.


----------



## okiebowdoc (Dec 22, 2009)

I am in the same boat as Hege said but i do shoot compounds and do a lot of 3d, Just went to my eye doc last week for this going to try contacts but also getting a pair of glasses with the bifocals set lower than norm to see my sight tape, I wear progressive lens for every day but can not shoot my target set up with them at 60 yrs it would be nice to see the target and all clear again.


----------

