The most important optics of all

jsali

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Feb 15, 2005
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94
Location
Alberta
Not sure if this belongs in this forum and I apologize if it doesn't. I just thought I'd share a tip with some of the people in here that may wear prescription glasses. I am one of those people, I have about 18/20 vision uncorrected which means in reality I can get away without lenses. However my optometrist (also a good friend and avid shooter/hunter) opened up a whole new world. According to him optometrists will generally only correct vision to 20/20 and consider the adjustment a success. Normally this may be true however there are many people that can have their vision corrected even farther if the optometrist takes the time to get the optimum lens configurtion down right. My vision with glasses is a bit better than 20/10 which apparently is about as good as a humans can possibly be. The amount of detail discernable at even extreme ranges is unbelievable. It is possible to pick out deer and coyotes at ranges that most people would require binoculars or scopes. This is a great advantage as most peoples vision begins to blend objects and colors at a few hundred yards. So if you wear prescription lenses as your optometrist if you can squeeze a little extra out of your glasses you won't regret it come hunting season.
 
My optometrist and I stumbled across it during an exam one day. I had a prescription from a different one which corrected me to 20/20. My friend put me on the bench for a confirmation and while looking through one of the configurations I started reading the fin print beside the letter rows. He immediately flicked a couple of lenses and bam! I could just make out the fine print on the page. He experimented with a couple other people and found out there is quite a few people who can be corrected well beyond 20/20. I have even had a couple of friends try to get prescription glasses even though they already possess 20/20 vision. It really is unreal how much detail you can make out, the lenses don't magnify but they take away all fuzziness which allows th brain to discriminate/recognize shapes and colors at incredible distances. Example, as I write this I can look out my office window (don't tell the boss) and watch a raven milling around on top of a mechanical building about a mile off (by map). I highly recommend talking to your optometrist.
 
I wholeheartedly agree with this thread.
I always had good eyesight until about 3 years ago[46 then] when I noticed I could not properly focus on an airplane many miles away with a brilliant clear sky in NZ.
Since then I have used both reading glasses and distance glasses from a good optometrist.
The best distance glasses I have used for the last 6 months have a bifocal lens low in each eyepiece for map reading etc combined with distance lens correction in the main shooting hi ride lens.
My corrected vision is about 20/12.5.
I cannot get down to the fine definition of 20/10 with any aids.
However the distance lens are the first graduation available which is in excess of what I personally need according to the tester.I just see a lot better with them than without. I have a slight astigmatism which gives me a blurring or double vision effect on distant objects.
Normally they would not prescribe glasses with my current unassisted vision which is 20/15.
With the distance glasses my vision is restored to almost as good as it ever was. I used to be able to discern .357 wadcutter holes at 50 yds.
One of the few guys I have known who used to shoot competitive handgun with me could see .357 roundnose holes at 50yds!! Those are closer to .30 cal really. He had amazing eyesight which would be 20/10 I guess?
The highest rating is 20/10 I understand.
APB
 
That is a really great piece of information because when I was young I could see really well but by the time I was in my early 20 I had to wear glasses (also my hi frequency hearing was gone). Now for everyday I wear bifocals and I cannot hunt with them with a rifle or bow (shotgun is fine because I shoot head up) and have a separate pair of glasses for hunting and shooting.

One other thing that was mentioned by someone else is to have the lens ground so you have good optical properties near the inside edge for your shooting eye. In other words get one of your hunting guns and get in your normal shooting positon and when you look through the scope notice what part of your glasses lens you are looking through and then when you buy you next pair of shooting glasses make sure they are ground for good clarity in that area. If you bowhunt this is really critical for sight pin clarity.

I am going to see if my optometrist can do what yours did the next time I have an appointment and then I am going to order specially made shooting glasses. There are a couple of companies that do this kind of glasses.

Thanks
 
Thanks for sharing a great idea. I tried getting glasses about 13 years ago because I could not see 22lr holes in a target at 20 yards out and my friend could see them perfect. Well I got glasses to correct my vision to 20/20 and seeing the 22lr holes at 20 yards was no problem but now my pistols open sights are fuzzy...now what?? Anyway my boss had the best eye sight of anyone I knew, it was called "10". Thats all just "10". He was a very good shooter with their local muzzle loading team "open sights".
 
Been doing this for years. One of the true benefits to having these things stuck to your face.

If you plan on doing this, do it before buying your expensive scopes. I found that a few brands like Leupold just couldn't be focused as clear and sharp as other brands.

I found the Japanese glass to be consistently good. Your mileage may vary. However, don't think you are going nuts that your eyesight has been improved but can't see spit through your scope no matter how you adjust it.

Jerry
 
So, a person with 20-20 in one eye and 20-15 in the other may be able to get a doc to fix him up with some glass to produce 20-10 vision in both eyes too, right? I've got 20-15 vision in my "non-shooting" eye as luck would have it. I've heard with laser surgery it's no big deal to get both eyes corrected to 20-10, just never heard they could do such a thing with glass alone but, I know jack about that stuff anyway. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I don't know about the laser surgery. Up here you have to have pretty bad vision already to qualify for the procedure. One thing I do know about laser surgery is that people tend to become photosensitive at night ie. bright lights such as vehicle headlights are nearly unbearable. Most optometrists will only adjust to or close to 20/20 and won't try to see just how good you can get it. Many people can be adjusted to a much better level with glasses. There are also prescription glasses that are "safety approved" (built stronger and approved for working on construciton sites etc...) these eliminate the need for seperate shooting glasses and can be had in just about any shape and style you want.
 
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