Shooting with contacts

[Akitaki]

I'm using contacts when I shoot AP but they're giving me some problems with sight and target picture. Even with perfectly clean contacts and artificial eye drops the target picture is not always blurry in the same way,if you know what I mean, so aiming consistency is an issue.
I tried with my everyday glasses but it's not a good feeling either... I probably should invest in some target shooting glasses...
Anyone having the same problem?

[atomicgale]

Contacts a total NO-GO!

Even if a clear sight pic could be attained, the persistent inconsistency will override any benefit of contacts vs. glasses. Usually with contacts the sight pic is consistently blurred. From personal experience, taking a 6-8 second hold, (while not blinking), the contact will "frost-over" in that time. Tried contacts; they don't work.

Glasses: Readers with a clip-on blinder - okay. You're not looking straight thru the lens.

Recommend: Champion Olympic frames and prescribed lens for that application.

LINK: http://champchoice.com/store/Main.aspx? ... em=5020125

Add this "Lens-Centering" device to square the lens to the target. You'll be looking thru a pin-hole with this. Accomplishes TWO things: 1. The lens will be exactly square faced to the target (if not, you won't be able to see thru it & it's readily apparent.) 2. Your cranium shall remain perfectly still - thus, the rest of your body must accommodate this "stillness."


Then, to eliminate astigmatism, other vision issues, and/or add "Depth of Field," add this Iris.

LINK: http://champchoice.com/store/Main.aspx? ... item=25024


Glasses: $268
Centering: $29
Iris: $99

Being able to SEE!: PRICELESS

[Akitaki]

Thanks for the in depth replay and links
I figured contacts were bad but I though that maybe it was me...

[Gwhite]

I think it will depend a lot on who you ask, and on what kind of contacts they wear. Some people just don't tolerate contact lenses very well, some do.

I've shot with contact lenses for almost 40 years. I've never felt they interfered with my shooting to a significant degree. HOWEVER: I have semi-rigid gas permeable lenses that can correct for astigmatism, NOT soft lenses.

The college team I help coach has a number of students who wear contacts. We encourage them to try shooting with contacts and with glasses. Most of them don't report a big difference, but some prefer glasses, some prefer contacts.

[Sa-tevo]

A nice datapoint Gwhite. I shoot with soft permeable contacts and a few blinks are part of the shot process. I abort the shot if everything doesn't come together when I land in the aiming area rather than try to hold and dress things up.

Are contact lenses AND shooting glasses with a correction lens allowable in ISSF rules?

[JC Hayes]

I have to shoot with the RGP contacts. I don't add drops after I put them in. If I add drops before a match, I get an inconsistent focus.

[ShootingSight]

Also consider having your prescription tweeked for shooting. Most people prefer a +0.75 Diopter power added to their shooting eye. This brings your eye's relaxed focal point a little closer, so it is at the hyperfocal distance of the rear sight, and will balance the focus in your sight picture just a little towards the sights. Because the lens is doing the work, your focus will be more consistent than if you try to get your eye to do the focusing for you.

As to shooting with contacts, it depends on the corrective power you need. Strong negative lenses shring the image you see as you move them away from your eye. So if you are a -6 diopter, a lens 1" from your eye will shrink the image you see, while a contact lens that is right on your eye will not.

Champion of Knobloch frames work, but are way expensive. BJones sights makes a set of inexpensive frames that are made to offset the lens towards the center of your face. You can get these set up with a custom lens (including astigmatism correction) for your shooting eye for under $100.