Cheap Clip-On Blinder for Prescription Glasses

[Scrench]

Right now in the reading glasses section right outside the pharmacy, Walmart has clear clip-on's for sale for $8. Just pop off the lens you don't need (bend away from the frame, not towards) then put a translucent material over the other lens. I tried toilet paper, Kleenex and paper towels, but they are all too thick. I've read that office Scotch Tape can do it, but I don't have any. I taped on a single piece of Bounce wrinkle and static eliminator, like you use in your laundry dryer.

Scrench

[Rover]

You're going to buy a blinder at Walmart because you don't have matte Scotch tape?

Get real!

Get reading glasses at the Dollar Store for, guess what, $1.

[Scrench]

Guess what. No one clips reading glasses over prescription glasses, and no one would put scotch tape on their prescription lens.

[Gwhite]

As for Scotch tape on prescription glasses, I have done it without problems for over 30 years. Part of the secret is to fold over about 1/4" of one end to give you a "handle" to remove it when you are done shooting. If you have a clean, smooth surface to stick it to in/on your shooting box, one piece will last for months.

Modern prescription glasses (at least the ones I buy) have a pretty tough scratch resistant coating. I coach a college team, and we've had students using tape on their glasses for over a decade, and nobody has EVER had an issue with damage from the practice. A full season is about 6 months of practice, four nights a week, plus half a dozen weekend matches.

[Scrench]

I stand corrected. But it seems you would have a PITA to get the tape goop off of your lens each time.

[Gwhite]

If you buy good quality tape (i.e. Scotch brand), and don't leave it on for years, it doesn't leave any residue. Heck, it actually removes any dust on the lens when you take it off...

[Rover]

Guess what. No one clips reading glasses over prescription glasses, and no one would put scotch tape on their prescription lens.

You're right. No one clips reading glasses over prescription glasses. What ever gave you that idea?

Are you saying your prescription glasses are shooting glasses, or are you trying to make them that way?

If you don't have astigmatism, then $1 reading glasses work very well for iron sights.

I guess Mr. White explained Scotch tape to you in a satisfactory manner.

[Scrench]

Astigmatism. At 69 years old, everything is just a hair out of focus without glasses, although I only use them for reading and shooting.

Maybe I do have a problem here. I use the prescription glasses to shoot with, and use the clip-on as a blinder so I can flip it up out of the way for everything but shooting. My glasses are progressive, so I can get the front sight sharply in focus, but the target is never "fuzzy" like I have read it should be. In fact with just a slight vertical shift of my head I can clearly see the target, and sometimes I catch myself looking at it instead of the front sight. It's a distraction because I can also see the holes in the target. I'm working on that concentration problem, but do you think reading glasses would improve the situation? I can still see the front sight decently without my glasses, although not as sharp. I realize I could get custom shooting glasses made, but the cost is prohibitive.

I guess I could add a diopter, say 1/2" to the reading glasses, but that is confusing because wouldn't the blocking of light by the diopter be in conflict with the whole idea of using a translucent blinder? Equal light to each eye?

Sorry this turned into an eye discussion, I was just trying to be helpful to others with my initial post.

[UnGe]

My simple and inexpensive approach (for iron sights)
- Take your distance prescription
- Add +1 do sphere
- (optional) add/reduce 2-3mm for your PD in direction of your shooting side
- Order cheap glasses e.g. from Zenni (you can do it for less than $15)
- Add scotch stipe on your non-aiming side
- Verify that it works. If it does, you can order prescription safety glasses online for ~ $100-$150

[Rover]

You're using an over complicated kludge to shoot with. I've seen others do the same and they can never understand why it's all a mess.

UnGe has the KISS Principle down cold.

Good advice!

[Gwhite]

<snip>
I guess I could add a diopter, say 1/2" to the reading glasses, but that is confusing because wouldn't the blocking of light by the diopter be in conflict with the whole idea of using a translucent blinder? Equal light to each eye?

Research has shown that if you block the light going into the non-aiming eye, the pupil will dilate, as expected. However, it will also have a small effect on the aiming eye as well. You want to have equal amounts of light going into both eyes, but prevent the non-aiming eye from being able to create a second sight image. A small translucent blinder accomplishes both objectives.

A clear lens does not block a significant amount of light, so it doesn't factor into the "equal light" problem.

Typical expensive shooting glasses will have around + 0.75 diopter additional correction added to your distance prescription to bring the relaxed focus of the eye closer to the front sight. Your prescription may not be exact, and typical optical shops don't have super tight tolerances on the lenses, so there may be some residual errors that mess things up. Different shooters also have different preferences in terms of how much added correction they like, so that can throw in an added +/- 0.25 diopter variation.

Suggested reading: https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nra/ss ... d=25#/p/24

If you have progressive prescription glasses, you can use a clip on lens like one of these:

https://shootingsight.com/?product=clip-on-flip-lens

[Hamster]

I use a pair of yellow lensed flip ups, around $10 on Amazon, with a strip of scotch tape on the non-aiming side. Works fine.

[Scrench]

That is great information. I am already in contact with shootingsite.com trying to determine the strength I need and if they have a return policy in case the first one isn't right. I only shoot outdoors with varying degrees of sunlight, but never directly on the target, usually shaded somewhat.

Thank you so much for the help. This is one area I was going to overlook.

[BobGee]

If you have progressive prescription glasses, you can use a clip on lens like one of these:

https://shootingsight.com/?product=clip-on-flip-lens

Trouble with progressive lenses is that you have to tilt your head back at an un-natural angle to get the focus. Far better to get over the counter cheapo glasses (unless you have significant astigmatism). However, if you’re shooting single hand ISSF then you will end up looking through the off-centre part of the lens - not good. Need to look through the optical centre. This is where purpose made shooting glasses come in. Well worth the money if you’re at all serious.

Bob

[Scrench]

Art at shootingsight.com got back with me. For the benefit of others in the same predicament, I include his letter to me.

Richard,

Thanks for contacting us.

I think we can fix it for you, but it is not just the simple flip lens, you also need to get new glasses. Lens power determines where your focal point is. If you focus on the front sight, the target will be blurry, if you focus on the target, the front sight will be blurry. Your goal is to fucus in between, with a slight bias towards the sights. There are two things that are variable in your setup: primary is your progressive glasses, as you have observed. As it is impossible to look through exactly the same spot every shot, your focus will be varying. Variability in shooting is bad. It is less bad if you have an aperture front sight, worse if you are shooting a post. The other is that while your eye muscle cannot push your focal point away from you, you can exert it to bring focus closer. I won’t get into the optical math here, but you want to keep your eye relaxed.

Hence the correct solution is to bring your focal point close enough that the sight is clear, and the target slightly fuzzy. This way, your eye has no desire to further exert. This is accomplished by mathematically adding your distance vision correction (which focuses your relaxed eye at infinity) with an additional booster power (the flip lens) to bring your focus closer. The optical math suggests that adding +0.75 to your distance lens is the right balance to get a sharp front sight and slight target blur. I’d say 90% of pistol shooters like this solution. However some like even sharper sights and a +1.00 is preferred, especially if you have a bright range, and can tolerate a slight aperture reduction via a merit disk, or an eyepal, or I can send you a free sticker with an aperture. Indeed, my business card has a variety of aperture sizes etched in it, so you can test the effect yourself.


So, I see two paths forward: Ditch your progressive glasses and get single vision lenses, set for distance vision, then add my flip lens, or: get single vision glasses that are set for distance +0.75 diopters. Indeed, the second solution will likely get you where you want to be without buying my lens, and you can always get a +0.25 flip lens in the future, which will effectively get you your distance +1.00, but you can first try the +0.75 without having to buy my lens.


Yah, I just talked myself out of a sale. Usually, WalMarts etc will offer a cheap set of single strength glasses, if you cannot find a deal, let me know, I can probably set you up with glasses for about $60.



Art