TargetTalk

I want to buy a set of shooting glasses and I found the following couple of brands on Google:

Knobloch
Champion

With one of the above brands would suit me the best? What accessories I should look for? Durability, easy to set up, and price are valued assets.

glasses wrote:I want to buy a set of shooting glasses and I found the following couple of brands on Google:

Knobloch
Champion

With one of the above brands would suit me the best? What accessories I should look for? Durability, easy to set up, and price are valued assets.

I've used both and find that the Champion's are far more comfortable for me and the quality of the filters are superior to the plastic Knobloch ones. The Champions are easier to adjust not that it is difficult to adjust Knobloch's. As for durability they're glass frames, take care of them and all of them are durable, sit on them and they are all toast.

glasses wrote:I want to buy a set of shooting glasses and I found the following couple of brands on Google:

Knobloch
Champion

With one of the above brands would suit me the best? What accessories I should look for? Durability, easy to set up, and price are valued assets.

Range of adjustment, ease of set up are far more important if you are a rifle shooter. rather than a pistol shooter. Those features add considerably to the cost. As a pistol shooter, I find that the inexpensive Varga glasses meet all my needs.
You can drive to work in a Chevrolet or in a Hummer. Either one will get you there.

Fred Mannis wrote:

glasses wrote:I want to buy a set of shooting glasses and I found the following couple of brands on Google:

Knobloch
Champion

With one of the above brands would suit me the best? What accessories I should look for? Durability, easy to set up, and price are valued assets.

Range of adjustment, ease of set up are far more important if you are a rifle shooter. rather than a pistol shooter. Those features add considerably to the cost. As a pistol shooter, I find that the inexpensive Varga glasses meet all my needs.
You can drive to work in a Chevrolet or in a Hummer. Either one will get you there.

I too have tried the Varga's and found them to be very heavy and the construction well rather cheap. The problem I found with both the Knoblochs and Varga is after a while they tend to start digging into the bridge of your nose. The Champions have a silicon nose bridge and I find it very comfortable. If I'm going to spend hours in them comfort matters to me more than a few dollars.

You can always shoot cheap pellets to save enough money to buy good glasses ;)

Richard,
When I'm in the Zone, I don't feel a thing. :-)

Fred

Everybody's different and what suits me probably won't suit you. You need to try them before you buy and decide what best fits you, has the features you require and are comfortable. I recently upgraded from Gehmans to Champions but the only reason I changed was I found the arms uncomfortable around my ears.

Rob.

You know how much you hear "watch your sights" well you need to see them, so for my $0.02 do no skimp on glasses get the best. I chose champion.

Julian

I have gone through Vargas and Knobloch on my way to Champion Olympics. The Vargas were definitely a "you almost get what you pay for" feature wise. Knobloch was pretty good, but the fully adjustable Olympics won out.

Plus the Olympics are wider across the browpiece for a large head.

After visiting, both, Knobloch and Champion websites and reading your comments I realize Champion glasses are of better manufacture.

Therefore, I'd like to know what model would suit me the best. I looked at World Champion 4 and Olympic Champion models but there are others which could suffice and are cheaper.

Is there a known source with good prices?

I would go with the Olympic or SuperOlympic. The SuperOlympic have micrometer adjustments which really aren't that important for pistol but they look cool.

As to where to buy them we have no idea where you live so it's hard to answer that question.

In Canada you can try here http://www.precision-sports.com/ even in the US they might be cheaper as there is no tax and the exchange rate favours the US.

Else where in the world I don't know.

Everybody seems to be missing the point here, the lenses are the important thing here not the frames.
For pistol shooting you want frames that will hold the big lenses, are strong and will hold the settings (they get knocked around it your shooting kit).
You do not need micro adjustable but consider the smallest fixed blocks on the frame to allow for a shooting cap or visor (to keep the sun and hair out of your eyes and allow you to wear ear muffs.
Normal frames (Aviator style large lens) will do, provided you have the right lens fitted and cut in the right position.
I am using 20yr old champions with two lens holders (left lens partly covered) and have two sets of normal frames for NRA and Blackpowder (also used as backup glasses for travel to shoots.
Over the years a lot more money has been spent on lens than on frames.

David M wrote:Everybody seems to be missing the point here, the lenses are the important thing here not the frames.
For pistol shooting you want frames that will hold the big lenses, are strong and will hold the settings (they get knocked around it your shooting kit).
You do not need micro adjustable but consider the smallest fixed blocks on the frame to allow for a shooting cap or visor (to keep the sun and hair out of your eyes and allow you to wear ear muffs.
Normal frames (Aviator style large lens) will do, provided you have the right lens fitted and cut in the right position.
I am using 20yr old champions with two lens holders (left lens partly covered) and have two sets of normal frames for NRA and Blackpowder (also used as backup glasses for travel to shoots.
Over the years a lot more money has been spent on lens than on frames.

Nobody is missing the point, for a change the question that was asked was actually answered. He asked about frames and got an answer about frames. I agree that the lens are the most important thing but it helps if you have a comfortable frame to put them in. Like you said you've had your champions for 20 years so an investment in a good set of frames is really a small thing when you divide it by the years they will last. I think I said the same thing about the micro adjusting, that it not necessary, but by the same token it won't hurt either.

David M and Fred Mannis have it right -- the frames REALLY don't matter unless you switch between rifle/pistol and need the fine tuning of the champions. In fact a slew of Europeans (rifle and pistol shooters) don't use frames at all but headbands with attachments for a lens and blinder. It's the lenses that count -- glass or plastic. But in many ranges glass is specifically forbidden for safety reasons. Pick an inexpensive frame (VARGA, KNOBLOCH, HEADBAND from Geheman etc) that are comfortable FOR YOU and a set of lenses that meet YOUR needs. But FOCUS on the lenses dude.


I would also recommend you choose your sources on this board wisely -- there are lots of opinions. Some will enthusiastically endorse a specific product (Gun, Glasses Ammo etc) based on their personal experience. But that does not mean it will work for you…or your specific circumstances. From a source perspective experience counts with me -- David M is David Moore from Australia. Two time Olympian. Fred Mannis is from Delaware and has been shooting NRA and ISSF in the USA for many years. Both of these shooters have a common sense approach that resonates with me personally and many of my friends.

Disclaimer: I shoot only pistol. I own a pair of Olympic Champions and wish I’d saved the money. They are REALLY good but I didn’t need the “Porsche” (Or Pick a high end car that works for you) of shooting frames – something less expensive would have been fine and I could have used the money elsewhere.

On to more important things like what are the best cheap pellets ;)

I have both Knobloch and Varga - easier to have one set for pistol and a different set for rifle.

Re the lens, part 1 - be aware that your optometrist will (should?) get the coreection needed right, but the lens suppliers often do not work to much better than +/- 0.25 diopter. Stress that you will need the correction as accurate as possible.

Part 2 - for ISSF pistol get the larger lens (23 mm, approx 1 inch), or go to the even larger lens holder available for Black Powder shooters. The bigger the lens the more protection for your eye, and typically a better quality lens.

Spencer

where can i buy CHAMPION sportswear hoodies?

Here is a novice approach, based on a suggestion from somebody with more years of experience than my age:
get a lens holder and lenses of .25,.50,.75, 1.00 here
http://www.pilkguns.com/varga.shtml
get a clip to attach your lens holder to existing prescription glasses here:
http://www.harborfreight.com/165x-jewel ... 94364.html
or if you are not in the states
http://cgi.ebay.com/CLIP-ON-Jewelers-DU ... b&x=45&y=8

Replace the lenses on the "clip on" with the varga holder and the lens that best helps you that day.

You can also improve depth of field by using an Iris that attaches to your Varga lens holder. Its use depends on what type of shooting you do.
You might find the following information of interest to you:
http://www.pilkguns.com/c16.shtml
and
http://www.starreloaders.com/edhall/nwongarts.html

Good Luck and Happy Shooting.

I also went with Champion. I use the larger lens and iris, and it does help me with maintaining concentration on the front sight.

I love the available adjustments and they are very easy to work with one hand.

My local optometrist was so intrigued by the shooting glasses, he spent about an hour with me finding the exact focus point for my front sight and then cut the lens for free.

You can always post on the Buy, Sell, Trade forum to see if anyone is parting with a good, used set. I've seen a couple before. I'm not certain who stocks Champions and I've not seen any of them on sale.

Let me throw in a monkey wrench

http://www.superfocus.com/

paulo wrote:Let me throw in a monkey wrench

http://www.superfocus.com/

Amazing... I'm really tempted to order a pair....