Shooters' friendly optometrist in the Bay Area

[gimgim]

Any suggestion?
Norman H Wong's store in SF seems closed for good: https://www.yelp.com/biz/norman-h-wong-san-francisco
I need the round lens for a Varga frame
Thanks

[ShootingSight]

Actually, I am a firm believer that if you get a decent 'regular' prescription for distance, I can do the mathematical conversion from those values to your shooting prescription. So a 'shooter friendly' optometrist is not necessary.

I can make round lenses for $40.

Shame about Dr. Wong. He was on my bucket list to go see, just so I could meet him.

[Christopher Miceli]

My suggestions is have shooting sights build you a range of lenses around his math and try them all

[gimgim]

> Actually, I am a firm believer that if you get a decent 'regular' prescription for distance, I can do the mathematical
> conversion from those values to your shooting prescription. So a 'shooter friendly' optometrist is not necessary.

Is this still the case if one needs both distance and reading glasses?

[d-cuttler]

Here's a suggestion, if you want to see the front sight on a pistol very clearly, add about 1 to 1.25 diopter to your normal vision perscription.

I came up with this by borrowing some of my wife's drugstore readers, and trying them on over my regular glasses while holding the pistol. I wear perscription bifocals, so I only looked thru the distance perscription with the readers on top of them.

Next I ordered a pair of single vision glasses with polycarbonate clear lenses from Zenni optical with my modified perscription. Total cost including shipping was about $30.00, and It took a little over a week to get them. It helps that I live in the SF Bay Area, because Zenni is located in Novato Ca.

All that being said, they just arrived this afternoon, and the results are great! When looking thru them the front and rear sights are razor sharp without squinting, and the 10 meter target is a bit fuzzy, which is to be expected. I can even see the ribs on top of my FAS 6004 while sighting.

I will qualify all this by stating that I am 80 yrs old and my eyes are no longer the best. Your mileage my vary. Probably for the better.

The nice thing about Zenni Optical is you enter your perscription online, and do not need to produce a current perscription. Just enter whatever you want and place the order. I have been buying from them for years, making special glasses for all kinds of activities like cycling, soldering pc boards etc.

You might give it a try, certainly the cost is low enough.

[1066]

Being in the ageing eyes/tight budget club I decided to have a go at making my own shooting specs - I'm really pleased with how they've come out. I've now made a few of these for my shooting club buddies with good feedback. I can supply, shape and fit polycarbonate lenses and supply and fit an iris. They are fully adjustable and I can make them in a variety of colours or mix and match.


I've designed and make these in my home workshop using 3d printing and carbon fibre rods with the aim to being versatile and affordable without compromising on function.

[d-cuttler]

That is very impressive. It looks professionally made like it came out of a factory. Much nicer looking than my old knobloch glasses.

Every day I am impressed with the things people are making using 3D printing.

[gimgim]

1066: the 3D printed frames look fantastic, I have the Varga 2000 and there is no comparison. While my problem is with the actual round lens, it would be great to know the price of yours, in case I decide to upgrade.

d-cuttler: I have bought a +1 diopter reading glasses at a $1 store and cut a round lens with a dremel, to fit the Varga frames.
It works OK, but I need to wear that on top of my distance glasses and besides looking super dorky, the stacked lenses are not transparent enough and shooting FP with the ear protection is a torture. I am about to renew my prescription and will consider Zenni if my optometrist doesn't want to deal with it. Thanks!

[Star7]

Just to be a square wheel; for pistol I add 0.75 diopter and for rifle 0.5 diopter to my normal distance prescription. Make sure that you use the negative sign if your normal distance prescription has such. The "tarantino" frame at eyebuydirect is somewhat flexible, allowing a little bending to get the lens oriented correctly. Eyebuydirect has been very reliable for me. I was satisfied by zenni optical but at that time (several years back) they seemed to only feature very small lens sizes. Both vendors hit my prescription on the nose.

[1066]

1066: the 3D printed frames look fantastic, I have the Varga 2000 and there is no comparison. While my problem is with the actual round lens, it would be great to know the price of yours, in case I decide to upgrade.

d-cuttler: I have bought a +1 diopter reading glasses at a $1 store and cut a round lens with a dremel, to fit the Varga frames.
It works OK, but I need to wear that on top of my distance glasses and besides looking super dorky, the stacked lenses are not transparent enough and shooting FP with the ear protection is a torture. I am about to renew my prescription and will consider Zenni if my optometrist doesn't want to deal with it. Thanks!

I can do the full set in the box, without a lens or iris for $100 including shipping from UK. For supply and fitting a polycarbonate lens and 12mm iris and extra $40.


I currently have lenses in .25 dioptre steps from +.5 to +3.0 (others available if necessary)

The best/simplest way I have found to find the required lens for pistol shooting:
Visit your local discount store that sell “off the peg” reading glasses. Some of these stores only sell reading glasses where the strength increments in .5 dioptre, try and find one that has .25 dioptre increments.

Stick a business card to the wall at eye level, stand in you normal shooting stance and raise your arm with your fingers outstretched to almost touch the wall (front sight distance). Now try different glasses to focus on the card – however the distance between the eye and spectacle must be taken into account (vertex distance) You must hold the reading glasses about an inch from your eye while trying different pairs.

Just take note of the magic number and I can match the lens.

[d-cuttler]

Just to be a square wheel; for pistol I add 0.75 diopter and for rifle 0.5 diopter to my normal distance prescription. Make sure that you use the negative sign if your normal distance prescription has such. The "tarantino" frame at eyebuydirect is somewhat flexible, allowing a little bending to get the lens oriented correctly. Eyebuydirect has been very reliable for me. I was satisfied by zenni optical but at that time (several years back) they seemed to only feature very small lens sizes. Both vendors hit my prescription on the nose.

I agree with you. I think I added too strong a diopter, and was planning to order another pair with about a 0.75 add. When I read your post, it confirmed my thoughts. While I see the sights very well the target is a little too fuzzy.

Zenni is so inexpensive, I have no regrets ordering another pair of glasses. Thank's for your post.

[d-cuttler]

I did visit eyebuydirect, and the tarantino frames look like a good fit for shooting. I was impressed by the large lenses which should make it easy to use. I plan to spend some more time on their website this afternoon when I get home from work.

Thank's for the tip.

[Mike M.]

Dr. Alan Toler. www.customsightpicture.com. I've been going to him for the last dozen years...and my only regret is that I didn't start a dozen years earlier.

[jstaylor62]

When I went to my optometrist for a shooting glasses prescription, I just asked for a front sight focal distance in my dominant eye and distance in my non-dominant eye. For me, it was a focal distance of 34 inches. I got a set of Rudy Project Rydon shooting glasses and it has been awesome!

[d-cuttler]

When I went to my optometrist for a shooting glasses prescription, I just asked for a front sight focal distance in my dominant eye and distance in my non-dominant eye. For me, it was a focal distance of 34 inches. I got a set of Rudy Project Rydon shooting glasses and it has been awesome!

Are you shooting with both eyes open, and if you are, do the different perscriptions cause any eye strain?

The Rudys are great glasses. I have two pair that were purchased for cycling.

[Star7]

I have been using glasses with distance prescription in the non-shooting eye and it works well for me. I have been told by others that it was disorienting for them. It sort of becomes moot when I put a frosty piece of scotch tape on the non shooting lens, however.

[gimgim]

A quick update:

I went to my regular optometrist to renew my prescription glasses. It took a few explanations, some weird looks, and a jig I made to simulate the sights, but I was finally able to get a correct prescription for my shooting eye.

Emailed my prescription to ShootingSight and for only $40 (shipped!) got quickly a perfect lens for my Varga frames.
AMAZING service, highly, highly recommended.

The lens came well packaged, with detailed instructions to align it, and the envelope even contained a sticker and a much appreciated little gift.
Thanks again Art, what a pleasure dealing with you!

[GaryN]

I switched to my current doctor (Dr Stasko, at All Eyes on You, in San Carlos) for one reason only.
She had made shooting glasses for others, and was willing to work with me to work out the Rx. I could bring my AP into her office, at lunch when it was closed, since we had to use the long hallway to get a clear 10 meters. After testing, it turned out that the Rx adjustment was exactly as Warren Potter had said in his article about glasses.

But what I then learned was that I NEED bifocal shooting glasses, so that I can see and read stuff on the bench.
That then became a problem as the labs can't/won't put a bifocal on an aviator style frame, so I had to drop down to a smaller lens to get the bifocal. I really did not want to go to a smaller lens, as a bigger lens = more protection for my eyes. I use the same polycarbonate glasses when I shoot my 22LR and 45acp.

[divingin]

After a phone call, Simply Vision in San Leandro allowed me to bring my air pistol into the shop. Getting the prescription correct was reasonably straightforward. Getting the lens made (a 42mm lens for a set of Olympic Champion frames), however, was a pain.

[High Left]

I've just given the optometrist a spare lens holder and get a lens cut to fit in a week or 2. I do it when I get a new prescription on my regular glasses. The only confusion has been when I wanted .5 added to the distance px, and got a .5 spherical back. No charge to fix it, but another week or so.