I Cannot shoot with glasses

albatross

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I am getting-on in years and normally glasses. I have tried to shoot with them but cannot. When I align the string picture, sight pin and target. I find that I am looking over the 'bridge' of the 'glasses frame', which means I am looking between the lenses! At that point everything 'goes to hell'. It means that I cannot wear sunglasses to eliminate glare from the sun (as luck would have our range looks straight into the sun - no we cannot turn it around). So I aim without glasses - which makes nocking an arrow interesting! Does anyone else have a similar problem and how did you overcome it without spending silly money on 'shooting glasses'.
 

fbirder

Member
Oh, yes. That is all too familiar.

I did try shooting with glasses on and aiming, as you say, in the gap between my nose, the frame and the bridge. But that got annoying. So I shot without glasses for two years and just had to ask other people about where my arrows were hitting.

Now I'm shooting again and I've found that my new glasses, quite thin lenses, allow me to actually look through them at the target. Unfortunately, that does make nocking difficult because I'm short-sighted and anything closer than 4 foot is a blur when I'm wearing my distance glasses.

I cope with the Sun by using a hat. Buff make baseball caps with a soft peak https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=clothing&field-keywords=buff+cap - They're a bit expensive, but they crumple into a pocket and the peak is soft enough to not interfere with the string.
 

dvd8n

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I always explain to the optician that I'm an archer when I go and they are very helpful.

The optician optimises the prescription for distance and is very patient while I stand in the shop trying on frames, adopting my stance and making sure that I'm looking through the lens rather than at the frame.
 

geoffretired

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I have sunglasses that came from a cycling shop, they are wraparound and virtually frameless. The nose pads pop off their little pegs and once they are removed I see nothing other than a darker coloured field and target.Despite no nospads, they are so comfortable I forget to take them off.
As I don't normally wear glasses I was very aware of the problem once I started wearing sunglasses of the normal sort.
From my experience with any sort of frames, the worst culprits are the nose pads. They push any frame, however slim, forwards and into view when shooting. With my older framed sunglasses I experimented and removed the nosepads then adjusted the legs to get a close fit. Thin frames are then out of sight.Thick frames can't be hidden in the same way.
 

albatross

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Thanks for the replies. I like the idea of the 'wrap-around' cycling glasses. I'll have a look in a local cyclin g shop tomorrow.
 

KidCurry

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I have tried shooting with glasses, bridge issues, rain, dust, finger smudges, gave that up. Tried contacts, brilliant :) until I try taking them out. Because my finger tips are quite hard I can't feel the lens to get them out. If you can't take them out they won't supply you with them :(.

Now I just shoot at fuzzy targets. It works, the middle is still the middle :)
 

jerryRTD

Well-known member
You need a pair of glasses that sit high at the top of the bridge of the nose, with lenses large enough to fit close to the nose so that the bridge of the nose can only be seen through the lense. I shoot recurve and compound with glasses without any problems. I am long sighted so I can go and get a cheap pair of reading glasses from QD.
 

mk1

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I always chose a metal frame and a small bridge size. Never had a problem. I now wear rimless but you need to have a brim to keep sunlight from shining through the top of the lenses but if it's sunny you want a bit of shade anyway
 

EVC

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I have glasses I use exclusevely to shoot. When I bought the frame I made sure it would not get in the way. One thing I noticed recently is there is some chromatic aberration that distorts the target a little. Somewhat bothersome but not enough to hinder my shooting.
 

Rik

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I have tried shooting with glasses, bridge issues, rain, dust, finger smudges, gave that up. Tried contacts, brilliant :) until I try taking them out. Because my finger tips are quite hard I can't feel the lens to get them out. If you can't take them out they won't supply you with them :(.

Now I just shoot at fuzzy targets. It works, the middle is still the middle :)
I wish I could do that, but my focus runs out about a foot away from my eye.

I used daily disposable contacts for a while. Mostly fine, but I hit problems in dusty conditions, when the plane trees were doing their thing, or if the damn things refused to cooperate... ("where has the target gone" <hunt for lens gone adrift>).
 

Corax67

Well-known member
I wear glasses constantly & shoot in them without any issue - I've done the same with pistols, rifles & a shotguns.

My Last 3 pairs have all been almost identical Tesco 'budget' ?15 frames, thin metal but not particularly large lenses - I've never noticed an issue of the bridge obstructing my view but it sounds like a real pain.




Karl
 

albatross

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Thanks for the reply. But aiming with a recurve is different from shooting a rifle or pistol. I have shot a rifle without any issue wearing glasses.
 

Corax67

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I suppose it depends on the rifle discipline - shooting 10m target rifle involves a very 'side on' stance akin to an archery stance.

My wife gets her glasses from an internet company and has 6 sets of frames at a time to try out until she is happy with the ones that suit her best, maybe that might be an option??


Karl
 

jerryRTD

Well-known member
There is no problem with a rifle as the cheek plate on the butt stock lines up your head for you. with a recurve there is no help aligning your eye. If you are looking over the 'bridge' of the glasses then the glasses are not high enough on the nose. You may have to turn your head a little more so that a larger portion of the lense can be see through.
 

bimble

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yeah, I shoot both compound and recurve with my glasses on without much problems. You may have to turn your head a bit so you're looking more straight on at the target as opposed to over the bridge of the nose, and you may with to think about the lens shape next time you get a new pair of glasses.
 

fbirder

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I think that the problem may be that some people have much more flexible necks than others. I know that turning my head more will help. I just wish I could.
 

AndyW

Well-known member
I always explain to the optician that I'm an archer when I go and they are very helpful.

The optician optimises the prescription for distance and is very patient while I stand in the shop trying on frames, adopting my stance and making sure that I'm looking through the lens rather than at the frame.
I had a similar conversation with my optician. Until you explain they get worried when you tell them if it's not between 10 and 50 yrds you don't care. (Almost) Disappointingly it was the same as my driving prescription. Then I found an online company which would do two pairs of tinted glasses for ?23 so I had four.
 
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