Well I need advice on what you guys do. When I draw with my glasses on my string hits them. Not sure I can do contacts.
Going to have to make adjustments to your anchor. Welcome to getting older. LOL
Mike
Just went through the exact same issue....tried glasses and they didn't work for me. I'm too stubborn to change my shooting form so I went with contacts. Didn't think I could do it either but....so far so good. Still need reading glasses for up close work but at least I don't need them while shooting!
Talk with your eye care professional. Maybe they can make some suggestions as to how to deal with the vision issue without changing your shooting style. I have worn glasses my entire adult life with no issues shooting my bow. I do, however, shoot split finger and that means a lower anchor on my face. Vision/shooting issues should always be discussed with your eye doc. My son is one and likes to work with folks on issues concerning their physical activities.
Tom, sent you an email. Fred
I went through the same issues and found that some frames still allowed me to shoot without changing my style or anchor. The best ones for me where a pair with narrow, top to btm, frames. The worst were larger roundish lenses. I only need a single prescription lens and do not have to deal with looking through the top or btm part of the lens.
I anchor at the corner of my mouth ... good luck
Also I tried contacts and they were not for me. Heck of a time getting them in and keeping my hands clean enough for handling them when on a backpack hunt ...
Tom,5 years ago I was on your shoes,so I decided to go through a Lasik surgery,being glasses and contact not the best choice for an hard core backcountry elk Hunter. Well best thing I ever did,I barely use bino if not to double check,I use reading glasses though in low light conditions..When my buddy,member here, saw how well My eyesight improved he decided to do it himself.
As someone who has had glasses most of my life. I just had to adapt. LASIK only lasted six years then back to glasses.
I have wore glasses or contacts for 35+ years. My glasses have never interfered but I see how they could for different anchors. Don't rule out contacts before trying them. I didn't think I would be able to stand them but I don't have any issues with them other then cleaning. If you end up going with glasses get a small frame and single vision lenses for shooting and hunting. Shooting with bi-focals sucks. LASIK may be the best answer if it will work for you.
QuoteOriginally posted by wingnut:
Going to have to make adjustments to your anchor. Welcome to getting older. LOL
Mike
Welcome to my world.......... :dunno:
I can't shoot with glasses on period. No way did I think I could handle contacts, but.....
Once you get used to getting them in and out; contacts kept me in the game.
Just to put your mind at ease, Kisik Lee, the coach of the US Olympic Archery Team, insists that his players wear dark glasses whenever they shoot. I guess if the best in the world can get used to them, you can too!
One piece of advice: many types of lenses these days are out of focus unless you look through them in a certain direction. Transition lenses change focus as you look up and down in order to see close up, and polycarbonate lenses only focus perfectly in the center in order to stay thin around the edges. You need the old-fashioned lenses that focus perfectly when you look through them at any angle because that's the way you'll be looking when you aim.
I ended up with a pair of sunglasses frames that wrap very tightly to my face and prescription lenses.
Posted about it here. Pics in the link.
Link to post (http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=150738;p=1#000000)
Lenses are bigger than my normal glasses, I get a larger field of view, but no string contact bc of how tightly they fit to my face.
I have been wearing glasses since 3 yrs old (60 years now) and shooting bows since about 10 so have never even thought about them getting in the way until I started seeing the occasional post on here so have a hard time picturing what the problem is, nevermind make suggestions to help.
I shot with glasses from 4th grade until age 57. Never had any problem hitting frame regardless of frame size. No problem when I went to bifocals either. At age 57 I had cataract surgery and have never had better vision.
I always shot split with corner of the mouth anchor.
Progressive lenses change correction as you look up and down. They are a variation on the older style bi-focal lenses. Transitions only darken in sunlight and act as sun glasses.
Like many I've worn glasses since 4th grade. Then as a freshman as I was entering college (1977) I switched to hard contact lenses.
I've never had an issue shooting with either. However, when I live in KS for 3.5 years I gave up the contacts because of windblown dust that seemed to never stop. Only problem with glasses had nothing to do with shooting. When it was cold and I wore masks, I would fog up my glasses...especially when breathing rate increased as a shot opportunity neared!
I did the Lasik think in 2007. My vision went from legally blind (without glasses) to better than 20/20 in just 3 days of healing. Best thing I ever did for myself. I'm a bit bummed these days though now that 11 years have passed since the Lasik I have to wear a bit of prescription if I want to see 20/20 out of both eyes. I don't need them except when reading or on the computer though.
I think experimenting with different frame shapes and sizes are your best bet because your eyes may not need enough correction to go through Lazik.
Never wore glasses until my late 40's struggled with them for several years, fogging up in the cool mornings, pain in the rear in the rain, and I couldn't shoot with them on.
My friend from Italy had Lasik and spent a few days at our house after his surgery, it was enough to convince me, greatest thing I did for my vision and helped my shooting.
glasses are typically inevitable, roll with the punches and just figure out a way to get along with them and they'll do you right.
glasses are the only time i like that political word "progressive" - varilux progressive polycarbonate lenses with transition adaptive uv protection. they work just fine for all my shooting sports.
I had to get glasses in my late 20's. I had to switch my anchor down to corner of mouth. I went to a contacts in my 30s due to the fogging and mist/ rain issues. I have no issues on camping trips etc, but I am lucky enough to not need a mirror to put them in.
Try keeping your head more vertical, that will open up some string clearance and for me it gives me a better view, with my head leaned over I could only see out of the very corner of my glasses and that for me can worsen Target panic. Also style of glasses, I've gone to smaller lighter frames and lenses, the Oakley line is working good for me but damn they are expensive!
I regularly where progressional glasses. But I had a pair of glasses made up for shooting and hunting that are the smallest frame I could find and I do a bifocal with a very small line for the reading part a very shallow area.
Thanks for the comments. I have the no line lenses that work from close up to far away. I think they are what you guys are referring to as progressive lenses. I shoot three under and probably do draw a little farther back than I should. I was telling Fred, it isn't a problem outside as there is more light so I don't wear my glasses. The issue is when shooting in my basement in lower light. I have a tough time seeing the dark string nocks against the dark carpet and arrow flight is a bit blurred.
Good luck TJ.
I put up with a smear of string wax on my glasses right where I was looking while shooting, and the glasses fogging up in cold weather for many years. Then I switched to soft contacts and I do see better with them than I did with glasses. Now, I have to carry reading glasses with me because my perfect vision with contacts doesn't work within three feet or so. Don't shy away from contacts. They are terrific.
I had the same problem. I went to contacts and couldn't wear them. The optometrist told me that I needed glasses with a smaller lens. It helped! Now the string still hits the glasses but doesn't move them up on my face like the larger lens ones did.
Very easy to get use to and I can see what I am looking at.
I'm lucky, because my distant vision is till good enough to shoot without my glasses. When that changes, I will try contacts. Now, when I shoot with glasses on, I often hit them with the bow string, and that hurts.
QuoteOriginally posted by jabodnar:
I ended up with a pair of sunglasses frames that wrap very tightly to my face and prescription lenses.
Posted about it here. Pics in the link.
Link to post (http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=150738;p=1#000000)
Lenses are bigger than my normal glasses, I get a larger field of view, but no string contact bc of how tightly they fit to my face.
That's a good post. I'm having problems with my anchor point and glasses also. (I'm very new to archery.) I wear progressive lenses. Luckily I have an eye appointment this week and can talk to my doctor about recommendations.
I used to shoot compound with glasses before I switched to contacts, but have never shot a trad bow with them. Contacts work great for me, so maybe you'll want to give them a try. Sometimes they are a bit inconvenient, but it's nice to be able to see clearly.
Smaller lenses. Stay away from those massive goggle styles.
As a teenager, I shot a compound but with fingers and in the olympic style - split finger & anchor under the chin with my nose on the string. Glasses were never a problem for shooting and only rarely a problem for fogging. A wide-brimmed hat kept the rain off my glasses most of the time.
But now, doing traditional archery, shooting 3-under and anchoring in the corner of my mouth, nose almost touching the shaft, I can't do glasses at all. My string lightly grazes my face and wipes those lenses right off and sends them a few yards downrange. I do daily disposables for hunting now & carry some extra eye drops in the field.
I guess if you had to, you could learn to shoot like Ishi.
I went to contacts in my early 20s and it was 100 percent because of hunting. I can't imagine dealing with glasses fogging up in the woods like I did before I switched.