Finally .... progressive lenses

Good luck getting used to them. I swear it took about a week to adjust. Nice for flying and driving though!
 
Mine is day 2, I found the airports just fine today . However when I read a book I am too conscious and always thinking about it making myself go nuts
 
I could not get used to progressive lenses. I have some cervical arthritis. Progressive lenses required that I turn my head towards the object of focus. This constant head swiveling resulted in neck pain. With standard lenses I can maintain a constant head position and swivel only my eyes. Much less strain on the neck spine and muscles. Im 67 and need no distance correction but I need a 2.5 diopter add for near vision as in approach plates and charts and a1.5 diopter add for the instrument panel. Essentially trifocals with no distance correction. Ugly but functional “birth control” glasses. I got rid of the progressive lenses in less than a week, by the end of the day my neck was sore as hell. Additionally, I went for the UV activated tint. Now I can use one pair for indoor/outdoor & close up/far distant. JMHO
 
I am noticing the same thing, if I look at something with the corners of my eye... it’s little hazy until I move my nose on the direction of the object and from what I can tell this is by design and I just have to get used to it
 
The damn window for the readers portion is overly small and actually not all the way across the lens..that's what sucks about progressives. But I wouldn't be surprised if optometrists have studied it and found this best....or that dude who owns all the eyeglasses companies in the world makes the progressive area really small to be cheap.
 
WannFly said:
I am noticing the same thing, if I look at something with the corners of my eye... it’s little hazy until I move my nose on the direction of the object and from what I can tell this is by design and I just have to get used to it
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Sinistar said:
The damn window for the readers portion is overly small and actually not all the way across the lens..that's what sucks about progressives. But I wouldn't be surprised if optometrists have studied it and found this best....or that dude who owns all the eyeglasses companies in the world makes the progressive area really small to be cheap.
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A good optometrist can "tune" the multi-focal lens somewhat to deal with this (although also limited by the shape and size of the overall lens in the frame).

I wore progressives for a couple of years. I had mine made to minimize the peripheral distortion specifically because I fly and peripheral cues are important, especially in the taildragger. I had no problem adapting, but a few never get comfortable with them is what I heard from a few friends of mine who tried them.
 
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Sinistar said:
The damn window for the readers portion is overly small and actually not all the way across the lens..that's what sucks about progressives. But I wouldn't be surprised if optometrists have studied it and found this best....or that dude who owns all the eyeglasses companies in the world makes the progressive area really small to be cheap.
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If you get the most expensive lenses usually only provided to people with very strong prescriptions the window is significantly larger. I can’t stand the normal lenses, but The ones that cost aviation prices are great.
 
I tried the high dollar progressive lenses, and thought they were wonderful, until I used them at night.
Thought I was going to die! Best way I can describe it is entering hyper space, everything outside the box appeared as streaks of light. Went to instruments climbing out while wife found old spares in glove box.
just a warning.
Dave
 
I have an older set of safety glasses...likely 12 years old...with progressives and the lenses have readers at both the top and bottom. They are freakin' amazing for working on stuff, especially when overhead! My current eye doctor looks at me like I'm from another planet when I bring up replacement lenses for these frames. He has no idea where I can find them today

The prescription is older and they're getting pretty scratched up from use (they are safety glasses after all).

:(

I've worn progressives ever since having lasik done which necessitated reading glasses. I just get the base models...I love them. But my distant vision is 20/40 (ish) and I can easily function without glasses so that may be a big factor.
 
RangeRider said:
I tried the high dollar progressive lenses, and thought they were wonderful, until I used them at night.
Thought I was going to die! Best way I can describe it is entering hyper space, everything outside the box appeared as streaks of light. Went to instruments climbing out while wife found old spares in glove box.
just a warning.
Dave
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Odd. I have no problems at night. I've been wearing glasses since I was 5 though, and I have no trouble adjusting to new ones within a few minutes (except for the cheaper progressives).
 
timwinters said:
I have an older set of safety glasses...likely 12 years old...with progressives and the lenses have readers at both the top and bottom. They are freakin' amazing for working on stuff, especially when overhead! My current eye doctor looks at me like I'm from another planet when I bring up replacement lenses for these frames. He has no idea where I can find them today

The prescription is older and they're getting pretty scratched up from use (they are safety glasses after all).

:(

I've worn progressives ever since having lasik done which necessitated reading glasses. I just get the base models...I love them. But my distant vision is 20/40 (ish) and I can easily function without glasses so that may be a big factor.
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My long time, now retired, eye guy is a pilot. He was always tuning my scrip and lens arrangements. If you need readers top and bottom, and a lot of tradesmen like doing that, it’s just a matter of working with someone willing to take the extra time to work it out.

My daily glasses, sunglasses, and safeties are all progressive.
 
Hen did that seven years ago.

Now I have a pair of outdoor/flying progressives. Another pair for computer work. And one pair that’s non progressive for lying on my side or reclining to watch TV with.

Was easier to have three pair than drive myself bonkers trying to watch TV. The computer pair was for eye strain.

The outdoor pair are also auto tinting sunglasses and done darker than normal which gives them a slight tint indoors also, which supposedly helps remind me to switch to the computer pair.
 
I L o v e my PLs... it does take about a week to get used to a new set and a little longer if it’s your first pair. There are lenses with a wider field ( I have those) if you’re having trouble adjusting for more than a week return to Optometrist for adjustment. Also their placement is critical. Make sure you are wearing them correctly when they’re fitted. If you wear them High when they’re fitted and let them slide down your nose when using them you’ll never get used to them... after a while your brain will find the correct focal point without any conscious effort.
 
Yea, you gotta point in the right direction. Never found it to be a big deal.
Then came the cataracts. Now those are gone and I am back to progressives for everything this side of an arm's length.
 
Not needing distance correction but having reached the point where I need close correction, I've been using the stick-on lenses on my sunglasses. Great for driving and any other ground based pursuits, but impossible for flying. Actually they're fine in the air, but terrible for landing a blind taildragger where all I can see of the runway is down alongside the fuselage.

But now I have a better solution. I'm lucky (if you can call it that) to be slightly farsighted instead of nearsighted, to the extent that cheap +1.0 drug store readers work for distance correction. I'm at +2.5 for close vision, but the +1's are usable if not optimum for close work, more than adequate at the panel distance while also improving my distant vision. Just need to get sunglasses like that now.
 
Wore progressives for many years until I had my cataracts done a couple of years ago. Now I have progressive readers. One power for reading, one for working on the computer and the top for general vision.
 
Sinistar said:
The damn window for the readers portion is overly small and actually not all the way across the lens..that's what sucks about progressives
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Yes...but as with a lot of things the more you pay the better it is.
and it's not just the reader portion.... the distance portion is quite narrow too.

I always had better than 20/20...until around age 42 or so....then when i got tired of needing readers I went to an eye doc to get progressives clear on top with the reader magnification built in so I could just wear them all the time and have readers always handy....well it turns out I had some very slight distance issues that they say my younger eyes could just work through...but no more.
My progressive experience was all during the time I was not flying, so I don't have cockpit experience with them
Anyway, I stared with some cheaper progressives...took me a very long time just to tolerate. Never did really get totally used to them.
Then over time my distance correction got stronger and stronger....to the point I couldn't tell which kid was mine on the beach without them.
So to my point.... I eventually found that if I paid more...for the top end lenses, they were much more tolerable. The clear window is still rather narrow...and does not open to full lens width like they make you believe with the marketing illustrations...but it is much better. I basically just could not tolerate the cheap ones

I found that if you hold the lenses at arms length and focus on something through them you can see the window. Also, if you focus on a point while turning your head left and right you can see when things get blurry to the sides. The cheap ones have a much more narrow window for sure.

Eventually I had LASIK done, and brought my distance to 20/20 (ish). I say 'ish' because it tests 20/20 but it sure isn't as good as my younger eyes were.
I still need readers but no longer need anything for distance
I have some over the counter foster grant progressives I keep at work. The frames are cheap an they're ugly, but I like them for desk work. they are advertised to have three zones....reading at the bottom and the tops are supposed to be optimized to see faces of the folks in the chair on the other side of the desk. I find the tops just about right for my monitors since I have them at the back of the desk.
I wish I could find something similar with much better and more durable frames for flying now.... I think they would probably be great for the cockpit
 
denverpilot said:
Was easier to have three pair than drive myself bonkers trying to watch TV.
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Progressives just didn't work for me. I now have bifocals, two pair for flying/driving, one dark, one clear, and another pair for inside and cheaters for computer work. It is just easier on me that way. With the progressives I would have to tilt my head back and forth all the time to see. It just was too much work while flying/driving for me. Plus when I turned my head left or right it made the outside world appear to be turning in the opposite direction.
 
I'm around 18 months into my progressives, having gotten by with cheap readers prior (I'm well north of 50, so can't complain).

The first pair was difficult because the field of focus was too narrow. Really had a difficult time at intersections trying to make sure I was clear of traffic both ways. Went back and paid more money for a wider field, and that made all the difference.

It took a week or two to get used to them. But I am OK with them now.

I still wear cheap readers if sitting down to read something that will take several minutes or longer. I get tired of tilting my head back and looking down. But the progressives are fine for quickly reading something.
 
Just got progressives a week ago as my first pair of glasses. I hate them so far and wish I ad just gotten a regular pair and some readers. They are great when I am reading something on my phone and great while driving but things at a mid distance like a computer screen sucks. Any light from overhead makes the lower part of my glasses a blurry tan color like there is reflection from my skin on the back of the glasses. It is like the top half of the glasses are clear and the bottom half have a blurry tan filter. I'm giving it another week and then going back to the optometrist to see what they can do.
 
I have been using progressives for a few years now. I'm one of those guys that has a slight astigmatism. I need just a small correction to get better than 20/20. And wearing glasses drives me nuts. But, I need them for my job. and, I need them for flying for the same reason: computer screens.

The thing that I've found is that I must have the lenses fitted, in person, by a skilled optician. Buying online, or buying from a sub-par optical shop is a recipe for disaster. I had one pair fitted by a gal that didn't inspire confidence. But I figured she must know what she's doing or she wouldn't be there. I should have listened to my inner voice. Had to get a redo. I also tried buying from an online store. Followed all their directions, even calling up the the doc I got my prescription from to ask a question about an ambiguity on my prescription. They worked ok. But, it was obvious something was just a hair off.

My latest pair are great; expensive, but great. Bottom line: with progressive lenses, it seems to me that you definitely get what you pay for.
 
I have 3 sets of glasses, all progressive and all various quality.

My daily drivers are the most expensive and also the best corrective quality.

Next are my sunglasses. They weren’t as expensive, but still weren’t cheap. Progressive lenses on a frame that has a “wrap” are hard to make and there are some trade offs that have to be made. I use these when driving or flying.

Lowest are my safety glasses. I wear them every day, but only for an hour or two at a time, a couple times a day.
 
Fallsrider said:
The first pair was difficult because the field of focus was too narrow. Really had a difficult time at intersections trying to make sure I was clear of traffic both ways. Went back and paid more money for a wider field, and that made all the difference.
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This ^^^^.

I can't figure out how they work but for sure cheap progressives seem to have a small lateral field of view. I got cheapest own brand from the optician and found the field of sharp focus very narrow. Switched to the most expensive own brand and they are great (I have a fairly small prescription, -2.0//2.5 maybe, I forget, and the reading portion is almost zero, small +ve). I never notice any restriction in the useful lateral field of view.

I was told that Varilux are the best but due to the pricing structure of the optician chain I was dealing with and the deal I was getting (it's a long story) they would be a LOT more expensive for me.

I don't read books with them, just small things like labels in the supermarket - I normally read without glasses but need the correction for very small print or low light. I suspect the reading portion is too low, right at the edge of the lens or even off the lens, but I don't care.
 
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wilkersk said:
The thing that I've found is that I must have the lenses fitted, in person, by a skilled optician. Buying online, or buying from a sub-par optical shop is a recipe for disaster.
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I've been wearing progressives for at least 20 years. The last 4 pairs came from Zenni. They are all perfect.

Perhaps we have an optician who can weigh in, but i was told along the way that the size of the transition is related more to the vertical measurement of the lenses than other things.
 
Hmm, I would’ve thought more here would come out in favor of Conservative lenses......;)
 
midlifeflyer said:
I've been wearing progressives for at least 20 years. The last 4 pairs came from Zenni. They are all perfect.

Perhaps we have an optician who can weigh in, but i was told along the way that the size of the transition is related more to the vertical measurement of the lenses than other things.
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I had my annual appointment last week, and my prescription changed a little bit. I'm going to look at Zenni for my next pair. Based on a tip I got, I'm going to see if I can get some matching clip-on sunglasses to go with them.
 
I might switch to Progressive lenses...

... when they throw in Flo as part of the deal.
 
Fallsrider said:
I had my annual appointment last week, and my prescription changed a little bit. I'm going to look at Zenni for my next pair. Based on a tip I got, I'm going to see if I can get some matching clip-on sunglasses to go with them.
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I've done that. They are designed to fit exactly. Same shape and everything. Downside is they don't really provide enough protection from the sides.
 
timwinters said:
I have an older set of safety glasses...likely 12 years old...with progressives and the lenses have readers at both the top and bottom. They are freakin' amazing for working on stuff, especially when overhead! My current eye doctor looks at me like I'm from another planet when I bring up replacement lenses for these frames. He has no idea where I can find them today

The prescription is older and they're getting pretty scratched up from use (they are safety glasses after all).
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You could tape two pair of progressives together I reckon.. one upside down on top of the other.

Then you'd get some funny looks from more than your eye doctor lol.
 
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