Looking for advice on glasses...

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Mycroft17

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Mycroft17
Just getting back into flying after many years away. Since I last flew, I now need reading glasses.

I don't need glasses to actually fly - my distance vision is fine, and I can see the instruments OK. But I have a hard time reading charts or anything paper in my hand. Or on a tablet. So I'm juggling my reading glasses and my sunglasses and it's a mess.

I'm thinking maybe bifocal lenses with plain glass on top, then flip up sunglasses lens on them? Anyone do that? What shape frames work best for that?

Or some other option I'm missing?

TIA!
 
I use stick on reading lenses on my non prescription sunglasses. I believe ACS sells them, but they were far cheaper from McMaster, I'm sure you can find them on Amazon too.
 
i bought a pair of light colored non-polarized bi-focal sun glasses from an online seller. if i can find that name i will post it. if you have a glass panel you will definitely want non-polarized lenses.
 
Do you take them on and off, or use different sunglasses when not flying? How about night flying?
 
I leave them on the sunglasses. I don't fly at night, but for driving at night I pull out conventional readers if I need them.

Every couple of months you need to take them off, clean them, and reapply them with a drop of water.
 
I wear bifocal safety glasses. I have clear pairs and tinted pairs. They work great.

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Another vote for Optx stick-on lenses. RayBans with custom tint + Optx works fine. At night I have half-lens readers that perch on the end of my nose.
 
Option that you haven’t mentioned - look online for lenses. I have a new pair of glasses and I paid less for them outright online that my copay for insurance. If you want to do this, ask whoever does your eye exam to include your PD measurement on your prescription.
 
Sure, online is an option if I go for totally new glasses. I just looked, and I don't have the PD on the script. I'll need to see if I can get it.
 
I ordered a pair of the Optx to try them out. Won't have them for Friday's flight, unfortunately.
 
BTW, our local Walmart sells sunglasses with built in reading lenses in the bottom portion. My wife has a pair and likes them, but they’re too dark for me.
 
Bifocals with auto darkening on top and bottom reading lens always clear. Or sometimes a cheap pair of readers from WalMart for map reading.
 
This sounds crazy - I use safety sunglasses and am able to wear readers over them, since they wrap around so well.

I had the stick ons on a pair of sunglasses for about 6 months but they have recently fallen off.

Sux to get old, but better than the alternative.
 
I had trifocal lenses with the near lens for reading stuff on my lap set really high in the field of view. For out-the-window, I was looking out of the top of the glasses...

I finally figured out I couldn't see a damn thing because my (eye) lenses were clouded and useless. I had surgeries to replace both lenses with synthetic lenses and I was immediately able to see clearly from arm's length and farther.

I use cheap 1.25 diopter reading glasses for close up now and hanging them on my nose feels comfortable, or I can go without and squint a little.

The lens replacement was worth every penny and I was super angry I had not done it ten years earlier!
 
If your refraction is roughly the same in both eyes, I would wear drugstore cheaters, granny-style. Get the narrow kind that can easily be worn that way. I need lenses for far vision as well, so I correct to plano for distance vision and then wear +1.50 cheaters for chart/iPad reading in the plane.
 
azure said:
If your refraction is roughly the same in both eyes, I would wear drugstore cheaters, granny-style. Get the narrow kind that can easily be worn that way. I need lenses for far vision as well, so I correct to plano for distance vision and then wear +1.50 cheaters for chart/iPad reading in the plane.
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Pretty much what I do at night (contacts + granny-style cheaters), but I can't wear both cheaters and sunglasses comfortably with my over-the-ear headset during the day. The stick-on lenses applied to the sunglasses work well.

I couldn't find off-the-shelf sunglasses that had enough of a tint gradient, though. I need the bottom third of the lenses to be almost clear, but I like a pretty dark tint in the top third. So I had my optometrist's office do a custom tint for me on a set of RayBans. That plus the Optx stick-on lenses makes a good solution.

Now, if I could just find some mirrored contact lenses......
 
Yep, somehow I neglected to say it, but that is exactly what I do as well: correct to plano with contacts, then add cheaters.
 
azure said:
Yep, somehow I neglected to say it, but that is exactly what I do as well: correct to plano with contacts, then add cheaters.
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Do you wear both cheaters and sunglasses during the day? If so, what type headset?
 
BTW, partly why I like so little tint in the bottom of my sunglasses is that when my pupils are dilated (due to less light) my depth of focus isn't good, so it's harder to read things that are close. Clear in the bottom plus Optx seems to work well.
 
azure said:
Actually, I *should* wear sunglasses... but I never do, not while wearing the cheaters anyway.
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Do your contacts block UV? Mine do, but I also have the UV coating on my sunglasses.

You could probably pick up sunglasses with built-in cheaters at a local store and give them a try. My wife's pair came from Walmart.
 
Half Fast said:
Do your contacts block UV? Mine do, but I also have the UV coating on my sunglasses.
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Not as far as I know - would be nice if they did. What kind do you use? (Soft or hard? Mine are soft, the silicone hydrogel kind.)

You could probably pick up sunglasses with built-in cheaters at a local store and give them a try. My wife's pair came from Walmart.
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Interesting, thanks for that info, I had never looked for them before. Here in VT we have *almost* no big box stores, but... we do have Walmart! :D
 
Progressive Gradient lenses in a pair of RayBan Aviators. Also have a pair of Oakleys. The clear at the bottom with my reading script solves reading the chart problem. Find a good Optometrist, my guy is a pilot..it helps.
 
Do anything but glasses. Check to see if you can get your vision corrected. I hate wearing glasses. I have to carry a spare pair, always changing from sun glasses to clear and it seems I always have dirty lenses. I have outside glasses, dark and clear. I have inside glasses and computer glasses, all different.

I checked on getting my vision corrected but the say my distance vision is too far gone, which strikes me funny because my distance vision is not that bad.
 
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