Shooting Glasses

Rob!

Rob!

CGN frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
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Location
South Central Alberta
I know. I know....... But it was either a new post or nearly a dozen necroposts - some of the threads challenging ME for the definition of OLD. 🧙‍♂️

I posted a few weeks back about my cataract surgery, and the awesome new lenses that made a huge difference in many parts of my life. I got to the club, eager to try my new eyes and realized that I now owned no shooting glasses. I bought a $10 pair of tinted safety glasses which, though better than expected, were an insult to the new vision I'd been experiencing.

Lots of RX shooting glasses and lenses and my favorite had been the RE Rangers that I got from Dr Barry Nolt. Pale orange, they served pretty well over the years. The decision now was whether to get new lenses for those frames - or to try something altogether different. I asked those in the know - at least the ones I respect most - and you surely already know that they said "Go with Pilla". Every single one of them. :oops: Now I'm not at all convinced that Pilla are the only good choice - but I don't do well with buyer's remorse - and I didn't want to risk a bunch of "I told you so".

As it happened, Josh had a selection of Pillas at Silver Willow. I needed the X6 wide frame ones because I have a fat head. (7 1/2). That's my wife's fault because she thinks I'm awesome and mentions it often. I chose the Panther X6 frame and started searching for a lens not too far off the Ranger ones I'd been happy with. I had 'advisors' all around me and my choice of 62 CIED was not the favorite of the group - but damn they are nice. They boost the entire spectrum - almost like increasing saturation on a photo and somehow, the definition of the target details are even greater than the new eyes alone. I declared that I'd been wearing a single lens option for nearly a decade, so I didn't need a 3 lens kit. Josh just rolled his eyes and probably upped the price a bit.
😉.

I'm not the guy who can leave it alone, so about a week later, I found Pilla Canada. They were offering a progressive ED (enhanced definition) lens for my frame at a Jaw dropping price. Well jeeze, I thought. The stars are aligned and they may not be tomorrow. I ordered them - and I was right. The stars were not aligned. (Probably just some of those damned Starlink satellites.) Kaveh called me explain that there was an inventory error, and they were all gone - but then he offered me the choice of any other lens as an alternative. Now that's customer service at it's best. I chose the 32 CIMX because I wanted to see orange "pop". It does indeed pop, but it also turns the whole world orange - and even hides black targets a bit. (Josh likes black targets. They must be cheaper. 😉) (Just kidding Josh) These lenses might be useful on a trap range in full sun.

Somewhat bitten now, I realized that the 62 CIED lenses - awesome as they were - left me squinting a bit in full sunlight. Back to Pilla Canada and I chose a 26 CIED. Now I have my first choice in both low light and full light iterations - and yes. There is a difference and very happy with both.

Of course, I won't be buying any more lenses now, but what a journey this has been. I'd love to hear some of your shooting glasses journeys and how you got to your destination - (or what the next step might be).

Rob!
 
My eyesight changed half-a-dozen times after age 40. I find that my focus is better with my reading glasses than the distance glasses. My progressives are pointless because the sweet spot is in the wrong place. One dispensing optician asked if I could change my position. I said decades of muscle memory tells me to hold things in this position for success. The one thing I need to work on are the Champion's Choice prone rifle shooting glasses for my service rifle shoots.
 
I need the lens inserts for distance and was looking at Pilla and a lot of other shooters wear them but not with the inserts or use x sight and i went that route, the nearest pilla dealer is 4 hour drive away.
I just got my inserts and used them today and was quite happy with them.
 
I had inserts in Ranger XLW frames for several years and liked them.

I went to the Pilla Panther X6 Post with an insert and was really happy. Less fogging in high humidity but that could be a result of my face shape rather than a feature of the glasses. They were really only a pain in the rain. The Pillas were quicker and easier to get the lenses off and wipe them down.

Having said all this, I don’t miss the inserts since my cataract surgery almost two years ago.

The adjustable post on both of these frames was a nice feature, but I only had my distance Rx in them.
 
I've been wearing my Post 4 shooting glasses for over ten years now. I ordered them when my prescription was minus one for distance but the last prescription I got is only minus 1/2 and about the only time I put glasses on anymore is for driving at night. One day at the range my eyes were feeling so good that I even shot with just a normal set of safety glasses instead of my prescriptions and it went well. I should go get my eyes tested again to see if the prescription has changed any more, I sure do like not wearing glasses all the time.
 
Clay Huntin' Canuck said:
...... the nearest pilla dealer is 4 hour drive away.....
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That's an issue not easy to ignore. Lots of Pilla dealers in Canada, but its a big country. Thankfully, many are available through clubs or competitions to try out beforehand. Even that is a challenge if you need them quickly.

I couldn't wrap my mind around the inserts when I needed RX, but lots seem to be happy with them.
 
Falconflyer said:
.....my prescription was minus one for distance but the last prescription I got is only minus 1/2 ...... I should go get my eyes tested again to see if the prescription has changed any more, I sure do like not wearing glasses all the time.
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You might be pleasantly surprised. My wife recently went for her annual checkup and her vision had actually improved significantly.
 
I have had 20 eye surgeries, and have been legally blind in other eyes, and I had terrible luck with prescription shooting glasses, when I needed a prescription. I just couldn't get used to them, and ended up with my Ranger Edge glasses wirh no correction. My vision is actually 20/20 now, and I am shooting almost as good as I did 30 years ago, as a result. .
 
Rob! said:
That's an issue not easy to ignore. Lots of Pilla dealers in Canada, but its a big country. Thankfully, many are available through clubs or competitions to try out beforehand. Even that is a challenge if you need them quickly.

I couldn't wrap my mind around the inserts when I needed RX, but lots seem to be happy with them.
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Speaking of inserts wow are they pricey or the eye doctor in the closest town is overpriced. Paid over 220.oo$ for lens 🤑😬
 
I'm still running Ranger RE. I just bought two new sets of lenses to update with my latest prescription and what a huge difference in clarity but I paid more for the 2 new sets of lenses than the frames and all previous updated and original sets of lenses combined in the past 10 years. I went with light purple for overcast days and dark purple for bright. My last sets I had orange and vermilion. After trying out the purples a friend offered me to try I much prefer the purple.
 
I often see - even in this thread - a color preference. With my prescription shooting glasses from Dtech and RE Ranger, I had maybe 8 lens sets in a multitude of colors - and I tried them all, but always came back to pale orange / amber.

Pilla takes a different tack with purpose driven choices. Shooting in trees, many of their lenses are purple - to de-tune the green. Others may make a color (usually orange) pop and that's nothing new. Others increase contrast, by favoring dark AND light and detuning the middle. Some profess increased definition, help with red/green issues, and issues with various backgrounds such as full blue sky vs cloud cover. I wondered for a while if this was all marketing fluff but I'm coming around. I have a good friend who is a VERY capable shooter, who switches lenses as often as some guys switch chokes. It's hard to argue with his performance level.

Marketing fluff or advancing science/tech? I know. Just focus on the target, but this choice is made long before stepping to the station - and often enhances that very focus we preach.

I wonder if the responses to this will correlate with the curmudgeon factor. 🤔
 
At one time Vermilion was my favorite but over time I believe due to aging the eye processes contrasts differently. I find vermilion is now too dark for the way my eyes process green backgrounds. For the past 6-8 years I used orange but I now find it too bright on sunny days. I have gone to light purple for overcast days and dark purple for bright sunny days. I find the purple changes the dark green background contrast such that the targets stand out nicely without appearing too bright and they don't look as small as they do now when I use orange or vermilion. I use clear lenses for hunting and I have never liked yellow.
 
the spank said:
At one time Vermilion was my favorite but over time I believe due to aging the eye processes contrasts differently. I find vermilion is now too dark for the way my eyes process green backgrounds. For the past 6-8 years I used orange but I now find it too bright on sunny days. I have gone to light purple for overcast days and dark purple for bright sunny days. I find the purple changes the dark green background contrast such that the targets stand out nicely without appearing too bright and they don't look as small as they do now when I use orange or vermilion. I use clear lenses for hunting and I have never liked yellow.
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I use Vermillion most of the time, Purple if I have to look towards the sun, and yellow on dark days.
 
Always found the trendy shooting glasses worn by the 55 plus crowd interesting.

They won’t get the blue hairs at the old folks home hot and bothered but Decot HY-WYD are the best shooting glasses.
 
Decot were all the rage 30 or 40 years ago, probably because they were one of the few glasses made for shooters. They sat high on the face for shotgunners who need to see upwards and were made from polycarbonate for shatter resistance. There's a lot more choices these days but back then not so much.
 
Rob! said:
(y)Why? :)
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I get the non shatter proof lenses from them supposed to be clearer.

And I’d say they offer the best side shields going. Personally don’t like seeing movement around me when I am shooting. Very popular these days to stand behind another shooter and finger blast when shooting sporting.
 
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