eyes: Contacts vs. Specs

Never used specs for competition.

The protective glasses I wear already give me enough challenges as is. Mine fogs, slips a bit when I bend down or bend sideways.

Based on that, Used my contact lenses exclusively
 
I guess it depend on the individuals...I cannot wear contact for 12 hour a day...(level 3 match type) in a sandy/dusty place......indoor there is also a lot of dust.....

So I use either my Oakley with prescription lenses.....the lenses is cut and the prescrition in inserted right into the lense not cheap but very good, or my Bolly with the presciption insert....just another small clear frame the attach to the main frame...

If I could I would get my eyes laser....but with my work....I cannot do that.
 
I'd say try both, and see how that works for you. I used to wear contacts virtually all the time, but several years ago I stopped and switched to glasses. I couldn't wear contacts all the time anymore, plus dust, sand, etc, I wouldn't want to risk problems with contacts in the middle of an ourdoor range with very limited water/soap/etc facilities.

Re glasses for shooting - IF your prescription is weak enough you should be able to get those 'fashionable' protective glasses (Bolle, okleys, etc). I gave up after about a year of try-and-error (and-fail), and just got a pair of actual safety glasses, with plastic side shields. They work great, comfy, no field-of-view issues. Sure, I look very dorkish in them (more so than usual ;-) ), but I really don't care - it's about safety, not fashion.

Plus, I find that with my prescription being so strong, I have a hard time being able to quickly focus in on something close to me (i.e. the front sight), so my shooting prescription is weaker than my 'normal' glasses - another reason why I couldn't wear contacts with the same prescription all day, for a match - I'd have to have multiple pairs anyway,and changing glasses is just so much easier and quicker.
 
The Bolly can be purchase with any strentgh of presciption....but I found that they had some distortion around the edge of the inner lenses....the reason why I try the Oakley which have no distortion at all...

I should have mention my prescription are not very strong but required to drive and shoot :D
 
Dansy said:
The Bolly can be purchase with any strentgh of presciption....
Click to expand...

yeah, I've heard these claims made by a number of frame makers, but usually it boils down to 'ohhh, but you didn't say that you had <THIS> in your prescription, well,that changes things a bit' ;-)

I guess try everything, and hope you'll find something that works perfectly for you! ;-)
 
yeah.... it'll be a cold day in hell before I let anyone near my eyes with a knife or a laser beam (but that's just me, :lol: )
 
Ha, seriously, it's not like Slavex appears to have 'issues' with body mods... Aside from dusty conditions and tired eyes etc. are there any other disadvantages to contacts?

I'm guessing no-one has tried the Nike ones??
 
Omen, the Bolly uses a insert so you get double layer of lenses...any prescription places can do these....hence the reason for a slight distortion...ie: when I look through a low port on the upper portion of the lenses it get distorted...with my Standard gun that mean I cannot focus the front sight correctly...on my open gun...I don't see the targets :) the Oakley have no distortion, but required a mild prescription...
 
I use the Bolle inserts. I don't see anywhere near the level of distortion that you describe.

My eyes are rated at -4.25 and -4.75.
 
Contacts will not protect your eyes. If you opt for contacts, you'll still require eye protection when shooting. Prescription glasses are made with impact resistant lens. I specifically asked about it when I got glasses. You're wearing glasses anyway so take your pick.
 
I wear contacts and safety glasses over them. I've had 2 instances where my safety glasses came off. One the came off while I was doing a long course and the other was while I was ROing and a round came back and snapped them in two. My Oakleys are cheaper to replace than my perscription glasses.
 
Personally, I would never wear contacts on the range. Contacts are not designed to deal with some of the common elements of shooting, dust and back-pressure being the biggest obstacles.

The sport contacts are nice; I wear them hunting in the fall (with you, RAKS! Why didn't you ask me then...), and it beats having fogged up or wet glasses. However, hunting (the way I do it) is less intensive than an IPSC or carbine match.

If you have a failure with a contact playing basketball (or sitting on post waiting for a buck), it is quite a different story than if you have a half-full mag in the well of your 9 mm. Bottom line; I think it's a risk you don't have to take.

The other thing is this; if you wear glasses all the time in your regular life, and they are safe enough for the range and a match, why change them? You are used to them already. It goes back to the ''train the way you fight, fight the way you train" doctrine.

Also, those Nike contacts are probably made by some 7 year-old girl in Sri Lanka who is paid $ 0.08/week. They are hardly organic...
 
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