Contacts or Prescription Safety Glasses?

[MrGiggles]

Hey all, curious to get some opinions. I have a very minor eye prescription, small enough that I don't need my glasses to function. I do have some fuzziness at long distances, and I have glasses that I'm trying to wear regularly. I don't want to wear just glasses at the range, so I need a different solution. Would y'all have a preference on contacts (and my usual eyepro) vs prescription safety glasses?

Contacts are cheaper, but safety prescription glasses more match any real-world situations where I'd be wearing my glasses. Zenni has anzi z87.1 glasses for like $80 out the door.

 

[DadSmith]

You can get polycarbonate lenses for your glasses that are basically safety glasses. They don't shatter thus protecting your eyes. So they work as prescription glasses and safety glasses.

 

[Quiet Observer]

If you are wearing contacts, you have better peripheral vision. There are no rims to partially block your view. Contact lenses do not get spotted during rain or snow. They do not fog up, either. You are unlikely to misplace your contacts. With contacts there is no need to decide which pair of glasses look best on you. There is no danger of sitting on your contacts, like there is with glasses.

At the range you can wear non-prescription shooting glasses over your contacts. When your eyes change over the years, you can still use the same non-prescription shooting glasses. If you have prescription shooting glasses, you will need to get new ones.

 

[Bill2905]

I have done both over the years. Go with what makes you most comfortable at the range. A third option, cheap but probably less desirable, would be to use the larger safety glasses that are designed to fit over your prescription specs.

 

[kennedy759]

When I had my last glasses made I had them make me a pair with just the long distance prescription and a tiny little bifocal, then I bought colored over the glasses shooting glasses, really helps my trap shooting.

 

[Alamo]

If you are wearing contacts, you have better peripheral vision. There are no rims to partially block your view. Contact lenses do not get spotted during rain or snow. They do not fog up, either. You are unlikely to misplace your contacts. With contacts there is no need to decide which pair of glasses look best on you. There is no danger of sitting on your contacts, like there is with glasses.

At the range you can wear non-prescription shooting glasses over your contacts. When your eyes change over the years, you can still use the same non-prescription shooting glasses. If you have prescription shooting glasses, you will need to get new ones.

This.

I wore contacts for 43 years because they were so much better than wearing glasses. Now I had a pretty significant prescription, so the glasses lense had to stay exactly in the same place or I got blurry vision. Of course, glasses don’t do that if you’re doing anything more active than reading, a book, so glasses were just not suitable for any kind of activity for me.

Since you only need the correction at far distances, if you got contacts, would you wear them all the time? Also, for distance, correction, I would wonder if you would have the same problem with glasses that I did, that if they shifted a bit Would they then not give you the right correction for distance?

Any case iPhone contacts, much more helpful for doing physical activity than glasses.

I recently largely solved my vision problem by getting cataract surgery. Both lenses in my eyes were replaced with artificial ones and let me tell you something, it’s a miracle! I can see better than I ever saw in my entire life, including when I was a kid (which is when I started wearing glasses). I still need reading glasses for up close, but from about arms length to infinity I have very sharp vision. I went from something like 20/800 to 2020 in both eyes. I wish I had done this 20 years ago or more when some eye docs suggested it to me, but it would’ve been very expensive, not covered by insurance, And I was still in the Air Force. Air Force doctor said I could do it, but I would get a Medical Review Board immediately, And if there was some kind of problem with the surgery, I could be separated. I was only about three years away from retirement and did not want to risk that. I do wish I had my lenses replaced the day. I retired though.

 

[MrGiggles]

I think I'm gonna go with contacts! Insurance is covering it, so may as well start with the free option. I like my glasses, they work well and I like the way they look, but who knows? Maybe I'll convert lol

 

[radar8756]

You can get polycarbonate lenses for your glasses that are basically safety glasses. They don't shatter thus protecting your eyes. So they work as prescription glasses and safety glasses.

My employer requires Safety Glasses - and pay for 2 pair a year - I only have to pay for Extras I want
They come with Removable Side Shields - that they Rivet on ( rivets easily removed )

 

[sharpetop]

My Wiley-X prescription safety glasses work great at the range. They are much clearer than my every day glasses.