Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Contacts and scopes

I am considering getting contacts. My optometrist tells me there is an option which will eliminate the need for bifocals. A concern I have is being able to see through a scope accurately. Has anyone gone through this transition? Do you shoot with contacts in, wear separate glasses, or ?

Getting older sucks.

Multi focal contacts typically have the most compromise in the distance.

That option is generally correcting one eye for distance and the other for close. BAD IDEA.

They say you adjust but I call BS.
Obviously if you did go that route, your shooting eye would be corrected for distance.

Just get them both fixed for distance and ask what power readers you need. Drug store readers work fine and you can get a few for spares.

This^^^^^^^^..............you won't have any trouble, just adjust the reticle focus to your eyesight. Seeing targets at distance with them will be no problem.

As far as the contacts that re supposed to eliminate readers / bifocals, called Toric lenses, they don't work very well, IMO, & you will likely be happier with reading glasses.

But the good news is that contacts are relatively cheap............if you try them & don't like them, you can get single vision contacts & not be out a lot of money. Many places will give you a trial pair.

MM

I been wearing contacts for decades, -2.25 correction both eyes. When shooting longer strings of fire at targets I get eye strain that blurs the reticle and target image some. It's enough to open a group, or hurt a score.

Now, when I'm shooting for group, like testing handloads or shooting for score, I leave contacts out and focus reticle for sharpness. No eye strain happens. This is for scoped rifle shooting.

For hunting or shooting short strings, contacts are in, no problem.

For handgun or long gun with iron sights, I'll shoot with normal contacts in. I tried a -1.75 contact in right eye, -2.25 in lift eye to crearly resolve front sight post on AR15 service rifle, or front sight on 1911. It worked ok. The deal is, the black bull on a hi-power or bullseye target is a somewhat fuzzy black ball, but it does not change. For me resolving the front sight clearly and placing it where it needs to be on the fuzzy black bull results in good enough scores for club shooting. My left eye being at normal correction -2.25 did not affect me (right eye dominant).

I'll add that I tried the bi-focal contacts when they were a new thing way back. I did not like them. Single vision contacts, used readers when needed is what I do.

My last two O.D.s let me try different combinations of power for the contacts before I made a decision. I settled on a slightly stronger power for my dominant eye and less for the other. It works well for me. I don't use reading glasses much, and can usually get by just adding extra light (i.e. EDC flashlight). Only thing I have noticed is that I have to set the diopter on my binoculars differently than I have in the past. I used to set it at 0.0, but now go negative for the dominant eye. No big deal for me, unless I share binoculars with people with good vision in both eyes like my kids.

I don't recall if I tried the multifocal contacts or not. Didn't sound good for shooting or hunting, but might be worth a try if your O.D. will work with you.

Lots of good information. Thanks for posting.

Tried contacts twice, about 10 years apart, second time did about as well as the first time.

Tried multi-focal both times, they suck.

You will never see as well with contacts as you do with glasses, IMHO. And spoken to me by one of the techs at the Eye Doctor office.

My distance vision only needs minor correction, so YMMV.............. perhaps greatly IDK.

I hunt/shoot without glasses, ocular focus can get the reticle clear, and AO scopes I can get the Objective clear............. this works for me, again YMMV.

Curious thing, after complaining, relating results to the OD he said your actually a good fit for these lenses, I told him my vision has never been this poor............ What happens in the chair is not necessarily what to expect in real life...

Currently live with progressive lenses............. but they truly suck for using a scope...

I wore contacts for 30 or so years. Still wear single vision contacts and glasses but close up I either remove the glasses (look under the lenses) or put on cheap readers for fine work with contacts. Much easier to look under the lenses to dial a scope than to put on a pair of readers or hold the rifle away from me with contacts. The last 5 or so years I can notice the difference in resolution at distance with glasses....just ever so slightly sharper edges. Unless it's raining I've been wearing glasses while hunting this year. I hate the fogging when hiking in, raining, or foggy/damp and that some shorter eye relief bino's are tougher to use....but I have less eye strain, I see "slightly" better, and my eyes feel much better at the end of the day with glasses. Everything's a trade off.

Wore contacts all the time until I retired. Glasses now are much more comfortable than contacts, but I swear that deer see the reflection off the lenses.
Glasses are a big hassle with binoculars.

THIS is exactly what I did. I now have 20/15 corrected contact vision in both eyes set up for DISTANCE. I can wear cheaters to read with...

Another vote for getting contacts that correct distance vision and using readers, rather than getting multi-focal contacts. My issue with multi-focal was that it seemed like a bit of a compromise at distance and up close. Good at both, but not as good as it could/should be for either.
In comparison to glasses, my contacts give me slightly better distance vision than my glasses, which is one reason I prefer them for shooting. The other reason is that with the glasses I chose, when I get behind a scope with them on, I’m looking through the very corner of the lens where there is the most distortion, so that’s a deal breaker. I suspect this varies significantly with the size/shape of the lens, as well as the strength of prescription needed. In my shooting eye, I’m -4.5 and have a slight astigmatism correction. That combined with smallish frames is not a winning combination for shooting a scoped rifle.

Been wearing contacts since the late 70’s. I’ve got no interest in in “multifocal” contacts, particularly for outdoors... a contact lens orients itself radially on the eyeball; in other words, it needs to be in a certain “clocking”. When my eyes get dry (like being in the windy mountains all day) it messes with that. I gotta think this would be a total clusterF with a multifocal lens.

For contact wearers- I switched to the B&L Bio True fluid a few months ago and LOVE IT. Also, try this.... use a pair of lenses for a month. Give them a cleaning, put them in fresh fluid, and put them away. Switch to a new pair. Shake the case on the stored pair every so often... After a month switch back to the pair you’d put away. Repeat. I can rotate between two pairs almost indefinitely (like, YEARS) this way.

Toric lenses are actually for correcting astigmatism.....but again, contacts can only be adjusted to the nearest prescription number......glasses can be fine tuned exactly to your script.

Got glasses 2 yrs ago
Bifocals.

They suck.

Next time im getting one pair for distance and another for up close.

I can see pretty well at distance, glasses merely make things look like theyve been repainted LOL.

Up close, like workinh on vehicles n stuff....those days are done. Got under the daah to work on Jeep and low light and chit up close ....no go.

Yup, getting old sucks, and it costs more too

Jeff O, multi focal contacts are nothing like multi focal glasses, in contacts you need to think of 'each focal' as being circular in each contact, both near and distance information/image is sent to the eye at the same time and your brain 'works it out' there is no up and down to the lens like a bifocal in glasses....