Sailors with Corrective Lenses

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Cormorant

I prefer contacts, especially in rain and spray -- but they never feel entirely comfortable on my eyeballs, so I wind up wearing my glasses more often than not.

For cheap glasses and prescription sunglasses check out Zenni Optical. (Zenni Optical - Eyeglasses, The best place to buy glasses - Prescription Glasses, Bifocal, Progressive, Rimless Eyeglasses for Men, Women & Kids Glasses) They're cheap enough that I just buy a new pair every year or so, and I never worry about losing or abusing them.

HOLY MACKERAL!!!

I just went through the site for a pair just like I have now and came out with 72 bucks. I paid 295 from Sams.

Wow.
Gotta try a pair.

Wait. Hold on. There must be a gimmick. What it is it?

Holy macks.

Thanks.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Hi, everyone,



Therapy, they weigh 1.35 ozs. with an elastic retainer strap on them. For even lighter weight, you can melt a tiny hole through the earpiece tip, and use lightweight monofil to make your own "strap", just make the stopper knots on the outside, so they don't dig into you.



ALWAYS KEEP A SPARE PAIR!

Ann

Thanks Ann.

[Cormorant]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Wait. Hold on. There must be a gimmick. What it is it?

They do get made in China and then jetted over to LA where they drop into the postal system. Even so -- it's usually under two weeks to get them. And they're pretty good -- no gimmicks. If you're looking for the latest fashions, you might be a bit let down. But the frames hold up well and the lenses are good.

I find the polycarbonate lenses with the extra scratch protection last longer than the regular plastic lenses.

I really do love Zenni -- made glasses ownership much less stressful. I wish they offered polarized prescription sunglasses. . . .

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Cormorant

They do get made in China and then jetted over to LA where they drop into the postal system. Even so -- it's usually under two weeks to get them. And they're pretty good -- no gimmicks. If you're looking for the latest fashions, you might be a bit let down. But the frames hold up well and the lenses are good.

I find the polycarbonate lenses with the extra scratch protection last longer than the regular plastic lenses.

I really do love Zenni -- made glasses ownership much less stressful. I wish they offered polarized prescription sunglasses. . . .

Gonna try them. Found out today my glasses were 397.00. !!! They said "You have really good lenses though". I sure hope so.

[hellosailor]

Therapy-
Most of the online discount places have limited frame sizes. If you have a delicate or tiny nose, the bridge size may be important to your fit. Somewhere on your glasses, in teeny tiny numbers, the bridge size, temple length, etc. will be stamped. If an online place has the same size--great. If not, "some assembly may be required" so to speak.

A good optician should be able to help you find something light and comfortable. A titanium frame with CR40(?) polycarbonate lenses (which are normal these days) will be light and strong, and a "saddle" bridge instead of two nosepads will put less pressure on your npose--but they are harder to find. A good optician can tweak the nosepads in very small ways to get a huge difference in fit, but if you have a needlenose plier and can work on tiny things, you can do that yourself. The problem is also that all eyes (or noses, actually) are not centered, and in order to put the optical center of each lens in the correct place, the nosepads may need to be asymmetrical as well. That's something an online place simply can't do, they can't adjust the fit properly. A lot of opticians don't get it right either. (Why should they be any better than mechanics, right?)

If you've got an easy rx and easy eyes and you're non-critical about vision, the online places can be great. Or if you know how to compensate the glasses yourself. But if you are fussy...A good place can still compete on price, if you ask nicely. As I told mine (where the doc said he's had plenty of people who wanted to read matchbook covers, but I was one of the few who wanted to read them clearly while they were still in someone's pocket) I value their skill, their aftercare, their professionalism. I want to keep using them and giving them my business because they've earned it, but I'm not rich and the prices... Funny thing, they came down quite a bit, and became quite competitive. It just took asking nicely.

[roverhi]

Got a pair of progressive prescription polaroid sun glasses the last time my prescription changed. Amazed to find I'd been nearly running over a couple of rocks getting in and out of the marina. Have been going in and out of the harbor for years and never knew the rocks were there till the polaroid lenses allowed me to see them.

Have worn the variable shade, progressive lenses for years. They work great for easing the brightness of the sun but the progressive prescription is a bit of a pain for below deck boat work. Find I'm looking through the distance correction portion of the lenses a lot when I need the close up section. Have a pair of cheapo reading glasses for doing boat yoga type work.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Therapy-
Most of the online discount places have limited frame sizes. If you have a delicate or tiny nose, the bridge size may be important to your fit. Somewhere on your glasses, in teeny tiny numbers, the bridge size, temple length, etc. will be stamped. If an online place has the same size--great. If not, "some assembly may be required" so to speak.

I do have a picky nose.





A good optician should be able to help you find something light and comfortable. A titanium frame with CR40(?) polycarbonate lenses (which are normal these days) will be light and strong, and a "saddle" bridge instead of two nosepads will put less pressure on your npose--but they are harder to find. A good optician can tweak the nosepads in very small ways to get a huge difference in fit, but if you have a needlenose plier and can work on tiny things, you can do that yourself. The problem is also that all eyes (or noses, actually) are not centered, and in order to put the optical center of each lens in the correct place, the nosepads may need to be asymmetrical as well. That's something an online place simply can't do, they can't adjust the fit properly. A lot of opticians don't get it right either. (Why should they be any better than mechanics, right?)

I have been wearing glasses since I can remember anything. I have also been adjusting them myself for many years. I hope to be able to get them to work.



If you've got an easy rx and easy eyes and you're non-critical about vision, the online places can be great. Or if you know how to compensate the glasses yourself. But if you are fussy...A good place can still compete on price, if you ask nicely. As I told mine (where the doc said he's had plenty of people who wanted to read matchbook covers, but I was one of the few who wanted to read them clearly while they were still in someone's pocket) I value their skill, their aftercare, their professionalism. I want to keep using them and giving them my business because they've earned it, but I'm not rich and the prices... Funny thing, they came down quite a bit, and became quite competitive. It just took asking nicely.

I am fussy too, unfortunately. But I have learned that no correction will allow me to see well enough out of my left eye. They just say "Sorry, that is as good as it gets."
My only issue may be the pupilary distance (PD). Mine is 30.5 and 33. The Zenni site will allow only 2mm max adjustment in that area. So the 0.5mm difference may be the deal killer.
So I ordered a pair to see. An $82.00 experiment.
Even if I can just get by with them they are certainly a great deal for a backup pair.
We shall see. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Thinking a $300.00 pair of binoculars is a bit much is silly now that I think about it. They should last more than just a few years. I should just go ahead with the Steiners...........

[cszosler]

Originally Posted by HopCar

People who have cataract surgery end up with better vision these days as they replace your natural lens with one that has the right correction.

About 7 years ago (49 then) I had this surgery, it was aimed to elimminate heavy bifocals. it worked (fingers crosed) I do not need no correction now. Life without constant wory about glasses is wonderfull and cristalised NaCl does not make fogy vision. Because I'd paid full price I got multifocals.
I did not read all posts, so apologies were they are due.

[hellosailor]

"My only issue may be the pupilary distance (PD). Mine is 30.5 and 33."
Yeah, the new guy used new equipment which came up with something similar for me. Now I can't get any sleep at night, wondering if it is my nose that is off-center, or my eyes. I suppose I'll have to see a plastic surgeon about getting something corrected, the optician refuses to deal with these things. :-)

[SmartMove]

Originally Posted by cmac

I wear graduated bifocals, but when diving I use contacts. Cheaper then buying prescription mask lenses.

I am unfortunately one those people who are not a candidate for LASIK and am not able to wear contacts to correct my vision. I keep two pair of glasses and sunglasses each on board. For diving I have a prescription mask, for me it was quite a bit cheaper than the lens for my glasses -- like by half.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"My only issue may be the pupilary distance (PD). Mine is 30.5 and 33."
Yeah, the new guy used new equipment which came up with something similar for me. Now I can't get any sleep at night, wondering if it is my nose that is off-center, or my eyes. I suppose I'll have to see a plastic surgeon about getting something corrected, the optician refuses to deal with these things. :-)

Heh.

Is one of your ears lower than the other too?

[Kiwi303]

don't any optometrists near you guys do "2 pairs for the price of one" deals? Specsavers here in NZ have $199 specials for 2 pairs, I just chose to pay the little extra for tinted lenses on the second pair, giving me a pair of normal glasses and a pair of driving/sun glasses.

Before that when I was working in travelling sales and getting very nice money I had a pair of titanium framed, ultrathin lightweight crystal, polarised driving glasses that cost $811... Image is everything in sales, and comfort even more important when driving for many miles each week to and from clients.

These days I just get the cheap deals that do the job instead of getting brand name stuff.

[Synesthesia]

Since someone mentioned it, LASIK apparently can fix astigmatism now with the improved lasers they have. I don't know if there's a cutoff though where certain severities can't be helped. If I had more money I'd do it, but since I don't I wear glasses most of the time and air optix toric contacts when I'm doing stuff outside, exercising or otherwise don't want to wear glasses. The air optix are really good, they're the first toric lenses I've been able to tolerate.

[hellosailor]

kiwi-
"don't any optometrists near you guys do "2 pairs for the price of one" deals? "
The discount chains do that. The more reputable places will charge you half of that, for one pair, no games needed.

Synesthesia-
LASIK is no panacea. The better systems do a 3D map of the internal topography of your eye, including the cornea and retina, and actually do ray-tracing to determine the distortions that have to be compensated for including astigmatism. But there are always limits, and in many cases there is not enough corneal thickness for LASIK to completely correct vision.
Then there are glitches during the procedure, even in the best cases.

It is far from perfect and the folks who are very happy are often the same folks who think McDonald's makes a good hamburger. More critical customers may want to remember it is surgery, and it carries permanent risks. Perhaps fewer now than it did 15 years ago, but it still carries risks, even within its limits.

[mtm41]

Prescription transitions eyewear. They get plenty dark enough for me. Lighten up real quick.