Eyeglasses - Bifocals, trifocals, close-up for O/H panels, online...

T

tomokc

Well-Known Member
I'm in need of new glasses and am curious where you guys get your specs. Some have the need for close-up correction at the top of the lenses in order to see overhead panels better. And there are online options such as Zenni. Have you found good online options, or is everyone still going to a local spec shop?
 
This is going to sound like I'm a company salesman, but here goes anyway. I absolutely adore Zenni. So essentially every pair of eyeglasses that you buy in any part of the developed world are created and processed by one company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica. They own Oakley, Lenscrafters, Target Optical, Pearl Vision etc if the glasses are from Michael Kors, Guess, DKNY, Chanel, doesn't matter it's all made by one company. I find Zenni to be a nice and cheap break from this. The glasses are cheaper and there are so many styles available, I can change up my look like 4 times a year, get Rx sunglasses that aren't an arm and a leg and have glasses stashed in my car and other places. Give em a try I think you'll be pleased.
 
I have gotten my last few pairs of glasses from Sam's Club, and I have been very happy with every pair, If you buy 2 frames you get $40 off. A few years ago I got a pair of Oakley Frames with lenses for $88. Last year I got an Exam, Rayban glasses, sunglasses, and new lenses for my old sunglasses for less than $300.

I bought glasses online as well, and the quality is just as good for a cheaper price. But for me I gotta try them on to see what they look before I buy. Thats one thing you can do online.
 
I have bought a bunch of glasses online from Coastal and 39dollargasses.com after getting a good local exam.

I have a couple of strategies in the cockpit.

I wear a progressive lens. I'm nearsighted and for very close targets, no correction is required if I look over the top of my frames.

For this reason, I like a smaller frame that I can look over the top.

I have another approach for my oversized non-bifocal RX sunglasses, I use stick-on bifocal on top and bottom. The size of the lens is adequate that the stick-ons on the top and bottom don't bother me.

I rarely wear my contacts anymore because I lose the ability to cheat, looking over the top or removing.

http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/apparel-and-gifts/stick-on-reading-lenses-pair.html?limit=50&p=5
 
My wife seems to like Eye Buy Direct. Cheap enough to get multiples and keep in different places.
 
"Progressive lenses (or varifocals) change in prescription gradually from the distance part of the lens at the top, to the near portion of the lens towards the bottom. These lenses will also have an area of intermediate focus in-between the distance and near portions. The other type of lens available with an intermediate prescription is a trifocal lens. These are usually similar in appearance to bifocals but with an extra segment on top of the near portion. Occasionally the intermediate portion is incorporated into the top of the lens, with the reading portion at the bottom of the lens and the distance area in the centre. This may be useful for viewing overhead panels."
https://www.caa.co.uk/Aeromedical-E...nditions/Visual/Guidance-for-reading-glasses/
 
Outside of Qwest Communications, Progressive lenses are the worst investment I've ever made. The constant tilting of my head in order to get things in focus is ridiculous. 1/2 cm up or down and the sight picture is out of focus.
Throw this fact in with just one flight in turbulence and you'll discover that these glasses are good for one thing only; a great addition to your next snowman!!
 
dustoff17 said:
Outside of Qwest Communications, Progressive lenses are the worst investment I've ever made. The constant tilting of my head in order to get things in focus is ridiculous. 1/2 cm up or down and the sight picture is out of focus.
Throw this fact in with just one flight in turbulence and you'll discover that these glasses are good for one thing only; a great addition to your next snowman!!
Click to expand...

Progressives take some work and several tries to get right and some folks never are comfortable with them.

In my case, I'm okay on the forward panel with normal correction and I can view the overhead panel pretty well with no correction by looking over the top of my small frames.

I think for progressives to work well, you need large frame that makes the transition less abrupt and a "reading" view large enough that you aren't easily bounced out of view.

You also need an optician that understands special occupational needs. I have a friend that has his "reading" zone on the very top of his glasses as he needs to be able to glance down from great heights with distance correction .

Too bad the NTSB did a hatchet job on monovison contacts. I gave them a shot when I was doing some diplomatic flying. I felt more confident than using bifocals and progressives.
 
Around age 40, like billions of people worldwide, I started having trouble reading small print (Presbyopia), seeing my computer screens clearly. I tried bi and then tri-focals, and those lines were not for me; thus for the last many years progressive lenses have provided seamless vision.
 
I had the same issue with PROGRESSIVES as mentioned above...worthless yet cost me $700 with the fancy shmancy frames....
Fast fwd....Went into the local CVS and there they were.....Foster-Grant is now selling a not so exp pair of Progressives that are FANTASTIC!
I went back and picked up 2 more pair. No more wiggling my head looking for the sweet spot! They are really nice and don't fatigue my eyes at all.... So just look for the Brooke Shields display at your local CVS. they were approx $60 a pair. Nice frame selection also.
 
Bear said:
Around age 40, like billions of people worldwide, I started having trouble reading small print (Presbyopia), seeing my computer screens clearly. I tried bi and then tri-focals, and those lines were not for me; thus for the last many years progressive lenses have provided seamless vision.
Click to expand...

I only need reading glasses these days, but yeah - same thing for me - especially in dim restaurants with small-print menus.

They look dorky, but those little ThinOptics glasses are really handy for flying. I like them, and because they just sit on your nose, there's no impediment with a headset.

Depending on what I need, I might try some progressive lenses/glasses later.
 
If it works, go for it at that price.
Troy McClure said:
Foster-Grant is now selling a not so exp pair of Progressives
Click to expand...
Foster Grant Multi Focus Reading Glasses
3 Lens Strengths in 1
Tired of taking your glasses off and putting them on as you switch between activities such as reading and working on your laptop? Wish you didn't have to peer over your glasses as often as you do? Foster Grant has the solution with its latest innovation in reading glasses, Multi Focus Advanced Reading Glasses. Multi Focus Reading Glasses feature three strengths in one pair of reading glasses so you can read, work on your computer and interact with others without having to take your glasses off.

  • For Reading: Your normal strength
  • For the Computer: Slightly less than normal strength
  • For Interacting: Half normal strength
Screen Shot 2017-06-01 at 1.15.57 PM.png
 
Here is THE place to contact for custom glasses. I found Michael online several years ago, on some obscure pilot chat site . Michael has owned a specialty optical lab in Florida for many years.

He worked generously and enthusiastically with me to create a quadra-focal (reading, panel, outside, top panel). He even designed a magnetic sun-glass piece that I could pop on after breaking out and being in the sunshine again, while my view of the panel, upper panel and reading remained clear. I sent him my frames, and he re-worked the height of each segment a few times, and also changed the magnification of each segment a few times, too. The finished product was perfect!

Quest Vision Care Specialty Lab

It is N. Largo. FL.

Tell him the guy with the pilot quads glasses sent you (I don't get anything out of it other than the satisfaction of helping you get hooked-up with a really awesome guy!)
Best of luck.

tomokc said:
I'm in need of new glasses and am curious where you guys get your specs. Some have the need for close-up correction at the top of the lenses in order to see overhead panels better. And there are online options such as Zenni. Have you found good online options, or is everyone still going to a local spec shop?
Click to expand...
 
I'm the OP in this thread. I now have three pair of progressive Zennis, some with sunglass clips, love them all.
 
Honestly I recommend LASIK/PRK. Best thing I’ve ever done. I was too blind to even see there was an eye chart let alone read it, and 9 years later I’m still 20/15.
 
NovemberEcho said:
Honestly I recommend LASIK/PRK. Best thing I’ve ever done. I was too blind to even see there was an eye chart let alone read it, and 9 years later I’m still 20/15.
Click to expand...

I asked about this recently, doc said I wasn't a candidate for what I have. I'm strongly considering Progressives right now. Might give Zenni a try - at the price, if they suck I won't feel too bad.
 
Coming back to this thread because I'm a little annoyed...

Got my annual eye checkup. Still need readers for near vision but my distance vision is 20/20 uncorrected, which is GREAT! Because putting readers on and taking them off again is a hassle, I asked about getting progressives with the reader prescription in the lower portion and the upper part uncorrected. They said sure, no problem, I picked out some frames and placed the order and it was a couple hundred bucks. Ouch.

So I figured on Eye Buy Direct or Zenni...and both places are telling me they can't make a progressive lens with a single-vision prescription. This baffles me and the only thing I can think of is that their order processing or something can't do it. We're not building nanotech or rockets here...I just want some damned glasses without a bifocal line. That can't be so hard, can it?

Any of you guys in the same boat I am here?
 
When you find that great optician who'll really work with you, measure the distance from your eyes to panel, overhead, etc. In the early days of computers, I had an old set of frames ground for keyboard vs monitor. I took after my mother, who was a concert pianist. She had tri-focals ground for piano keyboard / music rack / orchestra conductor. Progressives solved lots of these issues. Likewise that great optician can vary the size and placement of each prescription formula on the lens. One size doesn't fit all!

They have to have a machine that can translate those numbers into the grind, and you probably won't find that capability at the glasses-in-an-hour shops at the mall.
 
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