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Cheater Bi focal glasses. ???

Redbud40

Well Known Member
Eyes have recently gotten worse for reading. Screens are starting to be harder to focus on. Far vision still good. Wondering what folks use for this situation. So far I’ve tried the glasses with the small section of correction in corner. Too much head up / head down gymnastics. Progressive ( I tried this in a sun glass version). Large head movement s to change focus cause a dizziness sensation. No bueno. Any Suggestions. Looking for both clear and sunglasses. Thanks.
Red.
 
Start buying three packs of cheap reading glasses. Leave them everywhere you might need them, and carry a set as well. I started with +0.05’s and moved up every few months to +2.00’s. Then the distance started to go. Lucky for me I can deal with progressives, both glasses and daily contacts. Going down stairs took concentration at first.

I see my eye doc every few months, to tweak things as I search for that elusive unicorn that is the vision of my youth. Still use cheaters for detail work like Garmin pins. Hoping for medical advances and FAA blessings in the future.
 
Multi Focal Contacts

My Optometrist recommended multi-focal contacts for me. They have worked out fantastic! I gave up a very slight amount of distance sharpness for the ability to read phone, instruments, computer, etc w/o reading glasses. You might inquire about that option with your Optometrist.
 
Progressive glasses. Once you use them for a few days you will find everything in focus - without realizing you are doing it.

The only issue is when you try to look at something up close and high (like if you have your head under the panel). Then have a good set of dime store cheaters.

Carl
 
Welcome to the club. I used to fly with sunglasses and the readers on the tip of my nose. Gets old. I recently went to my optometrist and picked out a nice thin wire frame that would work comfortably with headsets, and had a decent size lens. I took them to the airplane and sitting in the seat, I put a piece of tape across the frames where the windscreen and panel meet. I had them make me bifocal lenses with Transition tinting (dark in the sun and clear in the dark) with correction on the bottom and no prescription on the top. They work perfectly from day to night without having to change glasses. The tape line is much higher than traditional bifocals. I do not have to move my head around to see, and that's important in IMC.

The progressive no-line bifocals did not work for me. Too much warping of the image in the transition.
 
My Optometrist recommended multi-focal contacts for me. They have worked out fantastic! I gave up a very slight amount of distance sharpness for the ability to read phone, instruments, computer, etc w/o reading glasses. You might inquire about that option with your Optometrist.

I had a hard time with multifocal contacts for the first month with distant vision and almost gave up on them. Now have zero problems looking at close then distant in a short time period. They are an absolute game changer for me.
 
Flying Eyes makes sunglasses with a reader portion in the lower lens.

In my RV, the lower version is PERFECT. The line of the reader is aligned with just under the top of the dash, so if I flick my eyes down I see everything clearly, and yet I still have distance vision when I look up.

THAT BEING SAID

There are optometrists who understand the needs of pilots, and can work with you to adjust the near/far portion heights based on where your head sits in relation to your panel. I also wear progressive lenses in day-to-day non-flying life and it took me a couple weeks to really get used to.
 
Yep, pretty soon you'll be accepting seniors discounts and watching Lawrence Welk reruns...

Seriously, drugstore readers if/until distant vision goes. Went 12, maybe 15 years that way. Today I have one pair of progressives, but prefer bifocals.

For shop work I keep a few pairs of plain prescription single vision lenses with different focal lengths. For example, the pair with the Tig machine focus at about 12 inches, while others are more like 18 and 28. Just put on whatever fits the task at hand; don't care about distance vision in the shop. Single vision means I can look through any part of the lens, real handy in vehicle work.

The online prescription eyeglass sites regularly run specials like "One pair of prescription glasses only $6!" The hook is they are offering single vision only, while near and distant costs more. No problem for shop glasses. Pick large frames to protect your eyes.

If you want bifocals to wear while flying, measure the distance from eyeball to panel, and your eye doc can write the prescription for that distance. If you don't tell them, you'll get the standard.
 
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Get an eye exam $50, know your ADD as they call it in the biz. This is the exam #s that says what strength u need for reading. My Optician, any Optician, can build you clear top, readers below, sunglasses same with reader below. If u struggle in the cockpit, you gotta be struggling some reading a menu in dim Resturant light.

Easy fix….cheap readers on the end of your snozz, got nothing for cheap good sunglasses/readers.
 
I purchased at KOSH a number of years ago some small plastic lens that will stick to sunglasses that makes them bifocals. They work great in the cockpit.
 
https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/085/697/096/original/fe420a85b68259a8.jpeg

Yours truly, baffled by the image upload feature on VAF. Turn your laptop upside down, or pretend I'm gutsy enough to roll the RV-10.

I'm wearing Serengeti large aviators with a pair of Optx 20/20 Hydrotac stick-on lenses in the lower halves of the lenses. Love this set-up. I can customize the strength of the near vision correction and adjust the position (segment height) to account for my eyes not being the same level in my noggin. That way, the cutoff line between near and far vision occurs at the same degree of head-tilt for both eyes, which is nice.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Optx-20-...5fb389564c8c10c5d6dee81ddeed3a98&gclsrc=3p.ds
 

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I have progressives and I have had them for a long time. My vision sounds similar to yours. I now have good distance vision and my reading is not that good. I know you said you tried progressives but it takes a while to get used to them. Once you have worn them for a while you don't really notice that you are moving your head around to get the right focal distance. There are still situations where they are not ideal and I wear cheap readers for that. There are the old school bifocals which I have never tried. Really the only difference with a bifocal and a progress is the transition between the two focal distances. I guess the other difference would be that there is a larger area for each focal distance. The other thing to consider with progressives is to get a lens that has enough height so that the regions are not too small. I have both clear and tinted progressives and they work great for me.
 
Report on new lenses

I had the cataract and new lens implants done. My second one was 1 week ago.
Im semi happy with the outcome. There are some reading distances I cant get in focus moving closer or back. Even with glasses. I tried my old progressives and new cheaters from 1,2,3 and still cant read real small print - mostly in low light.

For everything else, it is great. I can see my dash or panel with no glasses and my distance vision was always good and still is. The biggest difference is how everything is so much brighter. Whites actually look white - not dirty yellow.

I go back to the eye doctor tomorrow for follow up and I will try and get an idea on what number reader I need or if my eyes will get better as they heal. It was expensive but if I can stay away from glasses for everything but small print, I will be satisfied.

I had progressives .5 for distance and +3 for reading. I go through about 3 pair a year so I got them from Zenni. I will update after my dr appointment tomorrow on what he says.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, definitely will try a couple of them. As far as menu reading can’t see much so I just order the “ Special” 😀
 
Search for

'stick-on bifocals'


You can get different strengths, put them where you want and cut them to size.
 
Worn glasses since I was 10 years old. Many years ago I tried progressive lenses. I tried the expensive brand thinking that they must be the best. I hated them. Then I tried a bargain brand and they were great. I wore them for probably 30 years.

Now thanks to the miracle of CrystaLens implants, I haven't worn glasses for almost 9 years.
 
I have a pair of DUAL aviator sunglasses. They have readers at the bottom. The are good in the plane and driving. Far vision is starting to go so some sort of prescription glasses are in my future.:eek:
 
At 69 with good distance vision.

For most flights I use a pair of readers with wire frames.

Flying toward the sun: I bought a pair of wrap around sunglasses with reader inserts at the Bass Pro fishing department.

For foggles: I bought a pair of wrap around safety glasses with reader inserts and taped over everything but the inserts with blue painter's tape.

John
 
Aging eyes

Try “boomers in the know.com” and experiment with different styles and corrections. They have it all, pretty cheap. I use no correction on the top and 1.75 on the bottom and it works well for me, especially when flying and needing to focus on the inst panel.
 
I was surprised to discover that they make safety glasses with cheaters built in...I was even more surprised when I discovered I needed a set :(
 
Bifocals

Second the recommendation to get an eye check up. Even if your 20-15, it's still important.
My doc works with me to get the bifocal mag perfect.
I get my script glasses from Zenni but there are tons of online companies.
I've figured out the measurements and get exactly what works in clear and tinted.
Under the panel, I use a set of readers.
 
For readers I go to eyeglassesdirect.com and get them made with the proper interpupillary distance because the store readers cause me to have eye strain since the lenses aren't set properly for my eye width. The online store is cheap and easy. They have made bifocals and straight readers for me, and they will customize the height of the reader portion if you want. I get four at a time and as I ruin them I re-up......

How do I ruin them? Drop on the concrete working in a weird position normally......
 
Get progressives, but specify non-polycarbonate. The opticians seem to default to polycarbonate, and it can cause terrible distortion in progressives.
 
Get progressives, but specify non-polycarbonate. The opticians seem to default to polycarbonate, and it can cause terrible distortion in progressives.

Polycarbonate also does play well with chemicals.
 
I’m 54 and started losing my good vision around 38. I went from bifocals to progressives. I too hated progressives initially and you do have to make sure they took good measurements.

Problem with bifocals is that eventually your medium vision will go to pot too. Then your distance. So fun. Progressives can handle all problems. I now love them (though I hate having to wear them).
 
For my last pair of glasses, I bought Titanium frames. They are marvelously light and thin - recommended if you can find them. After quite a bit of abuse, I can say that they are also very tough.

Dave
 
Progressives all the way for me. Pretty cost effective at Costco—optometrist clearly understood the problem and had good suggestions. I also needed a good pair of sunglasses but Costco can’t provide non-polarized lenses, so I had them measure the intrapupillary distance, made sure the optometrist accurately noted the near, mid, and far-add, sent the prescription to an online place (GlassesUSA, I think) and got a pair of RayBan Aviators, which Costco doesn’t have. When I got the RayBans, I took them to Costco and they checked them out and fitted them. Turned out to be a very accurate lens grind and they work great. I’d bought a couple of other pairs of glasses from them and they were happy to help.

There are some lens shapes and sizes which impairs an effective progressive lens grind. Bigger is better and the progressives on my Aviators work much better than on a regular/smaller pair of lenses.
 
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Eyes have recently gotten worse for reading. Screens are starting to be harder to focus on. Far vision still good. Wondering what folks use for this situation. So far I’ve tried the glasses with the small section of correction in corner. Too much head up / head down gymnastics. Progressive ( I tried this in a sun glass version). Large head movement s to change focus cause a dizziness sensation. No bueno. Any Suggestions. Looking for both clear and sunglasses. Thanks.
Red.

I purchased a pair of Scheyden's at Osh probably 5-6 years ago, a little pricy but still my favorites, 1.5 reader that is correctly positioned for the RV panel. Gradient lenses (gold tint), bottom is un-tinted which works perfect. I've yet to find another pair I like as much as them (and I've looked at most vendors).
 
Get progressives, but specify non-polycarbonate. The opticians seem to default to polycarbonate, and it can cause terrible distortion in progressives.

Polycarbonate also does play well with chemicals.

Been using progressive for 20-years. Progressive is perfect for 93% of everythings I do. Last few pair have been polycarbonate and I like it best. For flying as "Flight Lead" I like trifocal lens better. Much better with peripheral vision to check wingman position when flying as lead.

For work under the panel, one still need the cheap reader glasses. Hard to look upward when the correct lens is downward.
 
My readers are "CLiC" readers. These have a magnet between the lenses and they will never fall off and are always around your neck when not in use. I really like them.
 
My readers are "CLiC" readers. These have a magnet between the lenses and they will never fall off and are always around your neck when not in use. I really like them.

I tried using CLiCs awhile back and really liked them. I'll undoubtedly go back to them after I retire. For now, they're eminently impractical at work - the dang things stick tightly to the metal parts of a stethoscope. The result is more ungainly than a pair of Card CQ headsets trying to breed :D

(Consider that a shameless plug for the CQ's. I love them. Just need to get off my butt and rig a place to store them between flights - someplace besides in the right front seat on top of each other).
 
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Safety Glasses USA .com….. Non-polarized clear and sun glasses, bifocals or not. I’ve used these for years. I’m up to 2.0 - and holding.

https://www.safetyglassesusa.com/rx-eyewear/

I’ve also used Clics for years and have never lost or broken a pair of those. My sister gave me a pair of 3.0 Clics that are like coke bottles, but when upside down under the panel with very close up work, they are great!
 
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