bifocals versus progressive lenses....

[PeteMc]

5 minutes ago, philiplane said:

They even make a polarized version

I'd still stay away from a polarized lens for aviation.  You may have checked all the equipment in your plane to make sure it doesn't matter, but you never know when you may be in a different plane or get some replacement gear when it DOES matter.  So (IMHO), stick to non-polarized for your aviation glasses.

 

[Echo]

5 hours ago, carusoam said:

hey all!

+1 for progressives…

1) driving and flying are very comfortable for the same reasons… distance to the IP are similar…  I use the same glasses for both… and using my iPad at the kitchen table… 

2) challenges… golf, skiing, running… the distance to the ball, bumps, and ground, matter…

3) contacts… same challenges, different solutions… 

 

4) a second pair of glasses with no transition really helps…

5) the outdoor glasses get that ‘transitions’… automatic tint adjust…

6) it is a pain… when you realize that the map my run app is hard to read while jogging…

 

7) with good glasses, fit properly…  you may wake up one day forgetting how complex your eyewear corrections actually are…

then another day… you forget your glasses were on, and crush them… messing up the fit, has a constant reminder to go see the doc and get something adjusted… 

PP thoughts only, not an eye care professional…

Best regards,

-a-

 

+1 to all.  I can NOT wear my progressive during ball sports and I am at the point my drives are out of my ability to see (I had lasic about 20 years ago and immediately needed readers) Now eyes have shifted enough I need progressives, but until this year could still see ball to finish.  I am going to buy a pair of glasses and sunglasses with no near vision correction for sports.

[McMooney]

just listen to it BIFOCAL vs progressive, might as well say old as shit

[philiplane]

54 minutes ago, PeteMc said:

I'd still stay away from a polarized lens for aviation.  You may have checked all the equipment in your plane to make sure it doesn't matter, but you never know when you may be in a different plane or get some replacement gear when it DOES matter.  So (IMHO), stick to non-polarized for your aviation glasses.

 

The Shamir polarized lenses work with all aviation panel mount displays, iPads and automotive displays, and even on boats. I have no idea how they do theirs differently, but they work. I work on all different types for a living and haven't encountered a display that is a problem with them.  

[C.J.]

2 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

If you ever want to go back to progressives, get the more expensive glass (plastic, really).  Commonly called "high-index" glass, it's just a plastic with a higher refractive index.

With my first pair of progressives, I fell on stairs a couple of times, and had to go back for regular old-fashioned bifocals.  When I found an ophthalmologist who knew what he was doing, I tried progressives again with high-index glass.  It was a night-and-day difference.  I walked out with my new glasses, looked around a bit, and never again suffered the disorienting effect of the cheaper glass.

When I tried progressive lenses back in '94, it was for just one drive to the airport & then just one flight. The distortion during take-off and landing was terrible. For the remainder of my 4-day trip I used my existing far vision lenses and kept the progressives in their case. That's all the time I needed to decide progressives were not going to work for me & I followed up with a bifocal prescription. I have no idea if there was a more expensive glass (plastic) option at that time. 

 

I am curious to what you think makes progressive lenses, in the now, modern era of 2023, superior to the old tried & true bifocal since you elected to go to progressive lenses. Do you feel you actually see better & how? 

[philiplane]

https://shamir.com/us/shamir-lenses/

Shamir makes the absolute best lens there is. I got my first pair six years ago, and they are amazing. In one day, I'm driving, or flying, or working under instrument panels, reading tiny wiring diagrams, tiny numbers inside avionics connectors, in bright light or darkness, and all with one pair of progressives. I've had bifocals one time, then run of the mill (cheap) progressives, but these things are just amazing. I keep one extra pair of polarized Shamir glasses for boating, flying, skiing, or driving in bright sun for extended periods. Those are even better to reduce eyestrain than the regular Shamir Transitions lenses. 

[Hank]

13 minutes ago, C.J. said:

When I tried progressive lenses back in '94, it was for just one drive to the airport & then just one flight. The distortion during take-off and landing was terrible. For the remainder of my 4-day trip I used my existing far vision lenses and kept the progressives in their case. That's all the time I needed to decide progressives were not going to work for me & I followed up with a bifocal prescription. I have no idea if there was a more expensive glass (plastic) option at that time. 

I am curious to what you think makes progressive lenses, in the now, modern era of 2023, superior to the old tried & true bifocal since you elected to go to progressive lenses. Do you feel you actually see better & how? 

I made lens implants for almost a decade, including one multifocal lens with up to 12 focal zones (vs. Three zones in competing multifocal contact lenses). But most eye doctors recommended against multifocal lenses for two groups of people:  engineers and pilots, because we have "high expectations."

[Hank]

1 hour ago, philiplane said:

Don't do lasik. You will regret it later when you get halos at night from the circular scar caused by the corneal flap incision. Several friends had it done, and all are having problems with night vision due to this. One friend had RK done years ago, and is at risk of losing his medical due to the vision problems caused by the RK procedure. Very bad effects, he gets a starry kind of halo, much worse than the Lasik halo effect.

Can't vouch for lasik, but there are optical phenomena that occur in a small percentage of lens implants recipients (think cataracts, the most common cause for replacement). Could be halos around lights, could be weird things in the peripheral vision, etc. The key is to ignore them, because if you concentrate on them, get angry and worked up, complain a lot, etc., they will become permanent; but if you ignore them, they go away.

There's a surprising amount of brain work in vision. Cover one eye, stare at a spot and slowly wave a wooden pencil around, either end up. At a certain point, the eraser end / sharpened point will disappear and be replaced by an extension of the painted wood, because your brain is filling in a blank spot where the optic nerve covers a portion of your retina by extending a nearby pattern over the "hole" in your vision.

Ya'll be careful out there, ya hear?

[Hank]

1 hour ago, PeteMc said:

I'd still stay away from a polarized lens for aviation.  You may have checked all the equipment in your plane to make sure it doesn't matter, but you never know when you may be in a different plane or get some replacement gear when it DOES matter.  So (IMHO), stick to non-polarized for your aviation glasses.

 

I've been flying with polarized glasses for 17 years now (been wearing them longer than I've been flying, started using them fly-fishing for trout). I've yet to have a problem with any instruments; my G430W, friends' Aspens and GEMs and JPIs, etc. Haven't yet flown with a GI275, only admired them with my polarized glasses at Sun n Fun, Mooney Summits, etc., and read them all clearly.

So I'm leaning towards either:  1) OWT; or 2) an old problem long since corrected by the various manufacturers. Used to be that European car back windshields looked funny through polarized glasses, especially BMW, but i haven't noticed even that in a long time . . . Time passes, things change and technology improves.

[C.J.]

28 minutes ago, Hank said:

 But most eye doctors recommended against multifocal lenses for two groups of people:  engineers and pilots, because we have "high expectations."

And my airline, as well as the First Officers I flew with had the high expectation I'd actually initiate a round-out & flare so as not to slam into the runway at 700 fpm regardless of my personal eyewear choices.

[Fly Boomer]

52 minutes ago, C.J. said:

When I tried progressive lenses back in '94, it was for just one drive to the airport & then just one flight. The distortion during take-off and landing was terrible. For the remainder of my 4-day trip I used my existing far vision lenses and kept the progressives in their case. That's all the time I needed to decide progressives were not going to work for me & I followed up with a bifocal prescription. I have no idea if there was a more expensive glass (plastic) option at that time. 

 

I am curious to what you think makes progressive lenses, in the now, modern era of 2023, superior to the old tried & true bifocal since you elected to go to progressive lenses. Do you feel you actually see better & how? 

My experience was that cheap lenses didn't work for me.  Sounds like they didn't work for you either.  I have been doing okay with my progressive lenses for years, but now it seems that I can't get good distance and good reading magnification in the same lenses.  Contemplating going back to non-progressive bifocals.

[C.J.]

@Fly Boomer How old are you?

[Fly Boomer]

3 minutes ago, C.J. said:

@Fly Boomer How old are you?

Older than dirt.

[C.J.]

1 minute ago, Fly Boomer said:

Older than dirt.

I'm at least that old too 

[Hank]

4 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

Older than dirt.

I'm younger than the mountains, older than the trees.

Still wearing single vision glasses, removing them to eat, read and do close work; flying, driving, boating and walking in polarized prescription sunglasses. 

[Fly Boomer]

Just now, Hank said:

I'm younger than the mountains, older than the trees.

Still wearing single vision glasses, removing them to eat, read and do close work; flying, driving, boating and walking in polarized prescription sunglasses. 

I should have stayed with the readers.  My distance vision was adequate for many years.  I just got tired of putting my readers on and off 50 times per day.

[C.J.]

4 minutes ago, Hank said:

I'm younger than the mountains, older than the trees.

 

I used to car-pool with Fred Flintstone & Barney Rubble.

[Hank]

1 minute ago, Fly Boomer said:

I should have stayed with the readers.  My distance vision was adequate for many years.  I just got tired of putting my readers on and off 50 times per day.

I'm exactly the opposite, nicely nearsighted. I spend a lot of time every day looking for where I set my glasses down to see what I was doing, and don't notice they aren't on while just walking around the room / hallways.

[Hank]

Just now, C.J. said:

I used to car-pool with Fred Flintstone & Barney Rubble.

What's a "car-pool"? I thought cars were supposed to never be submerged?

[C.J.]

4 minutes ago, Hank said:

What's a "car-pool"? I thought cars were supposed to never be submerged?

Bond, James Bond.

[Andy95W]

3 hours ago, PeteMc said:

the center "hour glass" portion of the lens can be VERY NARROW or a bit wider.  You will NOT like the narrow one. 

⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️

This, exactly.

I started with bifocals, then changed to progressives.  My second set of progressives I had the optometrist make the “reader” portion as wide as possible.  After 10 minutes of acclimation, I absolutely love them.  I swear I feel like I can see like I did when I was 25 years old.  But yes, there is a bit of a learning process for your brain.  Mine was very short and I haven’t thought about it since.

[Echo]

2 hours ago, McMooney said:

just listen to it BIFOCAL vs progressive, might as well say old as shit

Oh I have shit waaaay newer than me.   I am literally older than shit.

[Echo]

29 minutes ago, C.J. said:

Bond, James Bond.

Mr. Bond meet Mr. Moon.  Keith Moon.

[whiskytango]

Before cataract surgery my uncorrected vision was 20/450.  After surgery my uncorrected vision tested at 20/20, but I had really poor close vision.  I have been using "bifocal" readers (clear glass on top) but would like to avoid the head movement needed to focus on close objects.  It sounds like Shamir progressives are worth a try.   

[whiskytango]

4 minutes ago, Echo said:

Mr. Bond meet Mr. Moon.  Keith Moon.

I think I see the TV set in there too.