Prescription eyewear source?

NIN · May 11, 2013, 03:09:04 PM

Hi guys, I figured that this might be a case of "all of us are smarter than one of us" so I'll ask a silly question.

I'm a big fan of the old-school style military aviation sunglasses, the the 52mm "Randolph Engineering"-style glasses as seen here

I've recently had to get daily wear prescription glasses and I know that the Randolph-style 52mm glasses fit under my full-face skydiving helmet, so I'm looking for a source for these style glasses (both sunglasses and regular) as prescription eyewear.

I've seen plenty of places (AO, for example) where I can get the frames, but I'd like to find a place where I can get them ground as prescription in one place so I don't have to deal with frames from source A, lenses from source B and oh, great, the lenses don't fit in the frame really well or something like that.

Anybody got a good source for these style glasses/sunglasses.

lordmonar · May 11, 2013, 04:04:51 PM

If you get the frames (say from the BX) just about any eye glass shop can make the lenses and insert them for you. I know a couple of pilot types do that out here in Vegas.

Eclipse · May 11, 2013, 04:09:20 PM

http://www.opticsplanet.com/american-optical-prescription-sunglasses-flight-gear-pilot.html

NIN · May 11, 2013, 04:58:30 PM

Quote from: Eclipse on May 11, 2013, 04:09:20 PM
http://www.opticsplanet.com/american-optical-prescription-sunglasses-flight-gear-pilot.html

The darn Matte Chrome ones (my preferred config) are $259. What the heck?

I mean, I might just have to bite the bullet, but I spent over $400 (my cost) for my first pair of prescription specs (Oakley frames, progressive lenses, all the coatings, etc) and now I'm wearing the $14 pair of Coastal.com glasses (first pair free, they ain't kidding!!) full time. So popping another $250+ for a pair of specs to wear under my helmet, and potentially another $250 for sunglasses is killing me.

Especially since I know you can get those frames at MCSS for considerably less than that.

Maybe its time to suck it up and try contacts.

Eclipse · May 11, 2013, 05:14:16 PM

Seriously, contacts might be a better choice - I'm struggling with that right now because I am on the razor edge of needing
bi-focals, and the single-vision contacts they are prescribing are hell for close up. I've been trying what they call "mono-vision"
which is a different lens in each eye - hard to get used to and not as effective as I'd hoped.

These are probably mondo expensive because they are glass - everything in prescription lenses these days is plastic - glass is a lot more
complicated to grind.

If you've never used contacts, give them a try, they aren't a big deal these days and are cheap enough to have around for occasional wear.

NIN · May 11, 2013, 05:24:12 PM

Yeah, I might just have to. I'm just freaked out by putting *anything* in my eyes.

Can't do the mono-vision thing (I have ~~bifocals~~ progressive "multi-focus" lenses on my glasses) as the issue that precipitated glasses was depth perception while landing my parachute.

SarDragon · May 11, 2013, 09:15:18 PM

Any decent lab should be able to put lenses in any frame you provide. I've been going to the same optometrist for 14 years, and their lab does a great job. I rotate three frames, and have never gotten a bad lens fit.

I think even the big chain stores (Lenscrafters, Pearle, etc.) will do that.

billford1 · May 12, 2013, 12:15:32 AM

I realize that a high percentage of CAP folks may not have difficult challenges with getting adequate vision correction from the majority of providers. There is a percentage of mature members who have issues with astigmatizm to deal with. Many labs including Lens Crafters make a strong case for the brand they want to sell you. The lucky discovery I made with eyeglasses has to do with the durability of the frame and whether or not the dealer will fit the frame you want with the lenses you want. When I changed to the Shamir Autograph lenses I experienced what I had been unable to achieve for a long time. I've tried a bunch of other progressive lenses and nothing else even comes close.

Cliff_Chambliss · May 12, 2013, 12:46:54 AM

I normally wear hard gas permeable contacts but still need reading glasses. A former student of mine was an Army Medical type and as a gift gave me a pair of Aviator sunglasses with the reading insert and a pair of no line bi-focals in the Aviator style frames for those days when I don't wear the contacts. I will check around and see if I can find the source.

NIN · May 12, 2013, 01:14:02 AM

Cliff, thanks for that. Would appreciate any source you might have.

I will also call Lenscrafters and see if they'll do lenses for those frames. I can't imagine they wouldn't, its obtaining the correct source-shaped lens, I would guess. Their suppliers must have the right kinds of lenses available.

I've found the matte-chrome frames for like $37 a pair. I'd buy two pair at that rate.

vento · May 12, 2013, 01:18:18 AM

The result is always better when you provide your frames with the original lens on it. I've given my frames to Lenscrafters once without the lens and the whole thing came back looking like something else.

SarDragon · May 12, 2013, 05:13:10 AM

The good labs will custom grind the lens outline to fit the submitted frames.

As for scrip complexity, my lenses have sphere, cylinder, and prism, and the lab my doc uses has never had an issue with any of the frames I've sent in. At least two of them came from another source originally.

bosshawk · May 12, 2013, 06:16:05 AM

Nin: I have been wearing prescription glasses since I was 13(more than a couple of years ago) and I flew with the AO frames for quite awhile. I found that I had problems with the straight ear pieces allowing the glasses to slide off my head when I bent my head forward. When the frames were new, it wasn't too much of a problem, but after six months to a year, I kept losing them. I finally wound up putting a strap around the back of my head to keep them in place. Finally, I got frames that had regular, curved earpieces. I also have transition lenses in my regular glasses: they are great. However, I found that they didn't darken enough when inside an airplane or a car. So----I now have sun glasses to use when I fly and drive.

I used to buy both the AO frames and the lenses at the local PX: being retired I have access whenever I happen to get close to one: the closest is now over 100 miles from where I live.

SarDragon · May 12, 2013, 07:10:26 AM

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention transition lenses - they are great outside, but don't work very well in cars with UV filtering glass, like my 'Burb. They need the UV to darken.

NIN · May 12, 2013, 12:37:58 PM

Quote from: SarDragon on May 12, 2013, 07:10:26 AM
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention transition lenses - they are great outside, but don't work very well in cars with UV filtering glass, like my 'Burb. They need the UV to darken.

I wouldn't use transitions in this case. I need better control of the environment.

NIN · May 12, 2013, 12:48:52 PM

Quote from: bosshawk on May 12, 2013, 06:16:05 AM
Nin: I have been wearing prescription glasses since I was 13(more than a couple of years ago) and I flew with the AO frames for quite awhile. I found that I had problems with the straight ear pieces allowing the glasses to slide off my head when I bent my head forward. When the frames were new, it wasn't too much of a problem, but after six months to a year, I kept losing them. I finally wound up putting a strap around the back of my head to keep them in place. Finally, I got frames that had regular, curved earpieces. I also have transition lenses in my regular glasses: they are great. However, I found that they didn't darken enough when inside an airplane or a car. So----I now have sun glasses to use when I fly and drive.

I used to buy both the AO frames and the lenses at the local PX: being retired I have access whenever I happen to get close to one: the closest is now over 100 miles from where I live.

Paul, you must have a funny shaped head.

(not that I don't)

The bayonet temples are key, because my skydiving helmet is about 2/3-3/4 the size of a motorcycle helmet and very, very tightly fitting. There is no real good way to get the glasses on thru the visor if they have the "skull" temples.

ol'fido · May 12, 2013, 02:07:46 PM

When I hit 45 my eyesight started going downhill FAST! I started out with some readers and now I have bifocals. Next time I get glasses which will be soon. I am going to get two different pairs. One for reading and one for shooting. It's hard to focus on a front sight and have a blurry target like you're supposed to when everything is blurry. I am also getting large lenses in the shooting glasses so I don't have the frame running right through the middle of my sight picture.

I also had the problem with ear pieces. If I wore curved ear pieces, I would get soreness in my ears, the straight pieces would fall off. Finally found some frames that are just curved enough to hold my glasses on without hurting.

bosshawk · May 13, 2013, 05:25:03 AM

Nin: yeah, I have a funny shaped head. I happen to wear a 7and 5 eighths cap. Forgot to mention that the straight ear pieces will work fine under a helmet, just aren't satisfactory when you aren't wearing the helmet. My headsets always kept the things under control, but my wife gets a bit upset when I wear the headset in the house. Also looks a bit wierd while driving either my car or my truck. I have solved the whole issue by having both sun glasses and regular glasses with curved earpieces. Good luck: try them and see how they work.