Prescription glasses/goggles

[Vryko]

A question mainly aimed towards fellow glasses wearers - as I do not like contacts I am looking to get some prescription glasses or goggles. Where is the best place to get them from. I've seen some online stores charging £250+ for a pair and obviously would rather spend a bit less. 
Also anyone experience on what is/isn't good in terms of steaming up etc. would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[Thatguyplenty]

I have astigmatism, which since it got worse, contacts do not play ball well with, always a notable difference from glasses.

 

You should be able to get a set for ~£150;

I run Revision Stingerhawk ~£60

insert with connector system ~£25

Glazing insert ~£60 upwards if you need or would thinned lenses

+shipping bits to you.

 

Depending on your prescription depends on if you need thinned or even if an outlet will touch them.

Specsavers are hit and miss for taking it on, I think they only deal with safe prescriptions on the low end.

Your best bet is visiting a local smaller chain or individual opticians, sport stores, possibly even shooting/gun stores as they are most likely to know where to go.

I have a small opticians lab/outlet near me which if you get real stuck I can pass you their contact details for glazing. Which might be worth saying where you based.

 

2 lens as in eyepro+prescription, pretty much everything will fog. EXFOG IS GOD SEND AND WORTH EVERY PENNY. There are knock-offs. I've had mine for about 4 years and now wouldn't be without it.

 

Your only real other alternative to this is a dye mask that you can fit or normal glasses in underneath. There is eyepro designed to go over your glasses but I cannot speak of their safety ratings, tightness, or antifogging properties.

[JinxDuh]

Hey, I use "NUPROL Battle Pro" and have done for the past few years. They have an "insert" version, which you can take to specsavers etc and have them fit your prescription into them. I believe it cost me about £36 for the prescription to be put in, they do a range of colours too and they're not expensive. I believe they also make goggles with inserts, if that's more your style.

[MrTea]

3 hours ago, Vryko said:

as I do not like contacts

As someone who only wears contacts for Airsoft and Karting, why can't you wear contacts? Are they uncomfortable or are incompatible with your eyes? My optometrist has offered me a few different types of contacts recently on my renewal. Older ones (that I use) versus some newer variants that are thinner and different material that allow more oxygen to the eye reducing discomfort.

Chain optometrists are crap IMO. I used my local non-chain optometrist and i've never changed since. They might give you some options that can help.

Edited August 27, 2023 by MrTea

[Speedbird_666]

9 hours ago, Thatguyplenty said:

Your only real other alternative to this is a dye mask that you can fit or normal glasses in underneath.

 

After many years of dicking around with various solutions - I settled on a Paintball mask + own design goggle fan. Never fogged and the added face protection has been very useful playing at CQB sites.

[Tommikka]

9 hours ago, Thatguyplenty said:

 

 

Your only real other alternative to this is a dye mask that you can fit or normal glasses in underneath.

@Vryko

I’ll upgrade this answer to refer to other paintball type goggles than Dye.

 Dye has had great marketing success, and are also compact designs - especially the i4. 

All goggles can differ considerably for different heads, if you have a small enough head with the right proportions then Dyes can be perfect, if you have a large head or chin then not so.  (Which can also be an attraction in airsoft but not so much if it’s your teeth getting shot)

The i3, i4 & i5 are all what I would describe as premium goggles with equivalent features in other ranges of premium goggles 

 

My preferred goggles are GI / VForce grills, and they have been designed around glasses with slits in the foam plus space in the eye area 

If possible get to one of the few retail shops attached to paintball / airsoft warehouses and try some on with your glasses

An alternative idea is to then take your preferred goggles to an opticians and try them with different frames 

 

Prescription inserts for goggles could be the best compromise as they remove the frame / temples which avoids the awkward process of putting them all on and taking them off

[Speedbird_666]

26 minutes ago, Tommikka said:

My preferred goggles are GI / VForce grills, and they have been designed around glasses with slits in the foam plus space in the eye area

 

I'll counter with JT Proflex or Empire E-Flex for those with larger/wider spectacles. Oh, and Profiler > Grillz.

[RostokMcSpoons]

I am a happy contact lens wearer... Well mostly happy.  I get great vision from daily disposable toric lenses, in fact better than my glasses for distance.  But they're an absolute nightmare now my eyes have got old - I can't see anything close up.

 

It's not so much a problem in the safe zone, I bring along a pair of my wife's reading glasses 🤓 but out on the field I'm buggered if I need to do any tech stuff.  Carlos knew I had a tool kit and asked me to fix a rental gun, but I couldn't do it because I couldn't even tell what head the screw had on it 🥺. 

 

So yeah, interested in the idea of keeping my specs on... But surely the extra layer of glass / plastic close to the face is going to be even more prone to fogging up?    Does that make a fan 'mandatory'?

[Vryko]

11 hours ago, MrTea said:

As someone who only wears contacts for Airsoft and Karting, why can't you wear contacts? Are they uncomfortable or are incompatible with your eyes? 

It's not that I can't, I just struggle putting them in (bad experience with cheap coloured contacts for a costume once and it's put me off. Also I know I'll forget to take them out). 


 

 

3 hours ago, Tommikka said:

@Vryko

I’ll upgrade this answer to refer to other paintball type goggles than Dye.

 Dye has had great marketing success, and are also compact designs - especially the i4. 

All goggles can differ considerably for different heads, if you have a small enough head with the right proportions then Dyes can be perfect, if you have a large head or chin then not so.  (Which can also be an attraction in airsoft but not so much if it’s your teeth getting shot)

The i3, i4 & i5 are all what I would describe as premium goggles with equivalent features in other ranges of premium goggles 

 

My preferred goggles are GI / VForce grills, and they have been designed around glasses with slits in the foam plus space in the eye area 

If possible get to one of the few retail shops attached to paintball / airsoft warehouses and try some on with your glasses

An alternative idea is to then take your preferred goggles to an opticians and try them with different frames 

 

Prescription inserts for goggles could be the best compromise as they remove the frame / temples which avoids the awkward process of putting them all on and taking them off

 

I currently have i4s from a lifetime ago when I was sponsored by Dye, but I would need a fan and some anti fog to stop the glasses misting up which is what happened the first time I used them. I also find the mask to be quite difficult to communicate in and would prefer to go with a different solution (Though I do like the ear protection they offer -especially after being hit in the ear twice yesterday!)

 

11 hours ago, JinxDuh said:

Hey, I use "NUPROL Battle Pro" and have done for the past few years. They have an "insert" version, which you can take to specsavers etc and have them fit your prescription into them. I believe it cost me about £36 for the prescription to be put in, they do a range of colours too and they're not expensive. I believe they also make goggles with inserts, if that's more your style.

These seem like they would be a great option. I need to head to the opticians today anyway so I'll check how much it would be. Thanks. 

 

 

1 hour ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

So yeah, interested in the idea of keeping my specs on... But surely the extra layer of glass / plastic close to the face is going to be even more prone to fogging up?    Does that make a fan 'mandatory'?

I think a fan would definitely help, as mentioned above I couldn't see anything through my glasses, so at minimum anti fog spray, but couldn't hurt to couple it with a fan. 


Thanks for the replies everyone. 
 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Vryko

[RostokMcSpoons]

1 minute ago, Vryko said:

It's not that I can't, I just struggle putting them in (bad experience with cheap coloured contacts for a costume once and it's put me off. Also I know I'll forget to take them out).

 

The new type daily contacts are much more flexible and comfortable than any cheap cosmetic lenses.  I'm sure a local optician can let you have a trial pair

 

And you only forget to take them out when drunk 🥴. But I survived doing that a few times in my youth 😋

[Vryko]

4 minutes ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

 

The new type daily contacts are much more flexible and comfortable than any cheap cosmetic lenses.  I'm sure a local optician can let you have a trial pair

 

And you only forget to take them out when drunk 🥴. But I survived doing that a few times in my youth 😋

I don't drink, I do have ADHD though so almost guaranteed I would forget 😅. And while I know they're more flexible and comfortable the whole experience put me off. not to mention the amount of time it took me to get them in in the first place!