line vs progressive lenses for sunglasses

Kevin,

I use lined bifocals in my Suntiger sunglasses and
lined bifocals in my clear glasses. I've never had
progressives, so I can't compare, but I don't have
any problems with the lines.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
(And for those of you wondering where Carrboro is,
it is located to the left of La La Land...)

At 22:30 23 August 2006, Kevin Anderson wrote:
Help. I am at that age. I wear contacts for distance
vision but now my
arms are getting too short also. Causing headaches
and queasiness when
trying to read my instruments, especially the PDA.

I would like to hear back from others on what decision
they made on
progressive vs. lined lenses for sunglasses?

Thanks
Kevin
SGS 1-26 192

Kevin Anderson wrote:

I would like to hear back from others on what decision they made on
progressive vs. lined lenses for sunglasses?

I found progressives to be too distorting. The countryside swims at the
edges as you move your head. Also, progressives have a very narrow
width for reading - about the width of a newspaper column.

I've happily flown with bi/trifocals for over 15 years. They're not
hard to get in sunglasses or use magnetic-type clipons over your normal
clear lenses. I found some good Pentax clipons with lenses larger than
the current miniature fashion. Be very particular about where the line
is put. If he doesn't ask, bring up the question yourself.

GC


Thanks
Kevin
SGS 1-26 192

Lots of action on this thread. Soaring's demographics are showing. We
probably wouldn't see the same interest in this subject among the
youthful readers of, say, alt.skate-board or rec.skiing.snowboard. The
next thing will be someone on RAS wanting to know how safe it is to fly
the morning after taking Viagra.

I have no opinion on that particular subject, but I've used contact
lenses and regular sunglasses with the stick-on reading segments and I
agree they work fine. But I prefer not to fly with contact lenses so I
use prescription sunglasses: bifocals when I was in my 40s and
trifocals now that I'm 55. Mine are definitely soaring specific: the
reading segment is for maps (in my lap) and the middle segment is for
the instrument panel, mainly the PDA (almost in the line of sight).
Chip Garner (Glide Navigator II) is of a certain age but I guess all
the other software developers are in their 20s because the fonts keep
getting smaller and smaller as they pack more functionality and data on
a PDA screen.

Don't bother relying on the optician to correctly position the lines
between segments. Sit in your cockpit and experiment with pieces of
tape on your lenses (eyeglass lenses, not contact lenses!). Best is to
fly with the stick ons for a while, because you'll probably discover
you want the line higher than normal to read the PDA and any other
displays on the panel but you want it as low as possible to be able to
look down out of the canopy. No matter what you do it won't be perfect,
and you may find you want to modify your cockpit a bit. I discovered
it's easier to use my handheld Garmin GPS receiver mounted on the
cockpit wall close to me because it's low enough that it's nearly
always in the middle or lower segment of my sunglasses. I will probably
move my PDA/moving map to that location this winter.

Welcome to middle age.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"

I have worn contacts for 30 years, and have been wearing reading
glasses for about 5. I tried progressive sunglasses made to order for
flying, but they tended to create so much distortion in the transition
zone from the uncorrected top area to the bifocal area, that they made
me a little queasy. I also didn't trust my depth perception in that
zone. I ended up exchanging them for standard bi-focals, but asked
that the corrected area start a little lower than normal. That way I
have a clear view right above the instrument panel (where most of the
action takes place) and while looking down and to the side. I can
look down my nose a bit or push the glasses up on my nose if I need to
get a larger corrected field of view for the instruments. In a pinch,
you can buy "sunreaders" from the drugstore for $15 also.

I know this one will be controversial, but I also like flying with
polarized bi-focal glasses. You can order them this way, but I have
never found them "off the shelf". They make it much easier to pick out
other traffic against a darker blue sky, and I can still see all
instruments in the cockpit, including my iPaq and L-NAV just fine. I
don't fly power, so that might be different.

Matt Herron Jr.


Graeme Cant wrote:
Kevin Anderson wrote:

I would like to hear back from others on what decision they made on
progressive vs. lined lenses for sunglasses?

I found progressives to be too distorting. The countryside swims at the
edges as you move your head. Also, progressives have a very narrow
width for reading - about the width of a newspaper column.

I've happily flown with bi/trifocals for over 15 years. They're not
hard to get in sunglasses or use magnetic-type clipons over your normal
clear lenses. I found some good Pentax clipons with lenses larger than
the current miniature fashion. Be very particular about where the line
is put. If he doesn't ask, bring up the question yourself.

GC


Thanks
Kevin
SGS 1-26 192

Not quit the same issue as fortunately I still don't need anything but
1.25+ cheaters for PC and reading. I found Personal Optics 'Twin
Vision' just the ticket. Brown-yellow tint (my preferred), small
cheater lenses (great for maps and PDA), and spring hinges. $12.00 a
pair at the time, so I snagged about six pairs for this season and have
only scratched one so far and haven't stepped on any. Looks like I may
have enough for next season also.

Frank Whiteley

Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
I have worn contacts for 30 years, and have been wearing reading
glasses for about 5. I tried progressive sunglasses made to order for
flying, but they tended to create so much distortion in the transition
zone from the uncorrected top area to the bifocal area, that they made
me a little queasy. I also didn't trust my depth perception in that
zone. I ended up exchanging them for standard bi-focals, but asked
that the corrected area start a little lower than normal. That way I
have a clear view right above the instrument panel (where most of the
action takes place) and while looking down and to the side. I can
look down my nose a bit or push the glasses up on my nose if I need to
get a larger corrected field of view for the instruments. In a pinch,
you can buy "sunreaders" from the drugstore for $15 also.

I know this one will be controversial, but I also like flying with
polarized bi-focal glasses. You can order them this way, but I have
never found them "off the shelf". They make it much easier to pick out
other traffic against a darker blue sky, and I can still see all
instruments in the cockpit, including my iPaq and L-NAV just fine. I
don't fly power, so that might be different.

Matt Herron Jr.


Graeme Cant wrote:
Kevin Anderson wrote:

I would like to hear back from others on what decision they made on
progressive vs. lined lenses for sunglasses?

I found progressives to be too distorting. The countryside swims at the
edges as you move your head. Also, progressives have a very narrow
width for reading - about the width of a newspaper column.

I've happily flown with bi/trifocals for over 15 years. They're not
hard to get in sunglasses or use magnetic-type clipons over your normal
clear lenses. I found some good Pentax clipons with lenses larger than
the current miniature fashion. Be very particular about where the line
is put. If he doesn't ask, bring up the question yourself.

GC


Thanks
Kevin
SGS 1-26 192

I just had to get glasses myself. The heartbreak of presbyopia.
I got progressives for general use and I've noticed that they work best when
you are looking directly at something--ie glancing at something doesn't give
good correction.
For this reason, I got lined lenses for flying. I want to be able to glance
at something without moving my head and see it sharply. I want to take
advantage of my peripheral vision and I question that too with progressives.
Got the Maui Jim's that have a rose/brown tint. Very good for spotting haze
domes & wing glint, minimal color distortion.

"Kevin Anderson" wrote in message
...
Help. I am at that age. I wear contacts for distance vision but now my
arms are getting too short also. Causing headaches and queasiness when
trying to read my instruments, especially the PDA.

I would like to hear back from others on what decision they made on
progressive vs. lined lenses for sunglasses?

Thanks
Kevin
SGS 1-26 192

"Frank Whiteley" wrote in message
oups.com...
Not quit the same issue as fortunately I still don't need anything but
1.25+ cheaters for PC and reading. I found Personal Optics 'Twin
Vision' just the ticket. Brown-yellow tint (my preferred), small
cheater lenses (great for maps and PDA), and spring hinges. $12.00 a
pair at the time, so I snagged about six pairs for this season and have
only scratched one so far and haven't stepped on any. Looks like I may
have enough for next season also.

Frank Whiteley

URL for Personal Optics?

Bill Daniels

I went to the Maui Jim factory in Maui last month, and they told me
they don't make corrected optics. How do I get them?

Matt

I just checked the Maui Jim factory website and they do offer
prescription lenses. Look he

http://www.mauijim.com/mjweb/public/rx/rx_run.jsp

Regards,

Patman "CQ"

PS: For soaring I prefer the Serengeti Driver non-polarized glasses.


Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
I went to the Maui Jim factory in Maui last month, and they told me
they don't make corrected optics. How do I get them?

Matt

In message .com,
writes
Lots of action on this thread. Soaring's demographics are showing. We
probably wouldn't see the same interest in this subject among the
youthful readers of, say, alt.skate-board or rec.skiing.snowboard.

Of course they don't use PDAs for their sport...

The
next thing will be someone on RAS wanting to know how safe it is to fly
the morning after taking Viagra.

LOL!

Snip

--
Surfer!
Email to: ramwater at uk2 dot net