I do not need glasses for far out stuff but I cannot read the numbers on my instruments or read charts. I am looking for a pretty good quality sun glasses that are bifocal. There are lots of them on ebay for under 20 bucks but most are polarized. On the subject of polarization, I was told when polarized glasses first came out to pass on them. The reason is that a reflection off of the windscreen of an approaching aircraft may be all you see tell it is too late. What are some opinions of that?

Tim

Check out sunglasses made by Dual. I have a bunch of different pairs. One for the truck one for my work flight bag and one for my fun flight bag. The size of the cheaters built into the bottom is perfect for me. I have the same issue. Need readers but can’t stand full cheaters either looking over the top of them or blurry distant vision looking through them.

I had always heard that every pilot knows not to wear polarized glasses when flying but never found a pilot that knew the reason. I always wear polarized sunglasses when flying. I figured out real quick that the screen on the hand held GPS I had was blacked out when wearing Polaroids so I just tilt my head a little to the side and the screen clears up.

From: FAA's "Sunglasses for pilots". https://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilot ... lasses.pdf

POLARIZATION.
Polarized lenses are
not recommended for use in the aviation
environment. While useful for blocking reflected
light from horizontal surfaces such as water or
snow, polarization can reduce or eliminate the
visibility of instruments that incorporate anti-
glare filters. Polarized lenses may also interfere
with visibility through an aircraft windscreen
by enhancing striations in laminated materials
and mask the sparkle of light that reflects off
shiny surfaces such as another aircraft’s wing or
windscreen, which can reduce the time a pilot
has to react in a “see-and-avoid” traffic situation.

My solution was lens crafters. Dark at the top of the lens, the tint gradually decreases towards the bifocal. The bifocal is full width of each lens...with the top of the bifocal even with the top of my instrument panel. The bifocal magnification is such that the instrument panel is in focus from my seated position. They don’t work real well as reading glasses if what I’m focusing on is closer than 18”.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hey Tim, my eyes sound like yours. I ware glasses all the time, even though I only need them for reading.

I like Transitions Lenses. Photochromic lenses are eyeglass lenses that are clear (or nearly clear) indoors and darken automatically when exposed to sunlight.Here is why.

I always wore sunglasses, safety glasses, dark glasses for plasma cutting. Since I do a lot of construction I need safety glasses. I got tired of changing between all the different glasses. Then there was the issue of loosing the readers, or having them in my pocket and sitting on them. I tend not to loose or break my glasses when they are on my head. I like Ray Ban. The down side is cost. Nothing a rich plumber/airplane owner can't afford. [emoji1]

The clear lenses are Transitions which darken in outdoor light. They will not darken inside. They need the ultraviolet rays. The glass in the car or plane block the rays. So I have prescription sunglasses.

Cheers...Rob

After many years I finally bit the bullet and purchased a pair of transitions. They are great. Got all the bells and whistles,even cable temples. They are Zeiss glass and very thin. I had trouble getting them in the USA so I researched and managed to deal with a optical shop in Windsor Canada. Unbelievable quality and customer relations. There is no comparison to plastic lenses. You are in focus all the time and do not even realize the bifocal transition. This is my second pair and the only glasses I will purchase in the future.

I use Method Seven aviators Eyewear, lets you see clearly all the digital displays, they are non polarized.

Method Seven prescription service is up and running. They have done several months of “beta testing” and customers have been 100% satisfied. The lens for this program is truly amazing. They can do progressive, bi focal and single vision. It’s JUST in the Ascent Frame, not the wrap Altitude Frame.

Great Quality, highly recommended.


https://www.methodseven.com/sky/

I've got the opposite problem--
poor distance vision but I see close-up just fine.
I get my eyeglasses at Costco, forget how much but pretty cheap for both exam & glasses.
Plastic lenses, vision seems OK but they do scratch easily.
"Transitions", or whatever they call photogrey these days.
They darken up when flying or driving,
just not as much as when outside in the direct sunlight.

I tried bifocals, but when I craned my head up to see when taxiing I was looking through the close-up part of the lens and everything outside was a blur.
I tried the seamless bifocals ("progressives") but didn't like them.
The top of the lens was fine for distance, and the bottom for close-up,
but it seemed like a lot of the in-between area of the lens was neither fish nor fowl.
My friends told me that you get used to it, but I just got rid of them.

Now I use single-vision lenses-- I have to take them off to read or do the computer,
and look over them to scan the panel in the airplane.
But it works for me & eliminates the issues I had with bifocals.

For a bunch of years I only needed a close up lens for reading. My distant vision was just fine. Now I need tweaking and both ends of my vision spectrum. Back when I just needed readers, I bought the sunglasses I wanted and put stick-on readers on the lower part of the lens. They worked just fine. You can buy stick-ons with various levels of magnification so your glasses keep up with your eyes as they change. Here's one source:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hydrotac-Stick-on-Bifocal-Lenses-2-00/38092968?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227026824651&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=43010894912&wl4=pla-81548564192&wl5=1027710&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=38092968&wl13=&veh=sem

Seach for stick-on readers and you can find other options. My next visual journey will be cataract surgery. My optomistrist says that will be in about a year. Then I'll be starting all over again. At least we have options for fine tuning our vision these days.

I wear progressive bifocals with the transition feature. Never had sun glasses handy when I need them. Learned to wear my glasses all day everyday with a cheap pair. ($400). Now that I feel naked without them I've upgraded to the most expensive lenses my optometrist sells, with nice European made titanium frames. ($1400) and will never go back to cheap ones.

The grinding of the glass is the trick. The more money you spend, the more of the lense is useable. I also had trouble identifying a straight board at the lumber yard from a warped one with the cheap lenses due to distortion. Not so with these good ones. Cheap glasses have only a small section in the middle that is ground to your exact prescription. A bad set of lenses could cause you to misread your approach and flare. Consider taking a safety pilot with you when you try your new glasses for the first time.

I started wearing glasses at about 47 and am 53 now, so I'm early to this phase still.

Well these glasses jumped from $9.25 from China to 1400 bucks. Pretty big spread. I will continue to shop

Tim

Those were Canadian pesos, so subtract 30% for USD. You truly get what you pay for. Divide the price by 365 days a year for a three year expected life and "see" if the cost per day is worth it to enjoy this world with the best possible clarity. Less than a Starbucks per day! (Awesome benchmark, eh? With the price of Starbucks, you can justify nearly anything)

Tim,

Stay away from cheap glass, even for sunglasses. Get a pair of Serengeti aviators. They have a different gradient top to bottom, specifically for flying. The lower part on the lens is not shaded as dark as the upper portion.

Then add some stick on readers. These things work slick. https://www.zoro.com/optx2020-peel-away ... gJhcfD_BwE

Actual bifocal sunglasses can be spendy, but there’s also a lot of trash out there.

I’ve been wearing Serengeti’s for nearly thirty years now, and I love them. Not cheap, but well made and their glass is superb. Try a pair next to those $10 glasses, and you’ll see......pun intended.

MTV

I've used trifocal sunglasses for years for daytime flying, with a similar pair for night flying. They are both slightly different in segment placement than my everyday glasses. The segments of both bifocals and trifocals can be whatever size the wearer wants, and it can be placed wherever the wearer wants it--you just have to ask. What I've done through the years is mark a pair of glasses based on where the panel is while flying. That makes a big difference for airplanes such as Mooneys and later model 182s that have tall panels. In my P172D, as it happens, just the normal placement of the segments for larger size frames works fine.

The last 2 pairs of sunglasses, I decided to try gradient shading, darker on the top to much lighter on the bottom. The first pair, I wasn't very satisfied--the dark wasn't dark enough. The second pair, I got really specific with the optician, and it's worked out pretty well. I have another month before my annual eye exam, so I need to think about whether I'll need something different, if my prescription has changed.

All of this is pretty spendy. I routinely re-use my frames, which I learned a long time ago last a long time, if they're good quality to begin with. That makes subsequent lens-only purchases less. But any time you go to trifocal sunglasses, it costs.

On the issue of polarized vs. non-polarized, that quoted FAA statement in TCJ's post says it all--and the windshield issue is a whole lot more important than the panel/device problems. We have enough difficulty seeing other traffic, without ham-stringing ourselves with possible windshield blockage problems.

Cary

mtv wrote:Tim,

Stay away from cheap glass, even for sunglasses. Get a pair of Serengeti aviators. They have a different gradient top to bottom, specifically for flying. The lower part on the lens is not shaded as dark as the upper portion.

Then add some stick on readers. These things work slick. https://www.zoro.com/optx2020-peel-away ... gJhcfD_BwE

Actual bifocal sunglasses can be spendy, but there’s also a lot of trash out there.

I’ve been wearing Serengeti’s for nearly thirty years now, and I love them. Not cheap, but well made and their glass is superb. Try a pair next to those $10 glasses, and you’ll see......pun intended.

MTV

These?

https://jet.com/product/detail/8943e252 ... gJCjPD_BwE

I have progressives but choose to fly with Glass lenses in G15 tint (old RayBan Aviator lens color) and a lined bifocal set to enable me to see my iPad on the yoke and the instrument panel. Cost was pretty reasonable compared with the method seven glasses.

I am not keen on the lack of acuity outside of the narrow area of focus on progressives.

BTW, transitions now have a new option where the lenses change color behind glass or plastic windscreens. Not as dark as outside but still better than clear.

qmdv wrote:

mtv wrote:Tim,

Stay away from cheap glass, even for sunglasses. Get a pair of Serengeti aviators. They have a different gradient top to bottom, specifically for flying. The lower part on the lens is not shaded as dark as the upper portion.

Then add some stick on readers. These things work slick. https://www.zoro.com/optx2020-peel-away ... gJhcfD_BwE

Actual bifocal sunglasses can be spendy, but there’s also a lot of trash out there.

I’ve been wearing Serengeti’s for nearly thirty years now, and I love them. Not cheap, but well made and their glass is superb. Try a pair next to those $10 glasses, and you’ll see......pun intended.

MTV

These?

https://jet.com/product/detail/8943e252 ... gJCjPD_BwE

Yes, precisely. I love them, the “coating” isn’t a coating....the glass is actually this shade. They are tough, and very well made.

MTV

TomD wrote:I am not keen on the lack of acuity outside of the narrow area of focus on progressives.

Up until a couple weeks ago I’d agree with this but I just received my new progressives and they are fantastic! Hardly any (if at all) dead zones.
You get what you pay for with them apparently. New ones are Varilux HD. Lenses alone were around $1200. Had them put in RayBan aviators so huge FOV. Stupid expensive but they’re amazing.
My daily wears are the step below and I don’t like them for flying at all. Big difference and they were almost $1000!

My next order will be the same lens w a gradient RayBan tint. I like the slight tint on top and clear bottom. My eyes are super light sensitive but these seem to work for me.