This thread is very informative and helpful. I got my first glasses a few years ago {at 68 years old} and they are progressive. BIG CHANGE … welcome to the fish bowl. I like the clarity but not the loss of peripheral or the balance issues. can’t just glance at something sideways. Walking down steep hills in the wood is especiall fun…NOT.
Thank You to everyone… Now if someone can tell me if there is anyway to keep them clean Always smudged…
I 100% prefer contact lenses because of the loss of peripheral vision and distortion with glasses. But of course now I have to wear reading glasses over them. I still really like having my distance vision corrected without always having to wear glasses though. However, it is an issue in freshwater when kayaking because of acanthamoeba. It’s always something!
One thing that I didn’t anticipate was using binoculars and having to take my glasses off which means I lose some magnification and also need to find a safe place for the glasses.
I instead bough a new pair of binoculars that I don’t have to remove my glasses at all since both eye cups are adjustable just for people with glasses.
Binocs don’t fix astigmatism so I wear glasses. You want long eye relief if you wear glasses but manufacturers don’t seem to publicize what that distance is. While kayaking I can’t hold anything steady so over 7X is wiggle city.
Been wearing transition darkening progressives for years so I’m used to them. I’ve always gone to a small local optician that sells several price ranges but I don’t skimp on the quality of the coatings. I finally bit the bullet and bought dedicated progressive sunglasses a couple seasons ago and figure it was worth it. Got a reasonably priced Nike frame that is durable flexible nylon and blocks a little sun on the side (my RX doesn’t allow for really curved lenses). Again, didn’t skimp on the lenses and coatings; polarized, anti-reflective on front and back, mirrored to reduce glare. The optician really listened to me and gave me options.
My RX doesn’t change much year to year so the $650 seemed reasonable for the long run though initially painful. They are incredibly comfortable out on the water and as valuable to me as having a light weight canoe and a paddle that works.
I have just ordered two new pairs of progressive glasses, one of which will be polarized sunglasses. The place I bought from offered three levels of lenses at different prices with the most expensive giving the greatest field of view with minimal distortion at the outer edges of the lenses. This is a separate issue from looking through the wrong part of the lens but It would probably be worth while to make sure you get the expensive lenses even though the price will probably be a shock. It sounds as if your optician is not very helpful so perhaps shop around.
I’ve been wearing progressives for about 20 years. Hated them the first year but then got used to them. They don’t bother me and I don’t even think about having progressives most of the time, but I do still sometimes have a bit of dizzy/disoriented feeling when wearing them for hiking or paddling where I am doing more visual scanning off in different directions. What I’ve settled on for those situations is lined bifocals but with a bare minimum of reading area at the bottom, just enough to see the gps screen or look at my watch to see the time. I have a pair of polarized sun glasses like this which is what I usually use for canoeing. They aren’t wrap around, but they are aviator style and have good coverage. A couple of times I had to ask that the bifocals be remade when opticians didn’t quite believe how small a reading area I wanted and produced glasses with a line that interfered with looking at obstacles right off the bow of my canoe. I’ve been told that the bifocals I want are golfer’s glasses and that requesting golfers glasses with an optician is more likely to communicate the kind of glasses I want.
Re the outrageous price of frames, specially “sports” frame: I buy used frames on eBay. With a bit of patience, you can find top of the line frames for a song and a dance. I have my optician fit lenses to those frames, for a huge saving. I go to a big “group health” type of facility, where the employees most likely don’t care much if i buy the frames from them: your small mom&pop neighborhood optician might be a bit more peeved at you if you cut into their 90% or whatever markup profit…
One issue is trying on frames to make sure they fit your head: hopefully, you can try glasses some of your buddies might have, or you have a favorite pair that you sacrificed to The Kraken and need to replace.
Also, look into tinted safety eyewear – some can be RXed, many are available as bifocals, and all are ridiculously cheap compared to regular prescription glasses. Many are by design ultra-secure on your head, and pretty tough. The tightest ones might prove a bit fog happy, though.
The majority of sunglass “readers” I’ve used over the years have been from SafetyglassesUSA.com.
After paying way too much for my first pair of Rx glasses at an optical shop, I’ve ordered a couple of pairs from Zenni. They nailed the prescription on both and the quality is good. The downside is that you can’t try them on first. I also found that their “smoke” lenses, which I expected to be neutral gray, are distinctly blue.
It’s amazing how inexpensive good-quality glasses can be when you’re not buying from a monopoly.
Hello. I am blind in one eye, thank you eye Dr who did cataract surgery, so, have gone back to bifocals, transitions, no floating, no curvature, took a couple days to transition back from progressives. The transitions work fine on water in sun, for paddling. I think, for water use, the transitions rare best.
Can you wear contact lenses?
I also wear contacts. The peripheral vision I get is important. It did take a while to learn to ignore the specular highlights at night. My prescription is set for distance, as I spend so much time outdoors. Thus, I can wear nice sunglasses and even swim goggles (if I’m going to be rolling, etc.). I buy cheap readers, which if broken or lost…who cares?
Last year, I bought the H2O glasses that are suppose to float if dropped in a lake through an optometrist and got progressives.
I like the always dark lenses. Next time I might go with distance vision only and raise my glasses when I need to read, which I can do without glasses. You need to make sure the frames fit well by looking down. I didn’t realize the frames couldn’t be tightened like regular glasses. Sometimes I feel like they are going to slide off, though it hasn’t happened yet.
Have not verified that they truly float.
I’ve worked for many years as a self-employed restaurant service technician where a pair of glasses sliding of would be catastrophic (glasses in the fryer). I’ve always used wrap around (curly) temples. They’ve always been sufficient for teaching wet exits.
I get my prescription glasses from Costco. Just got 2 pair with a new script. Fit great and were much cheaper than those at the ophthalmologist’s office.
I have a couple of pairs of Rudy Project Rydon frames and multiple sets of prescription lenses from SportRx. Progressive and transition, dark, yellow for grey days. The Rydon frames give a lot of coverage and keep the wind out of my eyes. I wear them all the time, even though my wife isn’t a fan. Pro tip - the Rydon golf lenses fit in the the Rydon frames and aren’t quite as wide. They’re perfect for driving and every day use, the full lenses give another half inch of coverage on each side.
Oh, and the lenses are easy to swap out. But frames are pretty inexpensive on ebay. 
My Rydons are a bit stretched out after 8 years or so, slip off my face. Last year I tried to eak out another season and splurged for the photo- reactive lenses. Colossal waste of money because they don’t darken at all. Bloody expensive with the transitional Rx and refund wasn’t an option.
The Rudy Project lenses are just okay. The SportRx lenses are fabulous…the transitional lenses even darken in the car. I have a separate pair of dark glasses for kayaking as I want the most coverage possible for water reflection, etc.
Oh, and the bifocal Rudy Project lenses are a joke. Poor design…they provide a small box for reading, just not worth it. The SportRx lenses provide a proper progressive reading option.
I’m glad your lenses from SportRX darken. Mine do not. They go from clear, to imperceptibly very slightly grey. Virtually useless in bright sunlight. I bought them in the fall and by the time I figured out that they were not darkening, returning them wasn’t an option. Live and learn.