Take Time with your Youth Shooters Eyes

Posted On: 04-29-2021

I, like many did not wear glasses in my more youthful days.  I started wearing them in graduate school when the blackboard became difficult to read.  But for some the need for glasses may go unnoticed and have an extreme impact on target acquisition.  Honestly, target acquisition can be difficult even if you do wear glasses and by that I don’t mean to be flippant.  What I am saying is many, myself included, when mounting the gun find it difficult to look down the barrel and align my eyes through the glasses I normally wear.  We tend to look right over the top of the lens.  Shooting glasses for this reason are elevated above the bridge of your nose raising the lens to better align your eyes and the barrel.

My intention with this blog entry is to make sure first and foremost that your youth shooter has their eyes checked at some point. This I know is another expense, but I see online many screenings for less than $100 and this includes glasses.  Of course, this does not resolve the issue of looking over the top of eye-wear, but it does initiate and possible provide some conversation as to the inability to acquire targets quickly and clearly. 

There are several manufacturers of quality shooting glasses and you can choose one that offers a prescription lens with only one color if you like.  These types are a typical “wrap-around” look and fit snugly to the eye.  A downside is they do not breathe well, and you will sweat under tightly fitted glasses.   A more traditional shooting style fits above the bridge of your nose and does not create the lack of air hot spot some styles have. 

Cost is always a factor and wearing glasses is expensive.  While the eye test may be covered under insurance, the frames and lenses are mostly not and can be very expensive.  There are though several companies that specialize in shooting frames and lenses for between $160 and $275 depending on how many-colored lens you want.  There are also many companies that provide clear or selected prescription safety glasses starting at less than $50.  Overall, the benefit is the right prescription in a correctly fitted frame that allows your eyes to align through the lens and down the barrel.

Target acquisition is so important so give your youth shooter every opportunity possible.   

David R. Vaught, Ph.D.