Spectacles in the cockpit

[Thistle]

Being an avid model flyer - even if I could wear Contacts - the split system as above have indicated - would not be viable.

I need the binocular function of two eyes in synch for depth and distance perception.

You don't need perfect vision in both eyes for depth perception. Try, for example, wearing reading glasses and trying to catch a ball: you'll find that with a little practice you will manage to get your hands in the right place at the right time pretty well (though you may drop the catch because that is a different skill: ask any cricketer!) You'll also find that, with a bit more practice you can do pretty well with one eye closed because you learn how your focus changes with distance: this is how folk with one eye manage to judge speed and distance when driving.

From personal experience, I can assure you that with one eye corrected for distance and the other for near vision I have no problems with depth and distance perception.

 

[thinwater]

View attachment 152762

I've used lanyards, many types. They all get in the way.

• Bifocal safety sunglasses when sunglasses are in order.
• Lots of cheap pound store (dollar store in the US) readers. I lose a few pairs each year. Whoopee, I have more. You can pay a few $ more and get more durable ones on Amazon, still cheap. But the $1 stay on my head better.

 

[mattonthesea]

I'm 67yrs old and the Opthalmic Surgeon who is treating me for Glaucoma and a Cataract advises that for older people such as I - better is to have Ocular Implant ... I can have variable so no need for any glasses - or set focal to give normal vision and then only need for reading.

I cannot use Contacts as my eyes water too much ...

I know two guys who have differing contacts .... one eye for normal ... other eye for reading. They are 30 day contacts.

For contacts, do they have the reading ones the same strength as reading glasses? I tried varifocal lenses but I struggled to read on dim light and after dark all lights became Starbursts!!!
I'm happy with glasses most of the time except for sailing and climbing. I have managed with mid to distance lenses and reading glasses for the last year but would like to try near and far in one eye each. But the idea was outside a 'should have' optician's imagination. So I may have to experiment!
Any guidance from those with experience?

 

[Thistle]

For contacts, do they have the reading ones the same strength as reading glasses? I tried varifocal lenses but I struggled to read on dim light and after dark all lights became Starbursts!!!
I'm happy with glasses most of the time except for sailing and climbing. I have managed with mid to distance lenses and reading glasses for the last year but would like to try near and far in one eye each. But the idea was outside a 'should have' optician's imagination. So I may have to experiment!
Any guidance from those with experience?

Find an optician with experience of doing this.

 

[kacecar]

For the OP - I use a Plastimo Iris 50 Compass holder. About £10 I think and is big enough to hold a pair of spectacles (with or without its case), or a mobile phone, etc. ( I'm sure it would fit an Iris 50 hand-held compass as well but I haven't got one of those.) Fix it to a suitable vertical somewhere handy - job done. My problem is remembering to use it!

 

[TwoFish]

At the risk of sounding like a Victorian, I've long wanted a reading monocle that I could pop on a lanyard and slip into my wetsuit / drysuit / foulies / pockets of whatever for when I need to read instruments, small print or such. Sadly all my searching for one comes up with a load of stuff targeted at steam punk enthusiasts, theatrical types, dandies, murder mystery fancy dress partygoers and the like.

I did obtain one of these:

21st Century Monocle | IMonocle

Sadly it's a bit shit. Whenever I delve for it, I find the lens has popped out of the rubber holder. And it's only +2.00. And it's £7 on ebay, when I'd have thought £1 would be generous (but I suppose, if they're the only supplier bothering to serve the market, fair play to them).

So if anyone's in the market for producing cheap and cheerful sailing / windsurfing / extreme sports monocles, please do put me down for a few.

 

[LittleSister]

I was expecting a more entertaining thread, given the title!

I have occasionally seen a spectacle in others' cockpits.

At the risk of sounding like a Victorian, I've long wanted a reading monocle that I could pop on a lanyard and slip into my wetsuit / drysuit / foulies / pockets of whatever for when I need to read instruments, small print or such.

I've had the same thought for sailing in rain (would have been cheaper than my wheelhouse!) and for kayaking. (Not least because I'm blind in one eye, anyway.)

I might try popping the lens out of an old pair of glasses, drilling a small hole in it and putting a cord through. I imagine a leather or rubber pouch/sleeve on the cord would offer sufficient protection for the lens when in my pocket, though not keep it fully dry. Maybe a little bit of cloth or Chamois leather on the cord would do to wipe the excess water off, and hope the salt doesn't scratch it too badly.

I imagine a dispensing optician could provide a suitable sized and shaped prescription lens for the purpose, if you wanted that. It would just have to have the right height to enable one to 'pinch' it in place with the top of one's cheek.

 

[pandos]

I've had enough of it and starting to investigate Lazer surgery, one eye for long, one for short, anyone else done this?

A friend of mine did this 20 years ago and just had it redone. Revkons it will see him out.

I haven't the guts to try it....I might try contacts...sailing in the rain is bad with glasses but try hill walking ...when you really need to watch your footing...

 

[Jokani]

I've had enough of it and starting to investigate Lazer surgery, one eye for long, one for short, anyone else done this?

Yes, 3-4 years back now, couldn't be happier, but you still need glasses for intermediate vision.

 

[Daydream believer]

You don't need perfect vision in both eyes for depth perception. Try, for example, wearing reading glasses and trying to catch a ball: you'll find that with a little practice you will manage to get your hands in the right place at the right time pretty well (though you may drop the catch because that is a different skill: ask any cricketer!) You'll also find that, with a bit more practice you can do pretty well with one eye closed because you learn how your focus changes with distance: this is how folk with one eye manage to judge speed and distance when driving.

From personal experience, I can assure you that with one eye corrected for distance and the other for near vision I have no problems with depth and distance perception.

I think that I would agree with refueller on this one. I fly RC planes & they change distance rapidly as does orientation. I had a lense drop out of some glasses once whilst a plane was in the air & it was really difficult to land , let alone carry on doing aerobatics. I can see a buoy at sea as quick as anyone even without glasses. But flying a model plane really does need the right set & from both eyes at once. It can be a real issue if one eye starts to water, which it can do for me in this cold weather.

 

[Refueler]

I think that I would agree with refueller on this one. I fly RC planes & they change distance rapidly as does orientation. I had a lense drop out of some glasses once whilst a plane was in the air & it was really difficult to land , let alone carry on doing aerobatics. I can see a buoy at sea as quick as anyone even without glasses. But flying a model plane really does need the right set & from both eyes at once. It can be a real issue if one eye starts to water, which it can do for me in this cold weather.

Or a fly / bug in the eye !! As you say - it needs both eyes to get it right. I have varifocal glasses now and Optician showed me why they are not so good for my flying ...

Varifocals - the two ranges they are designed around are basically centred in each part ... so when you look out of centre - the depth view is distorted, but you are not aware of it.
He fired up his diagnostic machinery and showed me what happens ... no wonder I keep missing the runway !!

Pal of mine has the magnetic split glasses ... so each half hangs on the lanyard and they don't get in the way like a fixed glasses. He just picks up each half and they self align .. click together.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Or a fly / bug in the eye !! As you say - it needs both eyes to get it right. I have varifocal glasses now and Optician showed me why they are not so good for my flying ...

Varifocals - the two ranges they are designed around are basically centred in each part ... so when you look out of centre - the depth view is distorted, but you are not aware of it.
He fired up his diagnostic machinery and showed me what happens ... no wonder I keep missing the runway !!

Pal of mine has the magnetic split glasses ... so each half hangs on the lanyard and they don't get in the way like a fixed glasses. He just picks up each half and they self align .. click together.

Not to be used with hand bearing compass!

 

[johnalison]

I think that I would agree with refueller on this one. I fly RC planes & they change distance rapidly as does orientation. I had a lense drop out of some glasses once whilst a plane was in the air & it was really difficult to land , let alone carry on doing aerobatics. I can see a buoy at sea as quick as anyone even without glasses. But flying a model plane really does need the right set & from both eyes at once. It can be a real issue if one eye starts to water, which it can do for me in this cold weather.

I don’t fly model planes, but I have double vision and the situation without binocular vision is not as hopeless as you might imagine. In fact, I doubt if the stereo effect is even significant at the typical range of a model plane, with the baseline being only a few inches. It may help not to have confusing images from two eyes though. Depth can be perceived in a number of ways:
Relative size. Closer objects appear larger.
Focus distance, for near objects mainly.
Relative movement. Near things appear to move faster.
Parallax, from one’s own movement.
Eclipse by nearer objects.
Atmospheric perspective. Distant objects appear to have less contrast and colour saturation as well as appearing bluer.

I get caught out occasionally, especially when trying to use secateurs, but most of the time I don’t notice the defect.

 

[Refueler]

Not to be used with hand bearing compass!

mmmmm good point !

 

[Refueler]

I don’t fly model planes, but I have double vision and the situation without binocular vision is not as hopeless as you might imagine. In fact, I doubt if the stereo effect is even significant at the typical range of a model plane, with the baseline being only a few inches. It may help not to have confusing images from two eyes though. Depth can be perceived in a number of ways:
Relative size. Closer objects appear larger.
Focus distance, for near objects mainly.
Relative movement. Near things appear to move faster.
Parallax, from one’s own movement.
Eclipse by nearer objects.
Atmospheric perspective. Distant objects appear to have less contrast and colour saturation as well as appearing bluer.

I get caught out occasionally, especially when trying to use secateurs, but most of the time I don’t notice the defect.

I appreciate your PoV ..... but I can say it is an important aspect with respect to moving objects not only model planes. I also appreciate that should one lose an eye and be left with only a single - that over time compensation occurs. I have one cat who lost an eye when very young ........... she has learnt to hunt as well as any of the other 3 cats we have.
But I don't have luxury of failing and try again later as she had ... if I fail with one of my models - its an expensive fail. Plus all the time and effort to put back together again IF its possible.

I dare to extrapolate from those models to on board boat ... I wonder how many 'vision' items are in error because of this ??

 

[rotrax]

A little tip for those who use lanyards. I once did but found them faffy. I wear my vari-focals or perscription polaroids all the time.

After losing a 300 quid pair that were only a few weeks old in the oggin I devised an inexpensive and simple fix.

Far better than lanyards and suits me really well.

My current specs are fitted with a short - perhaps 7 inches - length of 3mm ID clear plastic tube to the earpieces.

A couple of metres was about two quid. A dip in boiling water to slip the ends on, once fitted the glasses stay put as do the plastic tubes.

You soon get used to the feel it and I feel very confident my specs will not go AWOL. I used to change the tube as it hardened after a few weeks. Now I don't bother,

 

[Refueler]

A little tip for those who use lanyards. I once did but found them faffy. I wear my vari-focals or perscription polaroids all the time.

After losing a 300 quid pair that were only a few weeks old in the oggin I devised an inexpensive and simple fix.

Far better than lanyards and suits me really well.

My current specs are fitted with a short - perhaps 7 inches - length of 3mm ID clear plastic tube to the earpieces.

A couple of metres was about two quid. A dip in boiling water to slip the ends on, once fitted the glasses stay put as do the plastic tubes.

You soon get used to the feel it and I feel very confident my specs will not go AWOL. I used to change the tube as it hardened after a few weeks. Now I don't bother,

Is that a continuous one piece from ear to ear ... or two pieces of 7" ?

If one piece - surely that fabric tube style that slip over ends and pull tight is similar ??

 

[rotrax]

Is that a continuous one piece from ear to ear ... or two pieces of 7" ?

If one piece - surely that fabric tube style that slip over ends and pull tight is similar ??

Yes, one continuous short length.

It does the same job better than what you describe above and costs penny's.

 

[Refueler]

Yes, one continuous short length.

It does the same job better than what you describe above and costs penny's.

I have the fabric version and TBH - I don't like it ... so I just use the usual long lanyard style with the tight rubber loops on ends. Yes its a pain sometimes when it catches in collar etc. But I don't want to pay another 400 euros for my glasses !!