RDS/Optics and Astigmatism

[thespyhunter]

Who here besides me has astigmatism and struggles with their RDS and optics?

I have an EOTech 552, and unless I am wearing my glasses, when I look through the window I see two offset/overlapping reticles and dots. With my glasses on its crystal clear, but without them its fuzzy. Contacts are no help either.

Is there a better solution for someone with astigmatism? Has anyone here who has astigmatism experimented with different RDS/optics and found one to be suitable?

Thanks

[subzero]

Each person's eye is so unique that there is no one size fits all solution. I think you have to pick your thing and go with it. I would run EOTechs due to less perceived distortion on my part, but I had reliability problems. So I use Aimpoints and do my best to work around my crappy eyes.

The thing I do most to cope is to turn the brightness to one click above just visible. On my Aimpoints, this helps with a perceived star pattern. It helped prevent doubles with the EO. The small inner dot on an EO never seemed distorted to me, likely because it was quite tiny. I learned to ignore the outer ring.

Obviously, the brighter the dot, the better one can pick it up. However, too bright leads to starring for me.

If I had the $$$, I'd switch out all of my M2s and ML2s for C3s. Smaller dot means distortion has less affect.

Using an Aimpoint with a magnifier makes the dot nice and round and pretty. Obviously not something to do all the time, but for 100+ yards it sure is nice.

[YVK]

This probably belongs to optics forum, not general discussion...

From my experience, there is no complete solution with RDS. Partial solution for me was to use smaller dot size. Distortion still occurs, but distorted 2 MOA dot looks better to me than distorted 4 MOA dot. I do remember Eotech reticle be distorted too, but it's been awhile since I looked through Eo.

Another thing that I do is to practice shooting despite distortion. It is a confidence builder, as well as a measure what you can and cannot do; a distance to target is a factor here too.

Other solutions are 1x4 variable scopes like Nightforce or corrective surgery. Again, there are some limitations with these as well.

[rljatl]

Toric contact lenses will help.

[rob_s]

I dealt with the astigmatism issue when I wore contacts. My solution, an imperfect one in a lot of ways, was to use compact ACOGs. The 1.5x worked great for me for a lot of things, but had limitations in either very bright sun or when using a light indoors.

Since going back to my glasses I've been able to use the RDS, but the effects are still there to some extent. They do make contacts that are corrected for astigmatism and you can try those. What I found was that they are weighted at the bottom and that when I blinked they would have to take a split second to settle in to place.

My next steps are taking the Aimpoint with me to the eye doctor the next time I go to get my glasses prescription updated and eventually I'm looking at getting the laser surgery to hopefully have a more permanent solution.

[RAM Engineer]

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/ShootingSportsUSA/

The May 09 issue of Shooting Sports USA (click on "back issues" tab at top) has a long article BY an eye doctor FOR eye doctors of shooters. I plan on taking this article and my RDS with me the next time I go to my opthamologist, like RobS says.

[lanceriley]

I use an aimpoint ml2. wanted an eotech but everything was too distorted. just imagine my dot in an impoint has a 1:30,5:00 and 7:00 Tail.

so what I do. I use the lowest setting I can see. Distortion is less visible. In fact I find it better to look through the rear sight. it makes the red dot really round.

I tried contacts but toric lenses is very difficult.

I always remind myself. "work with what you have and not what you need"

[Rated21R]

I have some prescription ESS glasses that I shoot with (thank you USAF) and I love them. They make the dot super sharp and since they are a transition lens I can shoot at all times of the day with no issues. You can pick them up on the ESS website in a couple different frames (I am by no means trying to sell the product for them) I have used them every day since I left home in Jan. and have not regretted it at all.

[NetJunkie]

Get rid of the Eotech. It's by far the worst I've tried. I have astigmatism and wear toric lenses. The reticule was still real fuzzy. I've switched to Aimpoints (for that and other reasons). For the most part the dot is nice and round. Occasionally I'll get a bit of a comet tail effect but it's not nearly as annoying as the fuzzy Eotech.

[rob_s]

My old glasses were transitions. Lost them in the ocean. $300 later, it wasn't worth it to me to pay for the transitions in the replacement pair. :(

[Rated21R]

My old glasses were transitions. Lost them in the ocean. $300 later, it wasn't worth it to me to pay for the transitions in the replacement pair. :(

Check the ESS site out, their transitions lenses are not near that expensive.

[rob_s]

My prescription is jacked up and the $300 is for the frames and lenses. It's slightly less without the transitions.

[teombe]

I finally got around to using this year's health spending dollars on a pair of prescription Oakley Flak Jackets. It is by far the best solution I've found (I had some older prescription shooting glasses with inserts, but they don't work well with rifles), and my aimpoint dot doesn't look like a football anymore.

[Submariner]

Next time you have your eyes checked and the doctor says you are good to go, put your Aimpoint between his testing device and the chart. Look through both simultaneously. If the dot is not crisp, have him continue modifying your prescription.

[rljatl]

What I found was that they are weighted at the bottom and that when I blinked they would have to take a split second to settle in to place.


Not anymore. Tell your eye doctor that you want to try a free trial pair of "Accuview Advance" extended wear toric lenses. You can't even tell you're wearing contacts. Take 'em out once a week over night. Otherwise, wear them 24/7 for two weeks and then throw them away and install a new pair.

Trust me, next best thing to 20/20 vision without the risk of surgery.

[thespyhunter]

Not anymore. Tell your eye doctor that you want to try a free trial pair of "Accuview Advance" extended wear toric lenses. You can't even tell you're wearing contacts. Take 'em out once a week over night. Otherwise, wear them 24/7 for two weeks and then throw them away and install a new pair.

Trust me, next best thing to 20/20 vision without the risk of surgery.

Thats sounds great. But do you still seed doubles in the optics, or did these contacts eliminate that? From the responces that I am reading, it also sounds like an Aimpoint will suit me much better due to less image to distort in the sight ( i.e. ... a single dot vs. an outer circle and a single dot )

[esskay]

Seems like people's perception of these optics can differ quite a bit due to all the variations in their eyesight. I have astigmatism and a lot of myopia, and this is my experience (same wearing gas permeable contacts or prescription glasses):
* Eotech 552/557: looks great at 1x and w/ 3x magnifier
* Aimpoint Comp M2: looks great at 1x and w/ 3x magnifier
* Aimpoint T-1: looks fine at 1x. With 3x magnifier, looks like someone put a dot of red paint on a glossy piece of paper and smeared it in the 8 o'clock direction (regardless of brightness level)

[rljatl]

Thats sounds great. But do you still seed doubles in the optics, or did these contacts eliminate that? From the responces that I am reading, it also sounds like an Aimpoint will suit me much better due to less image to distort in the sight ( i.e. ... a single dot vs. an outer circle and a single dot )

No, I don't see doubles. Even my pistol sights look sharper. Be sure to ask for a free trial pair of Accu-vues and make sure they're corrected for your prescription and astigmatism (toric). No promises, but they work for me. Let us know how they worked for you.

[thespyhunter]

No, I don't see doubles. Even my pistol sights look sharper. Be sure to ask for a free trial pair of Accu-vues and make sure they're corrected for your prescription and astigmatism (toric). No promises, but they work for me. Let us know how they worked for you.

Thanks for the info. Will report back.............

[KimberMike]

+1 for the Accu-view Torics.

[FMF_Doc]

I guess I am just lucky, I have astigmatism but it only affects my left eye.

I am right eye dominant and my vision in my right eye is good so I don't notice any distortion in my RDS unless I have it on a really bright setting, so I too use the lowest setting I can see based on light conditions.

I just wear my regular glasses and have always qualified expert on both pistol and rifle.


I am starting to notice a little fuzziness without my glasses, but I am getting closer to 40 so it is to be expected.