Glasses wearers, unite!

My missus took mine from me on a recent night out "cos you will lose them" and she the lost them :mad:

will get new ones in new year, been using an optician in Vietnam, bit of a trek but loads cheaper :p

in reality I am there anyway so may as well get them made there
 
Im not sure I'd order glasses online with that prescription TBH. The more complex the needs, the more likely the glasses will be wrong. Bailey Nelson and Cubitts both have shops in London if you're local to there and fancy trying somewhere a bit different to the high street chains. Should work out a chunk cheaper than the usual suspects too.
 
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tek81 said:
Mind if I ask how much I should expect to pay for thin lenses? I can't seem to find a decent price list? Ideally I'd like the thinest I can get, but I have a feeling that they are still going to be jam-jar like.

Re the Oakleys: If I thought I could get away with those, I would:D
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My prescription is significantly less extreme than yours (-7.5 and -6.0 IIRC) but my lenses are nowhere near jam-jar. Polycarbonate lenses are lightweight and can be relatively thin even at a quite extreme prescription. They're also rather good at impact resistance, to the extent that it's a common material for safety goggles. That might be relevant for downhill biking, although the frame will be the weak point and they won't be rated as safety equipment. It's not all roses, though. They scratch more easily and they're more expensive. Quite a lot more - they can be double the price of glass or plastic lenses. You won't find a decent price list because opticians don't want you to know before they've got you face to face and because they don't want you to be able to compare. The last time I bought lenses, they were £210 and that was quite a few years ago. I got the frames for £10 because they were the previous season's fashion and thus practically unsellable. Fashion is a silly thing, so I didn't care. Other people can pay for their frames and treat the lenses as an afterthought if they like. I care about being able to see, not whether my frames match whatever has been made up as fashion this week.
 
Siliconslave said:
unless you're one of those annoying people that suits everything there's unfortunately no real shortcut, you just have to stand around trying on every pair in the store at least twice before picking the first one you tried.

Worth noting that you can buy them much much cheaper online BUT to combat this the opticians won't give you your PD - Pupillary distance - ie the gap between your pupils... you can self measure (or get a friend to do it for you) but mess it up and you'll feel like you're permanently drunk, without any of the positives of actually being drunk!
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Boots sold me my PD. It's not given in the standard prescription, but they sold it to me for £10. It's worth asking if it's an option. Opticians probably won't offer it to you, but they might tell you if you explicitly ask for it.

I would suggest it might be worth the OP getting a pair of glasses from an optician rather than online. Since their sight has changed significantly, it might be worth paying the extra cost. Not for the glasses per se, but for the fitting and adjustment (including but not limited to the PD).

Buying online is likely to be fine for a simple prescription when you know your PD. Otherwise, it's more of a risk. A pair of glasses that isn't quite right is a real problem when you need them whenever you're awake (as the OP definitely will with that prescription).
 
Bassmansam said:
Something to bear in mind with your prescription. Over -6 you are more at risk of retinal detachment. Physical activities can cause this, especially jolts to the head, be careful man i only recently found out being -5 and -7 myself.
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Crap, I didn't know that. One more thing to add to the myopia, astigmatism and presbyopia.

Also one more thing to add to the long list of reasons why I'm glad I live today and not in the past. I'd like to visit various times and places in the past but I certainly wouldn't want to live there.
 
Did you find anything decent for DH?

I wear glasses, and recently bought some OTG Goggles but lost my glasses in France somewhere. I want a pair of mtb specific or similar prescription glasses but getting oakley to supply prescription frames is expensive!

You can get 100% goggles at a reasonable rate from the USA, but the same UK site doesn't have them. Until then I'll just have to ride blind :/
 
I had an appointment at spec savers the other day and have managed to sort a pair of glasses. I found some decent looking Hugo Boss ones, so went with them. I've also been assured that the lenses will be thinner, albeit not by much because of my hilariously poor vision.

In regard to DH, I'm not sure what to do really. Before any of this happened I used to wear my driving / reading glasses before they were smashed. I don't fancy that happening again. I've been told I could probably wear daily lenses, but I've been strongly advised by the doc to not use any until my eyes are fully healed. In approximately two years...Wouldn't mind so much, but I built / modified a rather nice 07 Cruz Heckler for quarry riding a couple months ago. Sods law.
 
I'm due a new pair. What colour and style would be suitable for someone (me) with an oval face and slightly greying hair? I'm thinking gunmetal, rimless. I don't suit these chunky black supposedly 'stylish' frames.
 
Picked up my new and first ever pair of glasses today :cool:

The text on here at moment looks blurry and is doubled and feels like am drunk :( Maybe if I drink a few beers it look crystal clear again :p

R +0.50 -0.75 90.0 +1.50
L +0.50 -0.75 100.0 +1.50
 
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esoteric said:
Big thick Roy Orbison glasses are all the rage atm.
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Mine have to be rimless. It's all about the weight.

If you can wear something so light-weight you hardly notice them, why would you choose instead to have great big, thick rims that push down on your nose? Fashion? Lol, no thanks!
 
For such a high prescription, thicker-rimmed frames may be better.

I currently have these, and paid for thinner lenses:

https://www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/ga3049-1?sku=30470767

My last pair were more comfortable, which were half-rimmed titanium, but I'm not sure how feasible they'd be with a very large prescription even if you got the thinner lenses. My prescription is -2.25, -2.75 and I have keratoconus.
 
Bonjour said:
For such a high prescription, thicker-rimmed frames may be better.

I currently have these, and paid for thinner lenses:

https://www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/ga3049-1?sku=30470767

My last pair were more comfortable, which were half-rimmed titanium, but I'm not sure how feasible they'd be with a very large prescription even if you got the thinner lenses. My prescription is -2.25, -2.75 and I have keratoconus.
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-5 in both eyes here, and rimless with thin lenses are fine...

Ah, just seen that OP is -10. Maybe not then.
 
Simple rules to reduce thickness:

Choose a frame with centres approximately equal to (or slightly less) than your pupil distance.Frames have a measurement such as 52 - 18 - 135. The 135 is the arm length which you can ignore. The important numbers are 52 - lens diameter and 18 - bridge width. In this case if indicates that the lens centres are idea for a pupil distance of 70mm (52+18). If you PD is much less than this, outer edge thickness will increase with a minus prescription. If it is 70 or more in this example it will reduce the apparant thickness of the lens.

Choose a frame with a smaller lens diameter.

Choose a higher refractive index lens. Plastic lenses go up to about 1.74 but are costly. Glass lenses can get up to around 1.9 but are eye watering in price and can be fragile and heavy. Ignore any brands for single vision lenses. Quality of finishing from Essilor, Hoya, Zeiss, Kodak are all excellent. There are no significant differences from a customers perspective.

Unless they really don't suit you, get a plastic frame. It will hide the edge.

Ask the opticians to edge polish the lens. While it can increase internal reflections, this will be offset by the antireflective coating and will reduce the apparant of the lens thickness.

I hope that helps. I might be an accountant now but I spent a few years working in the industry and had my own business supplying glasses to independent opticians. Let me know if you want any more advice.
 
SpeedFreak said:
Simple rules to reduce thickness:

Choose a frame with centres approximately equal to (or slightly less) than your pupil distance.Frames have a measurement such as 52 - 18 - 135. The 135 is the arm length which you can ignore. The important numbers are 52 - lens diameter and 18 - bridge width. In this case if indicates that the lens centres are idea for a pupil distance of 70mm (52+18). If you PD is much less than this, outer edge thickness will increase with a minus prescription. If it is 70 or more in this example it will reduce the apparant thickness of the lens.

Choose a frame with a smaller lens diameter.

Choose a higher refractive index lens. Plastic lenses go up to about 1.74 but are costly. Glass lenses can get up to around 1.9 but are eye watering in price and can be fragile and heavy. Ignore any brands for single vision lenses. Quality of finishing from Essilor, Hoya, Zeiss, Kodak are all excellent. There are no significant differences from a customers perspective.

Unless they really don't suit you, get a plastic frame. It will hide the edge.

Ask the opticians to edge polish the lens. While it can increase internal reflections, this will be offset by the antireflective coating and will reduce the apparant of the lens thickness.

I hope that helps. I might be an accountant now but I spent a few years working in the industry and had my own business supplying glasses to independent opticians. Let me know if you want any more advice.
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Thanks, ace advice.

A couple questions if you're still reading....

"Reactions" (etc) lenses... any drawbacks to these? My eyes are incredibly sensitive to sunlight and I'm tired of squinting all the time outside. I could just get a pair of sunglasses, but are "reactions" 100% positive or are there negatives to them as well?

Peripheral vision... I can see there are wrap-around prescriptions lenses for biking, but I don't think they're good enough (correction-wise) to use as everyday glasses. There must be a reason or they'd exist, I guess. Probably maths related :p
 
FoxEye said:
Thanks, ace advice.

A couple questions if you're still reading....

"Reactions" (etc) lenses... any drawbacks to these? My eyes are incredibly sensitive to sunlight and I'm tired of squinting all the time outside. I could just get a pair of sunglasses, but are "reactions" 100% positive or are there negatives to them as well?
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Drawbacks - Can be slow to react when in a car due to UV activating the lens and car windscreens being UV coated. Also do not come in as high a refractive index as clear lenses, so will be thinker. Maximum RI is about 1.56 from memory so won't get near a good glass 1.8 for thickness. They also don't return to completely clear indoors.
 
Angilion said:
Boots sold me my PD. It's not given in the standard prescription, but they sold it to me for £10. It's worth asking if it's an option. Opticians probably won't offer it to you, but they might tell you if you explicitly ask for it.
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For 30 seconds work! You can measure yourself very easily. Market pen, glasses and a mirror.
 
ive been wearing specs since i was about 4 years old

and i am -10 and -11 as well

costs a fortune to get lenses, its either you get really thick ones , which look awful and they are heavy or pay a lot more and get as thin as possible
 
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