To those with astigmatism- what made red dots usable for you?

Did wearing your glasses work for you? Contacts? Differing prescription levels? ....or nothing helped at all?

I hear some people say adding a magnifier turned the dot into a real dot for some with astigmatism...but wouldn't wearing your glasses have the same effect?

If you could; say if you are near or far sighted and if wearing your glasses helps you see a 'dot' instead of a blob...

Looking at my Aimpoint T1 and Pro's in my garage, the beam looks like Haley's comet.  Outdoors, it is not that big of a deal.

Your eyes dilate indoors making the beam look worse (if you are old and have astigmatism).  

So, it is not as bad as you would think.

yeah I have to agree when I first got my red dots I was like holy hell this is a blur not a dot. My right eye is worse than my left and I have a pretty bad astigmatism in the right. Two things happened when I finally got to the range number one I found out that when I keep both eyes open I see double targets downrange ugh. i was really excited to try both eye open because of how much my vision improves vs just the right eye open.  

Honestly I find what works best is just turning the intensity down enough to the minimum.  And I use Aimpoints.  Nice clean dot.

Eotech's "ring of fire" is so distracting I'd be lucky to notice a charging rhino while looking through it.

Proper prescript--and take the thing outside with proper ambient light.

Changing dot intensity did not help me.  Using the smallest dot size works for me.  Also the problem is much less outdoors in daylight, increases indoors or at night.

I went to the eye doctor and had some intraocular lens implants implanted into my eyes.   What a difference!!  Colors are colorful now, images are much sharper and well defined.  I have no trouble with my red dots or iron sights now.

You guys aren't helping

Quesiton is: to those with prescription glasses, does wearing them make a red dot clearer or not!?

I have astigmatism in both eyes, and wear no line bifocals to compensate.



I have a couple of Aimpoints, and an EoTech and 3X magnifier.  I use them both while wearing my glasses with no issues.



The Aimpoints will bloom at full power especially at night, but I have a guess that on full power they might do the same for someone with perfect eyesight.

YES!!!!


See above "A Proper Prescript"

All my aimpoints used to have a blur extending out from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock. Wasn't an issue outside.

A year and a half ago, I got Lasik and the blur went away from all of them. Perfect dot now.

Sure.  The issue is caused by uncorrected astigmatism.  The closer your astigmatism correction is to being perfect, the less the issue will present itself.

Maybe take the sight in with you to the eye dr and use it to check your prescription.

Glasses defintrly help clear up the dot on my Aimpoint Pro. I'm planning on getting LASIK soon and hope that will make it even better.

Another thing I found that REALLY clears up the dot is to look at it through the rear sight. Why this clears it up i font know but it works.

Looking thru a pinhole or rear peep sight or a small pupil opening at night gives better vision because the small opening limits the number of light rays that can strike the retina from any angle but straight on. Astigmatism causes light rays to strike the retina at multiple points instead of a single point of focus which is necessary for perfect vision.

A doctor has you look thru pinholes during a vision test. If you see better that tells him its a problem that can be helped with corrective lenses. If you don't see better there is something wrong with the eye that corrective lenses won't fix. If you see better thru a pinhole get to an optometrist, he can help.

Unless you have very extreme and or irregular astigmatism corrective lenses can easily improve or eliminate the problem. My Eotech reticle is 98% clear now with the right lenses.

If you are over 50 your vision may be limited by a cloudy lens (cataract) or the capsule the lens sits in. Cataracts can cause red dot problems also. Cataracts are much more likely to cause star burst rays, halos or fog around headlights/street lights than astigmatism. If you live long enough you will get cataracts. Fortunately for about $3K per eye you can get a nice new clear lens installed.

Bottom line is get an eye exam so you know what you are dealing with. Griping, guessing and trading off red dots with out an exam is wasting your time and money.
If you are over 50 I recommend seeing an ophthalmologist (medical doctor) instead of an optometrist because your eyes need to be dilated with drops for an in-depth exam.

Yes, for me and probably many.  It is not clear cut, black and white, if that is what you are looking for.  Glasses can help mild astigmatism.  It will depend on how bad your condition is and how successful your doctor is in correcting it.  Works for me, less so for others.  You will not get a blanket answer, sorry.

A tad bit clearer to my eyes when the glasses are on, but once the shooting starts I dont notice it unless its at night cause that makes it worse.
 




 

Yes with an astigmatism in my right eye, prescription glasses help my eyes see the comet as a star or dot.   Its a big difference.

This is also true for other light sources at night. (Street lights, stoplights, car lights, etc etc). A red dot really isnt that different in this regard.

I am slowly transitioning to ACOGs because of my vision. Had lasik back on 2000 and now have an astigmatism in my left eye that gets worse every eye exam. To the point that I can no longer see a 10x12 target at 100 yards with a RDS shooting support side.

Sucks getting old

Rob

My solution was a TA33.

My vision isn't bad without glasses minus the astigmatism and putting glasses on just to shoot is so I fixed it another way.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

I just got my first Pro and mounted it a couple weeks ago. The dot was nice and clear, looked great. The next morning after spending an hour or so on my laptop while wearing cheapy reader glasses I picked up the rifle, sighted, and saw not only a comet in the PRO but a red line from 10 to 4. I was pissed off.

I've grabbed the rifle every morning since, and other random times, look through it indoors and outside before doing any PC stuff and it's GTG. I've figured out since that if I use my readers for an extended period I get a comet in the sight.

I don't know if that will help you any.

This.
Or go to 1-4 scopes, acogs or prismatic, because lenses don't allow the effect.

I stopped trying to use my RDS as a precision scope. The rifle it's on is for minute of man work.

If I need to get precise, I pull out the AR with the magnification.

I know the 3 gunners want a gun that will do everything well. I don't buy it.

I still see some bloom at night 1-4s, magnifiers, and ACOGs.

 

Yes....

Took my micro with 2MOA to an eye exam showed it to the eye doc (who is not a shooter) then drew a picture for him of what I saw .....
He looked through it and drew me a picture of what he saw (he also has an astigmatism)
Then he corrected my vision for the astigmatism as best he could
It's not perfect but its useable and way better than what it was before the script change

My perscrip didn't help me. 1-2 moa dots are not too bad but just enough to annoy me. I now use magnified optics with a Burris FF III piggybacking.

Here's what you'll get.

When you wear glasses (for near-sighted correction), especially those that are of high prescription, everything is reduced in size. Not by a significant amount but enough to be obvious. This will translate to a smaller sight picture (especially on scopes) and it will seem like you have a reduced FOV.

Contacts seem to alleviate this problem to a degree.

Also I see Eotech and T-1 dots perfectly with glasses or prescription eye wear. Those of us who are not seeing dots or reticles properly may not have their astigmatism properly corrected.