Shooting Glasses Question

[Foxhound]

I am thinking of buying a new pair of shooting glasses. Those I have owned in the past have all been inexpensive with either yellow or green lenses and bought mostly for eye protection and not optics. Glasses made by Decot and Randolph Engineering are'nt cheap but look to be very well made. Those are my top two choices for now. What do you guys wear and why? What color lenses for what conditions? As always, any information will be appreciated.

[Twice Barrel]

I am wearing a pair of Randolph Aviator's with clear lenses as I type this. Got started wearing these when I was still flying helicopters in the Army...liked them and haven't changed in 20 plus years. Before I needed the dreaded bifocals I wore and still do sometimes use lightly tinted (neutral gray) Ray-Ban light frame Aviators with prescription lenses.

[Stan Hillis]

I wear Pilla brand, and have for about 6 years. Although I like aviators best, they no longer make that style, so when I bought a new set last spring at the Ga. State Championships I found a style that resemble aviators but, without rims and larger lenses. They do great for competition with the orange enhancing lens coatings, and I can change lenses if I want to use them for hunting, or on an overcast day. Very, very good glasses. OBTW, they used to be called HiDefSpex.

Stan

[Researcher]

I started with the Bausch & Lomb Aviators, then wore Decots for about twenty years, but then an eye doctor I shot with was selling Randolphs and I've been wearing them for the last 15 years. My head seems to prefer the Randolph frames.

[studdog]

Randolph Rangers, Light yellow, light purple and burnt orange lens. LIght yellow all around conditions,Light purple for clays against green background. Burnt orange for bright days. Had Decots, they were good but like Rngers better.

[DarylC]

Best advice is to go to any big shoot and locate a vendor selling shooting accessories then try on different lens colors looking at targets against various backgrounds. Everyone's eyes react to different lens shades in a different manner. Give your eyes with the different lens about 10-15 mins. to adjust to them then try another set. Just remember you want the maximum amount of light to reach your pupils without causing discomfort or squinting. Also try to find polarized lens. They really cut the glare which enables you to wear a lighter shade which allows more light to reach your eyes and transmits more visual info. You get what you pay for so don't go cheapo.
Daryl

[Foxhound]

Thanks to all. I appreciate the info. I will do some more online research. So far all I am sure of is I want interchangable lenses.

[eightbore]

Well, then, your choice is easy. Randolph or Decot. I have the Decot frames I bought more than 30 years ago and the Randolph frames I have had for about 20 years. I'm not sure the lenses fit back and forth between the two frames, but I suspect they do. In the last 20 years, I have not had to use my backup Decot frames because the Randolph frames have never broken or given me a problem. By the way, until the last five years or so, I would normally shoot three or more days a week and still shoot one or two days a week.

[budrichard]

"Well, then, your choice is easy. Randolph or Decot."

I don't think so.
I have used shooting specific script shooting glasses for 35+ years. I started with B&L glass, heavy and only comfortable for a few hours. I used Transition lenses for a variable tint as I do not like false colors for any type of shooting be it Clay or real birds.
About 8 years ago I made a search of what was available and who was a capable fitter, which is almost as important as the brand. The usual Optometrist shop usually has no idea of the needs of a shooter. I found Alan Lehman of Lehman Optical out of Arizona who travels in a Motor Home to various State Trap meets around the country fitting shooters. Alan recommended Post-4 Optics which makes there own Titanium framed Shooting Glass. The first pair we made was in Transitions tint and then a subsequent pair with DriveWear, a changeable Polarized tint. All lenses have a bifocal and we even made a pair of DriveWear lenses for fly fishing with the maximum magnification in the bifocal area for tying on flies. The scripts were all developed in combination with my OD doctor as I explained what the various needs were.
I can only tell that the Post-4 glasses are light, comfortable, the lenses easily change and I use them all the time now as I have no other glasses. I am going to get one false tint lens for shooting Clay rabbits as I have a hard time picking them out of the green grass.
I would put as much effort into finding a capable glass fitter as I would in the brand of glass.
Good luck!-Dick

[eightbore]

I looked at the Post 4 website. It seems like a good product.