Prescription (diopter) safety glasses ??

[Bill White]

I see them advertised/offered in catalogs often enough. Anybody have any comments or observations?
Bill

[Mark Engel]

You can get safety glasses made to your prescription pretty much anywhere that makes prescription glasses.

If you are looking for bifocal safety glasses, Rockler has them.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10343&filter=glasses

I have had a pair for a couple of years. They make it easier (possible) for these old eyes to focus on close work.

[glenn bradley]

The cheap ones are just that and only good for occasional use. I do have a pair of cheap ones from McFeely that have the stronger lens above as well as below. I use these for looking up at close range when required.

My daily safety glasses are prescription and although not cheap, they are one of my favorite things. I no longer have to remember where I set the goggles down and I don't have to struggle with them over my Rx glasses. I just put my glasses on when I go in the shop and leave them on till I'm done.

[Rick Gooden]

I'm with you Glenn, Rx safety glasses are a tremendous convenience. I got some @ Sam's for less than $150 with transition lenses. Put them on when I enter the shop and forget about it.

[Joe Unni]

After struggling with several different solutions, I finally bit the bullet and got a pair of prescription safety glasses. Some of the best money I've spent!

-joe

[Brian Dormer]

Most Optometrists can make prescription saftey glasses. My local place does. Don't know if the big chains (Perle, LensCrafters) do or not. Wouldn't hurt to ask them.

They are well worth the money.

[Jim Becker]

There are some online sources for having "cheater" or bifocal (with prescription) safety glasses custom made...and those are much more comfortable to wear than the very inexpensive ones sold by many woodworking retailers. My next pair will be ordered this way since my previous supplier (Duluth Trading) stopped carrying the better quality product I currently wear. Just do a Google search for "Prescription Safety Glasses" or similar.

[Mark Carlson]

I just got a pair of safety glasses (cheaters) from duluthtrading.com with a 1.5 Diopter. These are very nice. I think I paid around $30. You can get 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 diopters.

~mark

[Jim Becker]

Mark, the issue I have with the current offering from DT (whom I am a very good customer of for clothing...) is that the "cheater" portion is way too small on the lens. The higher quality glasses they used to sell had the entire bottom of the lens "cheated". The same feature holds true for almost all the pre-packaged safety "cheaters" I've seen on the net and in stores.

[Greg Cuetara]

I have added this to another thread but I will say it again. Wal-mart has a prescription safety glass program where you can get the lenses for like $10 each so $20 for the pair and they have frames which are very reasonably priced. I think I got mine for around $50 or $60 total and they are very good quality product. The safety glass program that they have is the same lenses used in other frames which they sell for much more than that but because they are going in a safety glass frame they make it a special price. Anyways I am happy with mine.
Greg

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I too got mine from Sam's. I just took in my prescription from my ophthalmologist and got no line bifocals with side shields for less than $150. I really like them!:cool:

[Jim Becker]

I have added this to another thread but I will say it again. Wal-mart has a prescription safety glass program where you can get the lenses for like $10 each so $20 for the pair and they have frames which are very reasonably priced.

But one would have to shop at Wal-Mart in that case...:o

[Thomas Canfield]

A word of caution about the catalog bifocal plastic safety glasses. I have purchased 3 pairs that are "OK" for reading, but the focal point does not work well for working and the bifocal area is rather small. I had some trifocal safety glasses made that have larger bifocal (+2 diopter) and the trifocal (+ 1 diopter area line) and they have worked well for all around work including turning, table saw, drill press, and band saw work. Try the "over the counter" safety glasses if you can. I ordered mine through the catalog or probably would not have bought them.

[Greg Cuetara]

Very true Jim. There are many options out there. You just need to choose which option is best for you and your family.

[Steven Wilson]

My first pair of prescription safety glasses were bifocals, I really didn't like the location of the bifocal line. My second pair are just my distance measurement and that works great for almost every operation in the shop. For close in work where having a bit of magnification would be great I just use a pair of flip down magnifiers. I use a +2 lense in the shop and a +3.5 for fly tying and rod building.

[Roger Bell]

Don't spend a lot of money of prescription safety glasses with plastic lenses........only to turn a piece with wet CA glue still in it.

[Brad Knabel]

I bought my prescription safety glasses online at http://www.39dollarglasses.com. I needed standard vision which were about $70.00. They also sell bifocals at about $110. They've been great so far - my only complaint is that they don't fit into the supplied case when the side shields are installed.

I also bought an inexpensive pair of glasses to use as backups in case I lose or break my primary pair. I actually like them so much that I alternate between wearing my original glasses and the backups.

I found the site via a blog at http://www.glassyeyes.com where customers rate their experiences with various online providers. 39dollarglasses ranks pretty high, but their prices are a little higher than some of the others.

It was a bit of a leap of faith for me to buy prescription glasses online, but I've been happy so far.