prescription glasses

[Squigster]

For normal wear I've got varifocals, for VDU work single vision and for fishing I've got a pair of polarised lensed glasses that I just replace the varifocals prescription insert.  All lenses are high index.
  Luckily I get cheap glasses through work and have a spare pair of varifocals that I wear with clip on lenses for evening/night fishing. 

[corsican dave]

thanks for your input folks. I was rather hoping somebody would have experience of the online providers as they're significantly cheaper than the high street. although there's probably a reason for this; there generally is!

my problem is that my prescription is so high (-8 and astigmatic) that i'm immediately dialled into ultra-high index lenses to get them thin enough. which means about £200 minimum even with the BOGOF deals (the deals only ever apply to standard lenses) ... and besides which you can only wear one pair at a time

i'll take a wander into vision express with my credit card tomorrow. they've always done a pretty good job in the past.

[shad]

Might be worth trying costco Dave, they do glasses at good prices.

[corsican dave]

Might be worth trying costco Dave, they do glasses at good prices.

cheers Colin! even they had a bit of a sense of humour failure:£200+  :shock: a feckin' Labrador would be cheaper in the long run (but still pretty shite at tying on flies)

[Lochan_load]

I've had my last 2 pairs of glasses online Dave, no problems at all. You can get your prescription for free from any optician and then just upload the data. Can't remember the website but it was quick and if your not bothered about designer frames you can get a set for about £30, not vary focals right enough, I too have an astigmatism so that wasn't an issue, hope this helps

Andy

[corsican dave]

cheers Andy! 

[Bobfly]

Dave,
I have several pairs of varifocals with some slightly older ones as spares. I use them for climbing, hillwalking, fishing and for playing badminton several nights a week. I put them on in the morning and they stay on all day and I drive and read and  tie on flies and I don't fall over or stub my toe or fall down stairs .... not when sober anyway !! (You soon get used to them.) The specs mostly come from Specsavers who do the free-in-Scotland eye testing and, as you will know, you get a copy of the prescription that you can take to another specs provider. The form will give all the necessary info except for the IPD measurement which is not required to be recorded for the NHS prescrition form. The inter-pupillary-distance sets the mid point for the lenses to be set at but another outfit can get this from either measuring you or by measuring from an existing pair. I have had two varifocal pairs glazed by a firm in Stirling who put my latest prescription into old frames that were still in good nick.
On the second point I have asked about clear polaroids, and it cannot be done without some amount of tint, so they are never wholly clear.

[corsican dave]

thanks for all your help folks!  I was in inverness this weekend so went for the "safe" option of vision express. they did their best with various deals etc, but ultimately I was better off with one pair of high-index, highly scratch resistant varifocals for £219. I may well use an online provider for a pair of fishing glasses if these work out okay, but my normal approach of otg polaroids will probably suffice....