Hmmmmm.... Interesting discussion.

 

For what it is worth, I have been wearing glasses since I was 42 - that is now a period of 23 years.  I have astigmatism and am far sighted (in other words, I can't see anything).  I have watched the technological advancements in eye lens modification for many years, always hoping that there would be a solution that would not risk any loss of eye function - it's not there yet (electively speaking).

 

There are benefits to wearing glasses.  One is that I always have safety glasses ON regardless of the goofy task I am performing (chain sawing, die grinding, hanging my head out of a fast moving vehicle, etc).  New rimless bi-focal glasses with fine wire ear pieces are extremely light weight and do not interfere with other ear attachments or cause any discomfort when wearing a headset.  There is no distortion at wide angle viewing and head movement can be kept to a minimum during instrument flight. 

 

My eyes do not suffer any of the drawbacks of contact lens and when bedtime arrives, I just take the glasses off and place them on the bed stand next to my laser sighted Glock - both ready for any exigency - neither requiring the other to operate. 

 

OK, there are some drawbacks with bi-focals.  When descending a stairway, you must choose at the top which lens half to look thru and stick with that choice - switching lenses has the next stair move so your foot can't find it and the remainder of the descent is painful!  If you get to try operating a B737-200 simulator, you will fail the emergency tests because every solution is on the completely blurred overhead panel (tri-focals would help).  Occasionally I have to clean my glasses so as not to mistake a dirty spot for an incoming missile. 

 

Don't even think about variable lenses since the width of the field in focus is about the size of a newspaper column.  

 

I am not vain - I don't care what I look like, only that I can lOOk.  ;<)  Besides that, glasses make me look smarter than I am.

 

Grayhawk