Glasses for a person who doesn't really need them?

[.JahJahwarrior.]

So, I have decent eye sight. I don't know what it is, but I am sure it is not 20/20. It's pretty good, and I do not need glasses. However, I have some tests coming up which let me use a 3x5 card, and I was thinking about getting some glasses which would magnify things just slightly so that I can write in a really tiny font but still be able to read the card easily with the glasses. I wouldn't wrote so small that I needed the glasses, just so that I could read it more easily with the glasses. I was mostly thinking about it as a joke, but I've realized as a bicycle commuter recently that some form of eyewear might be nice to have when riding in a slight rain, or even on windy days. Today's rain just made me think about it more: I'm sick of raindrops making me squint.

Can I get some glasses which would offer some modicum of protection while riding a bike, which also magnify things ever so slightly, almost like reading glasses?

I'm actually the lucky one in the family, my dad wears some pretty thick glasses and my mom wears some pretty strong reading glasses almost all the time now

 

[pac-a-mac]

You can buy glasses purpose built for cycling they wrap around so that the wind does not burn the eyes. If you are UK try Wiggle.com if not Google will do it. i would have thought wearing lensed specs if you dont need them will make your eyes lazy. I don't know.

A good style tip is to keep an eye open for BMW drivers. Check out their specs...and dont buy that type... you will look like a complete prat.

 

[rpaloalto]

I would not under any circumstance, use glasses that magnify my eye sight. When riding a bike.
Can you imagine smacking your self into a stopped car, and saying to your self

''Gee I thought I was further away than that''

Like pac-a-mac said, get your self some good non image distorting riding glasses. Or even a good pair of lightly tinted sun glasses, for biking.

For your up coming test. Just go to cheap drug store, and buy some simple reading glasses.

 

[EricNau]

I don't suppose you've asked an optometrist?

However, it sounds like a pretty bad idea.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I was mostly thinking about it as a joke, but I've realized as a bicycle commuter recently that some form of eyewear might be nice to have when riding in a slight rain, or even on windy days. Today's rain just made me think about it more: I'm sick of raindrops making me squint.

Can I get some glasses which would offer some modicum of protection while riding a bike, which also magnify things ever so slightly, almost like reading glasses?

I'm actually the lucky one in the family, my dad wears some pretty thick glasses and my mom wears some pretty strong reading glasses almost all the time now

I wear glasses and have done so since I was seven; I also used to cycle a lot in a wet climate; you may squint a lot with (relatively) good vision in the rain, but I assure you that rain teeming down your glasses' lenses makes you long for the invention of windscreen wipers for spectacles. Glasses will not aid your vision on a bicycle in the rain, believe me. Glasses and rain go well together peering through a window of a car/bus/train, or walking under the cover of an umbrella.
Anyway, my advice, for what it is worth, is to get your eyes tested properly by someone who is qualified to tell you what you need. Then you will be better placed to decide on what to do.
Cheers

 

[NightFlight]

I don't suppose you've asked an optometrist?

However, it sounds like a pretty bad idea.

Sounds like a terrible idea...

Go to an optometrist.

 

[me_94501]

So, I have decent eye sight. I don't know what it is, but I am sure it is not 20/20. It's pretty good, and I do not need glasses. However, I have some tests coming up which let me use a 3x5 card, and I was thinking about getting some glasses which would magnify things just slightly so that I can write in a really tiny font but still be able to read the card easily with the glasses. I wouldn't wrote so small that I needed the glasses, just so that I could read it more easily with the glasses.

See an optometrist, as the others said. Also, once you start wearing glasses, your eyes can become dependent on them, thus weakening your vision further.

 

[Abstract]

See an optometrist?

This guy doesn't need an optometrist to tell him that wearing glasses while riding his bike in the rain is a bad idea.


And buying glasses because he wants to write smaller on a 3"x5" card for a test? Waste of money. Not necessary. Won't help much. People don't have trouble seeing really small writing because their eyes are bad. They have trouble because human eyes, regardless of how perfect his/her vision is, have trouble discerning detail from small things. It's a physical limitation that isn't caused by having "only" near-perfect eyesight.

Thirdly, glasses for cycling are available without a prescription, and would be far cheaper. They're clear. You can even choose to buy sunglasses that only block out 40 or 50% of the light, unlike regular sunglasses which block out 86-92% of light. This would allow you to continue riding when the sky becomes very cloudy and dark, or when you ride into a shaded area where visibility would be quite low if normal sunglasses are used. Photochromatic sunglasses, where the tint of the lens changes in bright and dark conditions, would allow for something like 75-92% blockage of light.

 

[cosmokanga2]

I wear glasses and have done so since I was seven; I also used to cycle a lot in a wet climate; you may squint a lot with (relatively) good vision in the rain, but I assure you that rain teeming down your glasses' lenses makes you long for the invention of windscreen wipers for spectacles. Glasses will not aid your vision on a bicycle in the rain, believe me. Glasses and rain go well together peering through a window of a car/bus/train, or walking under the cover of an umbrella.
Anyway, my advice, for what it is worth, is to get your eyes tested properly by someone who is qualified to tell you what you need. Then you will be better placed to decide on what to do.
Cheers

^^^I agree 100%. I've worn glasses since I was 5 and have done extensive bicycle around Canada, and the one thing I wished for was wipers on them. Don't get them unless you need them.