wearing glasses

[remise]

I'm thinking about going back to wearing my glasses, but I wanted to get some feedback from those fencers who DO wear glasses. How do you prevent them from sliding down your face while bouting, etc.?

[kalivor]

I don't fence in glasses often, but when I do the mask tends to hold them in place. I've never had a problem with them slipping.

The hardest part is getting used to putting on/taking off your mask without knocking them askew.

[Black Jeebus]

Yeah if my glasses start to slip I just actually push on my mask a little and it pushes the glasses on the temples and they go right back to where they are supposed to be. On good nights I can actually use my chin to press on the mask which then pushes the glasses up. I'm certain I look very odd when making this head motion, but hey in the middle of a phrase I can't use my hand.

EDIT: And I have found when putting my mask on its impossible to put it on forehead first the way everyone else does. Instead I have to put it on chin first and pull it up over my head rather than down. This necessitates having the strap undone on the back.

EDIT EDIT: Oh and if you try to pull the mask off by the bib then it will likely pull your glasses right off your face, however if you pull the mask off by the tongue on the back then you'll probably get by just fine.

And as the grandson of a former glasses maker (not sure what to call that job) when you have a problem with your glasses sliding off that means you probably need new ones. If you can't get new ones go to where you purchased your glasses and they can adjust/tighten them for you so they should slip less.

[scodeb444]

I picked up a strap at the sporting goods store that holds the glasses in place when I fence. It connects to each end of the glasses and wraps around the head, and is adjustable. I haven't had a problem since I started using it.

[randomsabreur]

I've had issues wearing glasses while fencing more because of steaming up than falling off, so I went for contact lenses in the end. Agreed on needing to put mask on face first, although I have never had to undo the back strap. Also, you can't do the put mask on top of head thing, as you will give yourself very interesting scratches up the side of your nose. Mask has to come off "properly" rather than lifting from the bottome

[parrythis]

I used to wear glasses when fencing back when I was only doing foil. To keep them in place and prevent them from sliding down my nose on my sweat, I employed a variety of sports straps. The best were the elastic ones, but they are hard to find.

When I started fencing epee, I found that the occasional hit to the mask was actually causing the mask to scratch up the lens. I am pretty fanatical about the clarity of my vision for another hobby (my glasses correct my distance vision to 20/10 - I can read the bottom line on the eye chart) so even minor scratches were unacceptable. I forced myself to overcome my aversion to sticking my finger in my eye and went to the eye doctor for contacts. You should have seen me explaining to him what I wanted them for and what distance I wanted them tuned to. The only problem is, normally having bifocals, the contacts don't do a thing for seeing things at a "reading" distance. In fact, I cannot read things like pool sheets at all unless I grab a pair of reading glasses.

[ThatReallyHurt]

I've had troubles with keeping my glasses on properly during a bout, and as dumb as it sounds, I can't get the glasses strap to keep my glasses up (and level) and not pull them back into my eyeballs. I just got fitted for contacts yesterday and am wearing them right now... we'll see how it goes at fencing tonight.

[Li'l Bebe]

I can't abide wearing glasses. I forgot to put in my contacts before practice....I haven't fenced so poorly in my life. For some reason, looking through the glass and the mesh really skrewed up my distance, and made me really dizzy. Plus i had practically no perefrial vision, so my opponents could just sneak around and get me....bad memories. I strongly suggest you get contacts, if only just for fencing. I probably only had those problems becaues I was used to contacts, but I know people who made the switch from glasses to contacts, and they said it helped their game immensely.

[Joe biebel]

I had a "special" pair of glasses made just for fencing. I split now wearing glasses and contact lenses. Being a "delicate flower" I can not wear contacts for any length of time. The glasses I had made for fencing are the smallest, lightest lens and frame I could find. I had the lenses made in a single prescription (not a blended trifocal like my regular glasses) since I do not need close-up vision on the strip. These glasses are so light that they never slide or move, and so small that they do not interface with my mask. Small lenses help a great deal.

[Army Fencer]

I try to wear contacts when I fence, but I don't really wear them outside of fencing. So a lot of times, I end up at practice or at a competition still wearing my glasses.

Fogging isn't too much of a problem. The only time it's a problem is if I take them off for a few seconds and they cool down. When I put them back on, then they fog.

My glasses do slide, but I usually just pull the ear rests between engagements.

Sweat is my biggest problem. I could wear a sweat band, but I think they look rediculous.

Contacts are probably your best option.

[remise]

I've been having problems with not having enough tears in my eyes for contacts. A couple of docs have told me that I'll have to return to glasses. Walking around with blood-red eyes that try everything they can do to expell the contact lenses is just no fun - and when I'm more focused on how my eyes hurt than what I am seeing on the strip - well, I think it's time to go back to glasses.

The pain and scratchiness just isn't worth it, and drops only work for one or two seconds.

[grotto]

try rec specs, the kind for tennis, basketball, etc. these are typically formed to fit closely to your face, the don't have protruding temples to get scratched bent etc. They also take one hell of a beating without damage

[TooLoftheDeviL]

I always fence without my glasses. It's just too weird. Granted my eyesight isn't all that terrible without them.

[pacer]

I wear "lineless" bifocals for everyday use and it is impossible to fence with them, so last year I purchased a pair of small light weight glasses with only the distance prescription. I can't read the pool sheets with them on so I need to take them off for that. But when I wear them I'm always the last ready to fence because I'm adjusting my mask. So now I'm back to fencing without any glasses. My eyesight isn't that bad so I don't get a headache, I've noticed no difference in depth perception and I don't feel like such a klutz. It's just an issue I keep trying to find a better solution for since I really don't want to mess with contacts.

[telkanuru]

I fence with contact lenses. My perscription is strong enough that I can't quite focus on things 2-3m away, which is actually good, I think.

[Larrison]

I fence with glasses. Usually don't have any problems -- the padding inside the mask (Fencing Post, "JL Multi weapon mask with removeable lining") keeps the glasses in place around my head pretty well. Usually don't have to adjust them, or my mask in any way, once on the strip and ready. Glasses usually don't slide off the face, since the padding presses against the side of my head, holding the side pieces on the glasses in place. They don't jar off in rapid motion.

Now, the mask has a velcro strip on the back that gives me the most problems -- the one problem with glasses is that you can't just shove the mask up on your forehead, you have to take it off. Which means you undo the velcro stip and take the mask off. When the velcro gets old, it loses some of its stiction, and you may have to try for a few seconds to make sure it's propery reattached. The remedy for this is to lengthen the velcro strip so its not under tension when its on your head, by either replacing the velcro strip with another, or attaching one side (sew the edge to the pad) to give you more lateral coverage with the remaining part of the velcro strip.

Oh yeah -- fencing without glasses or contacts is not an option for me. If you take my glasses off and ask me to read a vision chart, my usual response is "What chart?" With glasses, I'm 20/15

[Inquartata]

I wear what are called, inexplicably enough to me, "croakies". They work great for me. The only problem is that I am always losing them at inopportune times.

The idea of putting things INTO my eyes creeps me out, so contacts are not an option.

[penguin_2000]

Somebody should make prescription lexan masks... I know that the army actually has prescription gas masks... don't see why it couldn't be done (not cheaply, though). Of course, if you're far sighted, your eyes would look HUGE in the laxan.

[WhipLash]

well if FIE mandates the use of lexan masks, you could always have it ground to your prescription!

haha...penguin...looks like we posted the same thing at the same time

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!


The Swedish army has commissioned a special model of glasses that they hand out to glasses-wearing conscripts. Those glasses never fall off and are really sturdy, so they shield the army from having to pay extra. They are also available to the general paying public, and are quite cheap. The sides of the glasses form a loop that goes around the ears, and it is springy. No matter how much you move and shake your head, they stay in place.

I tried to do a websearch for them (lumparglasögon) but came up with nothing useful. Maybe ZZ can find a good picture on the mil.se webpages. Anyway, here is a not-too-good picture of me wearing them (not fencing).



Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson