"Colorblind" Glasses

[StoneHendge]

8% of us guys out there are "colorblind" in some form. I've known it since I was a kid.Some of you might not even know it if it's mild (if your significant other is always telling you that your clothes don't go together, take a test). This is a question for anyone who knows they are!

I'm moderate to severe protan which means my deficiency is in the red spectrum. I have an extremely hard time finding orange targets in a natural setting with greens and browns. It doesn't help that when they use orange, they always seem to use darker oranges with high red content instead of bright hunter orange. But the orange gets completely washed out for me and I pretty much need to find the outline before I see the target color. Needless to say, it slows me down on the clock!

Wondering if anyone has tried any of the colorblind glasses out there - even if your deutan (that's more green deficient for those just perusing). I haven't had an interest in them because I'm ok with the world I see, but it seems like they could be helpful for target acquisition - even finding and seeing bare steel targets that get reddish from being weathered. I'm a little hesitant about the Pilestones since their (very short) test says I'm moderate deutan while every other test tells me I'm moderate to severe protan and they have different glasses for each. The EnChromes are returnable which is nice, but the Vinos are used by the medical community (to help protans find veins) and electricians (or so they claim). I do understand that I'll never see a spectrum that my eyes can't detect and that these types of glasses work by filtering the light they can detect. Just wondering if they've helped anyone.

[Sinclair]

StoneHendge, I feel your pain. When I took the vision test for enlistment into the Air Force, they made me take it three times. Later, a Doctor told me that I had an 'amorous color defect'?? Not a true colorblindness, just the inability to see "shades" of the basics colors. And yes, I too have trouble seeing the orange targets. Dang, why can't they just use black on white?

Anyway, I was told that the colorblind glasses only work for those with only moderate colorblindness. So, I Never tried them as I would still see colors in my special world, just shifted a bit. What I am saying, if you try some, make certain that they are returnable.

By the way, how is your night vision? Mine is well above normal. I guess being a freak isn't so bad after all!

[StoneHendge]

Thx Sinclair - My night vision used to be exceptional and would always amaze people. It's faded though as my eyes have aged and when I started having to use reading glasses. I also read that the Army figured out that we are able to detect camouflaged objects much easier. So we're actually beneficial to have around! Maybe I'll see if they'll let me be a Match Director one day and then make all the targets camo. "Stage 1 is the Woodland Camo, Stage 2 is the Digital Desert Camo......... what do you mean that you can't see them?"

[FRB6.5]

No experience with color corrective lenses but do have poor vision. What I've taken to doing is using Marine binoculars with a built in compass. I'll note the heading on my stage card along with a "descriptive" arrow as to what direction it is from the firing point and the previous target; long arrow, short, up, down, angle etc.

I had gone so far as to build a scope mounted digital tilt compensated compass but found under match pressure the arrows on my card worked faster. I can look at 2 things at once, bouncing between 3 was a bit much.

[StoneHendge]

Thanks Tim and great meeting you Saturday! That's great advice for anyone to be honest and I'll definately look into it. Would actually be great if there was a rangefinder with a built in compass - I might look into that. But to give you an idea, I couldn't see the orange plates on the Know Your Limits Rack at all. I found the 2 other targets in that stage easily enough - partly due to the white outlines, but all I saw on the rack was the straps painted white. Problem was it was right in front of creosote (I believe) which looks to me like the leaves are turning reddish green this time of the year. I just ended up shooting at points below the straps! It actually worked for the first three.....

[FRB6.5]

Nice to meet you as well. The KYL rack is my nemesis most times as well. Do let the match director know about the issues with that color. They also stopped using one shade of green for that reason as well as a light yellow that may as well have been beige for how hard it was to see.

[FRB6.5]

Regarding rangefinders, I believe the Leica 2800.com and newer series do have a built in compass but it doesn't display the heading in the device, it sends that info to a Kestrel with Link or to their phone app.

[StoneHendge]

Regarding rangefinders, I believe the Leica 2800.com and newer series do have a built in compass but it doesn't display the heading in the device, it sends that info to a Kestrel with Link or to their phone app.

That's good - I have a hard time seeing Lecla's red display against a natural field! Lol. I've always viewed that as a positive since it's saved me the temptation of buying one.. But that's cool - you can confirm distance and jot down the angle when jotting down the holds.

[another caliber]

I fail all the color blind tests, always have. I can't see any numbers in those dots. But I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Some friends at work talked me into buying some magical color blindness correcting glasses and I sent them back the next day. Whatever they fix I don't have.

[Sinclair]

I fail all the color blind tests, always have. I can't see any numbers in those dots. But I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Some friends at work talked me into buying some magical color blindness correcting glasses and I sent them back the next day. Whatever they fix I don't have.

I think that most of these types of products fall under the heading of "State Fair Midway Scams". Been a sucker more than once! Look at it this way, another caliber, you are not weird, just an eight percenter!

[StoneHendge]

But I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

I don't feel like I'm missing anything either. Except I missed a 4" target at under 300 yards in a negligible wind around 8 times because I couldn't see it!

I'm holding off for now - I've always worn blue lense sunglasses given how good they are with glare, and it turns out that they filter out red light. The desert has a lot more definition when I take them off on a hike - especially when I look at an area with creosote. The blue trail markers on my local trail even turn purple when I take them off. I'm guessing they're really purple! It's clear shooting glasses for the next match....

[D.Davis]

Another Caliber, My son is the same. Red/Green & Blue/yellow. We have not found anything that works and have talked to a lot of eye doctors. he plays baseball in college and does ok. Dave.

[StoneHendge]

Just circling back to this since some might find it useful. Since I learned that my blue sunglasses actually filter reds and my main problem has turned out to be about half of the red spectrum. I decided to try clear shooting glasses first after taking my sunglasses off on hikes and realizing I was seeing more detail in brush. I haven't had a single problem in 2 matches finding targets with clear glasses. Funny thing is that I and everyone who knows me has always thought my problem was with greens because I can often mix up greens and browns. But that's actually because I don't pick up the some of the red spectrum in the green and red mix. So for me, the grass actually is greener!

[Sinclair]

StoneHendge, I am glad to hear that you have found a work-around for your match shooting. Funny how sometimes the best solution turns out to be the simplest, or did I say that backwards?

[Growler]

SH - This is a high value thread.
My son is moderate Protan, and he uses enchroma glasses with some benefit outside of shooting sports.
My color vision is tested by FAA docs every 6 months, and is normal, but I do see stuff at night that my colleagues and friends don’t see.

My son is different. I’ve never seen a sporting clays athlete with no experience pick it up as fast. His interest will determine his success, but the potential is there. I wonder if the vision variance is related, but I will empahsize clear shooting glasses for him as an experiment.
Thanks in advance!

[Sinclair]

Growler, it is my understanding that increased night vision is a side affect of color blindness. I have no documentation in front of me, but at sometime over the years I was told that. Tell your son to endeavor to persevere. Sometimes God gives us gifts that to other are called handicaps. The ability to see objects by other means than color would be a real boon in sporting clays.

[StoneHendge]

Been meaning to reply. Sinclair, your right about the easiest solution. Now if it only work with my fading hearing, where the easiest solution is "could you repeat that". Seems to annoy some people.

Growler, if you have any deficiency, your son didn't get it from you. It's a recessive trait on the X chromosome and your son got your Y. It follows the same pattern as male pattern baldness - if ones maternal grandfather has it, there's a 50% chance you get it. If you follow the genetics where X = normal vision and x = color deficiency:

Grandpa is xY and hence color deficient.
He has a daughter so she gets his x. She's either Xx (normal because X is dominant) or xx (which is rare).
Assuming she is Xx, her son has a 50% chance of getting either. It's a boy because he gets dad's Y, so it's 50/50 if he'll be XY or xY

When it was figured out with me when I was 14, my mother said "that explains a lot of things about my father!"

[Growler]

Sinclair- thanks, he’s a handful, but a really good kid. I’ll be glad when our school starts the team up again. This pandemic has taken so much away from the kids (really all of us).

SH- that’s great to know..the boy can’t blame me for his hairline

[StoneHendge]

Eureka! I remembered reading along the way somewhere that amber glasses can be good for color deficient people because they filter blue light, thereby increasing the amounts of the other spectrums perceived. I was in Sportsman's Warehouse doing my weekly supply check last weekend when I spotted amber colored Radians shooting glasses on the rack. Fifteen bucks, what the heck, let's give them a try. Got home, put them on and the world turns amber/yellow. Well I doubted that would work and tossed them into my shooting pack. Went to the 100 yard steel range Friday to do a little positional work on the natural/weathered steel colored plates. Put on my clear glasses and then saw the amber glasses and decided to try them. The cloudless day with a deep blue sky turned into a bright world of yellow. I turned down range and WTF? The "natural" steel plates are actually painted red! I guess we'll see how they work next weekend. Maybe those targets that everyone says are purple but look almost exactly like the blue ones really are purple.

But the real moral of the story is: Not only is the grass greener in my world, the sky is bluer!

[harley66]

No experience with color corrective lenses but do have poor vision. What I've taken to doing is using Marine binoculars with a built in compass. I'll note the heading on my stage card along with a "descriptive" arrow as to what direction it is from the firing point and the previous target; long arrow, short, up, down, angle etc.

I had gone so far as to build a scope mounted digital tilt compensated compass but found under match pressure the arrows on my card worked faster. I can look at 2 things at once, bouncing between 3 was a bit much.

Same here, I have poor vision and used bino, 7x50 is obviously the standard. I’ve used loads of different brands but only recently started paying attention to names (now that I finally have to buy my own). I remember the standard Bushnells as being so-so, West Marines were garbage. I’ve used Steiner’s “marine” model and had good build quality and optics.

Well, I found little information on these particular models regarding astronomical use. I see it's not really desired in the bird community because it lacks a short focus. They are more suited to be marine binoculars. I know there's no such thing as autofocus binoculars as some vendors claim them to be, and the truth is your eye is the "autofocus" mechanism behind it