Firearm Training Tips: Living With Astigmatism When Using Red Dot’s, Holographic or Prismatic Optics

About 15 years ago I sadly boxed up a brand new Red Dot Optic for it’s return to the manufacturer without ever having used it to fire a shot – the reticle was a blurry burst rather than a crisp clear dot. But before I called and asked for a return authorization, I decided to search the Internet looking for answers on the durability of my new glass. And that’s when I found it: my new optic wasn’t the problem, I was.

As a test, there were two initial suggestions – look at the reticle while wearing polarized glasses or look at the reticle with the rear back up iron sight (BUIS) flipped up. Boom, the dot was nearly perfect. It appeared that I had an astigmatism – my eye or cornea was mis-shaped, distorting the red dot.

What is astigmatism?

From the American Optometric Association:

Astigmatism is a common vision condition that causes blurred vision. It occurs when the cornea (the clear front cover of the eye) is irregularly shaped or sometimes because of the curvature of the lens inside the eye.

An irregularly shaped cornea or lens prevents light from focusing properly on the retina, the light-sensitive surface at the back of the eye. As a result, vision becomes blurred at any distance. This can lead to eye discomfort and headaches.

Red Dot Sights:

The reason an astigmatism is problematic for shooters who use red dot sights is because the dot is created with a collimating minating mirror. In a normal eye, those beams of light all have one focal point  However in an astigmatic eye, those beams of light are refracted into multiple multiple focal points. The result is a blurry, distorted or “bursting” dot.

 

 

Wikipedia: Diagram of a typical “red dot” sight using a collimating mirror with a light-emitting diode at its focus that creates a virtual “dot” image at infinity.

Polarized glasses and the tiny hole in the BUIS help to sharpen the dot because both devices restrict the light rays entering your eye to only those that are both direct and parallel with the other light rays, eliminating reflections and some of the additional focal points.

Read the Remainder at The Firearm Blog

 

Practice Makes Permanent

I first heard this from a Military Drill Instructor while on the firing line a long time ago and it stuck with me…I apply it to just about every area of my life now, but especially FIREARMS TRAINING HABITS.

To me, it is the essence of WHY we should re-evaluate our combat training frequently…what could be worse than practicing the WRONG technique to the point we get GOOD at DOING IT WRONG?! On a frequent basis, we have to ask ourselves:  Are our techniques relevant to the threat level we face? Are they realistic? Are they Efficient?

It also folds over to the small minutia of training, the little things we might overlook or do so often that we don’t even think about them.

Things like:

• Reloading
• Clearing Malfunctions
• Shouldering a Rifle
• Holstering
• Clearing our cover garment (CCL Pistol/Revolver)

I will give you a great example on what I mean when i say “minutia”. When I first started pistol training with a buddy of mine, we were out on the range (the back 40) and after we had just finished a course of fire, my Glock locked back  to slide lock, empty. Since we were about to take a break, I simply hit the slide release lever and holstered my gun. My buddy looked at me comically and asked me “Would you do that in a gunfight?” I looked back at him and immediately a light bulb went off.; instantly I realized my error and what he was driving at. When we are running drills we must do EVERYTHING as we would in a real fight, even the details. If your gun runs dry, reload it. But reload it the same way, EVERY TIME. If you choose to use the slide release, do it, if you overhand charge, do that, but do it THE SAME WAY, EVERY TIME! Now for some, who do not have the luxury of the great outdoors, away from civilization like me and who must practice at your Strict local NRA or IDPA Range, where “Range Safety Nazi’s” abound, this may be hard to do, but still, understanding the mental concept and working on it even in dry fire can get you far.

 

 

In this quest to become a better warrior, the devil is always in the details. The challenge as I see it, is always to challenge yourself every day..don’t wait for somebody else to challenge you; Take a minute and apply the above motto to every area of your life and you will see what I mean!

Stay Dangerous!