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Gosh glasses are expensive

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
So I finally had my eyes checked tonight. Turns I'm near blind as a bat.

Well not that bad, but the optometrist thinks that I should be wearing glasses to drive (which was why I went in in the first place).

But like $200-ish for frames and $170-ish for middle of the road lenses. What the hell man?

I haven't bought anything yet. I don't do it on purpose....but the frames I liked the best were of course Oakley.........
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
Yep, Costco is the way to go. Buying there without any help from my somewhat-useless insurance was cheaper than going through the optometrist and using the insurance "benefit"
 

Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,681
4,904
North Van
Yikes. When I got my first and only pair, I got too caught up on how they looked. I think I spent 200 on frames and about the same on lenses. Add on the eye exam and tax and I was pushing 600 bones.

Im due for another pair since im needing them more and more. Forgot them at home today, squinted at my computer all day, and drove home with some seriously blurry vision. Annoying as hell. I need a backup pair.
 

Uncle Cliffy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 28, 2008
4,490
42
Southern Oregon
Luckily I have good insurance, so I've spent around $140 every 2 years for the last 6. Oakleys every stinking time... All the other glasses I could try were too "yuppy" by comparison.
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
So now I'm talking to people at work about it. Everyone is saying to piss on the glasses and get the laser eye surgery. anyone who has done says that their only regret was not doing it sooner. About $1000 for both eyes.....
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,194
4,419
So now I'm talking to people at work about it. Everyone is saying to piss on the glasses and get the laser eye surgery. anyone who has done says that their only regret was not doing it sooner. About $1000 for both eyes.....
I've noticed that everyone up here raves about laser eye surgery. The advertising is everywhere, which makes me suspicious.

The risks are supposedly small, but the fact that it's non-reversible and that you can be completely f'd if there is a problem, means I'd take glasses any day.

When I was in high school, the sister of my brother's friend got it. Granted this was in the early days of the treatment, but they messed up both eyes, now she's legally blind and lives at home with her parents... and of course they make you sign your life away, so they aren't held responsible.
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
Well my wife has had the fluid drained from both of her eyeballs, and then refilled with saline.....and both she and my dad have had lens implants done for cataracts.....I'm not terribly worried about complications.
 

zdubyadubya

Turbo Monkey
Apr 13, 2008
1,273
96
Ellicott City, MD
laser all the way man. both wife and i have done it. 20/15 to this day. but this topic has been covered before...

as far as glasses go... yeah, oakley frames are kinda expensive but they are worth it.
 

NuMexJoe

Monkey
Aug 20, 2007
178
2
MMike, Have your eye doc give you your prescription (they may balk, but are required to do so by law). Be sure it includes the pupil distance. Then visit ZenniOptical.com. You're welcome.
- Joe
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
Famous last words.
Check with your wife - she's gonna be the one taking care of your blind-a$$. ;)
I'm mildly worried about complications myself, considering that, uh, my entire work involves looking at things. However, I have disability insurance so I figure that if I wait until I'm an attending and then get the eye surgery then I'll be set. If I get disabled now then I'm stuck with receiving the resident-salary disability payments :rofl:
 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
23,926
14,438
where the trails are
MMike, I had LASIK about 6 years ago and went from having an 18" range of vision (blind as a bat without my glasses) to 20/15. One of the best things I'd ever done for myself, without question.

The procedure itself was weird and kind of scary, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
 

Prettym1k3

Turbo Monkey
Aug 21, 2006
2,864
0
In your pants
Watch something on the news recently. Something like 80-90% of the worlds glasses frames are manufactured in the same place - somewhere in Europe. No matter what people think, their Gucci glasses are probably the same as some random knock-offs from elsewhere.

Hence why I would normally buy my frames from Ebay for like $30, and take them down to a local optometrist and get lenses fitted fro $150.

My optical coverage blows anyway, so it's almost worth it to just pay out of pocket.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Don't cheap out on it.

You're gonna wear them a lot and will be bummed if you don't get the ones you want in order to save what is really a pretty small amount of cash. And if you only need them for driving you should be able to hang on to the frames for a long time, even if at some point you need to replace the lenses. Plus, while I can't speak for Oakley's, there is a quality difference between good and crap frames.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
My last 3 pairs of prescription glasses have been Oakley.








Thankfully my wife is a union employee and I'm the only person in the family who wears glasses.
 
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Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,681
4,904
North Van
The ones I have are kind of similar Stosh's first pair, but not Oakley and half frames. the thick temple takes away just enough peripheral vision to bug me. My next pair will have skinny temples.
 

Greyhound

Trail Rat
Jul 8, 2002
5,065
365
Alamance County, NC
I've just entered into the world of glasses at 37. It's difficult for my brain to understand why everything is now very clear. I went to see Tom Petty last weekend and realized that he's really scary looking.
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
So now I'm talking to people at work about it. Everyone is saying to piss on the glasses and get the laser eye surgery. anyone who has done says that their only regret was not doing it sooner. About $1000 for both eyes.....
And then you hit 45 and you're wearing glasses anyways because you need them to read...
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
I'm mildly worried about complications myself, considering that, uh, my entire work involves looking at things. However, I have disability insurance so I figure that if I wait until I'm an attending and then get the eye surgery then I'll be set. If I get disabled now then I'm stuck with receiving the resident-salary disability payments :rofl:
My brother had his eyes done at Stanford and they goofed. They paid to "fix" it and he wasn't charged since it was an oops, but he has a kaleidoscope effect his peripheral vision in the upper right or something in one eye. He said it was way bad the first time, now he hardly notices. But he also doesn't do much ink work since he got his eyes "fixed", either.