Yup. I wear glasses.

And I'm nearsighted enough that it's a condition on my driver's license.

So as a RLSH, if I'm gonna wear a mask... I can't drive. Regular glasses and hero masks just don't work that well together. I can see well enough to get around, but I'd have to get close to read street signs and whatnot.

Therefore I've been entertaining ideas to get around this detriment.

I thought of laser eye surgery. It's getting affordable now, could probably do both eyes for a little over a thousand bucks. Problem is, my night vision may get shot to hell (though improvements in the technique have been made). Also, it's either laser eye surgery or my RLSH budget. Can't have both. I'm thinking it's more wise to wait a few years on this.

I heard of special goggles athletes wear to either protect their glasses, or have special goggles with their prescription. Anyone heard of those? Maybe I can integrate one of those into a mask?

I've also considered a monocle as part of my RLSH persona, yet I've never seen one at a local Lensecrafters. Would be handy, wearing it as part of a dress uniform, or bringing it out on patrol when I do need to see something. I wonder how expensive they are?

Any other ideas?

well there are special security glasses you can wear over your normal glasses. Perhaps you can use those as part of a mask ? I wouldn't recommend Contact lenses though, if something goes wrong you might end up with one getting stuck in the corner of the eye or perhaps even worse....I myself can see decently enough without my glasses, so on Masked patrolls I'm not wearing them. Have you concidered wearing customized sunglasses ? (although this isn't practical at night)

I'd have to say no to custom sunglasses. Good idea, but night time is the most likely time I will be on patrol. I work during the day, you see.

Optimal would probably be to order prescription ballistic goggles that are vented well enough to not fog up... eh, or get surgery, I guess.

Contacts are a possibility but introduce health risks of various sorts.

I personally use ballistic goggles with prescription inserts because I conveniently already have those from doing a million army things over the years. With my lightweight balaclava and/or helmet they look *kinda* cool. If I don't have a helmet or mask on I just wear regular, but sturdy, glasses, no matter how superheroic it doesn't look. When I find a nerd strap somewhere I'll pick a couple up for that, too.

(I don't suggest you buy inserts, though, because if you're going to do that why not just by goggles with prescription lenses? Of course you *could* buy a bunch of goggles and swap the inserts out [you usually have to do a little customizing for that, though... and note that recently applied superglue near your eyes sucks])...

Oh... and depending on what you use, get some anti-fog lens cleaner/spray.

Prescription ballistic goggles? How much do they usually cost?

These seem like they would work for about $150 -- not counting any expense of getting a written prescription to give to the vendor: http://www.tactical-store.com/ts-bs-rx-bsg.html

I wear Wiley-X's, but not prescription ones (my inserts are free): http://www.wileyx.com/prescriptions/prescriptions.aspx?ActivityCode=CORP They offer prescription ones on this web site, but I didn't see a price.

Also note that "ballistic" doesn't mean these things are bulletproof. It's like to protect your eyes from ejected brass while shooting. So they're "tough," but not like kevlar.

Oh yeah, I understand that. I've had a few friends who are hobby shooters.

Thanks for the info!

i use contacts when im out. i hate them but without them or my glasses i cant read anything.

Thanks for the goggle links... Id like to get a pair of those for RLSH work... cause wearing my glasses sucks at times.... Gotta give props to DRock for bringing up the monocle!! That would be a cool gadget to have just because... well, when was the last time you saw a guy wearing one in real life?!?

well I got the same problem, im not as nearsighted but I wear glasses all the time so I came up with a brilliant solution: just wear your glasses on top of you mask!!! if you take a lycra mask and then you put your glasses on top but make little customed holes near your ears so the glasses can fit in. then you got it all done..

then you can get one of those glasses that shade under the sun and become clear at night..

also you can sew a spare pair of glasses on the mask...I think it haven´t been done (except for me) but its a cheaper way to do it!!!!

Actually I think DC Guardian's mask has lenses sewn into it -- don't know whether they're prescription or not, but the design is about the same either way.

you are right, I forgot obout him....sorry dc!!!!

Cheeeeeeap: http://www.amazon.com/Shamrock-Lacrosse-Optic-Pro-Polypropylene/dp/B00005UVOG

Hey Drock.

Being nearsighted on patrol would really cramp anyone's style in a hurry.

I would propose disposable contact lenses. Relatively cheap and if a problem happens, well they're called disposable for a reason.

And I would carry your glasses in a hard case when on patrol as a backup.

But the monocle idea is stylin'.

BOOSTERMAN

I'm wear contacts, but I also use a set of heavy duty goggles, which in all honesty could probably hide my glasses if I decided to wear them.

You can always custom build some goggles so that they conform to your features and glasses - little bit more effort, but not really too difficult or expensive (elastic band + lenses + fasteners).

You know, I never thought about it before, but I can't think of a single comic hero who needs prescription glasses. That's kind of strange, I think, given how many people wear glasses. I mean, you have all sorts of blind, deaf, wheelchair-bound, etc comic heroes, but no one who is near-sighted? Bleh.

One thing I was thinking, if I ever adopt an RLSH persona, was buying a separate pair of glasses for my persona. My guess is if I shop around I could find a cool/neat looking set of frames that I could never wear every day with my normal persona.

I got one Gray - Cyclops! He HAS to wear glasses or his powers will fry everyone.

As for the glasses issue IRL...You could go with a helmet and visor like I did...or you could get a pair of those over the glasses sunglasses like old folks (and Cyclops in the X-Men comics) wear.

Gray, Spider-man did for a while until they transitioned from Steve Ditko to John Romita as the artist and Romita stopped drawing in the glasses... then I think Stan Lee gave out a no-prize to somebody who explained it as gradual healing from the radioactive blood thingie...

:/

I ignored all the answers above me and scrolled to the bottom so I apologize if this has been covered.

If I'm note mistaken LensCrafters sells prescription rec-specs that look something like these