Are your Wiley Goggles made with safety lenses

[farmgirl]

I have recently found out is that the Wiley frames (the Blink at least) are safety frames and they need to use special 'safety lenses'. These are thick (3 mm) and because of the curve of the Wileys it is difficult to make an accurate prescription with such thick glass. I asked my optometrist if they could use the regular thinner glass to make the prescription more accurate and she said not they couldn't because the law demands that if it is a safety frame, they use a safety glass. She showed me a little mark on the upper outside corner of the glass that indicated it was safety glass.

To that end I spoke with the company in the US who made my others and he says that they are getting a machine of their own and will not longer have to send them out to be made and that they could use 2 mm (thinner) glass.

My next move is to talk to the lab here in Canada personally and find out exactly what the rules in Canada are and then start lobbying the government to allow the opths to make exceptions for medically necessary cases. Can any Wiley wearers let me know if your glasses are safety and if you have trouble getting an accurate prescription.

[spmcc]

My brother is an optician and makes all my lenses. I have Wiley Xs with reading (+3.50) and driving (+2.50) correction. The frames that I've had good, prescription lenses in are Brick and Airrage (I also have Rout frames and a bunch of 7Eyes...).

He's tried a lot of other things for me:

Years ago, he put prescription lenses in an Airborne frame, but they were SO heavy (because the lenses were SO thick) that the glasses wouldn't stay on my face. The lenses also warped the frame so I took them out and went to clear/no Rx.

More recently, he tried progressive lenses in a Rout frame, but I got dizzy because (I think) the curvature was so large that the correction was not perfect.

Right now I have 2 pairs of Brick with +3.50 correction. They are light and I wear them 100% of my computer time.

Here is what my brother wrote to me:

Many of the Wileys are safety rated. All parts of the frame will say Z87 on them and the lenses are usually monogrammed. Plastic lenses must be 3mm thick at the thinnest point but most safety lenses are made of polycarbonate which is naturally shatter proof and only has to be 2mm at the thinnest.

All Wileys are wrap frames which limit the Rx range they will hold. The general rule is the more myopic the less likely to work. Wiley won't go past -5 and even that is pushing it. Wrap lenses are almost always digitally ground.

Different people react differently to wrap lenses. Some adapt better than others with the common experience being tunnel vision. The thickness of the lenses does not affect the Rx as much as the wrap.

Some opticians will do regular thickness lenses at patient's request if they are not needed for safety.

My thought is that maybe this issue is similar to the mattress police. You know, you aren't allowed to rip the label off your mattress because the mattress police might arrest you (or perhaps I'm making light of something that isn't?)

[farmgirl]

Gosh, I wish I had a brother who was an optician. I have a pair of Air Rage with clear glass and they are better for vision correction but still not good enough that I could use the computer for any length of time or read a novel. I can watch TV with them.

My prescription is not difficult +1.75 for distance and +2.00 for reading. Cyl is -.50 and the lenses are polycarbonate. The first pair I had were better than this pair although I still could use them only sparingly for reading. My new dark lenses in the Brick frame have warped the frame to the point that there is a 3/16 inch gap in the middle between the frame and the foam insert. Kinda defeats the purpose as my eyes are so dry I even need to block the air vents as they would never fog up and this lets air in and precious moisture out.

I am sending them back to be remade since they couldn't do it here. Obviously the US is a bit more lax in that regard (re: thickness of glass) but I loved your observation about the mattress police...cracked me right up. I tried to take a pillow back once and she wouldn't let me because that tag was missing even though I had bought it that way!

Maybe I'll have to get your brother to make them if I have no luck with these guys.