VLOG • Lets Talk Archery Glasses

If you’ve been looking for some archery specific glasses to aid you on your quest to become a better archer, you have come to the right place. X Sight glasses were originally designed for archery by archers to help address the problems many of us face when using normal sunglasses for archery.

Recently Sara Sherman, a competitive target, field and 3D archer from Anchor point Passions in the USA reviewed our new 2RX model. Sara’s Youtube channel features a variety of comprehensive videos on what it takes to become a competitive archer as well as some reviews and advice on kit and setup.

As a long time user of our glasses, Sara was super excited when we asked her to review our new model and make a video for you guys on the features and lenses for archery.

The vast array of lenses released with the new 2RX model can be confusing to a first-time buyer. How do you know what they really look like and what effect they have on the target? Ultimately the best way to find out is to try them for yourself, but the next best thing is to watch a video on them. In this video Sara goes over all the new features of the 2RX and the lenses to highlight what benefits they have and what situations you should use them.

How do you change the lenses?

One of the biggest changes for this new model is the way the arms attach. These arms are connected by a magnet. It’s really easy to change lenses. You open up the little magnetic clamp on the arms and slide them into the channel on the lens and they attach with a click. Since they attach by the magnet, they feel sturdy. You don’t have to worry about scratching your lens when you attach them, and you can easily change lenses in a matter of seconds without having to touch the lens at all.

How do the arms adjust?

Another great feature is that these arms are adjustable. You can have the arms angled straight, down, or up.  If I’m just wearing these lenses as sunglasses, I like to have the arms straight. But if I’m wearing a hat, or shooting, I like to angle them down because I can get a little more grip from the arms onto my head.

What’s new and what’s different from the original model?

In the video Sarah covers various differences between the original model and the 2RX from the packaging to the included accessories and new product features. Some of the key points to takeaway are as follows:

“The geometry of these lenses is a little different than the original model. They wrap around your face a little more than the original lenses did which provides even more peripheral cover and protection when your shooting. The ventilation bar across the top helps eliminate any fogging and stops you from pushing the lens onto your forehead which reduces smudging to lens, but it also has a dual purpose to hold the new RX prescription insert. This is new feature introduced to enable shooters to use the 2RX with their prescription. It’s really nice to use. It comes with comfortable nose pads and the attachment is really easy to fit through the ventilation bar. This enables you to move your prescription lenses from lens to lens.”

Nose Pads – To use or not to use?

“Another cool feature that is similar between the originals and the 2RX is that they come with little nose pieces. I wouldn’t suggest wearing these nose pieces when you are shooting because they can obstruct your aim a little bit, but that’s why they detach so you can use the lens without them. Ultimately that is the core feature that makes these glasses suitable for archery. But they can be used as normal sunglasses or for other sports with the nose pads attached and they add some extra comfort. Everyone is different, some people will be able to sue the nose pads, some wont. So, its optional.”

Dual purpose glasses for archery & clay shooting

Another difference is that these lenses are thicker than the original model. This is mainly because X Sight has also designed these glasses for clay shooting. They had to meet the lens standards for shooting, but they are nice and sturdy for archery as well. So, if you ever want to get into clay shooting and archery, you can use these glasses and lenses for both sports and know your eyes are well protected.

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HD Brown Lens

This lens is really amazing because this is both a lens that you can shoot with and you can use as sunglasses. They are great when it’s really bright and you’re really squinting or if you are shooting directly into the sun. This is the darkest lens that they have in stock. This colour only lets in 5% of the sunlight, but don’t be worried that you might lose some saturation when looking through them. That is not a problem when using HD Brown. The longer you wear them the more clarity you will see. These lenses are able to make what you’re aiming at look more defined so that’s really great help for people that are shooting longer distances.

Ultra-Blue & Ice Blue

Ultra-blue is a lens brought forward from the original series. Since it is so blue, you will see things quite differently down the range. These lenses dull out every colour other than blue and yellow. All you’re really going to be focussing on when you’re looking at your target is the gold. This is a really great choice for indoor and outdoor shooting on a full colour face. These lenses make black seem even darker so they could also be good on NFA and field targets that are blue and white or black and white, so you get some contrast between the white and darker colours and make the target lines more distinct. The Ice Blue has a similar effect as the Ultra-Blue, but it is lighter making it is more suitable for shooting indoors or on duller days outdoors.

Vivid Green

I was most excited about this new lens. This lens acts like the Ice Blue and Ultra Blue in terms of how it makes the gold pop, but the effects are more subtle than the Ultra Blue lens so you don’t completely loose the red ring or any sighting tools that also happen to be of that colour spectrum. They are a darker shade making them a great choice for a brighter day. As a compound archer, I really like using these for a WA50 round. Any target that has a yellow dot will stand out. If you are shooting in a bright indoor hall on colour target faces these lenses can help with focus.

XTRM Yellow

This is an amazing lens for archery! It is really vibrant which makes everything seem a lot brighter. The yellow also enriches the whole target face and makes the gold pop.  It is a good lens for low light conditions, or even at the end of the day when the sun is starting to go down. These lenses can help extend your shooting time. When the sun is going down, normally that’s when you stop because you don’t have any more light to shoot with but these lenses make the target and your surroundings seem brighter. These lenses are good for shooting field as well because they help bring out the whites in contrast with the black rings on the target face as well as improving the lighting conditions helping you focus better in the woods.

Amber & XTRM orange

These lenses are good for 3D and field archery. One of the really great qualities about this lens is that they are good when you’re shooting in the woods or shaded areas. The conditions for field and 3D archery are often dark and this lens really helps make targets pop in the shade and make the surroundings appear brighter. Amber is a fusion of XTRM Yellow & XTRM Orange. It takes qualities from both and combines them together. Being an orange lens, this can also make yellow pop out. So, if you have some mid to low light conditions and you feel you would shooter better with some brighter lenses, these would be the lenses that you would want to shoot.

Deep Purple

This is just a really good all-around lens. It is a richer, darker purple than the original purple. This colour is really great for mid light conditions. Not too sunny, not too shady. When you put them on, they are great in that they darken your surroundings whilst also keeping them bright. Since these lenses are purple, they help take our green light which can highlight your targets. So, if you are shooting outdoor, or 3D in a field this will mute the background and deepen the colour of the sky. If there was one lens I would wear all day this would be the one because the green muting capabilities make this a relaxing lens to wear, but the yellows, reds and blues are more saturated so you can be more focused on your target in those mid light conditions.

Neon Pink & Vermillion

These lenses are really cool, because they heighten yellow, red and orange colours. The Neon Pink is a really bright lens, so this is a lens to use in low – mid light conditions not in the sun. It can be really great for archers shooting longer distances. For recurve archers this lens is great if you want to make that yellow dot look a lot larger. Since it heightens the yellow and the red, those 2 colours almost mesh together. It will make what you’re aiming at appear larger which can help you focus on your technique rather than your aim. Aiming is important but not if your technique suffers as a consequence of over aiming. When the target is so small, aiming at the middle with a relaxed floating aim and releasing with good technique is better than getting the pin dead centre and releasing with bad technique. This lens is also really great if you’re struggling with a bit of target panic because you’ll be focusing on the red and the yellow as a whole which is a larger spot that you can aim at.

It can also be a good lens for field, 3D and the hunter as well because this is a bright lens, it will bring out contrasts between the blacks and the white so you’ll be focussed on what you’re aiming at.

The vermillion lens is a much more subtle experience of the neon pink with, but they do share some similar characteristics. Vermillion is nice and relaxing on the eye on an overcast day when you need a lens to relax your eyes, but nothing to dark.

Clear Lens & Light Yellow

You’re probably thinking, why would I ever need a clear lens? I specifically ordered this lens because I’ve often been in a situation shooting where my conditions are perfect. I don’t need sunglasses, or any target contrast, but it’s raining or its windy. So these lenses are great when you’re dealing with conditions like wind that can dry out your eyes or irritate your eye lashes. This lens is great to protect you from the elements without giving you a colour that you have to look through.

The Light Yellow lens is a much more subtle version of the XTRM yellow lens. It is not that far from being clear, but it has properties that brighten up the surroundings a bit. I like to wear it during competitions if it is raining or really dull.

Some words of advice when trying lenses

Just remember that your eyes need to adjust when you take these on and off! Don’t assume that what you see initially is how you will see 5 minutes later. The effect of all the brighter lens colours is immediate and that can be quite a shock to your vision, but the effects decrease over a few minutes as your brain adjusts your vision to the new filter. It’s better to put lenses on a little bit before you start shooting to give your eyes time to adjust. The first time you try a lens colour on it can seem quite intense and you may think it is too strong, but it’s surprising how good your brain is at readjusting the colours over time to enable you to see more. Everything starts to look quite normal and you almost forget that you are using a lens filter all together. Equally, when you take them off your eyes will need time to adjust back to normal. So, for example a lot of these lenses filter green light quite intensely. It isn’t till you take them off after you’ve been wearing them for some time that you realise just how much green light was being blocked.

One final bit of advice. Wear a hat…

We’re archers, we love a cap or bucket hat! But there are benefits to using them with archery glasses. It will give you more shade from the brim which will help your eyes relax even more. Not only that, but it will remove any internal glare on the lens from the sun above, which will improve the overall optical experience using the glasses.