I was browsing eye wear selection at my eye doctor's office while waiting for my appointment. Quick chat with the glasses sales person revealed to me some high end, read expensive, ballistic rated safety glasses. I wear contact lenses so no need for prescription lenses in my eye wear. The ballistic safety glasses they were recommending included frames and non-prescription lenses for north of $700. I guess my question is what does everybody use for eye protection while shooting?? Do the high end safety glasses really provide that much more clarity and safety?? Or can I just run my gas-station-sun-glasses and save the money for ammo?

Since you wear contacts, go to any sporting goods store and buy a pair of polycabonate shooting glasses. Be sure they are ANSI Z87 rated and you are good to go.

Should cost less than $20. You do not want to use regular sunglasses as the lens/frame combination is not safety impact rates and could fail.

My former job requiered safety glasses made of a plastic compound. They had on display a pair that stopped a nail from penetrating. So, that is what I wear. Light weight and comfortable.

I have had the same shooting glasses since 1987. Snap in lenses, and an assortment of colors. I need new lenses, and it is time to send the frames back for a once over. I use Decot Hy-Wyd original style. The cost should not be too bad considering you only need plano( plain).

They are in Phoenix, AZ. Very popular among trap and skeet shooters. Google them

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

$700.00 for a pair of safety glasses used just for recreational shooting?

Home Depot, power tool section, $10.00.

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Ad Astra Per Aspera

I bought DECOT shooting glasses. I met them at Shot Show and was able to be fitted for the frames and had a copy of my glasses script with me so easy transaction. At the time my wife and I took out pre tax money for health care expenses and since they were a prescribed lens I was able to pay with the pretax money.
Best money I have spent went with the best lens material to protect my eves.

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SWCA 1932 SWHF 135

Don't use gas station sun glasses, get some shooting glasses at your local gun store, or order them from Midway USA safety glasses - MidwayUSA the price range is $10 and up. Sounds to me like your eye doctor needed to make a boat payment.

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Minimize the variables

Total ripoff. I shoot a high end perscription safety eyeglass, $550 out the dorr, mostly due to the wierd perscription I have & the complex lens grinding of my glasses. They are an Oakly style wrap by Laenon. Really good non perscrip safety glasses, about $125-$150 on line.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I use Smith Optics Aegis Echo II, about $90 from Amazon, Optics Planet or elsewhere. Prices and availability vary widely, so shop around.
They come with clear and maybe gray lenses in a nice protective case, and you can also buy rose and yellow lenses separately for different light conditions, which interchange easily just by flipping two levers on the frame. The temples are thin and flat at the ears, so they slip under earmuffs without noise leaks.
The main basis for my choice was the level of protection they offer.

There are two main impact resistance standards, ANSI Z87.1 and MIL-PRF-31013.
Lots of shooting glasses boast they meet Z87.1 standards.

The Z87 impact standard involves a 1/4" round steel ball traveling at 150fps.

The MIL-PRF standard calls for the eye wear to withstand a 15 caliber, 5.8 grain T37 shaped projectile traveling at 650 feet per second. This is more realistic for the velocities from a ricochet or other flying debris when shooting.

To me, the MIL-PRF-31013 is more applicable to shooting.

Not all eye wear meets the MIL-PRF standard, and price is not an indicator. Smith Optics products meet the MIL at around $90, while Oakley does not at around $160.
I love my Smiths and feel my irreplaceable eyes are as safe as I can make them while shooting with them.
disclaimer - I have no connection or financial interest in Smith Optics
Luckygunner has an excellent article here on the topic: https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/eye...lasses-review/

Thank you everyone. All great info. I'm glad I didn't shell out 7 hundee, but I do think I will upgrade the CheapO sunglasses to ANSI Z87 approved hardware store safety glasses.

Glass frames signed by Cartier or Dior may cost more than a S & W, but wouldn’t get better vision.
I ‘m not aware of the high end spectacles advertised by people likely interested in selling them, but I suppose the issue is more or less the same.
The major concern about ballistic glasses , besides any individual preferences about lens color (neutral, yellow, rust, smoke) also accordingly to environmental/atmospheric conditions, seems to be impact resistance.
Thus, any lenses complying with Ansi Z87.1 standards is basically OK.
A further step in safety is assured by Mil 32342 (GL) standards.
UV absorption, anti fog and distortion should be secondary considerations, adequate features being rather easily reached.
Highly expensive, ultra thin , highly refractive lenses play a role in the presence of relevant sight corrective needs, that is a different issue.

I'd point out that the ANSI Z87 standard revolves around a .25" steel ball traveling at a measly 150 fps. I don't find that particularly relevant to shooting sports. If you want to avoid spending a lot of money, great. But don't think that you found magic $20 eye armor in the Home Depot.

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/eye...lasses-review/

I don't think you need to blow a C-bill on eyepro. I'm currently kicking around the eye-dea (couldn't resist) of grabbing some Wiley X Sabers. A single-color set runs ~$30, and 3-color sets go for under $70.

Oakley makes glasses for shooting and most of their lenses are rated as such.

I picked up a pair of bi-focal glasses from Dillon Precision. You can get them with bi-focal on the top or bottom, and they work well for indoor shooting at the range.

This isn't as bad as it sounds. The markup is probably not much more than the markup on the rest of their merchandise.

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Formerly Model520Fan

Agree the optician is hitting you with big time upsell.
The common Titmus industrial glasses are just fine for me.
I prefer their added side protection.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

Went to have my eyes checked at the VA clinic. Only needed reading glasses that I get cheap at Costco, so they made me a pair of polycarbonate shooters with the prescription set to focus on the front sight. Free, free, free. If you don't count that four year hitch.

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Time wounds all heels

Whenever someone says that one pair of safety glasses or another work well, I'm reminded of this:



xkcd: TornadoGuard

I mean...they're not really "working" if they're just sitting on your head.

I was browsing eye wear selection at my eye doctor's office while waiting for my appointment. Quick chat with the glasses sales person revealed to me that all she wanted to do was up-sell me on everything. Probably works on commission.

I don’t think ballistic spectacles are meant to resist a bullet shot in the face, but rather to protect from debris or splinters.
That said in advance, it may be difficult to relate the impact of a 0.25” steel ball traveling at 45 fps with that of the intended debris.
Anyway, the mil –prf-32432(GL) standard (met by the Wiley you mention) refers to the above mentioned steel ball traveling at a respectable speed of 650 fps.

Side protection is an excellent point you raised. Several frames extend their lenses laterally without any appendices, leaving a wider peripheral vision, that may be advantegeous or not depending on the situation and individual preferences.

AFAIK, most Oakley spectacles (including the spiffy Radarlock model cited by the reported Luckygunner review) do NOT meet Ainsi Z87.1 standard and only the SI ballistic shocktube (product code OO9329-04) meets the military specs standard.
Besides any price consideration, I’m not even sure whether or not the latter is sold to civilians outside the LEO/Military/Rescue personnel

Actually, I think the 25-foot #8 shot test is fairly relevant to what we want eyepro to do. Guns don't blow up gently.

And to be honest, ditto for using .22 short. That's a 29-grain bullet at 710 fps. I'd suspect that's fairly close to the velocity of gun chunks.

.22LR is probably a bit extreme, but you can buy srsbzness eyepro that will stop that.

What's more important about the more aggressive testing is showing what happens when a piece of eyepro fails. For instance, several of the glasses tested had the lenses detach from the frames or shatter backwards into the dummy's eyes. Obviously, we don't want that.

The one thing to be really sure of is the frames. Many glasses have poly-carbonate lenses but if the frames don't support the hit of an object then they may cause damage. Be sure to have some side protection like wrap-around lenses. If you shoot pistol in competition and you're on the right side of a shooter with an auto that sprays it's spent cases in several counties, this will protect a hot case from getting between your lens and eyeball.

You don't have to pay an arm and a leg for safety glasses that meet the MIL spec. I just bought a couple different styles for under $20/each.

Youth/Small Ladies, $10:

Others, $2 add-on item:

Buy early, buy often, buy a bunch, hand them out to noobs.

I have a pair of certified safety glasses from my eye-doc. They come with removable side shields. I use them for daily glasses and attach the shields at work or when doing something like shooting, reloading, or working in the yard. My insurance covered them, so it didn't cost me any more $$$

A low end Z87 pair of "Shooters" with side panels can be as low as $10-12.

However, a good fit may cost you around $20 and maybe $30 for a pair with a soft nose bridge.

Tinted lens and a case to hold all the 3-5 extra tint colors is where the price starts to climb
and getting the top brands, to show off is where you can get into $400 or more, very easy.

Pro's can write off the cost of glasses at tax time but most of use have to swallow that cost, so cost will vary among shooters and the volume that they shoot.

Flying clay particles are the main danger that I worry about..........

Stay safe.

Nice soft nose bridge, ANSI Z87.1, works with ear muffs. Thumbs up from me.


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