Eye Protection question

[7-3-2 9]

Hey guys just curious as I just picked up a pair of eye glasses from the Home depot ...they are wraparound and say they are rated for CSA, OSHA, and ANSI high impact. They're really comfortable and only cost me 9 bucks! My question is, does anyone know if these glasses would be safe for use at a range? Or is there another impact rating i need to look for for range glasses?

[Malsua 1,422]

Plenty safe.

[Vlad G 345]

They'll work just fine, but expect them to get scratched, foggy, and generally unusable after some time. Eventually you'll want something better.

[dgstinner 11]

I was curious about the same thing. I wear prescription glasses but nothing protects the sides, so I bought impact-resistant safety glasses to go over my prescription glasses just as an extra layer of protection. My prescription glasses are also impact resistant but it rather scratch up the cheap safety glasses than my good eyeglasses.

[7-3-2 9]

Awesome!! ty for the replies

[bry@n 195]

There is a member on another forum that specializes in making firearms safety glasses for guys with glasses.

 

I think I will order a set from him soon.

 

 

[tommy3rd 132]

There is a member on another forum that specializes in making firearms safety glasses for guys with glasses.

I think I will order a set from him soon.

can you check if he makes kids sized ones for kids with glasses

[AnthonyG 36]

I use smith optics with carbonic lenses, I normally use them for mountain biking but use them for range too since they are impact resistant. I think though any glasses would be fine for range use because your mainly looking to protect your eyes from shells flying into your eyes. Not much protection is needed to stop that, anything else that flies at your eyes in a range, odds are no glasses will stop that. I may look into some new glasses just because I have issues with fogging with mine, haven't really found a good pair of non fogging glasses yet.

[Vlad G 345]

Your are NOT using the glasses to keep "shells" from flying into your eyes. You are using the glasses to keep high speed small particles out of your eyes. Bullets shatter on impact we certain backstop materials, steel targets, rocks in the backstop berm, etc. The resulting fragments rarely fly backwards but sometimes they do, and often you are not the only person shooting and the fragments from a different shooter my hit you.

 

Shoot long enough and you WILL be hit by bullet splatter. If it hits your skin it will feel like like small pinch, it will likely not even break your skin. If it hits your eye, you will lose that eye.

 

Additionally, guns sometime explode (because some one reloaded ammo in some foolish way), dubious origin ammunition hang fires, etc. And then someone shoots you in face with shotgun, just ask our ex-VP how that can happen.

 

You want high impact rated glasses, and the best you can afford.

[Ray Ray 3,566]

I use the dewalt sun glasses when outside and the clear ones when in doors. They cover my ears all the way to the side of my head which is perfect. 10 bucks for the sunglasses and a few bucks for the clear ones and your set. If there good enough for construction, then there good enough for shooting.

[Vlad G 345]

They cover my ears all the way to the side of my head which is perfect.

You are using them wrong

If there good enough for construction, then there good enough for shooting.

 

Sometimes that is true, sometime it is not. There are multiple types of impact ratings. For example ANSI has "base impact" and "high impact", and rarely to the $10 pairs tell you which standard they refer to when they say ANSI rating.

[Ray Ray 3,566]

I hear ya Vlad, and that's a good point. But I use the DeWalt's like everyday so it's kinda like why switch when they've protected me for so long?

[Vlad G 345]

I hear ya Vlad, and that's a good point. But I use the DeWalt's like everyday so it's kinda like why switch when they've protected me for so long?

 

 

Thats for you to decide. If the kind of shooting you do doesn't end up throwing crap back at you (like shooting steel targets does) they may last you a life time. For me, they don't.

[MedicYeti 96]

I use Walmart safety glasses. As long as the glasses meet ANSI specs they should be fine.

[7-3-2 9]

Awesome stuff guys, I think I should be okay with my glasses then ... at least until i decide I want to step up to something that defogs but right now while im saving the extra cash while waiting for my permit im sure these will be fine .... thanks again.

[raz-0 1,259]

I use Walmart safety glasses. As long as the glasses meet ANSI specs they should be fine.

 

The ANSI spec SUCKS for shooting. Period. One it is ambiguous. It has a high impact and low impact version. Passing low impact alows the item to be labeled Z87 compliant. High impact tests permit the item to be labeled Z87+. Second, it is SELF CERTIFIED. So when you get into the cheap stuff that came straight form china, good luck.

 

To pass Z87, they have to survive a 1lb pointed metal object dropped 50 inches onto the glasses on a hedform.

 

To pass Z87+, they need to ALSO pass a particle impact test with a 1/4 inch steel ball traveling at 150fps impacting 20 places on the glasses.

 

Oh, and are they frames with removable lenses? Because then if it doesn't say Z87-2 on it some place, it may or may not mean that a high velocity impact can drive the lens out of the frame and into your face or eye.

 

 

In shooting, with splatter, you may be dealing with objects similar in weight to the 1/4 inch steel ball that are also sharp and angular traveling at a couple hundred feet per second or more. If you shoot at steel plates or at indoor ranges with steel backstops, your odds of having to survive such incidents is much higher.

 

Also to note that I'm not the only one that thinks this I will present "Military Standard 662." Which actually tries to simulate shrapnel. For "spectacles" it uses a fragment simulant that is a .15 caliber cylindrical projectile with an angeled face that will dig into the product, fired at 650 fps. That's WAY more force than z87 glasses (~7 times).

 

 

Then of course there's what they are made of. Polycarbonate? Have you been using eyeglass wipes on them? Do they contain alcohol? Do you know that alcohol embrittles polycarbonate, and will reduce it's impact protection?

[djg0770 481]

Then of course there's what they are made of. Polycarbonate? Have you been using eyeglass wipes on them? Do they contain alcohol? Do you know that alcohol embrittles polycarbonate, and will reduce it's impact protection?

 

Alcohol? I just spit on them.

[Anselmo 87]

The ANSI spec SUCKS for shooting. Period. One it is ambiguous. It has a high impact and low impact version. Passing low impact alows the item to be labeled Z87 compliant. High impact tests permit the item to be labeled Z87+. Second, it is SELF CERTIFIED. So when you get into the cheap stuff that came straight form china, good luck.

 

To pass Z87, they have to survive a 1lb pointed metal object dropped 50 inches onto the glasses on a hedform.

 

To pass Z87+, they need to ALSO pass a particle impact test with a 1/4 inch steel ball traveling at 150fps impacting 20 places on the glasses.

 

Oh, and are they frames with removable lenses? Because then if it doesn't say Z87-2 on it some place, it may or may not mean that a high velocity impact can drive the lens out of the frame and into your face or eye.

 

 

In shooting, with splatter, you may be dealing with objects similar in weight to the 1/4 inch steel ball that are also sharp and angular traveling at a couple hundred feet per second or more. If you shoot at steel plates or at indoor ranges with steel backstops, your odds of having to survive such incidents is much higher.

 

Also to note that I'm not the only one that thinks this I will present "Military Standard 662." Which actually tries to simulate shrapnel. For "spectacles" it uses a fragment simulant that is a .15 caliber cylindrical projectile with an angeled face that will dig into the product, fired at 650 fps. That's WAY more force than z87 glasses (~7 times).

 

 

Then of course there's what they are made of. Polycarbonate? Have you been using eyeglass wipes on them? Do they contain alcohol? Do you know that alcohol embrittles polycarbonate, and will reduce it's impact protection?

 

What glasses do you recommend?

[LorenzoS 100]

I found the ESS Ice to be the value in shooting glasses, especially if you need prescription. They are Z87.1-2003+ and MIL-PRF-31013 rated. A single frame / lens combo is under $30. I got the set of two complete frames and lenses (not just interchangeable lenses) with hard case and other stuff for $60 after using a 20% coupon. I also ordered the Rx inserts directly from their website for another $99.

 

They are not as optically perfect as the set of Rx Oakleys I use for motorcycling, but for $150 total they are excellent. A replacement lens is under $20 so I don't get upset when it gets scratched.

 

And I was VERY glad to be wearing them the one time my friend's 1911 with his crappy reload kaboomed in my face. The question comes up of how much protection is good enough when it comes to safety equipment in many sports. It just takes ONE incident for you to be glad you used the best available rather than compromising for cost or comfort.

[joemonte 0]

I found the ESS Ice to be the value in shooting glasses, especially if you need prescription. They are Z87.1-2003+ and MIL-PRF-31013 rated. A single frame / lens combo is under $30. I got the set of two complete frames and lenses (not just interchangeable lenses) with hard case and other stuff for $60 after using a 20% coupon. I also ordered the Rx inserts directly from their website for another $99.

 

They are not as optically perfect as the set of Rx Oakleys I use for motorcycling, but for $150 total they are excellent. A replacement lens is under $20 so I don't get upset when it gets scratched.

 

And I was VERY glad to be wearing them the one time my friend's 1911 with his crappy reload kaboomed in my face. The question comes up of how much protection is good enough when it comes to safety equipment in many sports. It just takes ONE incident for you to be glad you used the best available rather than compromising for cost or comfort.

I was looking at those, where do you get them from?

[LorenzoS 100]

I ordered direct from esseyepro.com, the discount code I used was DC2002TX but I don't know if it's still good. If not, you might find another one somewhere on the web. The discount did not apply to the Rx insert. Without a coupon code opticsplanet.com tends to have good prices.

[Vlad G 345]

I'm a big fan of Rudy Project eyewear and I know a lot of others who are. They are NOT cheap, specially with prescriptions, but they are amazingly good and their warranty is fantastic, 3 years on the frames and lifetime scratch replacement on the lenses. The lenses are made out of what they call Impact-X, which is actually NXT which is the stuff out of which they make bullet proof helicopter windows. It is remarkably strong, scratch resistant, very light, can be done in photo-chromic configurations (ie: they can adjust tint based on ambient light) and now they even offer them with prescription in the shields.

 

For prescription wearers a number of their offerings can be had either with the prescription in the shield, or as inserts behind the shields. I went with the inserts behind the shields approach because it allows to switch the external shields to a different color, although in practice I use the same photo-chromic gray lenses in anything from bright sun to dim indoor ranges as they adjust very nicely, even when going in and out of shoot houses on the run.