Shooting glasses

I do if shooting steel targets but don’t generally if I’m just shooting paper, I probably should get into the habit of always using them.

If I am shooting I am wearing eyes and ears; that includes hunting as well.

Should not have voted actually as I can’t see the target with out eye glasses.

Never had a kaboom but if I do, I can almost guarantee it will be the day I decide to go without eye protection.

Can't really vote because the answer is sometimes.
I never do when hunting. Safety glasses fog up on me.
If it's and old gun or load development I do.
Examples are Mauser 96 and Krag jorgensen rifles. They really are an unsafe design as far as your eyes go.

Bfh_auto said:

Can't really vote because the answer is sometimes.
I never do when hunting. Safety glasses fog up on me.
If it's and old gun or load development I do.
Examples are Mauser 96 and Krag jorgensen rifles. They really are an unsafe design as far as your eyes go.

Click to expand...

That's fair; I should add the qualifier that I don't wear eyes or ears while hunting. I'll wear sunglasses sometimes and for some reason they don't fog unless it's very cold and windy but safety glasses do. Maybe my safety glasses are just cheap and don't have the same coatings though...

I wear eye protection 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. When I started wearing glasses several years ago I made sure the lenses were impact rated. Between shooting, metal working / woodworking in the shop and just general day to day stuff I have had the lenses save an eye more than once. No, they are not OSHA approved full wrap around "eye protection" BUT they do the job!

I have been splattered by lead from fellow shooters that have decided to shoot steel way too close and without an appropriate downward tilt on the steel plate. A piece or two of the splattered lead did hit a lens on my glasses but did not leave a mark on the lens.

I had a piece of brass singe an eyebrow once when it lodge between the rim of my glasses and my eye brow.

P.S. COVID masks are miserable at fogging up my eye glasses! I hate them!

My normal glasses are my shooting glasses, they are at least OSHA qualified (most are mil-spec) with poly lenses.

Olon said:

That's fair; I should add the qualifier that I don't wear eyes or ears while hunting. I'll wear sunglasses sometimes and for some reason they don't fog unless it's very cold and windy but safety glasses do. Maybe my safety glasses are just cheap and don't have the same coatings though...

Click to expand...

I have bushy eyebrows. They don't let the humid air escape.
I usually have the front ear plugs that are on a band. If I have time they go in my ears.
After shooting a 357 indoors. I learned hearing protection is a good idea even when you're in a hurry. You can still hear with them on.

Always. And I see the "yes" votes so far are 100%.

I wear glasses whenever I PLAN to shoot.
There have been a couple of unplanned situations, though... .
I've only got one mostly functional eye and I value it.

I wear polycarbonate glasses anyway, so yes. I have a different set for Trap shooting; the Optical Center, (OC) is set very high in them, and that and having a high minus Rx makes them very thick on the bottom, and also induces about 8 diopters of unwanted prism; I have to walk with my head down, or I will walk like I'm drunk.


But they sure make the clay pigeons nice and clear.

In my experience, very few shots I have fired resulted in anything which peppered me in the face. It's a gamble I'm willing to take while hunting, for example.

On the other hand, it seems like every year or two I do catch something in the face. Whether it's something coming back from the target or something coming back from the gun, it does happen, so when shooting at the range it's not a gamble I'd be willing to take.

Having said that, though, I've known of very few shooters to take significant damage to the eyes, even though the old-timers I've hung out with came from a generation which generally used neither eye protection nor ear protection. They were all deaf, of course...

Back in the 80's, I wasnt wearing them much, until the guy next to me in a military side match had a case head separation in his Arasaka and it blew back through the bolt. He was wearing his normal glasses, and they were peppered with brass, and he had a cut on his cheek, just under them that followed the rim of his glasses.

After that, I started wearing them on a regular basis. Not too long after that, I had my Garand go grenade on me in a match and was REAL glad I had them on.

These days, my sunglasses are my safety glasses, and I wear them all the time, so they are my shooting glasses as well.

This happened not too long ago, shooting up close to the targets/berm. That is a spent round that came back from the berm and hit my glasses. If you look close above the round, you can see where it hit. It hit with enough force that it was a "shock" too, and got my attention right quick.

MikeInOr said:

P.S. COVID masks are miserable at fogging up my eye glasses! I hate them!

Click to expand...

Wear the ones with a wire in the band across the top; wear them high, and bend the band around the nose tightly. This will keep them from fogging unless you are exerting yourself. Using Cat Crap helps also.

This Cat Crap,

https://ekusa.com/product/cat-crap/

not this Cat crap;

entropy said:

This Cat Crap,
https://ekusa.com/product/cat-crap/

Click to expand...

Thanks for that!! Been looking for such a product.

I'm guessing from your avatar you have plenty of the latter.....

entropy said:

I wear polycarbonate glasses anyway, so yes. I have a different set for Trap shooting; the Optical Center, (OC) is set very high in them, and that and having a high minus Rx makes them very thick on the bottom, and also induces about 8 diopters of unwanted prism; I have to walk with my head down, or I will walk like I'm drunk.

View attachment 955900
But they sure make the clay pigeons nice and clear.

Click to expand...

Dang your a spitting image of my nephew in Delaware.

Poor guy.

He was an avid sportsman, like your self, when living in Maryland. Had land leases for water fowl and deer. Age and poor health now. Mores the pity.

I use the Wiley X brand as my shooting glasses.

At work we get safety glasses for free no questions asked. They are cheap at under 2 bucks a pair so could be considered throw away but still z87+ rated. So when anyone wants to shoot all they need is to bring their own ear pro