Eye protection and hats..

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TheProf

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Nearly injured my eye today while shooting at the range. The spent ejected brass landed on my eye!

Yes... I was wearing my shatterproof eye glasses. But the brass landed from a top-down direction and the hot brass was able to get between the lens of my eyeglass and my eye lid. If my eye had not closed fast enough, the hot brass would have burnt my eye! Been shooting for a couple of years now..and on different shooting ranges. All the safety officers have said that eyeglasses were ok for eye protection.

I'm wearing a hat next time...along with my eyeglasses.
 
You know, its funny, the only time I've ever had brass land in my eye I was wearing a hat. The brass bounced off the brim and lodged at the top of my frame....

On a side note, the only range I know of that makes you wear a hat for courses is US Training Center. The other ranges I've shot at are just eye/ear pro.
 
I went to the range in December to shoot the brand new Ruger .22 I bought myself as a birthday gift. I shot the first 8 rounds without any problem. On round #9, the casing ejected upward from the gun, hit the wall next to me and came down between my safety glasses and my right eye. It landed at the top of my cheek, right under my eye, and it took me a brief moment to realize what had happened. Needless to say, my mother, who is against my ownership and use of guns, had a field day griping at me for the burn under my eye when I visited her for Christmas.:banghead: I now wear a hat every time I'm at any range, regardless of whether or not I'm on the line shooting.
 
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I've had hot brass between my safety glasses and eye/check three times. Once without a hat and twice with. The first time I got a small cheek burn. The other two times I recognized the problem immediately and did not get burned. Since I don't wear prescription glasses my solution was to find safety glasses (and OSHA rated sun glasses) that conform to my brow close enough that not even a .22 shell will fit through the space at the top.
 
In my case, it was not even my eye. I had a .380 casing eject straight into my forehead, leaving a crescent-shaped cut that I feared would scar. (It did not, luckily.) I have worn a baseball cap when shooting ever since, even indoors.
 
I had a case bounce off a wall and get behind my glasses once. I ended up with a burn that scabbed for a few days on the outside of my eyelid.

I had the glasses tilted forward slightly so my earmuffs could seal better.

After that I got glasses with lower profile arms that allow me to get the glasses fitting almost right up to my face. I'm pretty sure the same 9mm would not be able to get in there now. I also wear a ballcap now except in the winter when I have started wearing a knit cap to retain heat better.

FWIW in my years of shooting I've never had an instance where anything hit the outside of the glasses even remotely hard enough to where it could have caused any injury... the closest I've ever come to an eye injury is the incident above, and it happened because of the glasses.

I'm not saying glasses in general are a bad idea, but I do now believe that poorly fitted ones can be just as much a hazard as none at all.
 
I learned after my first or second trip to the range to wear a hat. I started with a crummy old Bridgestone tire baseball cap. I've now upgraded to a 5.11 hat that came free with a range bag I got for Christmas. Sweet bag too.

Ejected shells land on the brim quite regularly.
 
nobody thinks eye pro is important until they get knocked, I had a friend get burned in the eye by a piece of hot brass from the next shooter over.
 
You know it's funny. I don't often wear hats anymore, but without even thinking about why, I ALWAYS wear a hat when I shoot. I keep a ball cap in my range bag, and it is part of my standard attire when I shoot. I guess it was probably to help with the sun, but this certainly gives thought to another very practical reason to wear one!
 
Can't stand wearing a hat. When I had to do rifle quals in the Corps, The hat came off, and the only glasses were sunglasses if you wanted them.

Now shooting on my own, sunglasses and ear plugs are all that get used. A hat seems to get in the way more than it ever helped.
 
Protection...

Shadow 7 D--Anything that covers up the gap between the top of the glasses and yr forehead or eyebrow, counts. I imagine that a knit hat would do that.

I've had hot brass go down my shirt, so always button up when on the range, but that's just an annoyance--what one really needs to protect is one's eyes! One of the ranges I go to requires eyewear--that would seem like a good idea. On that same (indoor) range, most of the shooters do not wear a hat of any type. Go figure.

But then, I had seat belts in my car, and used them regularly, before they were required even to be in the cars, let alone required to be used. I use a helmet when bicycle riding. Some things just make sense, whether or not The Man makes you do them. (FWIW, IMHO, The Man should shut up re: items of strictly personal safety, but that just ain't gonna occur.)
 
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I've been burned both on the top of my head and forehead from hot brass. The forehead still occurred while I was wearing a ball cap though. I guess you can only do so much without wearing a full face shield! My forehead burn happened from bouncing off the side glass - just the right angle to sneak between the brim and the top of my glasses.

Ouch.
 
I actually tend to pull my ballcap down to where the brim is essentially resting on my glasses lightly. That minimizes any gaps.

Also, I just ordered prescription sunglasses that fit close to my face all around, so I plan on using those for my shooting activities in the future. I do prefer the wrap-frame sunglasses these days.
 
It is impossible to protect yourself from every freak occurrence. But it is good to take whatever measures you can.

I always wear a hat in the summer and a Cap or Shemagh in the winter.

I will say that with a Shemagh and glasses it is near impossible to get brass anywhere.
 
TheProf

Eye protection and hats..
Nearly injured my eye today while shooting at the range. The spent ejected brass landed on my eye!
Click to expand...

Glad you weren't hurt. I never thought about wearing a hat for protection at the range, but it does seem to be a good idea. I mean I always wear eye and ear protection AND dust mask if indoor...
 
I was thinking of using goggles to improve my aim.(safety glasses seem to blur my focus a little)

I imagine they'll protect me from hot brass better, as well.:)
 
Something about this makes me think you are all just unlucky. I have had brass land in my shirt pocket, down my shirt, I have even had one land in my hand while my palm was up due to hand gestures I was making while having a conversation behind the firing line. Never had one behind my safety glasses though.
 
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