Shooting glasses while hunting?

[RNB65]

How many people wear eye protection while hunting?

The reason I ask is because one of my brother's hunting buddies lost an eye on Thanksgiving morning when a shotgun barrel split while duck hunting. One of the guys in the group said he was having trouble with his shotgun and this guy picked it up and fired it. The barrel burst and a piece of steel pierced his right eye. Ugly...

I'm always pretty fanatical about wearing both eye and ear protection when I shoot. Better safe than sorry.

 

[mswestfall]

I was headed to hunt deer in IL a couple of weeks ago and was looking for a "justification" for wearing shooting glasses. I kept making excuses like color distortion, fogging, etc.

Thanks for the reminder.

 

[PJR]

I wear prescription glasses so wearing my shooting glasses while hunting isn't much of a bother. They offer better protection than my usual glasses and because the tint of my shooting glasses was selected because it picks up orange clay targets better, my glasses are excellent for spotting hunters wearing blaze orange.

Hearing protection however isn't something I use in the field. I want to be able to hear what is going on around me.

 

[Oldnamvet]

I wear eye and hearing protection while hunting. My hearing amplifiers cut off and actually protect my hearing when a loud noise hits them. Eye protection is handy when moving through brush. It is easy to get a stick in the eye or have a small branch whip back against the eye.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Good idea. I've had friends lose parts of hunting season by getting "Twigged". And, I've been sprinkled with shot on dove shoots.

Since the cataract surgery, I've had 20-20 vision with a little astigmatism. I need glasses to read and 'pute by.

I had two sets of shooting glasses made. One set is in grey, the other pale yellow. Gray for sun, yellow otherwise. Polycarb lenses in the same aviator style frames as my reading glasses.

 

[byf43]

First, sorry to hear of your brother's hunting buddy. Honestly.

As for safety glasses while hunting. . . .

Fortunately, my company has a safety eyeglass policy. We can get 'Plano' safety glasses whenever we need them. At NO cost.
Prescription safety glasses are available 'free of charge' for certain frame styles, with 'more expensive frame styles' available for a heavily discounted price.
We can get new lenses (if prescription changes) every year, and new frames and lenses on the above 'schedule' every two years.
These include bi-focal and tri-focal lenses. No-line bi-focal lenses (progressives) are available for pennies more.

My safety glasses w/progressive lenses and 'executive' frames (their name) for $50.00!
IF they break. . . they are replaced free.

So yes, I wear safety glasses while hunting. While on my local sportsman's club range, eye protection (and ear protection) is MANDATORY.

Thanks for reading.

 

[TX1911fan]

My first year dove hunting, I wore sunglasses and no ear protection. This year, I wore shooting glasses and ear protection. What a difference. Shooting glasses made seeing things, especially in the early morning, much easier. I was also dusted by shot from the other side of the field, and had one ping off my lens, so I'm glad I was wearing them. As for the ear protection, it was nice to not sit there during the quiet times with a ringing in my ears.

 

[pdowg881]

These things are good to know because I am going to take up hunting and I was hearing from mosr people that eyes and ears just get in the way.

 

[hockeybum]

true story

it was about 3 in the morning. the seven of us got up, as usual, dressed, and headed out to the boat ramp. it was opening day for duck season. we're on the water at about 4 a.m. and at our blind by 5. we're in our waders, and tubes and waiting for the sun to come up.

the first hour went perfect. we had about 10 - 15 ducks on the water. at about 7 a.m. two ducks came flying in the gap between two 15 year olds and a 40 year old. the two teenagers were on one side and the man on the other. The teenagers had been told not to shot anywhere in the direction of the blind. they always made sure not to shoot that way, but one time, they forgot, and shot low at two mallards. the pellets continued to fly, past the ducks, across the open water, and 3 of them into the man's face. one above his right eye. one below his right eye. and and one into his cheek. the man was not wearing safety glasses but got lucky because the bb's missed his eye. he had to be taken to the hospital, where the doctor said that, if those pellets around his eyes, were any lower, or higher, he would not be able to see out of his right eye right now.

PLEASE, PLEASE always know whats around you and where your shooting.

1 in a million chance. it only has to happen once.

 

[CNYCacher]

For deer hunting I keep a nice clear set in my gear. If nothing else, they make walking through thick brush much easier. Or walking through ANY growth in the dark.

 

[Srigs]

I do for upland bird hunting. Bushwacking through brush and trees it pays for eye protection for that alone.

 

[scooterthegreat]

Because I cannot function without my prescription glasses, the only safety glasses that I have been able to wear are the bulky ones that fit over my glasses. I hate the minor distortion that they give and therefore have not worn safety glasses for hunting - only for competition shoots.

However, since I broke my current pair and am now sporting the "black shrink wrap look" on the bow, I ordered new glasses and went with full safety frames and lenses. Now I will always be covered.

 

[FieroCDSP]

I couldnt help but put my two cents in. I don't do a lot of shotgunning, but I fire a lot of handgun loads. Between dirty powders blowing in the wind and the occasional casing that comes flying back over the top of the slide, I have decided to always wear eye protection. My biggest problem has been that I don't have the money for prescription safety lenses, and the only ones I could fit effectively over my lenses were the goggle style, which fog up. My solution was to find a pair of conventional yellow-tinted shooters glasses with the full side protection, and use my drill press to cut a pair of slots for my eye-glass frame's ear-piece hinges to slip into. It's polycarbonate, drill it slow and it won't crack. Now the safety lenses lock onto my eyeglass frames more securey than they would stay on someone else's head.

 

[Steve C]

If you wear prescription glasses, esp if the lenses are made from plastic or polycarbonite you have a lense that usually exceeds the impact resistance of a typical pair of safety glasses. Safety glass frames are made to minimum required impact resistance while the ones you pay $100 for are much better. Other than the lack of side shields you are pretty well protected with regular glasses. It makes good sense to wear some kind of shooting glasses when hunting if you are lucky enough not to need glasses or if wearing contact lenses.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

These things are good to know because I am going to take up hunting and I was hearing from mosr people that eyes and ears just get in the way.

Sure enough, just like the four safety rules and all that other garbage that keeps you from being a real man and hunting like your ancestors. Heck, some people take it to such extremes that they won't drink more than a six pack while hunting - lightweights, I tell you. Lightweights!

Seriously, I do not get it. Why do such folks think that just because they are "hunting" that somehow various rules and precautions relative to safety are somehow on hold or otherwise don't apply? Of course, they are probably the same folks who don't wear safety glasses when using power tools at home, don't turn off the electricity when installing a new ceiling fan, and answer the front door with their fly down.

 

[Guntalk]

My personal rule is simple. I don't pull a trigger without wearing glasses. Period. Anywhere. Anytime. Never, ever.

 

[ArmedBear]

Two reasons: my own gun can malfunction, and I can get peppered.

Getting peppered with birdshot is just an annoyance, unless it hits your unprotected eyes.

Sorry about your friend. What kind of gun was it?

 

[farscott]

I always wear glasses, so wearing shooting glasses is second nature to me. I really like the Rudy Project prescription goggles and glasses as I can swap prescription inserts and colored shields as need be. They are a bit expensive, but I only have one set of eyes.

 

[tuna]

I wear prescription glasses, and the extra that you pay to have your glasses and sunglasses "upgraded" is well worth it. My regular and sunglasses are safety rated.
My first handgun (a .25ACP - don't comment), when I first started wearing glasses (off and on) sent a piece of brass into my glasses lens and cracked it. I was 13 or so, and have NEVER shot without glasses again.

 

[Robo_Railer]

I thought it was this thread where someone posted the link to SafetyGlassesUSA.com and some over/under bifocal safety glasses. It may have been another thread, but they were the "Olympic 30-06 Dual Segment Bifocal Readers" from Smith & Wesson. (A name I know and trust. ) Those or a custom configuration look like something I should invest in.
My VA-issue bifocals may have safety lenses, but they don't provide side protection. The lower section is great for focusing on the front sight, but the head position required gets uncomfortable pretty quickly.
Since my eventual job description will probably include stompin' through the woods, and I don't like getting "twigged," there's another incentive. I also sometimes spend quality time around power tools on the job, but I'm not sure if I can get my employer to spring for anything with prescription lenses.
I was thinking of making up a "range set," with clear, amber, and grey lenses, plus protective bags for the ones not in use. Elvex had a nice kit in their UniWraps line, but they don't fit over Rx glasses.

 

[hockeybum]

it was a 12 gauge, either a charles daly or a remintgon 1100, not sure which one of them hit him, they both shot... i dont wear safety glasses but i do wear a hat with a bill, and always keep my head down after i hear someone shooting

 

[KarlSG]

I guess I am one of those delinquents who does not care for his safety too much. I use shooting glasses when testing or chronying new loads at the range but not for hunting. I guess I grew up without the idea of eye protection and must have put enough thousands of rounds downrange in the army without shooting glasses, with all different types of firearms, some clogged up with whatever I just crawled or fell through , not to care.

Safety though it can be made to sound the be and and end all in any argument still comes down to choice.And it depends on weighing risk against convenience and personal enjoyment levels.Shooting glasses from tested loads in a tested firearm in the great outdoors aren't my choice.

Where I am there is more chance of being bitten by a deadly snake out hunting than losing an eye, and I don't wear thigh high jack boots for that either. And probably statistically more chance some other guys vehicle plows into mine and kills me on the way to the hunt, but I still risk the drive.


Karl.