I’ve worn prescription glasses since junior high and I can’t count how many times they’ve protected my eyes from flying debris. Everyone involved in the shooting sports should use protective eyeware, but I’ve just relied on just my normal glasses, hardly an ideal situation. Now that I need bifocals I was even less inclined to seek out high-quality shooting glasses, but I’ve found a solution for my problem and become a convert to improved vision protection.

Tip 1
Prescription glasses and non-prescription sunglasses provide vision correction and eye comfort, but not adequate eye protection. Protective lenses need to curve around or have a side shield to offer protection from the side. Many sunglasses that do curve to the side are not made of impact-resistant material.

Tip 2
The lenses should be made of impact-resistant material such as polycarbonate, which is the most popular. It is also lightweight, offers UV protection and is often coated with a scratch-resistant material. Polycarbonate is a type of LEXAN® thermoplastic, the same stuff used to make bulletproof glass. Other acceptable materials are Crown Glass (which has less impact resistance and is heavier) and CR 39 plastic (which does not offer UV protection but is about the same weight). If the glasses just say “impact resistant plastic” or “high impact resistance” without specifying the material, stay away from them.

Tip 3
There are three major groups that set standards for impact resistance: Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), American national Standards Institute (ANSI) and the U.S. Military (Mil Spec.). Shooting glasses should “meet or exceed” least one of these standards, better if they meet or exceed more than one. If they don’t meet at least one of these standards, find another brand.

Tip 4
There are three types of ultraviolet light: UVA, UVB and UVC. Good shooting glasses will provide 99 or 100 percent protection for UVB, which is they type of UV light that causes sunburn, eye damage and skin cancer. If they claim protection for UVA and UVC, that’s fine, but if they don’t list 99% protection for UVB don’t buy them. The color of the lens does not affect UV protection.

Tip 5
Standard curved shooting glassed don’t work if you need prescription lenses. Some manufacturers solve that problem by inserting a second, prescription lens behind the tinted safety lens. It only took a short time to get used to them, and they work very well for me.

Tip 6
My shooting glasses consist of a frame with the prescription lenses fixed permanently and a set of different colored lenses that snap in and out as needed. I highly recommend interchangeable colored lenses because different colors are useful under different conditions.

Gray or smoke: Good all-around, but will not enhance a target. Blocks glare without changing perceived color.

Brown or amber: Can improve contrast and depth perception, good all-around choice for shooting or hunting.

Yellow to orange: Blocks blue light, such as on cloudy days, and improves contrast between objects. Enhances the orange color of clay targets and helps when shooting targets at night.

Violet, purple or vermillion: Can enhance orange targets against a background of green trees or a dark background.

Polarized lenses will help cut glare in any color.

Tip 7
If you only shoot in one place and under the same conditions you can get by with a fixed pair of shooting glasses. I shoot and hunt in a variety of areas and under widely different conditions. My set of glasses from Sun Buster (1966B Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735, (866) 786-2878, www.sunbuster.info) came with five sets of colored lenses, prescription bifocal inserts, neck strap, cleaning cloth and a sturdy case to keep everything secure while bouncing around in a range bag. Protecting your eyes is money well spent.

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