Goggles For Shooting?

Joined
Aug 4, 2002
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I was rewatching Blackhawk Down the other day and got to thinking about how the Army Ranger and Delta Force operators used goggles for eye protection. I've never seen anybody at the range use them, but I got to thinking they would probably provide superior protection in case of an accident.

First of all, they protect more of your face. Secondly, I've had hot brass ejected from the guy shooting next to me actually hit me in the head, and fall down between my shooting glasses and my face. Certainly if there was some sort of catastrophic failure of my weapon due to a barrel obstruction or too hot a reload, I would think goggles would provide better protection from hot gasses, splinters, etc. Finally, in a combat situation, goggles would give you superior protction from being maced, secondary projectiles coming at you from near misses, dirt being thrown in your face, etc.

What do you guys think? Any thoughts as to type or brand of goggle?

Bruise
 
Even normally I can not stand ANYTHING in my eyes. I am virtually incapacitated by minor dust, let alone a dust storm or having something sprayed or blown in my face. I am not a candidate for contact lenses by any stretch of the imagination.

I have been considering prescription motorcycle or skiing type goggles for some time. I am still in the research stage. Other people have suggested diving goggles because they are truly water/wind proof. The disadvantage would be that these would not cover/protect as much of the face as motorcycle or winter sport goggles would.
 
I got used to goggles in the service ( after laser eye surgery I had to wear them for a month they were so much better I never gave them up), Now I use rec-specs most of the time (the goofy looking glasses that Karem abdul jabbar used to wear). They are sort of a hybrid between glasses and goggles with an elastic headband that is way more comfortable when you have muffs on, and seems to help the muffs seal a little better.
 
I use the WileyX SG-1

SG1.jpg
 
Having a piece of hot brass bounce off the bill of your baseball cap and rest on your closed eye lid while held in place by your glasses really sucks. It does test your concentration though if you continue your string of fire uninterrupted :)

I really dislike having dust blown in my eyes on a windy range. Goggles certainly stop that but, unless you purchase good ones, you may not have the protection level you think you do. I personally have a pair of prescription SAFETY glasses with side shields that I wear today.

With the predecessor of these glasses, I took a piece of square tubing across the top of my nose with the bolt welded onto it smack dead center in my right eye. The lense did not shatter and spread the force out on my surrounding bone structure to the point where the contact with my eyeball was minimal. I was so stunned it didn't hurt until about 2 hours later. Thank God I wasn't wearing contacts. An eye safety gut check like that certainly skews your perspective. I am one picky bastard when it comes to glasses today and, know more about glasses and eye frames then a lot of eye glass shop personnel. FWIW, you can custom order presciption glasses like you do a good custom knife but, you have to do a lot of leg work to make to make it happen.
 
I've tried it and I cannot think of any reason to not wear goggles versus glasses, assuming that they are well vented so fogging is not a problem. Of course, the better the ventilation, the less "safe" they are. Hats pulled low over glasses are required on my range to preclude the brass - behind - the - glasses issue, but frankly this is the first I have heard of it actually happening. I teach on the range and like getting my ears and eyes off when the line is clear and can rip off muffs and glasses w/o thought. I recall getting pretty tied up in the goggles after figuring out they belonged underneath the muffs, but I could probably retrain myself.

Goggles really shine when doing shotgun training in dry weather. The dust and dirt can really fly.

I would make certain that I was wearing impact resistant goggles that were NOT waterproof. Any other type will be less protection and a fog problem. Bolles and Oakleys seem most common in the field. I do not think that the GI goggles are impact resistant and are for dust/wind only, but I may be wrong.

Thanks,

bill

OK, I've talked myself into another try at them during the next training cycle.
 
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