At a small indoor range w/ an old backstop I had some back splash particles hit my face. It was possible some of it hit my safety glasses. I had seen someone at this same range shooting in a bullseye stance w/ regular glasses get some splash back right to the side of their glasses, almost reaching their eye.

Back when I was involved in professional lawn care it became mandatory that we wear eye protection. They had side protection or wrapped around. I was mowing at some condos and something kicked out of the mower, bounced off a tree and hit me in the wrap around area, almost knocking them off.
Outside the house I'm almost always wearing tinted wrap-around z71+ shades.

I use my ordinary everyday polycarbonate prescription glasses because they offer fairly good impact resistance.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If they are not wraparounds they do not offer full protection. I had some spalling strike the side of my shooting glasses and bounce off. They are rated to withstand a 22 short.

I always wear appropriately rated eyewear when shooting.

It's been a long time, but I was once shooting at metallic plates at 25 yards at an indoor range. Shooting FMJ, I got hit in the face with womething about an inch below my right eye. It stung, and when I went and looked in a mirror it was bleeding, but from a very small cut.

After a week went by and it hadn't healed completely, I realized that something had penetrated. I removed a curled piece of copper jacket, pointed on one end, shaped like a cone. It was 1/4" to 3/8" in length, and I'm sure it would have done a number on my eye if it was an inch higher, had I not been wearing proper eyewear.

This was long enough ago that I'm sure they were just "steel", and not AR500 or anything special. When steel gets damaged, dimpled, etc., I can attest that stuff gets slung back with great force.

Just started wearing my regular glasses as my eyes seem to be getting worse.

I cannot wear them while shooting a pistol or any kind of magnified optic. Red dot or holographic sights are fine.

Always.

Back in 2009, I was test firing my newly acquired M1 Garand from the CMP.
In between shots of the 2nd enbloc, I see a huge puff of smoke in front of me.
Below is what I see...



(Best we could tell, the op rod spring was worn out. It lacked sufficient power to chamber the round, which caused it to hang up just outside the breach face. With the round out of place, the extractor hit the primer just right to set the round off as there was no firing pin dent.)

After that, I got real serious about eye protection.

I'd always worn Oakleys up to that point, which say they meet ANSI impact standards. After that day I made sure my shooting glasses were ANSI Z87.1+ certified.

(Not to mention catching my fair share of steel frags shooting competitively over the years.)

Current shooting (and yard work) glasses are ESS brand glasses which are ANSI Z87.1+ certified.

I spent so much time on the firing line doing training, and then working in the woodshop, that my everyday walking around prescription glasses are Decot HyWyd shooting glasses. The plus is that I can swap lenses for skeet, or for pistol sights depending upon what I am shooting. I have never had a gun blow up on me but have been hit in the face enough times with backsplatter, percussion cap fragments, pieces of clay target, brass, and even bird shot that I would never be without them.

My Rx glasses are polycarb, but I also wear safety glasses over them.

Two is one. One is none.

I shoot Skeet. BTW, specifically Beretta Shooting Glasses. I hate eyewear with a frame above the eyes, it really screws up the sight picture for High 1. Lots of bits of Clays flying around on a Skeet Field. Took a hit dead smack the the center of my left lens with a 1 inch chunk moving at about 50 mph one day. Without eyewear that would have been a trip to the hospital at best and loss of vision in my left eye at worst.

IMO anyone who does not wear protective lenses is not just a fool, he is also someone too stupid to be handling a firearm.

I answered "always" and "yes", but technically lied on the yes.

The incidents, plural, where my eyewear has saved me from, at the very least, something hitting me in the eye has always been while doing yardwork, which I also always wear shooting rated glasses for.

I said "always", although it's more of a 97% of the time, because I can't say that I've always worn shooting glasses. Since I got Lasik, yeah, just about every single time. I'm at the point where I need glasses to best see my red dots now, but just got fitted for contacts so I don't have to go with non-rated eyeglasses again.

And I definitely have had times where eye protection saved me.

Once at what was, I believe, the second ever SIGForum shoot, I got smacked right in the eye with a big ole chunk of lead core coming off a target.

After a bunch of close range shooting at steel with frangible ammo, there were enough scratches on another pair of eyes that tell me exactly what would have happened to my real peepers if I hadn't been wearing protection.

And at another class, I caught a fragment of jacket in the eye pro that ended up cutting my face too.

Three incidents that very much would have caused injury without protection, to say nothing of gasses, etc. blowing in the face from suppressed shooting.

I use to shoot with just clear safety glasses that had a gap between them and my face. With those glasses I had 22 brass bounce under my glasses and burn my check under my eye. It stuck there after removing the glasses. Left a scar for several years, i think the scar is almost gone now.

After that incident I bought better glasses that closed the gap between my face and frames. I always wear those now for all my shooting. Have not had anything bad happen since getting that new pair of glasses.

100%. Once had brass come back at my face and strike the eyewear. Left a small mark on lens and I still have my eye

I’m not a pansy so I don’t need eye protection.

Just kidding- I’m pretty hardcore about always wearing something when there a chance of flying debris (shooting, yard work, etc). I’ve not had a close encounter like others have had. I’m just not keen on losing one of the only eyes I’ll ever have. I can’t say that I always wear impact rated glasses though.

I’m a taser instructor and have had people roll their eyes at me for stopping instruction until everyone put safety glasses on. I figure it’s easy and cheap prevention, plus it would be on me if someone were to get hurt while not wearing protective equipment.

Yes. I have to wear ANSI Z87.1+ glasses when out in the field or near locomotives/cars. As a result I have a bunch of wrap-around pairs floating around. They double as yard work glasses (when using the string trimmer, edger, or chainsaw).

Same goes for the range.

I even have several nicer pairs of polarized for driving.

Never. Just my prescription eyeglasses.

Yes. My glasses have protected my eyes many times from shell casings flying back.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Never. Just my prescription eyeglasses.

Yes. My glasses have protected my eyes many times from shell casings flying back.

I have an old pair of prescription eyeglasses that have become my handgun shooting glasses. They've got a divot in the center of the left lens (a scratch) that's semicircular and was caused by the mouth of a .380ACP case. The glasses stopped it nicely, but they're polycarbonate. That's all I use for prescription glasses.

Always.

I have landed on my final preference. Smith Optics. Started with their ballistic goggles. They are great. They fog in certain conditions because they are goggles. So I also have the same brand of their Aegis II ballistic eyewear. I use one of them for lawn work as well. Good wrap around and good protection.

Oakley SI Ballistic M Frame.

Voted always, no, but have taken frag in the face within an inch or two of the glasses. Better to have and not need…

I've been lucky that I haven't had any shooting related incidents but I've had all sorts of junk ping off of my glasses while weedeating .