Recommended
Shooting Glasses
As
stated before, there are a number of shooting glasses manufacturers
on the market today offering several different models and designs.
Those manufacturers include brands like:
- Decot
- Knobloch
- Oakley
- Randolph
Ranger
- Tasco
- Wiley-X
-
Zeiss
Rather
than go through all these manufacturers and give you an opinion
on each one, we'd ask that you utilize the information provided
on the pages about:
Once
you've reviewed that info, take it and assess the brands that
you are interested in. See how they stack up to the recommended
criteria. If they don't stack up, I'd consider eliminating them
from consideration.
A
few important points:
As
you review your choices, you are going to see several brands
that are designed on the metal "aviator" style frames
made very popular by Ray Ban™ . Be cautious with these
brands, especially in the area of eye coverage. In most cases,
this style won't offer sufficient protection for the sides of
the eyes.
I don't mean to harp to this topic, but please take advice from
someone who learned the hard way. Back during my law enforcement
career, I routinely wore the Ray Ban Aviator style sunglasses
on duty. We were also allowed to wear these style glasses during
firearms qualifications. While qualifying with semi-auto pistols
during a day qualifications course, the officer to my immediate
left ejected a 9mm brass cartridge that came flying towards
me from my left side. I never saw it until it entered past my
sunglasses (through an unprotected side area) and struck the
outside edge of my left eye just inside my eyelid. Although
I was fortunate enough to escape permanent injury, I did have
to have an eye surgeon removed small debris that was embedded
in my eye from the impact. I also sustained a significant scratch
to my cornea that took about 4 weeks to heal and required an
eye patch for several weeks. That one close call was all it
took for me. Please don't make the same mistake I did.
Although
money will always be a factor, please consider purchasing some
quality shooting glasses that will offer adequate protection.
Ask yourself the following question:
Would
you rather take a ricochet round in the eye area wearing some
quality high impact polycarbonate lens that cost you $50.00,
or would you rather be wearing some no name, un-rated plastic
pair that cost you $8.00 at the hardware store?
Our
Recommendation
Don't
want to do your own research and want to know what we recommend?
We'll be glad to help.
Before
we start our recommendation, I wanted to let you know that we
fully research and test all products that we recommend. No matter
how popular the item is or how much money it makes for us, we
will not recommend or carry that item if it doesn't pass our
evaluations or standards.
With
that being said, Ed and I highly recommend a shooting glasses
system made by a company called Eye Safety Systems
or ESS for short. ESS specializes in eye protection equipment
for the military, fire, and law enforcement. Traditionally they
marketed their products to only those three markets, but have
now started selling to the civilian market.
ESS
manufactures an outstanding line of shooting glasses called
the Interchangeable
Component Eyeshield
system or ICE system for short. It's a complete high performance
component based eyewear set-up designed for high intensity eye
defense in any light conditions. It's also one of the best eyewear
systems Ed and I have ever seen at an outstanding price.
Notice
the word "system" in there? Take a look:
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The
system is built around a set of three (3) interchangeable
2.4mm high-impact polycarbonate lenses.
The lens come in clear, amber, and dark gray for use in
any light conditions. All 3 lens offer 100% UVA/UVB
protection and are 100% ANSI Z87.1 & OSHA standards
compliant. (Do any of those terms sound familiar?)
The
lens are so sturdy that they can stop a shotgun blast
from 30 feet. It’s the only eyeshield on the market
today that passes the rigorous MIL-V-43511C .22
caliber ballistic impact test. |
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| The
frameless ESS ICE design allows for an unlimited field of
view. The adjustable temples can be made longer or shorter,
and have custom fit ear bends to fit any user. The lens are
setup for quick change. The temples and nose pad can quickly
be removed and replaced on another lens.
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A rugged
carrying pouch that comes with:
- divided
lens pockets
- A belt
loop
- A handy
clip attachment
- An
ESS Clear Zone fog repellent cloth
- Snap-on
neck leash
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| In
addition to all that, the ICE also has 2 different optional
prescription lens carriers accessory
which are sold separately .
The Wire
RX Carrier is a frameless design that supports prescriptions
up to +/- 5.
The Nylon
RX Carrier is a rugged framed model that supports
prescriptions up to +/- 11.
The ESS
ICE Rx Lens Carrier snaps into the ICE nosepiece for a low
profile, lightweight prescription integration. To utilize
the Rx carrier, simply take it to your eye care professional
and have them insert your prescription lens into the Rx carrier.
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Some
common questions that we get are:
How
do you change lens? The frame arms and nose piece snap
right off the frame. It takes about 3 minutes to change lens.
Here's a picture of how it's done:
How
do you use the prescription insert? It's pretty simple
actually. Take the insert to your eye care professional and
have them insert your prescription lens into the carrier. Then
insert the carrier into the ICE nose piece, and you're ready
to go. Here's a picture showing how that's done:
Now
you're probably saying "Nice set-up, but how much?" That's
the great part. The entire ICE package is $47.00.
The optional prescriptions insert is an additional $27.00.
You
may also be thinking that $47.00 is an awfully low price for the
ICE package, so something must be wrong. Actually, in terms of products,
the ICE system is still fairly new to the shooting glasses market.
As a result ESS is trying to establish brand recognition and gain
a foothold in the shooting industry. I'd imagine the price will
go up once they become more popular.
One
of the amazing parts of this system is the optional Rx carrier.
Think about how much money you'll save over typical prescription
shooting glasses. Let's do the math on this.
| The
ICE system |
$47.00 |
| Rx
Carrier |
$27.00 |
| Prescription
lens |
$50.00 |
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$124.00 |
On
the prescription lens cost, I estimated on the high end. Ed had
his prescription lens done on his vision plan for $35.00. So for
$90 to $115 dollars, you have a set of fully functionally prescription
shooting glasses in 3 different lens tints. Take the $90 to $115
dollars invested for the ICE with prescription inserts and compare
that to the $200.00 to $350.00 that you can expect to pay to have
a pair made with ONE lens tint.
Ed and I fielded tested a few pairs and found them to be an
excellent performer on the range and in the field. We were especially
impressed with the outstanding value, especially when compared
to similar shooting eyewear on the market today. How impressed
were we? So impressed that we became a distributor for ESS.
If interested in more info or purchasing a pair for yourself,
please click this link for ESS
Shooting Glasses. We have the ESS ICE in stock and ready
to ship. If you have questions, comments, or prefer to order
by phone, please call us via our toll free line at 877-486-6111.
Whether
you decide to go with the ESS line or not, please take the time
to appropriately protect your eyes.
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