Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

[Stories]

Hi,

Just thinking about changing over to shooting glasses for Skirmishing over the summer and looking for some opinions on what's good and what's not, what's the best cost v's performance.

I've always used goggles, in my mind something completely sealed and strapped around you head makes far more sense from a safely point of view, but I tend to suffer from fogging over the summer months, hence now thinking about getting some glasses (and having never looked into them, hence looking for some opinions).

Not interested in mesh, got to be clear/polycarb.....

What are you using and why? Any issues with glasses falling off, bb entry from the side/top/bottom?

Cheers,

matt

[Fizzy]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

The ESS Ice and Revision Sawfly always seem to get good reviews, and can be had cheaply enough as they're MoD issue so can be had from surplus stores or eBay

I use the older ESS Ice 2.4 which I've had, ooh probably 10 years now. Think I paid about £20 for them, with case, cleaning cloth and 3 lenses

They do fog occasionally (but that's down to the person wearing them, as much as the glasses themselves) and I have had a BB hit enter inside, but it had hit the side and most of the energy had been taken out of it at that point

I think that can happen with any glasses really, the only way to prevent that is goggles/full face

Never had an issue with them falling off

[Tiercel]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Anything made by ESS, with their magic ESS NoFog cloth. I use ESS Ice 2.4 for woodland, and ESS V12 advancer goggles for CQB just incase that rare BB does slip around the side. Neither of them fog up and Im a fat sweaty bugger that sweats like a Rolf Harris in a courtroom.

[sparrowhawk]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Asg have released a new range irrc called strikeforce apparently fog free they are around £23 for the goggles and £14 for the glasses

[heroshark]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Take a look at bolle X800. They are a full goggle but have a lot of ventilation and are pretty low profile.

[Caldymoose]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Just please for the love of all thats holy buy a reputable brand! ESS, Revision, Bolle, Oakleys etc all have a very good rep. I personally use ESS ICE glasses. Around £20 - 40 depending on where you buy, but the full set usually comes with 3 different lenses (clear, smoke and high contrast), cleaning cloth and case. You can also just buy spare lenses from some retailers now or even just a set of glasses with 1 lense. I tend to replace them every year or so, even though there is probably nothing wrong with them as such, they have taken some big hits over time. Frankly, buying a new set of glasses each year is far far cheaper than eye surgery or worse....


Whilst you *could* go to B&Q or some other place like that and get workman glasses which can be rated to the correct levels, or worse, eBay and buy the cheapest set of Chinese £5 safety glasses, I wouldn't trust them. Ive seen people scoff at paying £20 for a set of good eye pro 'because I can get the same (read, copies/fake) ones from Ebay for £5' and then come crying to a marshall when their super Chinese cheap glasses have been cracked or the frames shot off.

You only get 2 eyes, look after them!

TL:DR version. Get ESS, Revision, Bolle, Oakleys.

[Sidneyious]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Oakley's m frame with helo kit

[Fizzy]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

helo kit?

[Digital]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

The helo kit I believe makes the glasses more like 'goggles' with full seal.

I used glasses once, but bb's hitting too close to my eye made me switch to full seal out of paranoia. I use boogie regulators which are really nice and low profile. People complain about fog, but honestly I don't see why it matters when it just takes a quick wipe of anti fog, even dishsoap works!

[StargateP90]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Wiley X SG-1s or Blink, both can be used as googles or sunglasses.

The SG-1s have removable lenses so you can have clear, black, mesh what ever you fancy. Also ventilated and give a comfortable full seal.

Blinks are bronze polarized and slightly transitional (goes darker in sunlight, lighter in darkness) and come with a removable full seal.

Both glasses frames ans lenses are ballistic tested, both very comfortable too. Personally used the SG-1s for 7 years or so, past 5 years with steel mesh lenses.

Never come off my head, never had a BB enter, never had any damage or dents to them either.

[BigJimB]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Oakleys. End of. For me i dont care how reputable or recommended other brands are, but i very much doubt a 20 quid pair of ESS or whatever will ever match up to the protective qualities of Oakleys... if you research Oakley testing you will see them dropping 1lb sharpened steel spikes on them, blasting them with shotgun buckshot, and the suckers still dont break! So save up the £80 or so you will need and invest it in some serious eye pro. Look at the Oakley SI range (Standard Issue, mil spec basically). M Frames are a good call, if you get the XL lens size they wrap around so well you will feel reassured your eyes are safe

[D2Z]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Hi Matt,

My local arena has recently changed to full seal goggles only - no more shooting glasses. One of the regulars spent a lot of money on prescription shooting glasses and now they're useless. Don't know if this is a trend, but it would suck if you bought these new glasses only for them to be banned.

Have you thought about installing custom fans on your glasses? You can get a well-reviewed kit for £25.

Don't wanna sound like a lecturer but wouldn't recommend anything less than full seal when it comes to your eyes.

[McKillmore]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

I've been using 3M Marcus Gronholm safety glasses for years. Polycarb lens and metal frame that you can bend to match the contours of your face. I play a lot of cqb and have taken many direct lens hits with no problem. I recently retired a pair after I bought replacements (they are less than £20) and put them through a torture test to see how good they really are:

https://youtu.be/2UbRleYyk0I

Hardly ever have any fogging and they are comfortable enough that sometimes I forget to take them off when I'm back in the SZ

[Stories]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Thanks for all the replies thus far.

I am specifically looking for suggestions/opinions on glasses only in this instance. I usually use goggles (for a safety point of view mainly), mainly as I worry about the reduced safety of shooting glasses so most interested in opinions on which glasses offer the most protection etc.

Hi Matt,

My local arena has recently changed to full seal goggles only - no more shooting glasses. One of the regulars spent a lot of money on prescription shooting glasses and now they're useless. Don't know if this is a trend, but it would suck if you bought these new glasses only for them to be banned.

Have you thought about installing custom fans on your glasses? You can get a well-reviewed kit for £25.

Don't wanna sound like a lecturer but wouldn't recommend anything less than full seal when it comes to your eyes.

I'm not to worried about shooting glasses getting banned at sites... they are always usful for other things... but conversely not looking to spend a fortune to try out, while wanting decent protection, again hence asking.

Already got fan's on my goggles, usually use ESS Turbo Fans, which are good, but not perfect, also looking for the lower profile of glasses and tbh just looking to try for a change (lot of people seem to use glasses rather than goggles at my local site), hence doing some research here.

Seems to be a lot of choice out there, but not a huge amount of info about what's good and what's not.


Cheers,

matt

[heroshark]

Re: Glasses, after some advice on which to look at.

Thanks for all the replies thus far.

I am specifically looking for suggestions/opinions on glasses only in this instance. I usually use goggles (for a safety point of view mainly), mainly as I worry about the reduced safety of shooting glasses so most interested in opinions on which glasses offer the most protection etc

Due to everyone having a different shape nogging you may find some swear by a certain model/brand which doesn't really mean anything if it doesn't work for you.