Why Wear Ballistic-Rated Eyewear

What’s the value of a pair of ballistic-rated eyewear? First of all, your vision, not to mention the eye itself. But, these glasses can save your life as well.

We are here to discuss the importance of eye protection. An injury does not care whether or not you are following all the proper precautions. Luckily, neither does a pair of ballistic-rated eyewear. As we saw in the video, the eyewear protected the shooter from a ricocheting bullet fragment directly toward his eye.

Nothing Versus Something

Springfield Armory 1911 with Ballistic-Rated Shooting Glasses

Always wear ballistic-rated shooting glasses when handling firearms.

I think it’s safe to assume most individuals would prefer ruining a pair of glasses over ruining an eyeball, right? To some, it is common sense. However, there are plenty of individuals who don’t think twice about shooting without any eyewear at all! So I emphasize the image in the video showing the aftermath of the glasses. To some, it looks like just a few scratches on plastic. However, those lenses were ballistic-rated. Meaning, yes, they are designed to stop the high-velocity impact. The real question is, do you think your eye could do the same thing? That “scratch” on the lens starts to look deeper and deeper the more you think about it.

Can Ballistic-Rated Eyewear Stop a Bullet?

Now that you’re concerned with protecting your eye, how do you do it? When working with firearms, you should not buy the first pair of “safety glasses” you see. There are steps to take. First, we recommend you always have a pair of ANSI z87.1 certified safety glasses at the absolute very least. However, even this certified eyewear is nowhere near the caliber of ballistic eyewear. We do not recommend using anything other than Ballistic-Rated Eyewear when you’re using or near firearms. To emphasize the importance of certified Ballistic Eyewear, take a look at this video:

From the range the pistol was shot from, the likelihood of survival is pretty low. I mean, a handgun shot to the face is certainly not a gamble I would ever be willing to take. What’s truly amazing is your life can quite literally be saved by a pair of safety glasses. The ESS Crossbow caught the pistol round. The bullet is stopped before it gets through the lens, which means before it reaches the user’s precious head. You would still suffer significant injury due to the hydraulic shock of the impact, but the ballistic lens offers a level of protection that may save your life.

Obviously, getting shot in the face is an unlikely scenario. However, it’s not uncommon for bullet fragments to come back and bite you. Wearing ballistic-rated eyewear ensures one of those bullet fragments doesn’t blind you or one of your buddies.

Seriously

If you aren’t convinced to wear ballistic eyewear after watching the effects in both videos, try watching them again. Your vision is valuable to everything you do in life, including shooting. So make sure you take the time to protect it.