Buying Military Style Shooting Glasses
You know when you’re watching a movie set in a modern day warzone? Ever noticed how most of the soldiers seem to be wearing cool sunglasses?
For years I watched these movies and assumed that the filmmakers had no idea what they were talking about. I thought the sunglasses were part of some stupid product placement deal, and it annoyed me a little bit.
When a friend of mine came back from Iraq I mentioned it to him, and it turns out that soldiers do actually wear these things. They not just regular sunglasses, but the best shooting glasses money can buy.
Shooting glasses have all the same features of regular sunglasses. They’re polarized to protect from glare, but they also comply with ANSI Z87.1, the industrial eyewear impact standard. Even cheap shooting glasses can withstand an impact of a 1.1lb projectile dropped from a height of 50 inches, and they’re designed to brush off shrapnel and ejected shells, protecting the eyes from flying crap in the air.
The more I thought about it the more it made sense. A soldier is useless if he can’t see, so it’s perfectly sensible to deck him out in a pair of tough sunglasses that mean he won’t be bothered by eye irritations (which is the polite way of saying ‘shards of exploding glass firing into his retina).
Suffice it to say, I rushed out and bought myself a pair almost immediately. I usually just wear basic goggle when I shoot down at the range, but when I’m outdoors it’s always a bit of a pain to have to squint against the sun while I aim. A pair of dark shooting glasses will definitely come in handy.
By the by, while I was shopping for military style shooting glasses I also came across the best cheap shooting targets I’ve ever found. These bad boys can tell you if you hit your target from way out on the range thanks to their design. I can’t wait to get out and test them!
Military Gear | A Viteri 01/07/2012