Most cops wear body armor when on duty, but what about eye armor?
One of the most vulnerable parts of your body are your eyes. Not only are they soft tissue that provide little protection for your brain, they are also the single largest information source for the human body in combat. Lose your vision, and your odds of surviving hostile action decrease dramatically.
Andrew Tuohy of Vuurwapen Blog wrote an in-depth evaluation of eye armor over at LuckyGunner Labs. If you don’t know Tuohy, he is very detail oriented and has a practical outlook on guns and gear. His attention to detail is obvious in this article.
In the evaluation, he takes more than 20 different types of protective glasses to the range for evaluation. He then shoots them all with #8 birdshot, .22 short and .22 LR. Plus, he does non-ballistic testing with them to evaluate how well they stay on the face during physical activity, scratch resistance and if they will fog up.
The glasses (and goggles) range in price from $7 to $220. While “you get what you pay for” essentially applies, there is a point where extra money doesn’t improve your protection.
I was happy to see that the eye armor I wear on duty, the Revision Sawfly, ranked extremely well. While none of the models tested defeated the .22 LR, the Sawfly did stop the 12 gauge #8 shot and .22 short with ratings of “A”.
Read more about Eye Protection and Shooting Glasses
I should also mention that the sales staff at Revision are top-notch. I had a chance to meet several of them at the SOFIC expo in Tampa, and they impressed me with their knowledge and desire to serve their customers.
Make sure you check out the article on eye armor and Andrew’s own blog. They are both worth your time.
About Richard
Richard is the publisher of BlueSheepdog.com. In addition to writing here, he publishes GunsHolstersAndGear.com and is a regular contributor to places like Human Events, Police & Security News and The Firearm Blog.
In your second paragraph you state the large part you eyes play in a confrontation, agreed and,
which is why I train people to shoot with both eyes open.
Would you engage in a fist fight with one eye closed?
Hi Ken,
I also train people to shoot with both eyes open. There is research on the body alarm response (BAR) which suggests that a person may not be able to physically keep one eye closed in the early onset of BAR. So, it all comes back to train as you fight.
Stay safe,
Richard
We issue our SWAT Team the Oakley M-frame. There was a time that the military had them on their list of accepted eye pro but I’m not sure if they still are. They have ballistic protection and the lenses have a very good wrap around feature for extra protection from bright lights and unwanted projectiles.
They also can come with shaded and clear lenses that are easily interchanged. That is a great feature for doing interior work where most other sunglasses get taken off because of the reduction of light. On duty I mostly wear 5.11 Ascend sunglasses that also have a good wrap around protection (no ballistic qualities that I’m aware of), but I keep some M-frames with clear lenses nearby for situations with the potential for gun play or interior work.