I had lasik yesterday and so today is my first day without glasses in 31 years.
I am suddenly in the market for a quality set of shooting glasses that I can also use as general-purpose sunglasses.
I’d like the following, in no particular order:
either changeable lenses for day/night/indoor shooting or cheap enough i can buy a set of each
i’ve always loved the tints that shotgunners use that make everything so vivid and have such great contrast (although I rarely shoot clays)
wrap around or some sort of protection on the sides
nice looking, but not something you’d see at a pro-wrestling show
uv protection
won’t fly off when running through ipsc stages, etc.
ballistic rating
i flipped through an issue of guns & ammo, guns, swat, and shooting times and was surprised to find no ads. and my internet search didn’t give me obvious answers either, so at this point, even mentioning a reputable brand would be a big help.
I wear these Oakley SI Half Jacket XLJs. In my opinion, they meet all of your criteria. They come with the standard grey lenses, but extra lenses are available in a literal rainbow of colors. See here. The color that I use when shooting is called “persimmon,” but they do make a traditional high-intensity yellow like that seen in most dedicated shooting glasses. The replacement lenses can be found for $30-40 a set online, if you order them from someplace other than direct from Oakley.
The Half Jackets are very comfortable, and weigh almost nothing. The optical quality is excellent, and the open frame design doesn’t clutter up your peripheral vision. They also feature a proprietary rubber compound on the temples and nose that is designed to actually become “grippier” as you sweat. I’ve been wearing them while jogging this summer and can attest to the fact that it works. All in all, I love them.
+1 on the Oakleys. They also make a set with extra lenses called the Array, for both the Half Jacket and M-Frame styles. If you don’t wanna plunk down all that cash hish for the Oakleys, you might try Revision. I’ve been testing out their Sawfly kit, and so far, I like them a lot. The optical purity doesn’t seem to be quite on par with Oakley, but its probably close enough not to matter. They’re comfortable, and I didn’t have to use any anti-fog last time I went shooting, which was at about a hundred degrees and a big fat pile of humidity. I don’t know how humid it really was, but I was sweatin’ like the proverbial pig.
My personal preference for sun glasses is Rudy Project. Ketyums with ImpactX lenses should do the job for you. You can have different lenses and they change out easily. I have prescription lenses ground so that I change between yellow, red or polarized depending on the conditions.
I have Ketyum and Kerosene glasses from Rudy Project. The Ketyums are better for shooting. They are light and offer a good fit. I use them for bicycling as well, they ventilate well and I haven’t experienced fogging problems with them.
I agree with tiger seven and haji on the oakleys. I purchased the half jacket aviator array witch is the “regular” shape lens for daily wear and purchased the xlj lenses for shooting. They are a great pair of sunglasses.
Another vote for the Oakley Half-Jackets. I’ve had them for about two years now and love them. They are my everyday shades as well as shooting glasses.
I bought a couple of extra sets of lenses as spares, as well.
When it came time to go to perscription lenses, I switched from the M Frames to Half Jacket XLJs.
The XLJs give enough coverage and have the benefit of working with my prescription. I ended up buying multiple pairs - both tinted (Vr28) and clear.
Erick
… and a note on the Wileys. I wore Oakleys throughout our deployment. Several of those I was with wore Wileys. A lot of complaints about fogging. I tried the new Wileys and while they did not fog, I was underwhelmed with the quality of the lenses in lowlight. Far too much sparkle effect from lights.
Another Half Jacket XLJ user here, and I want to put another plug in for the VR28 lenses as well. I’ve found them to be extremely versatile for everything from bright, clear, 100° days to cloudy, overcast winter days. I can walk into a building from outdoors with them on and not feel like somebody just flicked off the lights.
I bought the array with gray, orangish (persimmon?) and clear lenses, but the VR28s stay in 98% of the time.
The only thing I don’t like about my Halk Jackets is that they either have to tuck inside the band of my MLB pro-style fitted hats or they have to ride on top of it.
The M-Frames earpieces seem to ride just perfectly between the top of my ear and the bottom of the band on the hat.
I vote M-Frames because I almost always shoot with a hat.
I’ve had this problem with my cheap sunglasses and my flex-fit uniform hat. It didn’t really bother me too much. For shooting, I’m usually wearing a regular style ball cap which rides above sunglass frames.
I recently switched from Half Jackets to Flak Jackets. The only thing I didn’t like about the Half Jackets is the flared shape of the temples did not fit well under shooting muffs or under a hat. I still wear them as sunglasses, but now use the Flak Jackets when I’m shooting. They have basically the same XLJ lenses, but with flatter, more “traditional” styled temples; and are much more comfortable.
I got my last pair off EBay from a military surplus type seller, were new and much cheaper than those I purchased elsewhere, about $80-90 with hard case and 2 lenses.
It really wasn’t that bad. It was more of a problem with the earmuffs than with hats. All of the ball caps I wear fit okay with the Half Jackets. I just found them a bit uncomfortable when worn under shooting muffs. Other people seem to have no problems, so perhaps my head is oddly shaped.
