Wearing ( Safety Glasses ) When Out In The Field Shooting ?

[marsh man]

I have just been reading the posts on Jacko's video thread and the subject cropped up by billytheghillie about wearing what I take to be safety glasses when out shooting .

To be honest I have never gave it a thought as touch wood I don't wear normal glasses and I would find it very difficult shooting in bad light when out wildfowling .

I have lost count on how many shoots I have been on over the years and I can't recall ever seeing anyone put on a pair of safety glasses while standing on their pegs .

I can fully understand wearing them for fly fishing and at clay shoots but for general shooting shooting I would have thought billythegillie would be in the minority , or is he? .

So how many of you guys wear eye protection while out shooting ( apart from clays ) ??

[London Best]

Never ever seen anyone wear them in sixty years of pretty intensive shooting.

[Walker570]

Never have, even on clays personally, but I now very occasionally see guns turn up with every shade and colour you can imaging. If it boost their confidence then that is fine by me.   I only wear safty glasses whilst drilling or grinding or on the lathe.  I probably go way far further back than London Best having been in the shooting field as a six year old, just after WW2 and that was mainly for frey partridge over the hedges out of fields of kale, mangols and potatoes not a sign of a patch of game cover back then, it was already there.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Walker570

[Centrepin]

I wear varifocals, tinted or if very sunny polarised.

Never seen anyone in safety glasses.

[billytheghillie]

Marsh Man, I  must be the odd one out, a very good subject to raise. The wearing of glasses while out shooting probably stems from shooting on sunny days, and then just became a habit really. Its just the same with my job, in wellies 6 days a week and always go to them when going for a walk. Sometimes habits are hard to break.

P.S. I will continue to wear my safety glasses when I go out shooting. 

[marsh man]

2 minutes ago, Centrepin said:

I wear varifocals, tinted or if very sunny polarised.

Never seen anyone in safety glasses.

I can understand people wearing various tinted glasses on bright , cloudless sunny days , but shooting game in some form of safety glasses in the wet weather like we had last Saturday would be a nightmare .

We have to accept that whatever type of shooting we do their is going to be a element of risk , but we have to be sensible about how we protect ourselves in normal situations . 

 

[JTaylor91]

I do wear safety glasses when shooting clays, I’ve been hit by bits a few times. Never worn them out shooting pigeons or game.

[Farmboy91]

3 minutes ago, JTaylor91 said:

I do wear safety glasses when shooting clays, I’ve been hit by bits a few times. Never worn them out shooting pigeons or game.

Snap.

Had a shard come down and put a nice slice in my leg a few years back, certainly wouldn’t want one like that in my eye.

[JTaylor91]

Just now, Farmboy91 said:

Snap.

Had a shard come down and put a nice slice in my leg a few years back, certainly wouldn’t want one like that in my eye.

I got hit in the side by a piece that was a no bird from a high tower. Didn’t feel nice at all and like you say wouldn’t of liked it in my eye

[Centrepin]

18 minutes ago, marsh man said:

but shooting game in some form of safety glasses in the wet weather like we had last Saturday would be a nightmare 

 

I shot twice on Sunday, clays in the AM, torrential rain and it was like looking through a windscreen with broken wipers whilst driving too fast. I was hit just under the eye, behind my glasses by a clay shard. I thought it was hail till I sat in the car and realised I was bleeding. Rain washed the blood away. Not sure safety glasses would have helped.

6 minutes ago, JTaylor91 said:

I got hit in the side by a piece that was a no bird from a high tower. Didn’t feel nice at all and like you say wouldn’t of liked it in my eye

I had a no bird in the stomach, but like being punched unaware. Had a shard cut through 3 layers of clothing into my arm on a driven day, was like being hit by baton round. 

Often thought of buying kevlar body armour.

[WalkedUp]

I wear a flat cap for all my shooting, it projects over my face so gives a degree of protection. I have never worn glasses and so it feels weird to do so even on clays. For some clay grounds it is mandatory and so I comply, but do not attend those by choice. 

At clays on Sunday with my two boys (on the button), a no bird was thrown from a tower and a shard flew past them. They had hoods up due to the heavy rain and but no flat cap or glasses. I feel I will get some safety glasses for them as a good habit for them to get into. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by WalkedUp

[Old farrier]

I wear safety glasses clay shooting it’s mandatory at some of our local grounds along with hearing protection 

it’s become habit and now wear them game shooting 

personally think it sets a safety standard for the younger ones 

[Centrepin]

1 minute ago, Old farrier said:

I wear safety glasses clay shooting it’s mandatory at some of our local grounds along with hearing protection 

it’s become habit and now wear them game shooting 

personally think it sets a safety standard for the younger ones 

When we where younger, safety glasses hadn't been invented and the most I ever saw for ear defence was cotton wool.

It was a revelation to be given little rubbery things to push in your ears as a junior soldier. However, on entering adult service no one bothered. 

You're right though about setting standards for the next generations. Lead by example. 

[Old farrier]

9 minutes ago, Centrepin said:

When we where younger, safety glasses hadn't been invented and the most I ever saw for ear defence was cotton wool.

It was a revelation to be given little rubbery things to push in your ears as a junior soldier. However, on entering adult service no one bothered. 

You're right though about setting standards for the next generations. Lead by example. 

None of the safety glasses or ear protection was available when I was young either 

I wish it had been 👍

[Stimo22]

Some grounds insist on the wearing of glasses for clays. Few years ago we had a gun hit  by a pellet in the face so certainly I wear them shooting clays.

[Ultrastu]

I some times use safety glasses in the pigeon hide .

I have a pair of work tinted ones .

They have no frame so are big and all clear giving no restriction  on field of view  .

I find them useful on sunny days and also when windy if the wind is coming into the hide  .

But I certainly  don't use them all the time .

[Agriv8]

My clay ground glasses are requested to be worn on all stands but mandatory on the two simulated grouse buts. 
 

I wear glasses anyway but stick contact lenses in if it’s wet ! Game shooting is always contacts as it’s one less thing to deal with on peg and they don’t steam up if you get a sweat if you are lucky with how the game is presented.

i guess we should wear safety glasses but in wet Yorkshire 77% of the time it’s tipping  it down so won’t work

personsly shooting is a sport where we are switched on and risk averse pellets do fly and do ricochet but we have a no ground game so reduces this further.

if we are all aware of where are fellow guns and beaters are ( and we flipping well should be ) I see it a very low risk!

regards Agriv8 

 

 

[marsh man]

I would say the beaters would be more needy of safety glasses than the guns , with them walking through woods with overhanging branches and shot travelling a long distance with the wind .

I well remember standing well back watching the drive while yarning with the picker up who was well out or range of a shotgun pellet , or so we thought , while standing there I got a single pellet hit me on the lube of my lug , all it done was made it sting but if it had been my eye it could have had a different outcome , so maybe wearing safety glasses might not be a bad thing after all , still not for me though . 

[WalkedUp]

Beating on grouse Moors we are given safety glasses at the start of the season. 

I’ve seen a keeper shot an inch below the eye on a small shoot, he hasn’t realised it was bleeding until I spoke to him. 

I’ve ordered safety glasses for my boys thanks to this thread 👍

[ehb102]

I wear polarised prescription lenses all the time when shooting. Having started shooting within the last ten years I can't imagine shooting without safety glasses or ear protection. I've seen what happens to people hit by clays, and I've heard what happens to people who shoot with drunkards and idiots. I went to see Ed Lyons (sports vision specialist) when I started and got amazing advice that meant my corrected vision is as good as anyone's.  I also find that polarised lenses give me an advantage in many conditions. That's not to say they would work for everyone, it's a personal thing, but I wear them even when the evening is drawing in. A hat with a broad brim or a peak keeps the rain off. And as a long term glasses wearer, I'm used to peering through dirty lenses so a bit of rain doesn't bother me 😀 

[mossy835]

never seen any one ware them, i never have and wont for pigeon shooting,when out clay shooting with friends we have never worn them,

[bottletopbill]

I have them in my box of tricks but have never worn them .Should I take this as a warning as I  rough shoot mostly . 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

16 hours ago, billytheghillie said:

Marsh Man, I  must be the odd one out, a very good subject to raise. The wearing of glasses while out shooting probably stems from shooting on sunny days, and then just became a habit really. Its just the same with my job, in wellies 6 days a week and always go to them when going for a walk. Sometimes habits are hard to break.

P.S. I will continue to wear my safety glasses when I go out shooting. 

Me too, I wear them when shooting clays and driven game.  

[Rob85]

16 hours ago, WalkedUp said:

Beating on grouse Moors we are given safety glasses at the start of the season. 

I’ve seen a keeper shot an inch below the eye on a small shoot, he hasn’t realised it was bleeding until I spoke to him. 

I’ve ordered safety glasses for my boys thanks to this thread 👍

I suffered exactly that when I first started beating, heard the guns pattern slapping up through the trees and I copped a piece of shot off the edge of the pattern right below my eye, no bleeding but my word it was quite the sting, like being hit by an airsoft pellet at close range.

I wear safety glasses for clays and ear protection now regardless of where and what I'm shooting. I will always remember my first ever round of 100 DTL, turned up with no ear protection, thought I would just go for it....whats 100 shots anyway?

Ears were ringing for days after 😆

[JDog]

This clay pigeon shooting lark sounds pretty dangerous to me.