# Safety glasses?



## arpruss (Aug 31, 2012)

I am curious how many people wear safety glasses when shooting, in case of bow exploding or the like. I shoot only a 26# bow--is it less likely with lighter bows?


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## deepsprayj (Nov 4, 2011)

The likelihood that your going to suffer an eye injury from a bow exploding is pretty low. I dont have stats but I bet the odds are pretty low. You would have to have a catastrophic limb failure that sent splintered shards of wood at you. Unless your shooting an all wood bow this is unlikely. Most limbs are covered in glass and would probably crack and fold before they exploded in splinters. I think you will be fine without glasses.

Shoot, work, shoot!


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## BowmanJay (Jan 1, 2007)

I do. I wear perscription sun glasses for distance and I decided to get a sport pair from "libery sport" they are all plastic and have ASNI rated lenses that can take a shotgun blast at 6 feet and be alright. I have seen too many eye injuries including my own and wont take the chance....


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## deepsprayj (Nov 4, 2011)

Well you are wearing glasses anyways so that is not really the same thing. Would you buy and wear safety glasses solely for archery shooting purposes? I have not seen many if any do that. I guess wal mart sells 5 dollar ANSI rated glasses for guns if you are real worried. It is cheap enough. 

Shoot, work, shoot!


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## arpruss (Aug 31, 2012)

deepsprayj said:


> Well you are wearing glasses anyways so that is not really the same thing. Would you buy and wear safety glasses solely for archery shooting purposes? I have not seen many if any do that. I guess wal mart sells 5 dollar ANSI rated glasses for guns if you are real worried. It is cheap enough.


I have ballistic safety glasses (Pyramex II, $7 on Amazon) for woodworking, and they look pretty much like shooting glasses do. They're built to the high impact standard which is basically a low fps bullet. I have yet to see if they shift the sight alignment or get in the way of the string. But I'd rather avoid having to pack yet another thing for when I go shooting, plus unnecessary safety equipment is a bother. (Though you should see me when I would mow the lawn: safety glasses/goggles, breathing mask, ear muffs, and gardening gloves. Plus earbuds under the muffs so I could listen to a book.  )

I am also thinking: that probably my kids don't need them, since at their draw lengths and weights (one shoots my #26 bow, but only draws it to 20" or so, and the other shoots a 15# kid bow), there is little danger of an explosion for them, as long as they stay sufficiently far back when I am shooting.

My internet searches found at least two cases of people getting hit _near_ the eye by bow fragments. One was a 1970s recurve and the other was a one-month-old Samick red stag. The numbers aren't big. And one or two stories of horrible accidents when people tried to string recurves without a stringer. Also, some competitions seem to require safety glasses.

I did have a dry fire incident (I was shooting with too narrow a nock to fit the string, and hoped to just have the string push the nock from behind--stupid!) but have shot a fair amount without any problems, and haven't seen any limb damage. But I suppose the incident does increase the chance of a future problem.


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## Double S (Mar 30, 2008)

negative on safety glasses. I do wear a ProTX kevlar shooters glove even though I thoroughly check my arrows.


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## TheLongbowShoot (Mar 23, 2012)

Like was said, its a very low chance that the bow will explode, so no, I never wear safety glasses.


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

deepsprayj said:


> The likelihood that your going to suffer an eye injury from a bow exploding is pretty low. I dont have stats but I bet the odds are pretty low. You would have to have a catastrophic limb failure that sent splintered shards of wood at you. Unless your shooting an all wood bow this is unlikely. Most limbs are covered in glass and would probably crack and fold before they exploded in splinters. I think you will be fine without glasses.
> 
> Shoot, work, shoot!


I have had two bows explode on me. The first was an English longbow which broke into three sharp pieces. A sharp piece hit each of my eye brows leaving bumps, just missing my eyes by an inch. The third piece flew over my head. The second explosion was an ILF bow during a FITA. The upper limb exploded (crack and fold that sounded like a bomb going off) and hit me one inch below my eye. Bow explosions are rare, but when they occur, your eyes are vulnerable. The only time that I have used safety glasses is when I was working on getting a new Pyramid bow to full draw. I pulled it first on my draw board to ensure that it would stay in one piece, then slowly worked it in while wearing safety glasses. These bows are known to explode and I have a draw length over 32 inches ( I guess I should have mentioned that at the start). Even with these two events, I consider explosions an acceptable risk and choose not to wear saftey glasses. You should not shoot a bow that you do not trust.


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## Raider2000 (Oct 21, 2003)

I've had only one training bow delamninate the upper limb but not explode so there was no damage to me except my pride, with that said bow explosions are very rare so I chose not to use any eye protection except for my prescription glasses.


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## rickstix (Nov 11, 2009)

I’ve had bows and arrows come apart…and the only injury of any significance was to my bow hand…but this is a shooting sport and, aside from the obvious possible consequences downrange, there are associated risks every time we come in contact with the equipment. What such incidents have taught me though, was to be as safety conscious as I should have been in the first place…and to thoroughly check all my equipment on a regular basis (…this will not prevent every possibility…but it already has prevented some, for me).

As far as glasses go, I’ve been wearing glasses for years…and I think today’s standards are more shatterproof than in the past…so I really have no special concerns in that regard. I did have an eye injury years ago from the head of a masonry nail that snapped off when I struck it…broke the lens on the glasses and cut my eye, but I’m sure glad the lens slowed it down. I’ve always considered working construction as “you bet your life…or limbs”…so I guess we all resort to whatever devises are available when it comes to assessing risk. If the glasses make you feel more comfortable, I say go for it…having nagging concerns just doesn’t sound like fun, to me. Enjoy, Rick.


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## Jeb-D. (Sep 21, 2011)

I've tried shooting with a couple pair of glasses, but found I was looking through the curved part of the lense near the sides and it would shift the location of the target in my vision. Can anyone recomend a pair that doesn't do this?


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

arpruss said:


> I am curious how many people wear safety glasses when shooting, in case of bow exploding or the like. I shoot only a 26# bow--is it less likely with lighter bows?


I actually had a bow suffer a catastophic separation at full draw and I got whacked right across the face... "racooned" if you will. I'm not convinced perssonally that lighter bows are less likely to break as I am convinced that most "D" type longbows are safest from breakage. Flatbows, in my opinion just lend themselves better to breakage... so with that... get a long limbed bow.


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## arpruss (Aug 31, 2012)

Jeb-D. said:


> I've tried shooting with a couple pair of glasses, but found I was looking through the curved part of the lense near the sides and it would shift the location of the target in my vision. Can anyone recomend a pair that doesn't do this?


But would it shift the relative locations of the sight pin and the target, moving the pin off-target, or would it shift both together?


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## rickstix (Nov 11, 2009)

arpruss said:


> But would it shift the relative locations of the sight pin and the target, moving the pin off-target, or would it shift both together?


You'd probably have to check that out for yourself...but just plain glass would probably not have the same effect as lenses that have different thicknesses across their surface. My problem, of late, is that if I hold my index finger of my bow hand (right handed) out in front and swing it to the left as if I'm looking at the target...the vision is clear until I reach that point but then the target goes out of focus. Because its the variance of thickness in the glasses that corrects things (...within the confines of a specific range of vision...) this is something that I'll soon be addressing with the eye doc...but I would doubt that too many people who use off-the-shelf shooting glasses are plagued with the same problem. Guess it's how you might qualify "safety glasses". Enjoy, Rick.


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## deepsprayj (Nov 4, 2011)

A pair of oakleys will stop bow shards too. Alot of sunglasses are ANSI rated. 

Shoot, work, shoot!


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## Easykeeper (Jan 2, 2003)

I've been a glasses wearer since my teens since I hate contacts and could never afford Lasik. They solve some of the safety issues just by being there, but they are a problem for shooting. I frequently have to sacrifice a bit of style to get a pair that fits close against my nose. I also try to develop a shooting form that keeps my head looking as straight forward as possible. The trouble is I need all the style help I can get and the head straight thing messes up other parts of the alignment.

The older I get the more cautious I am with things like eye safety. It's a valid concern and I'm not sure what I would do if I didn't wear glasses anyway.


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## reddogge (Jul 21, 2009)

My two pair of gun shooting glasses are tinted and I don't like that effect in the woods shooting a bow. But you are right, it wouldn't be a bad idea to buy a clear pair. I buy good expensive shooting glasses though.


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

If your have a strong prescription, you can have the center of focus moved to the side of the lens, where you would be looking through when you shoot. I had some glasses made for shooting and did not need that since my prescription is pretty weak. I no longer wear the glasses since I have trouble with near vision when I use them, and I need near vision to align my string and set my crawls when I string walk. I took my bow into my optomistrist office and tried frames until I found a set that did not interfere with the string.


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## Hank D Thoreau (Dec 9, 2008)

arpruss said:


> My internet searches found at least two cases of people getting hit _near_ the eye by bow fragments. One was a 1970s recurve and the other was a one-month-old Samick red stag. The numbers aren't big. And one or two stories of horrible accidents when people tried to string recurves without a stringer. Also, some competitions seem to require safety glasses.


I guess mine did not come up on your internet search. My eyeball near miss story was posted on the old Best Archery forum and I believe here on AT.


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

reddogge said:


> My two pair of gun shooting glasses are tinted and I don't like that effect in the woods shooting a bow. But you are right, it wouldn't be a bad idea to buy a clear pair. I buy good expensive shooting glasses though.


My friends regular glasses... for a blind guy... are rose colored. He is the most successful bow hunter I've ever met anywhere... and these glasses of his I'm convinced hide his eyewhites.... :grin: And not seeing his eyes.... just another what is it again.. :grin:


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## arpruss (Aug 31, 2012)

I tried out my Pyramex Venture II Ballistic at home, getting into shooting position. I could see all of the sight, though there was some dark blurriness to the left (I am right handed) of the sight points (my homemade sight has points, not pins) from the soft black nose piece. This could be annoying. I'll have to see how it works out at the range. But I didn't really see any shift in sight point versus target alignment when I put on or took off the glasses.

I ordered another pair of Venture II's for my daughter.


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## jkcerda (Jan 25, 2007)

Ask the guys that shoot bowtech:jeez:


********flame suit On********


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## rattus58 (Jul 9, 2007)

jkcerda said:


> Ask the guys that shoot bowtech :jeez:
> 
> 
> ********flame suit On********


 :flame:


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## BowmanJay (Jan 1, 2007)

deepsprayj said:


> Well you are wearing glasses anyways so that is not really the same thing. Would you buy and wear safety glasses solely for archery shooting purposes? I have not seen many if any do that. I guess wal mart sells 5 dollar ANSI rated glasses for guns if you are real worried. It is cheap enough.
> 
> Shoot, work, shoot!


 Agreed I would most likely not wear them just because I was shooting....


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## HOYTINIT (Aug 28, 2012)

BowmanJay said:


> I do. I wear perscription sun glasses for distance and I decided to get a sport pair from "libery sport" they are all plastic and have ASNI rated lenses that can take a shotgun blast at 6 feet and be alright.


the rest of your head may not do so good though..


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## arpruss (Aug 31, 2012)

So I've done shooting with my ballistic safety glasses, but for sighting I need to look through the part of the lens very near the nose, and that part is rather curvy and distorts things. I don't think this affects the sighting--point-to-target alignment is unchanged--but it is annoying. Are there any safety glasses or shooting glasses where this isn't an issue?


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## TheLongbowShoot (Mar 23, 2012)

jkcerda said:


> Ask the guys that shoot bowtech:jeez:
> 
> 
> ********flame suit On********


Ouuch. lol


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