In the post immediately below this, Shelley talks about how the Gargoyles Aflas are relatively klutz proof. A couple of commentators pointed out that aviator style sunglasses don’t really make the best eye protection since they don’t really offer true wrap-around protection from side impacts. That’s true, and something I agree with. Having taken frag from all manner of directions shooting steel, I’m a big believer in proper eye-pro when shooting. Luckily for the shooter that wants to look good and protect their eyes, Gargoyles has several other ballistic protection options.
Gargoyles Veil and Cardinal eye protection with SW 625 WCA Custom
Pictured at right are the new Gargoyles Veil and Gargoyles Cardinal glasses. Gargoyles sent me these glasses to review, and I’ve been using the Cardinals exclusively since Bianchi Cup. The Veil just arrived two weeks ago, and for indoor/overcast eye protection they’re pretty great. Now, a lot of time people wonder why they should buy high quality eye protection instead of just spending 10-20 bucks on the pair of eye-pro at the range or Gander Mountain. It’s hard to explain until you’ve tried a pair of good lenses on next to a pair of $14 Howard Leights, but I’ll do my best.
Using the Gargoyle Veil and an indoor range, there was no light distortion at any angle when looking through the lenses. A lot of time with lower quality eye wear you’ll get an almost “lens flare” from lighting at certain angles which can be downright annoying and distracting. Additionally, when you look through the top of the lenses of lower quality eye-pro you’ll often get distortion because that part of the lens isn’t polished the same. With either pair of Gargoyles, you don’t get any of that. When I use clear eye protection, I want my eyes to feel like they’re not looking through anything, which is exactly how the Veil works.
The Cardinals are my go-to for any kind of sunny weather, or even if it’s overcast but there’s a glare. My personal pair in the picture have the blue frames and the smoke lenses. That particular lens is a bit too dark for indoor or really overcast days, which is why they share bag space with the Veil. One of the nice features of the Cardinals is that the stems are flat; they fit under ear protection without creating bulges or breaking the seal that my ear pro need to create to work effectively. Plus, because the stems are flat and low profile, they don’t leave a horrid indentation in my skull after 8 hours of continuous wear.
That’s really my biggest issue with a lot of eye protection – comfort. The Gargoyles are of course rated for ballistic protection, but just as important is that they’re comfortable to wear for 8 or 9 hours at a stretch with ear-muff style hearing protection over them. And they work – my Cardinals took a piece of jacket in the lens at Steel Challenge which barely scratched them. I’ve been wearing the Cardinals for almost 6 months now, and I can heartily recommend them. Buy your own pair of Gargoyles Eyewear here!
Note: Gargoyles provided these sunglasses at no cost to Gun Nuts to review.
How are they at not fogging up?
They don’t fog up on me and I wear the Cardinals while I run.
I have worn the classic style from close to when they started. Mine have protected my eyes from rocks from cars, stray bullet products, and whatever else had been thrown at me. My only complaint has been that every pair, after about 2 years, has snapped in the middle. To be fair, my head is a bit big.. :)
They sound really, really nice. Still, it’s hard for me to justify $110 sunglasses, especially as often as I lose things.
I have found that with expensive sunglasses, I tend to take better care of them than I would a pair of $12 cheapos.
Mine have to come in a prescription form with a bi-focal and minimal “wrap” because the lens-edge gets too thick at the outermost, even with high-index lenses and all the coatings. Polycarbonate is too big and clunky at my Rx dimensions. :-( A new set of Oakley’s cost $580 – but with the health/vision-plan discount it was knocked-down to about $260 — so there’s a fair amount of markup somewhere in the pipeline…
There’s a reason you usually see serious shooters using expensive eye protection. It’s usually ANSI impact rated, and will have great optical clarity. Gargoyles are great glasses, and if it’s good enough for The Terminator, it’s good enough for anyone.
I’m admitted Oakley fanboy, so I wear Flak Jackets for shooting. The interchangeable lens feature is great for swapping between indoor and outdoor shooting, or even putting on, say, blue polarized lenses for watersports, or higher-light transmission amber lenses for overcast skiing.
Shopping for protective in the shooting world is quite frustrating. Few companies provide easy to locate information on what standards they conform to. These guys, for example, show that the Veil’s “Meets ANSI standards” and “Meets Military standards”. Which says nothing. For all I know these meet the ANSI standard for colors and labeling, and Military Standards for packaging. Personally, I want know that my eye ware meets ANZI 87.1+
I don’t disagree that searching for the “perfect” eye pro is frustrating. In regards to the Gargoyle Cardinals, I took this quote from their website, “Ballistic Defense
Gargoyles Ballistic Defense lenses offer extreme impact resistance that is 5 to 6 times greater than that of regular polycarbonate lenses. Developed from a superior blend of polymers by Carl Zeiss Vision®, our Ballistic Defense Lenses are designed for military, safety and sport applications and exceed all ISO and ANSI test standards.”
If you’re just interested in info, and protection, consider the Revision lenses that Max Michel uses, and is endorsed by.
I, myself, recently ordered some Rudy Project Rydons, with one ImpactX Grey PhotoChromic lens, and one ImpactX Laser Clear PhotoChromic lens.