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Seriously? Always wear eye protection when shooting a firearm (when possible, armed attackers aide). And yes, the gym is a good place to go — although weight controlĀ is 20 percent gym, 80 percent kitchen. Just sayin’ . . .

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97 COMMENTS

  1. I’m gravitationally challenged and I feel triggered by this insensitive post. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer soon.

    • I will just copy my post here. Damn my real name.

      Hey more power to you. Just don’t end up in my Emergency Department with a foreign object in your eye, hours from blindness, and expect to skip to the head of the line. I have non-preventable illnesses and injuries to take care of.

      Further more, if you are spending $2k on glass, maybe spending $50 on eye protection that does not alter your sight picture may be a worthwhile investment. I find that shooting suppressed or indoors a decent set of glasses helps with the gas blowback and subsequent tearing effect is diminished drastically. Myself and my brother deployed and eyepro was mandatory, and for good reason.

      http://www.dothaneagle.com/army_flier/sports/seeing-clearly-dod-urges-soldiers-to-save-vision-with-eye/article_d6a23aba-b03d-11e3-942d-0017a43b2370.html

      Remember, it may not necessarily be your weapon that goes kaboom.

      I hope your health insurance is top notch for the cost of a referral, and even then if you shoot in the boonies in which the incident occurs (i.e. hunting) the time to get a professional to get to you (or often the case, you drive POV to their location) will hinder your recovery.

      And in the case that either of you, or your shooters have some sort of affordable care act, then piss off. The rest of us are paying for your negligence.

      Case in point though-smoking: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9321534 Yeah, people die slower, leading to larger healthcare costs.

      Fat people: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/05iht-obese.1.9748884.html?_r=0

      Motorcycle use: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6123a1.htm This one I find a little misleading, because instead of you dying at the scene (and becoming an organ donor) we may have to put you on life support for months, so I am a bit torn here

      In any sense, the vision is yours to lose, then the rest of us pick up the slack is subsidies for your now less-than-employable blind person. Kudos to you all. At least you get that sweet sweet tax break…and lose the ability to drive a car or make out a target past 25 yards with a scope…ļ»æ

  2. I don’t like having crap blasted in my face. Maybe I’m off like that. I will say there are enough bullet fragments at the front of the shooting line to make me think twice or even three times about it.

    Ultimately I do agree with them it is their choice to make. Just because I believe in safety aspects doesn’t mean they should have to. I just hope I could be an example to others in that regard though even though I am far from perfect.

  3. Totally their choice if they don’t want to wear eye pro. Totally my choice if I want to laugh at them when they get lube sprayed in their face, or jacket flies back off a steel target, or the wind kicks up sand into their eyes. It’s a free country, and like the man said, if your gonna be dumb then you gotta be tough.

  4. One of the guys in my old squad always wore his eye protection, always said you never know when a mortar will land or when something will go down. He also used inserts for reading but that is beside the point. Most people knocked him for wearing the stuff all the time up until the protection saved his eye. We were pulling down Hesco with a Humvee and something snapped, his protection got pegged hard enough to leave a deep mark.

    It was suggested that he take pictures and send it off to the manufacture as a testimonial and they just might send him a big box of high speed shades, stickers, and product.

    Always wear eye protection when shooting and stuff, even with it, I still get pegged under and around my eyes with lawn equipment.

    • Our company posted a letter from Wiley-X and Oakely in the TOC which requested pictures of any damaged eye-pro which saved somebody’s eyes. We had a couple instances when goggles or glasses did just that, and after providing the requested pics both companies sent free replacements along with friendly handwritten thank-you letters.

      • I should also add that even though I knew better, I still skimped on eye and ear protection for table one qualifications. The ear plugs give me a very distracted, stuffy, congested, off-focus feeling and I always shot much better without them, same with eye protection. Eventually use was forced, you could leave it off up until someone saw you without it then you had to put it on.

        Stinks because I was a rifle coach for the second half of my contract and had to be the guy to tell them to put it on or get kicked off the range.

  5. I could spew on about how they’re not in the proper mindset to be around firearms and about how lazy they are in regards to safety. To me it sounds like they refuse to take firearms seriously. Next they’ll be talking about how hearing protection is optional.

    Needless to say, that’s the first, and only view their channel is gonna get from me.

    It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye by ricochet.

  6. I don’t always wear eye pro. If there is a bump in the night, I’m not going to put on eye pro and ear plugs.

    If course it depends on what I’m shooting too, and how often. If I’m spending the day at the range or out back – yea I’ll put on some eye pro. If I’m stepping out to blast a opossum – no. If I’m looking through a scope – no.

  7. I’ve never worn eye protection. Of all the various things I worry about its really low on the list as I dont remember being hit in the face which something while shooting, ever.

    • I’ve taken grit and powder to the face a number of times. I wear prescription glasses and I got in the habit years ago of ordering them with “safe” lenses. So i wear eye pro always, even when not shooting.

      Saved me from serious eye injury at least once on my current job.

      • I get blasted in the face with grit, slag, metal shavings etc on a daily basis. If it get really bad I use goggles for comfort.

        When shooting I just play the odds. The part of your eyes vulnerable to scratches is about .001% of the surface area of your body, when shooting the gun, sights etc block almost all the angles something has to hit you in the eye. Its just such an incredibly remote risk I can’t take it seriously.

        Hearing protection on the other hand, I wear that every single time as there is a 100% chance of getting hit in the ear with dangerous soundwaves every time you shoot.

        • That .001% of surface area is irreplaceable, and is usually one of the surfaces closest to the repeated detonations. Your stats ignore those two facts, but knock yourself out, so to speak.

        • I’m siding with Jim on this. It’s why when we do yard work we wear long sleeves, along with eye and ear protection. It’s why, when we were helping flood victims here in Houston and East Texas, we were wearing half face P100s and goggles instead of N95s and sunglasses.

          If you’ve got one set of eyes, ears, lungs, whatever, it isn’t worth losing them over easily prevented silliness.

        • How precious is that small area to you? I know for me it is priceless. I cannot imagine not being able to see or having reduced vision. I know two people who are blind in their right eye from accidents that happened when they should have worn eye protection. I know I usually wear it to shoot, and last year I failed to one time and my Glock pistol rewarded me with a hot piece of brass to the eye. It was summer time and very hot. I was shooting pop up targets so the gun and the brass were both substantially hot. I did a run where I forgot to put my glasses on and that is when I got hit. It gave me fits for about a week. You are correct about the eyes being small and only a small portion of that being permanently damaged by injuries, but do not forget things have a way of getting behind our eyes in their sockets. Our eyes are also easily infected, you may not damage the tiny important area, but you could get a bad infection that leads to many other complications. You may choose as you wish, but please understand what is at stake is not replaceable and very important to you.

    • One time at the range, my wife rented a Baretta Nano that ejected the brass straight back at her face. We always wear eye and ear protection, so it was just annoying, but I imagine catching hot brass in an unprotected eye would be painful.

    • Shoot enough, and I guarantee something will bounce off your glasses…or in your case, your eyeballs. I just left the range a few hours ago after shooting 1000 rounds of 22lr, and somewhere in my speed drills, I had a fragment hit my safety glasses.

    • I’ve been hit in the eye glasses with flying brass while standing behind a shooter. I’ve been hit in the eye glasses by flying metal shards while doing metal work. It only take one time of not wearing eye protection to permanently damage something that won’t grow back and that science has not advanced far enough to easily fix.

      Eye patches make you look cool, though.

      • My Ruger SR1911 always kicked brass in one SO’s face (just where he stood). I’ve been hit in the leg from fragments bouncing off steel multiple times, not even on firing line. I always wear eye protection.

    • I’ve been hit with ejected cases in my eyeglasses more than once, some of them going quite fast. This is especially common at an indoor range if you use a gun that ejects fast (like many AKs), since brass bounces off the wall. I’m not going to be a test subject to establish whether the case can go fast enough to damage the eye.

      When outdoors, you have to contend with ricochets, fragments from rocks etc.

      Finally, regardless of the environment, accident / negligent discharge is always a possibility, and that bullet could be going anywhere – and so can be its fragments, and the fragments of whatever it will end up hitting.

  8. Great way to be jerks about it. If Armslist is trying to position themselves as one of the leaders online they should be setting a good example in their videos. They don’t want to wear eye protection on their own time? Fine, go ahead, it’s their choice. In their videos, however, they should be using them so inexperienced people see and do the same. This video was unnecessary and made me delete their page from my bookmarks when I first saw it.

    • No. They have no such obligation. It IS their own time. What is a “leader online” anyway? Are you in charge of ‘leaders online’? Do you even know what the chance of eye damage from shooting without eye protection is?

      • There is a valid argument that as a popular gun-related site, they have a moral responsiblity to reinforce responsible gun handling. Not only does that include the Four Laws, but proper PPE as well. Of course, they’re free to be as stupid as they want within the legal limits. But the fact remains they do influence other people, due to their social presense, especially those who are not as initiated to the “gun culture”.

        • I don’t know what the chance of eye damage is, but it could it not be so low that they are being reasonable? Not knowing the chance and with the cost (of eye protection) so low, I wear eye protection. However, I have seen no one offer anything but anecdotal evidence about the danger. Accusing them of being irresponsible without presenting compelling evidence that they are being irresponsible, is, in my opinion, unreasonable.

        • “Good Will Hunting” is a fiction.

          I’m not going to spend all days looking for research papers to give you an exact numerical chance of eye injury. The fact is with guns you’re dealing with hot gases, metal fragments, and moving mechanical parts. If you don’t think any of those pose any serious risk to the most unprotected and vulnerable part of your body, you’re a fool who probably deserves what’s coming because you won’t learn otherwise. The eye, while comprising only a small fraction of your totally exposed body area, is also extremely fragile. It is THE most fragile part of your exterior. And it is also one of the hardest to treat for injuries for a wide variety of reasons. Be cavilier about it all you want. It’s your eyes. If/when you lose them, you do get to park in the handicapped parking spot. Well, not you. Since you can never drive again. But whoever is chauffeuring your inconsiderate ass around gets to park there.

        • …youā€™re a fool who probably deserves whatā€™s coming because you wonā€™t learn otherwise… Blah blah blah…But whoever is chauffeuring your inconsiderate ass around gets to park there.

          Goosfraba.

      • They’re trying to promote their web site as the place for people to go to shop, i.e. a leader online. Do you know what chance it is you will be a victim of a violent crime? Yet you still support the idea of defending yourself. Same argument. Let them not wear protection when they are off the clock, so to speak, not when they are trying to promote shooting and their website. It’s a bad decision in my opinion hence I won’t be supporting them, which is my choice as well as it is to disagree with their opinions.

        • People will go through amazing lengths to reject all sense and rationality to justify themselves. Whatever. If/when they lose an eye, maybe they’ll figure out that eyes don’t grow back. Or maybe they won’t.

        • Based on age, sex, race, location demographics, I do get a ballpark figure on the chance I will be violently assaulted from DOJ statistics. I figure in my reclusive and very careful nature and I come up with something approaching 0%. I imagine that the chance of something flying at my eye while shooting is very much greater.
          The recommendation to wear eye protection gets to new shooter from several sources that are hard to avoid. The Armslist guys have a right to share their opinion. It is even in the bill of rights believe it or not. There is no readily available information about the likelihood of eye injuries while shooting. They seem to believe they are correct, so they are not being malicious. There is no micro-crime going on here.

        • Do not make the mistake of mixing up valid criticism with demand for government action.

      • It’s not just about how low the risk is, but also the consequences.

        If you get hit by a fast piece of shrapnel in the eye, you’re usually short of an eye. No amount of health insurance will get it back. If it’s the right eye, well, suffice to say that you will have to relearn to shoot on top of everything else.

        Given that the mitigation is cheap and easy, it’s a no-brainer.

  9. Jeez– the Thompson is notorious for spitting out burning powder. I’m a lefty, and take the full brunt of it.

    No way would I shoot a Thomson or even a 10/22 without glasses. Blowback actions spit.

  10. The hubris of youth is a beautiful thing because no matter how dangerous the assignment you can alway find a volunteer who believes he’s invulnerable. In addition, the youth are easily replaced by not wearing those “thingys” after clubbing. “Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of experience comes from bad judgement” — Will Rogers.

  11. Guess what happens when lead or small caliber bullets hit steel at close range, intentionally or accidentally? Okay, they admitted to wearing eye protection when shooting handguns, but perhaps they give newbs the wrong impression about the importance of safety and the real dangers shooters face.

  12. Friend of mine got a strand of wire from a high speed bench grinder / brush in the white of his eye….nasty surgery.
    Also learned early with another buddy…he took a rock to a .22 short and the casing blew out his left eye and nearly up into his brain….left him without a left eye at 11 years old.
    So…me?……i wear eye protection!

    • I think the lesson in losing your eye after bashing a cartridge with a rock isn’t “wear eye protection”…

    • “Also learned early with another buddyā€¦he took a rock to a .22 short…”

      Dumb-ass me did something *slightly* less stupid at age 10.

      I had one of those late-60’s heavy, pot-metal six-shooter cap guns.

      Loads of fun, made neat *bang*noises.

      So moron me thought it would make a louder bang noise if I took a hammer to whole roll of those paper caps.

      It sure did make a louder bang. My ears rang for hours. Never did *that*again.

      But I didn’t lose an eye like your buddy did….

      • ever drop a brick on a railroad torpedo signal?
        still here.
        bicycle frame on the third rail?
        night into day.
        quarter stick in the back seat of a montego mx filled with teens?
        lift your feet, plug your ears.
        i can still count to 21.

  13. The only reason I question these views (eye protection, seat belts, smoking, motorcycle helmets) is that poor choices DO impact other people. This is through health insurance. My rates are higher when people get hurt, therefore I don’t want large numbers of people doing riskier things (or eating shitty food tbh). In a perfect world, I agree with the libertarian mindset but that is not the current political climate. If health insurance didn’t pay out for stupid choices then I am all about it.

    • Yep. Now that they have everyone connected socially and financially (whether they want to or not), they can now control all aspects of our lives on the premise of public safety and insurance rates.

    • Mandated health insurance and government stealing your money to give to people who make expensive choices is the problem, not people who make choices that lead to increased medical expenses. Under this new system I am encouraged to spend every dime on medical stuff that has even the remotest chance of benefiting me. It’s crazy how much you can spend when it is other peoples money;-)

    • Florida took a kinda Libertarian angle on motorcycle insurance, you are free to ride without a helmet in Florida, provided you carry helmet-less insurance.

      I have heard helmet-less motorcycle insurance is a lot more expensive.

      I kinda like Florida’s approach to that issue, if you wanna be a dumb-ass, then be a dumb-ass, but don’t make the riders that wear helmets pay for *your* stupidity…

  14. Yer choice to wear eye protection. THIS old man will wear it. And ear protection…What? I used to have unprotected sex,drove way too fast and frequented bad neighborhoods. Now I don’t. Not that I’m overly experienced but the little Taurus TCP I had continually hit me in the face with brass…”You’ll put yer eye out kid”. I started laughing when the red haired dork talked about meeting a gal.

    • “I used to have unprotected sex,drove way too fast and frequented bad neighborhoods.”

      All at the same time? Impressive! šŸ™‚

    • Unprotected sex? We’d never heard of AIDS or Herpes back then and all the women were on the pill. Everybody had unprotected sex. I’ve been to the parties where everybody was naked. Fast driving. Soccer moms had station wagons that would do 130 mph in the day. If you were under 30 you drove fast in a second hand car. If you were over 30 you drove fast in a newer car.

      As for bad neighberhoods. My job takes me into Oakland on a near daily basis. I still go to bad neighberhoods.

      • WTF, you are over 60, live in CA, and still have a job? You gotta stop revealing stuff about yourself. Do you live in Berkeley or the Castro?

      • Stuff like that was the reason you were dying.

        Seriously, “grandpa, ease up on the throttle and wear the darn seatbelt” is something I imagine your grandkids are saying whilst they are holding onto the seat.

  15. I like being able to see my wife’s T&A, so I’ll keep my eyes, thanks. Be Billy Badass all you want, but we’re going to be the ones with the last laugh when your luck runs out.

    • That’s just awesome!
      It would make a great T shirt…
      Pic of a pair of safety glasses and the words….Wear them for the T and A!

  16. I always wear eye protection when shooting. I have no choice, I am blind as a batt without my glasses. šŸ™‚ However it is up to the person shooting. Also because of my vision I always wear ear protection, myears are to sensitive not to. Buy hay is you want to loose some hearing go ahead. Just my 2 cents worth. šŸ™‚

    • Free will IS grand! Hearing aids several grand, and glass eyeball replacements are pretty cheap. Reusable eye and ear protection is the cheapest of all. Value is in the eye of the beholder.

  17. IMHO…It’s only a matter of time before Murphy rears his ugly head and one of these tough guys are nursing a scratched eyeball or worse (hope I’m wrong for their sake)ā€¦ I value my sight way too much to play Russian Rolette with itā€¦ Iā€™m always a little amazed by the size of bullet fragments I see on square ranges behind the firing line, especially steel target ranges. Iā€™ve been hit my some and the first thing I thought was glad Iā€™ve got my eyes on. Not to mention weapons malfunctionsā€¦.

    Remember Shootersā€¦ Murphy needs no invitation, He’s Johnny on the spot… Eyes and Ears pleaseā€¦

    If you can afford a $2000.00 scope you can afford good eye pro…

  18. Some body parts some can’t be replaced. It’s up to you to decide what’s worth protecting. Me, I like as much original equipment as possible.

  19. Living by this philosophy it is amazing that wearing a cup while shooting hasn’t become a golden rule. Heck I have two eyes but only 1 pecker.

    And I like the message, when other people start pushing their idea of safety things go sideways fast. For instance we are now taught never keep a round in the chamber in order to get a carry permit for our gun. A mandated class teaching what I conceive to be very bad advice. I can see a future not far off where we need to purchase government approved eye pro with the purchase of every gun, an extra charge of….$350.

    For the record I wear Oakleys 90% of the time while shooting outdoors and actual eye pro 100% of the time when shooting indoors. 2 months ago I had a round bounce back and hit me in the chin, I take that in into consideration the 10% of the time I don’t wear eye pro but am thankful it is still my choice….till Hillary takes office at least.

    • “Living by this philosophy it is amazing that wearing a cup while shooting hasnā€™t become a golden rule. Heck I have two eyes but only 1 pecker.”

      Who makes a Kevlar cup?

  20. I have to say I agree with them to some extent. To me it really depends on the action/gun. Semi-auto I always wear eye-pro, same with all handguns.

    Scoped bolt action rifle shooting at long range off a rest or bipod? I usually put the eyepro up on my forehead for that.

  21. I always wear eye protection since I can’t see too well beyond 10 yards. For bicycling and shooting I have a pair of Bobster prescription glasses that work like a charm.

  22. If you don’t want to hear what folks have to say turn off the comments section or better yet don’t put yourself out there on YouTube
    My personal choice is this was the first and last time I’ll watch

    • Same. And I’ll be keeping AdBlock on whenever I view their website. Using their bandwidth without paying any of their bills.

  23. TTAG, thanks for letting me know of the existence of their videos. I’ll be watching more of them later. Thanks!

  24. Please feel free not to wear eye protection.
    Eventually it will mean the lines at the range will be shorter. And I can buy all your used guns cheaper.

  25. Eye protection is a good idea as I have had powder blow back on me when firing a Ruger Mini 14. Evolution In Action.

    • They have been pushing it on the military more. Can’t say it’s 100% but having served 20 yrs there is a lot the military does that is retarded that I don’t do anymore and things I do that they don’t that I think are smarter.
      Ya know kinda like the 80s hearing protectors we wore on the pocket for no reason but wasn’t required in kitchens, motor pools and machine shops. I wear them when things are loud but I don’t carry them in a stupid place all day.

    • Yes. And it saved a friend from going blind after an IED went off sending debris and shrapnel into his face.

  26. “and maybe your fat ass should hit the gym”
    Ah, the cool kids got their feelings hurt because others DARED to disagree. Some how the fact that they took who knows much time to write, film and edit this video because they got butt hurt that others pointed out looking cool often involves doing foolish things says a lot about their lack of maturity. I guess some people’s minds just never evolve past the elementary school playground phase.

    Funniest thing though is their video is full of guys with scrawny stick arms and one with a double chin. I’m pretty sure I could bench press any of them, except may the double chin guy shooting the Thompson.

  27. Every time I’m at an indoor range I get hit in the head with an ejected case at least once. I’ve gotten some minor burns on my cheek. If that case hit my eye, the burn would not be minor.

  28. Why NOT wear eye protection? I’ve had several hot brass cases (not to mention hot oily mess) hit my shooting glasses. It’s all about risk/reward, and it doesn’t put me out much to slap on a pair of shooting glasses. But hey, if it makes you feel tough to take the completely unnecessary risk and then call other people fat like a 5th grader, then roll with it. Juvenile bro, juvenile.

    • Ok. These Armslist guys take unnecessary risks. And they’re kinda rude and condescending in their tone. But safety fanatics are often even more nuts and intolerant.

      When hunting with a bolt action, scoped rifle, I don’t wear eye protection. Eye protection fogs up. It’s one more thing to get in the way. When sighting (or practice shooting) the same rifle on paper targets, I also don’t wear eye protection. Train how you shoot, etc…

      Eye protection has its place in the MOST shooting situations. But to insist that it’s ALWAYS necessary is borderline fanatic. The slippery slope is to mandate kevlar vests and helmets at all ranges…

  29. haha nice, Armslist dudes are Bad Assed! I wanna be like them when I grow up.

    Hmmm, I wonder if they give the same advice to their children?: ‘you don’t need no stinkin eye protection, Johnny! Just eat a plate of tofu and get out there and man-up!”

  30. Father in law took a primer blowout in the eye. Had to dig it out with a multitool. Taught him to use eye protection. Most tough guys have to learn the hard way. Darwin at work.

  31. Cheeseburgers more dangerous than no eye pro? I disagree:

    “In the world of 21st-century medicine, organ transplantation is nothing new.

    The first kidney transplant took place in 1950, followed by the first liver transplant in 1963 and the first human heart transplant in 1967. By 2010, doctors had even managed the transplantation of a patient’s entire face.

    One major organ still eludes the transplant surgeon, however: the entire human eye…”

  32. They are not wrong; it is personal protection, not for public safety. That said I would never shoot a revolver w/o eye protection; every time I have fired a revolver something has hit my face. I would hate for that something to hit my unprotected eyeball.

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