Protect Your Eyes with ESS Ballistic Eye Pro

Eyes are clearly one of your most valuable assets in the field. Keeping your eyes safe and sights clear can help keep you alive. Ballistic eye protection, whether spectacles or goggles, is a crucial component of every soldier's PPE kit.

Keeping eyes safe means keeping soldiers operating in the field.

What is Ballistic Eye Pro?

Ballistic eye protection includes eyeshields, sunglasses and goggles designed to protect your eyes from projectiles, fragments, and other dangerous threats in tactical situations. This is eyewear that rises to the occasion and performs under high-stress conditions. Many of these spectacles and goggles must receive approval from the U.S. military for use by service personnel.

The specific requirements needed for these situations often exceed the capabilities of basic safety glasses. You need eyewear that is comfortable enough to be worn for long periods, easily adaptable to your needs, and durable enough to endure harsh environments.

Civilian vs. Military Protection Standards

There are different safety standards for civilian protective eyewear and military protective eyewear.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) sets the national testing and standards for nearly every non-military industry, including civilian eye protection. ANSI-certified products are rigorously tested to meet the specified requirements and can provide protection from dust, heat, optical radiation, chemical splashes, and impacts.

It’s important to note that while some eyewear may meet the ANSI standard for one form of protection, it doesn’t guarantee protection from all of the threats listed above. You can identify ANSI-certified glasses or goggles by the ANSI Z87+ mark that appears on them.

The military follows their own ballistic standards used for testing, MIL-PRF-31013 for glasses and MIL-DTL-43511D for goggles. While these tests are similar to the ANSI Z87+, the requirements to pass are stricter. They include much higher impact testing and other considerations, such as:

• Comfort and fit
• Functionality
• Optical clarity
• Chemical resistance
• UV protection
• Environmental stability (temperature, humidity, etc.)
• Ability to be disinfected
• Design and color (should not have bright colors or distracting designs)

Eyewear that passes these tests can then be listed on the Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL), which means they have been approved for those serving in the U.S. military. While most military-grade glasses and goggles will meet ANSI standards, ANSI-certified eyewear is not necessarily APEL-certified.

ANSI-certified eyewear will display a Z87+ marking somewhere on the product. Currently, there is no marking system for military-grade eyewear, but the Program Executive Office Solider website regularly updates its APEL list of military-approved eyewear. If it’s not on this list, it’s not authorized for military settings, including training and combat.

APEL Ballistic Glasses and Goggles from ESS

An industry leader in ballistic safety glasses and goggles, Eye Safety Systems (ESS) is known for its superior protective eyewear. ESS is a leading supplier of all U.S. Department of Defense branches and the only authorized eyewear provider for the United States Marine Corps. ADS proudly carries ESS products, including APEL-certified eyewear.

Set Your Sights on ESS Ballistic Eye Pro from ADS

In combat, you want to leave as few things to chance as possible - your eyesight certainly shouldn’t be one of them.

ADS is a proud carrier of ESS ballistic eye pro. Browse our catalog of ESS products today.