Know your Eyes and Sunglasses

Posted On: 04-29-2021

The use of sunglasses while shooting has both positive and negative impacts on seeing targets.  Regardless of whether you wear glasses or not, using the correct lens color when shooting clay targets is more important than one might think.   While you may wear store-bought sunglasses, those may or may not be the best for your shooting needs.  Notable of many types of glasses is the darkness intended to shade your eyes from the sun, but perhaps too dark to see targets well. Here is a guide to lens colors and how they help your eyes see targets in certain conditions from safetyglassesusa.com.

Yellow/Orange Lenses: Yellow and orange-tinted safety glasses tend to block out “blue light,” such as the diffused haze on a cloudy day, but bring out the orange color of a practice target. These colors increase your contrast and depth perception, which improves accuracy.

Amber Lenses: Amber lenses are a popular choice for shooting glasses. They also block blue-light and work best in low light, cloudy days. The amber tint creates an excellent contrast between colors, helping the target’s orange stand out to you, even on those dreary days.

Purple/Blue Lenses: If you’re at a shooting range with a backdrop of beautiful trees around you, you’ll want the help of a purple or blue lens tint. These colors contribute to improving contrast, particularly against greens (trees/grass) and oranges (the target), keeping your eyes focused on the target, and only the target.

Brown Lenses: Some hunters and target shooters prefer brown lenses because they increase the contrast of orange-colored targets. They work best in fields or other open areas, and particularly in bright sunlight. Many hunters find brown lenses are “soothing” and reduce eye strain, keeping them alert.

Gray Lenses: Gray is the “all-around” color. Gray lenses reduce the amount of light around you, allowing you to see a balanced tone of color. It’s ideal for bright conditions and helps you get a level sense of contrast and depth.

Consider these choices regardless of the need for prescription glasses.  You may find safety glasses in different colors to help you as well and shooting glasses with a single lens color that might best fit your shooting conditions.  Remember, not all sunglasses are the same, too dark or the wrong color can inhibit target acquisition. 

David R. Vaught, Ph.D.