Glasses are a must!

[PhishLI]

A few years ago I was fishing a RI Little Dipper just past dusk. I hooked up but the fish spit the lure about 15 feet from the shore and it shot right back at me and hit me directly in the eye. Thankfully it turned sideways when it hit and I took zero damage from the hook. I've rarely been as grateful. Since then I've made it a habit of wearing some type of glasses when I'm out, but have slipped here and there due to loosing them or just forgetting to bring them.

 

Recently I had a real reminder of the importance of wearing eye protection while fishing. I was wading with a pal in a spot that's wide enough for two people to fish side by side. He was to my left, and we were about 15 feet apart. I was chucking a Whopper Plopper 75 down the bank to my right, but couldn't find a bite. I started firing the bait out to my 2 o'clock and had a few swipes. I finally hooked up and it was on. The fish plowed into some veg about 30 feet out, so I lifted my rod tip tip bring her over, but she spit the lure. My buddy was about 6 feet farther out from the shore at that moment, and the WP rocketed past his head and landed in a tree at head level. He actually didn't know exactly what happened at that moment other than he heard the whistle of the bait and felt the spray hit his ear. It was that close. When I told him it was my Whopper Plopper that just missed him he summed it up perfectly: "That could've been bad"

[TnRiver46]

I learned to never take off sunglasses working on a lawn care crew. I’ve finished weedeating many a yard in the dark wearing sunglasses. It only takes once and you’re out an eyeball.

[K1500]

I agree 100%. I wear sunglasses and bring a pair of clear safety glasses in my sunglasses case. I switch out at dawn and dusk. 

[slowworm]

44 minutes ago, K1500 said:

I agree 100%. I wear sunglasses and bring a pair of clear safety glasses in my sunglasses case. I switch out at dawn and dusk. 

I do the same thing.  I've always been very protective of my eyes after I had a piece of metal hit my safety glasses in a workshop as a kid.  It took a chunk out of the lens.  I would have lost an eye.  I only wore safety glasses because I had to.  Afterwards I wore them because I wanted to...

 

I had eye surgery a few years ago and only had vision in one eye for several months while the other recovered.  All good now, but was an object lesson in what you take for granted.  I lost depth perception completely and would pour coffee on the floor instead of into the mug.  I learned to put the mug on the counter and use my finger to ensure I had the pot in the right place.  Driving was a pain because lost all the peripheral vision on the right side. It's amusing looking back, but only because the end outcome was positive.

 

Take care of them peepers folks.  You have no idea how much you would miss losing one of them.

[Bird]

When you get older you get exponentially wiser. Lol

 

I won't even wash the car without safety glasses, mow, weed eating, cutting wood. 

 

Fishing is advantageous with polarized glasses......an absolute must.

[Jaderose]

Yep.....My sunglasses are always on when fishing and always wearing safety glasses when doing yard work and other stuff.  Gotten to the age where I am no longer invincible, i.e. smarter 

[MN Fisher]

I got no choice - tri-focal glasses and since I worked in the machining industry for a while, I got into the habit of getting polycarbonate lenses...more expensive but with side-shields I didn't have to wear those bulky goggles. Now I buy them for the same reasons because I am doing things at home that require safety glasses.

[gim]

I have a new pair of costas this season that I got from Santa last Christmas and I can say positively that I should have had a pair of these many years ago.

[JediAmoeba]

I wear sunglasses when the sun is beating down on my baseball hat.  

 

Seriously though I am the bastion for how not to do things...weed whacking in flip flops, shorts and no shirt is the norm for me...

[813basstard]

What about when your boater rips a hook set with a 1 oz weight and you hear it break the sound barrier as it goes by..more dangerous than the hook

[RoLo]

 

I can't even read this, the print is so small!

I'll be right back, I need my glasses.

 

Roger

[schplurg]

9 hours ago, JediAmoeba said:

I wear sunglasses when the sun is beating down on my baseball hat.  

 

Seriously though I am the bastion for how not to do things...weed whacking in flip flops, shorts and no shirt is the norm for me...

I weed whacked in flip flops once. Once that I remember anyways. Thank goodness it was only a battery operated one. I looked down expecting my toe to be sliced but it wasn't. If it were a gas one at high RPM I'd be short one big toe.

[FishTank]

I am never out on water without sunglasses or some type of eye protection.  I have seen too many accidents at work and out on the water.  

 

The best set of eye protection I have seen so far is from Smith (own several pairs now).  I don't own this particular pair but I have seen guys with them out on the water and at work..... the Operators Choice Elite.  They are like bullet proof sunglasses and are the same fit as their popular Guides Choice.  They are ANSI compliant, anti fog and scratch resistant but they are pricey > $239 retail. 

 

[Lead Head]

On 6/5/2020 at 8:12 PM, 813basstard said:

What about when your boater rips a hook set with a 1 oz weight and you hear it break the sound barrier as it goes by..more dangerous than the hook

Ever seen what a 3/8oz (or possibly 1/2oz not sure) bullet sinker does when it hits your head? If your really lucky it actually goes under your skin and leaves you with some really cool (if slightly disturbing) pictures of a super caveman brow. At least that's my experience, YMMV.

[Dogface]

I'm old and have worn glasses all my life. Six months ago I had cataract surgery and they implanted a new lens. I can see 20/20 without glasses. It is great BUT now I am beginning to realize how important those glasses were for everyday activity.

 

Now I have reading glasses and safety glasses in the house, shop and shooting bag. I am considering a new pair I can wear all the time with just a bifocal. 

[PhishLI]

19 hours ago, FishTank said:

They are ANSI compliant, anti fog and scratch resistant but they are pricey > $239 retail. 

Pricey yes, but worth it. I imagine that getting blinded by, or blinding someone else with flying fishing tackle would be far more expensive all tallied, and would certainly take the shine off the experience of capturing swimming legless lizards.

 

I do way more night fishing than day fishing, so I'm hoping there're safety glasses with treated lenses that amplify low ambient light. I need to start looking. In the meantime the standard issue box store polycarbs do the trick.

[flyfisher]

Eye protection is paramount and it isn't just projectiles, UV rays are also damaging.  I am pretty sure anyone that wears contacts are UV protected.  I had a fly come back at me yesterday that hit me in the chest after a hookset but i have had them hit me in the lens before too.

 

[PhishLI]

On 6/5/2020 at 11:36 AM, MN Fisher said:

I worked in the machining industry for a while,

You might appreciate this then. I worked in a machine shop when I was a kid. One day the boss was boring a 5C soft collet on a Hardinge tool room lathe. That material isn't really soft, but can be cut at low speed with carbide. He needed two hands on the bed dial to control the feedrate. My job was to apply sulfur oil to the collet and cutter. A chip flew out, as chips do, went over the rim of my safety glasses, then melted into my eyelid. It bled pretty good when I peeled it off. The show must go on, so on went the wrap around goggles. The next searing chip flew out, perfectly curled in size and shape, then melted onto my bottom lip, which bled nicely when I peeled it off. This was all high comedy to the grown men in the shop. On went the face shield... Ah, the good old days.

[496blazer]

I was fishing on a deck boat with two others.  The guy in the front got a strike and he set the hook way too aggressively for how close his bait was to the boat.  Needless to say his 3/8 oz spinner bait came at my face at 100 mph.  Smacked me right in the cheek!  I'll never fish without glasses on after that.

[Armtx77]

I have worked in heavy industry for the past decade and you are not getting out and about with out AT LEAST safety glasses on.

 

I have been wearing sunglasses from sun up, to sun down, since I was about 20. I have blue eyes and the sun will get to me after a few hours.

 

I usually drop 100 bucks on a pair of Costas every couple years and wear them until all 5he rubber ear and nose pieces start to lose the ghost and send them into Costa and they give me credit towards something newer. It works for me.