by David Crane
david@defensereview.com
Oakley Eyewear has become the eye protection de rigeur for LE SWAT operators and military Special Operators (and gun cognoscenti) in the last few years. Usually, teams and individual operators who choose Oakleys choose some version of the Oakley M Frame, as the M Frames provide the highest lens surface area. This gives professional operators the greatest level of eye protection, combined with peripheral vision, possible.
The reason why professional tactical operators choose Oakleys is 3-fold. First, Oakley’s military/law enforcement division understands this market intimately, and caters to it intently. Second, Oakley’s lenses exceed ANSI Z87.1 Industrial Standards for impact protection, so they offer a high level of protection against shrapnel impact from overpressure detonations (of a gun) while shooting, as well as partical ricochet impacts. And, third, Oakley lenses/optics don’t…
distort or blur one’s sight picture or point-of-aim while shooting.
"Private Pilot Magazine" published a very informative article about this in its September 2003 issue. The article is titled "2003 Sunglass Optics Shootout 2", and it’s worth reading.
Click here to read an excellent and highly enlightening thread on Oakley Eye Protection (Eyepro). This thread was started by tactical instructor and gunwriter, Pat Rogers, at TacticalForums.com. Mr. Rogers has a lot of experience with Oakley’s.
DefRev highly recommends Oakley Eye Protection (Eyepro) to anyone looking for the highest quality ballistic eyewear/tactical eye protection available. Professional tactical operators the world over rely on Oakley’s for their missions for good reason. Oakley’s work. As a side note, all models of Oakley sunglasses are available from the factory with prescription lenses, at extra cost.
You can contact Mark Van Buskirk at Oakley’s Government Sales office by phone at 800-525-4334, or via email at oakleygov@aol.com. Mark handles law enforcement and military sales for Oakley. You can contact Mark’s associate, Erick Poston, at 800-800-6254 Ext. 6172, or via email at erickp@oakley.com.