EYE PROTECTION - Looky Here....

Do you wear your eye protection as often as you should? In every circumstance when the risk of an eye injury is elevated?

~

I hope that YOU and any Soldier B working nearby wears eye protection whenever it should be worn.

I tend to be very protective of my eyesight. I was born with a combination of eye problems that basically renders my left eye as a "spare" in case I suffer a loss of or in my right eye. Under normal conditions I see only outboard periphery regions with my left eye and the rest of my field of view is handled by my right eye. I do not see binocularly like most people. I've adapted quite well to monocular sight and have even honed a keen sense of depth perception with just one full functioning eye. I have on occasion worn a patch over my strong right eye and my left eye - within about a day - comes back to nearly 100% function with a full field of view. So, I can truly call it my SPARE EYE.
But this also fosters my strong instinct to protect BOTH eyes.

Remember, God gave you just two of them. Take good care of them, otherwise you'd have never seen the "other" problem in this photo.....

I picked my sunglasses carefully - Uvex Tomcat. Buy in bulk from Grainger or another industrial supply company and they are about $5 a pair. Anti-fog, good side protection, UVA/UVB blocking, and they look more expensive than they are (I hum along to "cheap sunglasses" alot )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKKJV0Aiiv0

I'm more a fan of a face shield over just eye protection. Too much can shoot between the glasses and your face!

Thanks for the reminder, Chaplain.
My story: I have severe keratoconus in my left eye. It's shaped, quoting my optometrist, "like the tail light of a '59 Cadillac." (a cone, hence the name) He also called me a "medical anomaly" because I have perfect binocular depth perception. My brain reconciles two completely dissimilar images into a complete picture with no loss of clarity. He said that patients with my level of severity have NO depth perception. If I loose my right eye, I will be unable to work. I might as well sell most of my vehicles because I'll be legally blind and will have to use a white cane with a red tip. I wear tinted Z87.1 safety glasses. A pack of 6 costs $12 at Sam's Club. I wear safety glasses every time I climb under a vehicle, and every time I fire up the lawnmower, weed eater, or chainsaw. I can't run the risk of losing my right eye.

I wear eye protection when working, I work in a fabrication shop, ie welding, grinding, cutting all that good stuff.
When under a vehicle, dealing with any type of lawm equipment. Also when riding my ATV, my coot (not the bird), or my jeep.

I went and road four-wheelers with some neighbors and they didn't have any kind of safety gear. I showed up with a motocross style helmet, mud boots, safety glasses and thick leather work gloves.
The looked at me when I pulled in with that look like why is this idiot wearing all that crap, but I was the only one without dust in my eyes, head smacked with branches, and hands cut up from bushes. When I we got done they where like so that's why he wore all that stuff.

I know not MV but safety related story.

Oh yeah!!

Last year, day after labor day I was securing my load of logs on the big truck at work. Should have been using the cheater pipe to stay clear of the "action" but got in a hurry and was just using my hands. Chain binder went a little sideways as I was snapping it down and the handle popped out of my hands. End of handle snapped back open as I did not quite get it "over center" before it slipped.

End of handle went thru my eye glasses right lens, shattering it. This ol fat guy went down like a gut shot hog. Tore the glasses off my face and knocked off the hard hat that really did not do anything to help because of the upward swing of the handle.

Blood running like a kitchen faucett. Very afraid to try to open right eye--just knew it was history. The bosses son-in-law looked over to see me laying in road on my hands and knees. Silly me, I decided to go ahead and drive the truck off the mountain rather than ride out in a pick-up driven by a spooked panicked young guy that was probly going to try to set a speed record back to town.

Got the dog in and made it about 3 markers down the mountain before I realized I forgot to get my glasses off the road and on my head so I could at least see with my left eye to drive. (At this point, had to re-think just who was the spooked/panicked guy). Called on the CB back to the landing and asked the loader operator please find my glasses left laying in the road and grab 'em before the whole crew drives over them on their way out. Thankfully I don't need a lot of correction so managed to get the bosses nicest, newest log truck in the fleet safely back to the shop.

GF Shawn met me at the shop and got me to the ER. Doc winced as she first saw me and said "Dang that's gotta hurt but this ought to help" as she reached up and pulled a large chunk of broken eye glass lens out of my eyelid.

Cat scan showed no bones broke (yep, been accused of being hard headed before----). And amazingly no lasting damaged to the eye! Bruised, bloodshot(understatement there!). Black eyes on both sides. None of the broke eyeglass lens perforated the eye, retina was fine and the lens of the eye was not broke. A year later I still have numbness on the top right side of my head where the impact damaged the nerves around the eye socket. Eye sight on the right is the same as "pre-screwup".

Optometrist did not have to fix or replace the glasses--just put in a new lens. Handle went right into the lens and did not hit the rim of the glasses!!

Yes, I realize I am one lucky feller!!!

gimpyrobb said:

I'm more a fan of a face shield over just eye protection. Too much can shoot between the glasses and your face!

Click to expand...

I agree, now. I was cutting a hole for a dog door in a metal door, and had a small sliver of metal get into my eye. I was wearing safety glasses, but it still made it into my eye. Ended up going to the hospital and paying them to remove it after several attempt to flush it out with water.

No real harm except money evaporating out of my wallet.

The Tomcat Uvex glasses are nice. I use safety glasses when needed and add a face shield when needed. We also wear safety glasses when riding in the Mutts with the windshield down. Or on those rare occasions when I have the windshield all the way up on the deuce.

It's the times that you don't think you need them, that really save you. During our pre-deployment training, I was overseeing the unloading (taking out of the vehicle) and turn in of our M16s. Soldier B grabbed a rifle and slung it. Well I was behind him and the metal rod that tightens the blank adapter came right for my right eye. It actually gouged 1" scratch into the Oakleys I was wearing. The scratch went about half as deep as the lens. I know I'd lost my eye right there if not for the glasses, though in a situation you'd never think you needed them.

Flyingvan911 said:

The Tomcat Uvex glasses are nice. I use safety glasses when needed and add a face shield when needed. We also wear safety glasses when riding in the Mutts with the windshield down. Or on those rare occasions when I have the windshield all the way up on the deuce.

Click to expand...

Glad you brought up driving MVs with the windshield(s) in the "ain't gonna help a bit" position.

I'm looking for some Flight Goggles that will fit over my glasses.
Does anyone have a source to share?

Thanks.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007ZHZ7EK/ref=pd_aw_sim_193_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=07WEES3W7GWXWWXDS8ZT

These?

CUCVLOVER said:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007ZHZ7EK/ref=pd_aw_sim_193_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=07WEES3W7GWXWWXDS8ZT

These?

Click to expand...

Yup.

Those or similar that will fit over my glasses.

Looks like these won't meet that criteria.

When I was young, I didn't know anything about safety. My sperm donor (biological father) did nothing to instruct me about proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). This lead me to learn things the hard way. At age ten, I tried removing a stuck Allen head screw from my minibike. I couldn't get the thing to move at all. I grabbed a hammer and hit that Allen wrench square on without holding onto it. It bounced up and punctured the white of my right eye. My eye bled. I cried. Thankfully it caused no permanent damage and didn't require a trip to the ER. That experience scared the *&^% out of me, and taught me valuable lessons. Take two extra seconds before you start a project and ask yourself this simple question - am I about to do something that could lead to me getting hurt? If the answer is YES, then put on a pair of leather gloves, grab a respirator, put on a face shield, grab the Peltors, etc. The extra few seconds it takes to put on PPE is well worth the time spent. It sure beats sitting in the ER thinking about all of the things you could've done to prevent the injury.