Value
Except for some expensive and custom prescription glasses made from a product called Trivex, sunglasses and shooting glasses are made from a plastic called CR39 or from Polycarbonate. A simple search can expand on the attributes of each, but for this discussion, CR39 does not meet the standards required for impact resistance for shooting sports whereas Polycarbonate does. Because a lot of sunglasses are made from CR 39, it is not only inefficient to use them for shooting glasses, it is also dangerous. Do not wear lenses for shooting that are not rated at least ANSI Z87.1.
SightTrax Vision lenses are made from ANSI Z87.1 Polycarbonate and have excellent impact resistance as demonstrated in the picture below of a lens which we shot with a 12gauge, 7.5, 1200 fps shell at only 20 yards. Note that no pellets penetrated the plastic nor did the plastic crack or shatter.
Optically, because Polycarbonate is a standard resin available to lens manufacturers worldwide to be injection molded into a lens configuration, extraordinary claims of clarity by any manufacturer should be considered more marketing than science.
Polycarbonate lenses are made by injection molding machines. The quality of any injection molding, assuming the same standard resin is used, is dictated by the quality of the mold. Injection molds are made by sophisticated CNC machines which machine the mold from a solid block of aluminum or steel. Steel has more durability and is used for higher volume production levels than aluminum. Our lenses are made by a state-of-the-art optical factory using the best equipment available to achieve high production volumes while maintaining exceptional quality control.
Differences in optical clarity can be measured using sophisticated instruments, but those instruments far surpass the ability of the human eye to discern those differences. In short, our lenses are more than sufficient to provide the optical clarity and the protection that you need for shooting glasses.
So, if the quality is sufficient, why is the price so reasonable? It is pretty simple. We are not a big company with lots of people to support and we don’t pay high profile shooters to wear our glasses. We don’t run big ads in clay target shooting sports magazines. As we describe in our “About Us” section, we set out to develop quality eyewear sets at an affordable price to support new shooters in the clay target sports. Consequently, we don’t have to achieve anywhere near the margins required by bigger companies with much bigger overheads. Quite honestly, if you knew how much money it actually costs to manufacture a Polycarbonate lens that often sell for $300+, you would be shocked.
We hope that you will give our eyewear sets a try. We have youth shooting clubs that have bought dozens of sets because the quality is there at a price point that anyone can afford. Consequently, their shooters get the benefits of better color contrast sensitivity by being able to match the lens color to the conditions and to their personal vision requirements making them more competitive in their chosen clay target discipline.