All posts in Eyewear

Ballistic Eyewear and fit issues

smith optics elite eyewearIt amazes me the improvements and advances body armor has made over recent years and how the military issued stuff has trickled down to Law Enforcement and Civilian use.   Plenty of people that have money carry guns and sometimes want body armor because being have a certain amount of money opens you and your family up to home invasions, hostage taking and kidnapping.   People that live in the limelight are also sometimes the targets of some of the professional criminals and total wack jobs.   All you have to do is look at what happened to John Lennon and the background of the person behind the attempt at killing President Reagan.   Ronald Reagan was actually suppose to be wearing a bullet proof vest on the day he got shot and choose  not to have it on that day.

Police Officers are often called to the scene of dangerous situations and you don’t always hear about all of the casualties that can occur besides stabbings and shootings.  Sometimes Police end up with Hepatitis C if they got stuck with a needle or lost an eye because they didn’t have ballistic eyewear on like the Smith Optics Elite eyewear  that we have been carrying.   The tactical sunglasses we sell are very well received by local Law Enforcement because they can walk in our store and try them on.  All of the 6 tactical sunglasses we sell have different fit and it’s not one of those things you just buy online.   We have a very high satisfaction level from our customers that are wearing them.

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Protection without compromising visibility and style?

Smith Optics Elite eyewearWe’ve been selling the Smith Optics Elite ballistic eyewear for a very long time and although we consider ourselves new to it, so are the vast majority of our customers.   Most people see protective eyewear at a hardware store that is something you wear when riding a tractor or lawnmower or even with a weedwacker.   Those inexpensive glasses will stop a flying rock or piece of wood but they are not going to give you protection from objects moving 650 FPS.   I have been wearing the Chamber tactical polarized brown sunglasses for a very long time and the reason I went with these was that they gave  me the best visibility.   Everyone’s face and head is different so for some people it’s about the frame and how it sits on your face rather than just  the sizes of the lense.

I’ve been asking Smith  Optics Elite to make a smaller frame or atleaset thinner frame Protective glasses because I have a hard time using eyewear like this on a firing line due to the fact there are blind spots.   The Smith Optics Elite Eyewear that we got in are the Pivlocks and these are kind of a cross between sunglasses and the Smith Optics Elite eyeshields.   I love the Eyeshields for range or protective services but I do not like them for daily use.  If I wore those while driving a car I’d look like a meat butcher.   We’re always looking for feedback and customer reviews from products like this and the best way to test them out is to stop in our Broomall, Pennsylvania stocking dealer showroom.

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A very successful year in Delaware County

philadelphia police supply storesThis year was a very successful year for us in the Delaware County area in launching our tactical store and we double the size of our business in the first 6 months.  People are still finding out about us via word of mouth whenever they need a new holster, police boots or even just Ambulance companies hiring and people  needing to get a pair of pants.  Much of the product line we stock in our store is for people to checkout instead of buying it online.  Duty gear like handcuff keys and various police belts are things that people in the Law Enforcement industry lose or wear out over time and are always in need of.    Police vests, tactical pants, uniform pants, belts, hydration unites, SWAT team bags are things that are always wearing out and need to be replaced.

We’ve learned there are so many types of handcuffs, swivel and hinged doesn’t always narrow it down, some are different weights and types of metal.  The items we have brought in this year are the Safariland lightweight handcuffs and in our region there are no Philadelphia Police Supplies shops around here and many of our Law Enforcement Officers are very happy to see a business like this open up.   Tactical vests, body armor are all things people need to be sized up on and this is something that has to be done right so that there are fewer returns.   We stock a large number of Blackhawk serpa holsters, safariland products, pepper spray, mace, tasers, batons, police badge holders and more and more duty gear.

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Shopping online or Shopping in a brick and mortar store

philadelphia Law Enforcement suppiesThere are a lot of things we learned in the last year about the Law Enforcement Community and sometimes its the small things that people want in your store and not the fancy stuff.   There are plenty of times we go to places like Youtube.com to watch the products that we sell to try and learn how to use them or to market them.   You can only read so much about a product but if you don’t know how something is used, certain terminology about a backpack might just confuse you.   There are so many differences between all of the bags we sell and sizes are something people have a hard time explaining.   The differences between the Rush 24 and Rush 72 5.11 bags is significant and sometimes people don’t know which one they want until they hold it in their hands.

Police Officers loose handcuffs and handcuff keys all the time and sometimes that 20yrd old holster needs to be retired.    We know have a Law Enforcement inventory and we are doing everything from Blackington badges and whatever else Philadelphia Law Enforcement Supplies like Safariland holsters, Blackhawk Serpa holsters and all of the pepper spray and batons that are used.   We have a pickup on location option on our website and stock a good bit of AR15 upper receivers and Magpul accessories.   Our Smith Optics Elite ballistic eyewear was used in the US Open here in Merrion and we are looking forward to bringing on even more products this Summer and Fall.

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2yrs of running with Smith Optics Elite Eyeshields

Smith Optics Elite eyeshieldsI’ve been through so many safety glasses that I’m really sure I put my money in the right place when I drop $85 for a Smith Optics Elite eyeshield kit.   I don’t have a need for the amber or yellow glasses but sometimes its nice to just run clear shields and not  have the sunglasses style.  On those dark over cast days you don’t want any light limitation. We’ve mostly had positive feedback on the Smith Optics Elite ballistic eyewear.   Every product line has a glitch or whoops but there have been very few of them from this product line  unlike some of the others we have dealt with.   Our main selling point with this ballistic eyewear are the warranties on the sunglasses because some people are afraid to drop $80-$125 if they know they can loose or break them.  Well, if you get fragmentation or they get cracked the lenses on the protective sunglasses are replaceable not the frames.

I went with the Aegis Compact eyeshields because they fit my head better and fit is just as important as clarity with something like this.  We’ve had a lot of junk, and cheap eyewear but those tend to not be as strong and the clarity usually deteriorates and fogging is always an issue with the cheap stuff.   My choice for the Smith Optics Elite eyeshields are the compact ARC field kits.   The Echo is pretty cool but seems to be more for guys wearing helmets or larger ear protection.  I’m good with my Ear Pros that only cost me less than $15 and are more comfortable than using foam ear plugs.  There is also an asian fit for people with wider noses so you may have to stop in and try them out so you know what fits you.

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Feedback from EMS customers about Smith Optics Elite ballistic eyewear

Smith Optics Elite Protective SunglassesLocal EMS folks have been asking us about new products, what they like and reviews on various competitors product.  Even as a paramedic dealing with blood splatter, needles ect are things that not everyone realizes are life altering things due to all of the various blood pathogens that are out there.    Waterproof boots are not for water its about protecting your feed from  HIV, Hepatitis C and on and on.   Some of the  local trauma surgeons are wearing the Smith Optics Elite Aegis Eyeshields.   The Aegis Echo has a flat metal frame that gives you more comfort if you have a hat or helmet on.   The Boogie Regulators have a strap that can go over many different types of helmet, swat helmets, artillery or any other infantry type.

There are always different needs and uses of eye wear, but the most versatile are the Eye shields. One problem that some sunglasses can have is they do not give you the protection against projectiles that can bounce around on a firing range that regular shooting glasses can have. One issue glasses can have besides being cheap and not holding up are they they do not give you good clarity or visibility. Ballistic sunglasses like  Smith Optics Elite protective sunglasses are for street wear, but the larger frames will restrict visibility that the eye shields do not. We each can have our preferences on what color lense we want and the great thing about the eye shields in the replacement lenses. For training and carbine classes and you don’t want to be wearing goggles, the eye shields are the best option in safety glasses for protection and visibility.

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You get what you pay for with ballistic eyewear

Smith Optics Elite Protective SunglassesWe get people coming into our store with all kinds of budget ranges but we really do try and avoid the cheap stuff.   The cheap stuff is usually made in China and we can sometimes make good margins on the products but the returns and the unhappy customers are too common for these products.   There are gun accessories out there that are cheap, break and don’t hold up and there is a reason we stick with Troy and Magpul industries for firearm accessories.  Same goes for flashlights and tactical lights, the lenses and durability of the glass is something that really comes to play when you figure out your budget range.

I have tested out many brands of eyewear and the truth of the matter is much of it is about warranties and personal preferences.   My favorite of the Smith Optics Elite protective sunglasses are the Chamber tacticals.  These seem to fit  my face very well and i don’t feel my eyelashes rubbing against the lenses.   We have guys stop in here embarressed to tell us that their eye lashes are long, but that red eye scratch feeling is something that does happen too often.   There is also a prescription lense option for anyone that needs it but you will have to fill out and RX form and submit it directly to Smith Optics.

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Getting your money’s worth from Smith Optics Elite

Smith Optics Elite EyewearThis is one of those products that people are somewhat afraid to buy online because they are afraid to drop $100 on sunglasses that they haven’t looked through.   We’ve tried out a lot of eyewear over the years and we think we have a pretty good idea about what is good and what is crap.   Everyone asks the same questions about them when they see them, “do they fog up”, well the real deal with them is yeah, they can, like anything that you can look through, but the standards are very high.   If you want to really avoid fogging you’re going to have to sink some money into the Smith Optics Elite outside the wire turbo fan goggles.  They have a very quiet running 2 speed fan for intense situations.

The best range glasses i ever had were are the Aegis Eyeshields, I’ve found the compact versions to fit my head better.  Some other options are  the Smith Optics Elite eyewear called the Aegis Echo which has a metal frame that is flat and very comfortable if you have a helmet or eye protection on.The thing I find likeable about these are the interchangeable lenses.   It’s nice to be able to go back to clear lenses if it’s not that sunny out because low light conditions and sunglasses makes identifying targets problematic and you don’t want that to happen.   The kits come in 2 sizes and you can always buy replacement lenses if you loose them or break them.

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Some changes to the Smith Optics Elite product line

Smith Optics EliteSmith Optics Elite is a our primary safety eyewear in our store and online.  We have a full line of their sunglasses as well as their goggles.  The Smith Optics Elite turbo fan is our number 1 swat team goggle and the new LoPro goggle is something that our military personnel use for night vision.   There are profile and fit differences between many of the eyewear products that Smith Optics has out and their product line is another one of those that people hate to buy  online because they want to know how it feels and fits and shelling out $100 for something like this is too much for people to handle so we know we have to stock them here in our Broomall PA showroom.

People can over rate eyewear but for people that actually work in the industry know that there are quality differences and accidents and mishaps occur as well as every day hostilities. Along with our newest products like the Boogie Regulator and the smith optics elite tactical sunglasses there is the Echo and the Compact Aegis eyeshields.  There is also an Asian Fit for the obvious customers.  There is also a dual ballistic lense for the tactical goggles as well as multicam.    This year Smith Optics Elite has introduced a new frame for the eyewear that has a camo look to it.

 

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New Products from Smith Optics Elite

It looks like we have a good review of the new  Smith Optics Elite eyewear that was on display at Shot Show this year.   Last year the Boogie regulators were the big hit but we kind of fell a sleep at the wheel on some of the other Smith Optics Elite eyewear.   The Aegis Echo is something we forgot to list on our website and now that so many of our customers have asked us why we have not been carrying them, we brought them in late January 2013.  The Aegis Echo is something that anyone with hearing protection or helmets might prefer due to the fact that it does not bend around your ears and press against your head.

Comfort is with eyewear is something anyone in the Military or SWAT Team is going to know about.  There are so many styles of frames from Smith Optics Elite protective sunglasses that  you really need to try them on and see how they feel because your eye and comfort tolerances will vary depending  on what  you are doing.  Some of the ballistic eyewear, like the goggles can feel different on  your face and even eye lashes will get annoyed depending on the fit.   All Smith Optics Elite eyewear has a lifetime warranty on the lenses and many of our customers have taken advantage of that.

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