Safety glasses for using maul?

[thunderhead]

I live in a pretty damp environment and my safety glasses just never stop fogging/sweating. Ive tried various kinds with no significant time to fog differences.

Obviously ill always be using them for chainsaw and hammer-wedge work, but for ordinary maul swinging, think its ok to go without?

Thanks for your opinions.

 

[Montanalocal]

They make wire mesh safety goggles that are said not to fog. Never tried them myself.

Amazon product ASIN B06XFTSSXM

 

[thunderhead]

Mesh goggles cheap and well rated... genius! Gonna grab a pair and see how it goes.

Thanks!

 

[hickoryhoarder]

I wear my regular eyeglasses, which I think are sufficient. Safety glasses are also made in more of an eyeglass style, not fitting close to the face.

 

[Wood1Dennis]

I wear my regular eyeglasses, which I think are sufficient. Safety glasses are also made in more of an eyeglass style, not fitting close to the face

Be careful, regular glasses are no match for safety glasses. I have worked firewood for years, sometimes with safety glasses, sometimes with regular ones, or with nothing at all. I got complacent but recently learned about how quickly that can come back to bite you!

In September I was kneeling down spitting some kindling when a stubborn piece somehow bounced up off the block and hit me, pretty hard, in my eye. I was wearing regular glasses, the piece of wood knocked the lens out of the back of the frame and bounced it off of my eye. I found the lens on the floor a few feet away. Initially I thought little of it, but by the next day I was seeing significant black floaters and other vision problems in that eye. To make a long story short, the trauma to my eye created the floaters in the vitreous fluid of the eye, and a small tear in my retina. Two rounds of laser surgery took care of the retina and the floaters have healed so I am back to normal, but I am lucky. Glasses probably saved me from more damage, but safety glasses would have spared me for the damage I did and would have saved me a lot of hassle not to mention money! I cringe to think of what a more significant impact could have done.

I no longer split firewood without eye protection!

 

[EbS-P]

I always try to grab a pair of polycarbonate sunglasses at the very least. PPE is all about easy access and habit. I have numerous pairs of glasses around thanks to a nerf war party. I won’t mow or weed eat with or split out them.

 

[SpaceBus]

Great thread. I'm complacent as I usually just wear sunglasses when I work. This thread is a good wake up call for me. I need to dig out my old motorcycle riding sunglasses for working.

 

[peakbagger]

I buy UVEX brand tinted sunglasses for work and play. They are fairly cheap, are wrap around with good optics and come with anti scratch and anitfog coating (which eventually wears off with cleaning) and more importantly they meet current ANSI specs for safety glasses as well as anti ballistic specs. They also have a high rating for UVA and UVB reduction. If they are kept in a cloth case and cleaned properly they last a long time but inevitably mine get scratched up from just throwing them on the dash and in my pack. I just keep a spare new pair on my gear shelf and as the ones in use get scratched I throw away the worse one and demote the intermediate ones. I have several pairs around the house in places I might needs them. I normally get the UV extreme tinted lenses for outdoor use but also have some clear ones for indoors.

Even high grade tools can shed a fragment. It probably will not kill someone unless it hits a jugular vein, but it will take out an eye. I have been hit by fragments in the past in the face from nail guns and a few have bounced off my glasses so I figure its well worth it. I do off trail hiking (bushwhacking) and definitely use safety glasses as it real easy to get poked.

 

[Sawset]

I was visiting family in Tuscon, and was handed a pair of Nemisis 25688 v30 glasses. He works with a roofing supplier and that's one that they use. (Picture sun, difficult conditions, need stuff that works, don't want to fight keeping glasses on.) I found them online, 3 for $12. Ansi approved, uv protection, various shades (22 colors), clear smoke polarized etc. Promply ordered a bunch when I got home. Finally something that is comfy, gloms onto my head no matter what, great sunglasses when outside, clear for the shop.

 

[Granite Statah]

at my workplace we use glasses stamped with Z87, one of the ANSI standards for eye protection. I have 4-5 pairs of these around the house that were in the discard pile. A more recent development is having to get these glasses with a little 1.5x "helper" along the bottom.....

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Not sure how this stuff works yet but in the Northeast this is marketed to skiers

Cat Crap – EK USA

 

[peakbagger]

Cat Crap or glycerine helps limit fogging but is not a cure.

 

[ohlongarm]

I live in a pretty damp environment and my safety glasses just never stop fogging/sweating. Ive tried various kinds with no significant time to fog differences.

Obviously ill always be using them for chainsaw and hammer-wedge work, but for ordinary maul swinging, think its ok to go without?

Thanks for your opinions.

Absolutely safety glasses,i've seen hundreds of eye injuries some,very serious,that could have been prevented 95% of the time,the gentleman below gave expert advice.

 

[heavy hammer]

All it takes is once. Always better to have them on.

 

[thunderhead]

Pretty decisive responses. Got some of those mesh ones. Thanks guys.

 

[timfromohio]

Always use some type of eye protection when splitting. Years ago, before I switched to using an X27, I was splitting with an inexpensive maul from a big box store. Hit a round at an off angle I guess and the corner of the splitting head broke off and went zinging off somewhere. Probability of hitting directly into an eye is very low, but if it would have happened would have undoubtedly caused a potentially severe injury. Safety glasses (and chaps, helmet with face shield, etc.) are cheap insurance. Use them.

 

[mar13]

Seatbelt when driving, helmet when biking, goggles while splitting. Probably never needed, but if only needed once, you'll be glad you took the precaution. (As helmet and safety belt have each saved me once over decades of mostly noneventful use.)