Yard work seems harmless enough, right? But you still run the risk of injury while doing simple tasks like mowing the lawn or trimming the hedges. Your eyes, in particular, are vulnerable to damage.
Everything from stones down to dust and pollen can irritate or even damage your eyes. And many activities in your yard kick up a lot of those materials! Even a speck can be annoying. But it can also scratch the lens and do permanent damage. Potentially, even worse can happen.
Why Wear Protective Eyewear?
To protect your eyes, of course!
Quality protective eyewear will shield your eyes from most debris that could fly into them. This could include anything we’ve already mentioned. But it can also help keep insects out of your eyes or protect you from scraping your eye against branches or leaves as you move about your tasks.
Some protective eyewear can fit over your corrective lenses or even sunglasses against damage. Or you could opt for safety glasses made to your prescription or that shield against glare.
The upside is enormous – you want to protect your vision from damage. At times, the protective glasses may be uncomfortable, but it’s worthwhile considering the alternative.
Features To Look For
Safety is the most important aspect of your safety glasses. Fortunately, there is even a rating system to guide us on this. ANSI Z87 sets the standards for this. It includes requirements related to impact resistance. If glasses meet the Z87+ standard, they can withstand high-impact and high-mass collisions. They must also have a “wraparound” style – that is, they protect your eyes from the sides, not only the front.
All the glasses we review here meet the Z87 standard. For some, we couldn’t determine if they qualify for the Z87+ but they do meet the general standard.
There are a couple of other factors we consider noteworthy, too. We recommend that the ANSI standard be indispensable. But look for the following, too:
UV Protection
Part of the joy of yard work is spending some time in the sun. But the sun’s rays can harm your skin – and your eyes. Good safety glasses, like good sunglasses, will help block some of those dangerous rays.
Anti-fog glasses are also a good choice. Visibility is essential when you’re riding a lawnmower, waving around a weed whacker, or revving a chainsaw!
Of course, glasses that are resistant to scratches will serve you much better. Sure, they may still protect you if they’re scratched up, but it’s so irritating to try to see out of them.
Finally, if you need to wear prescription lenses – or prefer to wear sunglasses while you work – be sure that your safety glasses will fit over them. Many have this as a part of their design. At the same time, you can get safety glasses that serve as sunglasses. And you can even get custom-made prescription safety glasses!
Reviews of the Best Safety Goggles For Yard Work
With an emphasis on “safety” and not much on style, we’ve looked over some of the top protective eyewear available. Here are our picks – be sure to check out the reviews before you buy!
Uvex by Honeywell Hypershock Safety Glasses
This pair of glasses may stand out because of its unique coloring, but they’re among the best choices when you want to protect your eyes.
They are polarized to cut down on glare. Also, they’re scratch-resistant; we don’t think you’ll have any problem with lens damage on these!
Honeywell says the name “Uvex” comes from UV-ex, because these are designed to filter over 99% of the sun’s UV rays. That’s a huge help in keeping your eyes safe from the sun (or from reflections)
They fit well on the average face and provide a great level of protection.
There are several other options available in this line, including other color choices and various lens treatments. You can make your choice based on your own needs and preferences. On the Amazon page, you can find buttons and details for each.
The drawback with these is that they probably won’t work with your everyday eyeglasses. If you need corrective lenses, you may want to consider other options.
The price tag is higher than other items we’ve looked at, but not outrageously so. And the level of protection they provide makes them worth it.
MAGID Y50BKAFC Iconic Y50 Design Series Safety Glasses with Side Shields
Magid offers high-quality protective eyewear with a variety of options.
The link here is to the most “basic” set – one pair of clear-lensed glasses. However, they also offer two, six, and twelve packs. There are also a variety of lens colors. Even better, there are magnification options for 1.5 and 2.0 diopters.
These are similar in form to regular glasses, but they do have side shields to help protect from flying debris. Unfortunately, there is still some space on the upper part where objects could enter. However, most problems will come from below, and these do a good job there.
These meet the Z87+ plus standard. They’re also scratch-resistant and coated with anti-fog protection. The bow has soft padding and the frames have some give around the temple to fit a variety of head sizes.
They also fit over most prescription lenses.
NoCry Safety Glasses
You won’t cry – or put your eye out – with these great glasses from NoCry. They feature the highest rating for impact protection, cover your whole eye, fit over your regular glasses, and have comfortable padding along the brow.
They’re also available in some pretty awesome colors – but we promised that style would be secondary here!
The lenses are scratch-resistant and block over 90% of UV rays. They also provide good protection from all directions. There’s only a small gap along the top for air.
The one drawback we see is that these aren’t anti-fog glasses. Fortunately, No Cry is upfront about it. They say that it was intentionally left out to keep the cost lower. They say that these are designed for use with normal glasses – and normal glasses will fog. So they didn’t see the point of increasing the cost for something that wouldn’t help. We think it would still have been nice to at least have an option in a similar pair of protective glasses since not everyone wears corrective lenses.
3M Virtua CSS Protective Eyewear with Foam Gasket
It shouldn’t surprise anyone to find 3M on this list; they’re a regular contender for anything to do with plastic. Their Virtua CSS deserves this slot among the best protective eyewear.
These lenses have a gasket that wraps around the protective lens to keep you safe – it will even keep up the bulk of dust and pollen.
The lenses are also suited for indoor and outdoor use, with tinting that will serve well in either. The lenses have a mirror coating which can slightly distort your vision from inside.
They’re also scratch- and impact-resistant. They keep out 99.9% of UV rays, according to 3M.
They’re not adjustable but they do fit most average-size heads. They might be tough for small or large people, though.
Also, even though they are supposed to be fog-resistant, we’ve seen a lot of reports that that only holds true for a very short time.
We did note that the Amazon listing says they aren’t available for consumer purchase – only for construction and industrial use. However, they’re ON Amazon and available to anyone. Maybe that point is just a clever marketing strategy.
Dewalt DPG54-1D Protector Safety Glasses
DeWalt makes great tools – many of which you’d used with safety glasses. For basic protection, these safety glasses do the job. They’re also very economical.
These lenses meet the ANSI requirements for protection without distorting your vision at all. At less than an ounce, they’re also not going to weigh on you over the day. They’re relatively comfortable, too, so they won’t be a burden.
They block nearly all UV rays to give you protection against the sun as well as pebbles, wood chips, and other flying annoyances.
We just see two drawbacks – these don’t seal as tightly against your face as some other glasses do. They cover enough that you probably don’t have to worry, but there’s that slight chance something could get behind them.
Also, they don’t seem to work well if you need to use corrective lenses with them.
However, other than that, they do a great job and should keep you safe in most circumstances.
Conclusion
We always preach safety first – and protective glasses should be one of the first things you look for whenever. You should use them when doing any chores that toss up sparks, sawdust, rocks, twigs, or even dust and pollen. Look for glasses that are ANSI Z78-certified to be sure they’ll protect your eyes from all sides and withstand the high-speed impact that can come from tools like a lawnmower!
