Matching Drive Team Glasses

FIRST General Forum
1

Would glasses like these be acceptable for the drive team to wear during a match? Let alone being in the pit?

http://www.gunnars.com/shop/Halogen.html

Just want to clear things up as we noticed there being some issues with wearing exactly the right safety glasses last year.

-Matt

2

The only thing that comes to mind, in the pits, would be the absence of side guards. At FLR regional they were handing them out (i’m not sure what they do at your regional).

On your alliance side during practice and qualifying rounds IDK.

BTW, do these glasses give you guys some sort of optical improvement when not looking at a screen, or are they just for the style?

3

Those aren’t even safety rated. And they’re $100.

Wear ANSI-approved, UL Listed, or CSA rated non-shaded safety glasses. Lightly
tinted Rose, Blue, Amber tints are FIRST approved, but reflective lenses are not
(eyes must be clearly visible to others).

Wear non-shaded, ANSI-approved, UL-Listed, or CSA rated eye protection in the following
areas:
• When doing any work on the robot including, grinding, drilling, soldering, cutting,
welding, etc.
• At FIRST events:
• Anywhere in the pit area, including walk ways and pit stations
• On the Playing Field
• On the Practice Field
• Any area posted with signs requiring the use of eye protection

From the FIRST safety manual.

4

You could easily find actual “safety glasses” that could still be “matching” and look cool. Something like these: http://www.lowes.com/pd_153349-98-90531-00000_0__?productId=3086607&Ntt=safety+glasses&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dsafety%2Bglasses&facetInfo= (although it’s hard to tell if they are mirrored/reflective, and therefore not allowed, from this picture). However, the idea remains the same - hardware stores (i.e. Lowes/Home Depot where I’m at, or any similar store) should carry a variety of different looking ones you could get for your drive team that would still match each other and give a cool “look”. Best of luck to you!

5

I agree with everyone else about the cost. That’s why I was assuming there was some sort of advantage to justify the cost.

Since we’re throwing out vendors try
www.uline.com
or
www.safetyglassesusa.com

both have some really cool designs.

6

The product at the link is “3M Black Frame with Mirror Lens Plastic Safety Glasses”. I think they just might have mirror lenses.

I’ll agree that the glasses linked by the OP aren’t FRC legal for on the field as they’re not safety rated. This is why you want safety rated eyeglasses:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAksrxVMGts

You can still have interesting matching glasses, they just need to be ANSI rated. Try here:http://www.bglasses.com/

7

These are not safety glasses. Not only are they not safety rated, they simply aren’t safe. And do you really want to spend $400 on matching glasses for your drive team? (Besides the fact that, even for what they’re made for, they’re not worth $100 a piece…).

8

At $100 a pop you could buy Oakleys which are actually Z87.1 rated.

9

It has been said before but all safety glasses must have side guards AkA rap around.
As a Ref and former Safety Advisor Clear lenses is what we like to see.

10

Okay well thanks for letting know.

We agreed that this was the style we would wear and not get these particular glasses, i was just using the style as a reference to see if it was safe or not.

But yes, i do recall there being an issue with side protection so we’ll look into that.

Thanks for the prompt reply guys!
-Matt

11

Thanks Kevin - Good catch there. I just pulled up that page on Lowes’ website and didn’t really scrutinize it (or apparently even read the title of the product!) - The idea is still the same though.

12

Anything you find that is ANSI Z87.1 rated is going to cover all the pertinent details like impact resistance and side shields.

Also, please note that just side shields are enough. As the video I linked to demonstrates, side shields on non-safety rated lenses are about as useful as knee and elbow pads on a biker with a papier-mache helmet.

13

Just to clarify, pretty sure this is what you meant…

14

Fixed. Bolded and enlarged for truth.

Side shields are okay ONLY if your glasses are ANSI Z87.1 rated. Shields need to be rated appropriately too. The flimsy transparency looking shields are not safe either.

15