Eye protection

It is critical that you wear adequate eye protection when playing airsoft. Fortunately there are a wide variety of options to choose from. It is important that your eye protection meets proper safety standards.

Your eye-wear should be meet or exceed ANSI Z87.1 standards. Despite what other sites suggest, picking a pair of goggles and shooting at them at close range to see if they break or not is not a safety measurement. Additionally, do not wear shop goggles, military sun/dust/wind goggles, or ski goggles. These may look the same as other widely-used eyewear but they are unsafe for airsoft.Your eyes are worth more taking a shortcut that might save you $30. I recommend purchasing proper eye protection before you buy a gun.

You may have played backyard airsoft games with friends while wearing ski goggles or shop goggles and had no accidents. Most organized airsoft games contain "hot" guns. These are upgraded airsoft guns to shoot at velocities much higher than your $20 springers.

Paintball masks

Many players purchase a paintball mask, and then remove the plastic face mask. Some fields may require full face protection when playing airsoft. If so, leave the mask on. This may be your only option for these types of fields.

Bolle goggles

Bolle makes ski goggles. Do not use ski goggles for airsoft. Using ski goggles is dangerous and unsuitable. Bolle does manufacture tactical goggles which are Z87.1 compliant. Check each model to make sure this is the case before using Bolle goggles in an airsoft game. The price range for bolle goggles are $50 and up.

ESS goggles

ESS also makes tactical goggles. ESS tactical military goggles are similar to Bolle's. Once again, make sure that the model you are ordering meets ANSI Z87.1 standards. $40 and up

Shooting glasses/goggles

Some airsoft fields do not require full facial protection or full seal goggles. While I can not endorse this practice, in the 3+ years I played airsoft, nearly every field that I played on did not require full seal goggles. I never witnessed any safety issues due to this. (but I have heard of players getting bb's up their nose.)

Wiley X

Wiley X makes several high-quality models of eyewear which exceed Z87.1 standards. Certain models allow for prescription lens inserts. If you have serious fogging issues with full-seal goggles this may be one of your only options.

If you do not feel comfortable without full-seal goggles but still dislike their restrictiveness, Wiley X has made a new model of tactical goggle, "Wiley X CQC tactical goggle." These low-profile goggles are a great option for players who don't mind spending a little extra money. $65 and up