Sunglasses in times of war.........

[Tom.]

I love military type eyewear...I only wear SI M Frame 3 now........Vietnam was also a brutal insurgency war....very hard to win those.

Exactly, the Vietcong was a formidable foe, not only fearless, but also very clever.
The 2nd iraqi and the afghan war was the same with a fearless enemy, but the enemy here was/are far from the intelligence level of the Vietcong.

Of course we also have to remember the VC was supported by China and the Soviet Union ! Lots of intel coming from those two countries.

 

[Rollbar]

We also fought a insurgency war here in South Africa(supported by Russia, some Russian troops were captured by us even a Russian General!)...in the 1980's actually in Angola/South West Africa....there I can attest that ONLY Ray Ban Aviators were worn by troops and pilots....pilots were issued their's to keep, and troops baught their own.

 

[Rollbar]

The pilots had access to them, both glasses and goggles for aircrew alike, the groundpounders not as much. You have to remember the time and context of the Vietnam war. WWII had our country and it's industrial might saving the world, and Vietnam was nowhere near that popular. I will not get into political dissertations in this forum, so suffice it to say our soldiers and sailors were not as well supplied as they were during the bigger conflict. I am in agreement that more purposeful eyewear would have made an impact!! Those soldiers were no less important than their predecessors, no matter the war, and they should have had access to anything they needed as well as our thoughts and prayers from home!

Agree fully.

 

[Miren Baines]

From a Marine's perspective...

I don't think glasses would have made much of a difference, at least --- not in the 40's for WW2 or Vietnam because the optical tech wasn't really there or present to be much of a function as it is today.

I imagine they probably would have really wanted the new Prizm lenses, particularly in the jungles of Vietnam --- that would have been a plus... but there is more to it than just optics in the end.

In the field they told us that either Oakley or Wiley X was your best bet in the dessert. At least from the start --- you had to. In the day light, its total blindness amongst the sand dunes and getting a good aim without it was almost impossible with the inclusion of heat mirage in the background. The second thing was all the crap that got in your eye from dust being kicked up if you were in a convoy or the crap that would be thrown in the air from on coming jihadi fire. Definitely needed it if you were part of a Tank battalion. Finding targets if you were air crew was also a big plus especially when you had to run in hot.

And if you really wanted to go cheap, interesting enough --- the 10.00 Nemesis flat black safety glasses worked very well too aside from the WX and Oakley. Only thing was ---- its true. If anything else, your eyes will be protected if you were caught up in a blast of some kind. I've seen it. That's why most who could afford it would get a few Oakley's when they found themselves back from deployment. Incidentally their SI Assault Gloves are also the best to use in such environments to include law enforcement for entry/imminent threat scenarios.

 

[Miren Baines]

From a Law Enforcement perspective, I like using Gascans, Fuel Cells, and lately the Prizm Det Cord for bright days. The Det Cord Prizim is really good.

 

[cyclerdoug]

From a Marine's perspective...

I don't think glasses would have made much of a difference, at least --- not in the 40's for WW2 or Vietnam because the optical tech wasn't really there or present to be much of a function as it is today.

I imagine they probably would have really wanted the new Prizm lenses, particularly in the jungles of Vietnam --- that would have been a plus... but there is more to it than just optics in the end.

In the field they told us that either Oakley or Wiley X was your best bet in the dessert. At least from the start --- you had to. In the day light, its total blindness amongst the sand dunes and getting a good aim without it was almost impossible with the inclusion of heat mirage in the background. The second thing was all the crap that got in your eye from dust being kicked up if you were in a convoy or the crap that would be thrown in the air from on coming jihadi fire. Definitely needed it if you were part of a Tank battalion. Finding targets if you were air crew was also a big plus especially when you had to run in hot.

And if you really wanted to go cheap, interesting enough --- the 10.00 Nemesis flat black safety glasses worked very well too aside from the WX and Oakley. Only thing was ---- its true. If anything else, your eyes will be protected if you were caught up in a blast of some kind. I've seen it. That's why most who could afford it would get a few Oakley's when they found themselves back from deployment. Incidentally their SI Assault Gloves are also the best to use in such environments to include law enforcement for entry/imminent threat scenarios.

GREAT post, thank you!!

And thank you also for your service.

 

[Miren Baines]

GREAT post, thank you!!

And thank you also for your service.

No need for the thanks for it was something that many just choose to do --- but I appreciate the sentiment and I def appreciate our great nation.

 

[Patient_Cero]

 

[Duck_Fat808]

Found this
Who really made those WWII aviator sunglasses? | The Eyewear Blog

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[luciferst]

Topic is very interesting,
From a Vietnamese's perspective, Viet Cong's equip during the war is very simple, we fighting in poor conditions, the will is all. You have can see some photos of our warrior, only shorts not glasses haha!!.

Anyone using det cord oakley primz Tr22 , I intend to use it for work and tourism, quality good?