AllOutdoor Review – Magpul Explorer Non-Ballistic Sunglasses
Patrik Orcutt 07.10.23
In 1991, Richard Fitzpatrick was serving with Alpha Company, 3rd Recon Battalion in the U.S. Marine Corps when he first started thinking about a better way to draw magazines from their pouches. In the late 1980s, the standard-issue “ALICE” magazine pouches tended to be oversize and would swallow up all, but the top half inch of a magazine. That made paracord loops essential so a soldier could get a grip on the magazine when under stress. In 1997, a few years after he left the Marine Corps, a solution occurred to him. He decided to try a dual friction band and the rest is history. Today, Magpul is a firearm industry juggernaut and you would be hard-pressed to find a single person who shoots guns and does not own one of their products. I, personally, own a few of their product from the PMAG to the BAD Lever and last, but certainly not least, the Magpul Explorer Sunglasses. This review will focus on these shades and possibly convince you that you need a pair or even two.
The Magpul Explorer Sunglasses were purchased by myself and Magpul has not been allowed to preview this review prior to publishing. I have been wearing this one particular pair of sunglasses for the better part of 3 years at this point and have used them practically every day.
Specs – Magpul Explorer Sunglasses
- Constructed of TR90NZZ
- Engineered to the Z87.1 ballistic impact protection standards
- Oleophobic lenses repel water
- Coated stainless steel pins
- Polarized lenses are optional
- MSRP $70 – $100
Review – Magpul Explorer Sunglasses
In 2015 I purchased my first pair of expensive sunglasses. Any guess on what brand I purchased? Yes they were Oakley’s. Next question, how long do you think my pair of gas can Oakley’s lasted me before the lenses popped out of them? If you said three years, you would be wrong, they only lasted me about nine months. To be honest I’m glad they only lasted that long because looking back, those were kind of ugly, and I was not trying to look like an off-duty cop everywhere I went.
Fast forward a few years and several cheap pairs of sunglasses later, and I was beginning to get very frustrated with trying to find sunglasses that wouldn’t break but also didn’t cost too much. When Magpul released the Explorer sunglasses, I felt like taking a risk and ordering them. At that time, I had no experience with any of Magpul’s eyewear, but looking back at it. Now I’m happy I decided to buy a pair.
Unlike most overpriced sunglasses, the Explorers are priced very reasonably. The non-polarized version will cost you around $70 and the polarized version will cost around $100. That’s really good value especially when you compare them to other brands like Oakleys or RayBands, or even Gatorz.
The pair I picked up or polarized meaning that the lenses remove glare from hard, reflective surfaces while mirrored ones is reduced square from water, metal, and other hard surfaces. These ones also have a coating that’s more resistant to wear. Over the last three years, I have definitely abused the sunglasses and have wiped the lenses with all kinds of very abrasive materials to try to clean them in a pinch.
The lenses indeed show a lot of wear from the years of abuse, but are still entirely usable. There is anti-slip rubber on the nose pad, and also on the temple pads. I found that these rubber pads helped keep the sunglasses, very comfortable and retain them on my face even in windier conditions.
One thing that always bugged me about cheaper sunglasses was that after wearing them a few dozen times, the hinges either started to wear out or totally broke. They would also lose their retention and it wouldn’t have that nice solid, walk up or snap that they came with. The explorers still have really good walk-up and retention and that’s in no small part due to the coded stainless steel pins in the frames. It’s a very simple but dependable hinge design and is highly functional. It’s also part of the reason why these glasses are cheaper than others.
While the lenses are not rated to Z87.1 ballistic impact standards, due to the rap and shade of the explorers, the frames are engineered to the Z87.1 ballistic impact protection standards.
Moving on to the frames themselves, they are constructed of TR90, which combines lightweight construction with ballistic protection, but also has rigidity and flexibility. These are some of the more comfortable sunglasses I’ve ever owned, and it takes a long time for them to start to bother my ears. Magpul does offer replaceable lenses for some wines of their eyewear, but to my knowledge, they do not offer replaceable lenses for any of the explorers.
These sunglasses come in all kinds of different lens color options and also Magpul makes an extra large version of these wins is for people with larger faces. Personally, I have a small face, so trying to find sunglasses that fit. It can be a bit difficult. I think that the explorers fit my face reasonably well. If you have a smaller face, these might be a good pair of sunglasses for you.
Overall, I think Magpul really knocked it out of the park with this pair of eyewear. They feel premium in the hands and they wear incredibly well. They come in polarized, and non-polarized versions in the price is hard to beat. It’s interesting when I first picked up the Magpul Explorer, many of my friends were asking me what pair of sunglasses those were because they had never seen them before one of my friends actually liked the look of them so much that he got the exact same pair as me. These are also really good-looking sunglasses if you’re looking for a bit more of a stylish book and are not so worried about overall eye protection.
