AllOutdoor Review – Wiley X Saber Advanced Shooting/Eye Protection
Travis Olander 11.06.23
Proper eye and ear pro is required at most ranges. But while ballistic glasses come in all shapes and sizes (and offer different protection ratings) it’s my humble opinion that the Wiley X Saber Advanced are the only pair you’ll ever need. When it comes to shooting glasses, most folks focus on good looks and protection ratings – and the Saber Advanced certainly deliver, here – but comfort and actual “wear-ability” often get overlooked. Lens colors can also play a pretty important role in your aim game. I’ve worn plenty of ballistic glasses that provide the right protection but, in frank terms, they just suck to wear for longer than 20 to 30 minutes – especially if you’ve got other gear on, like a helmet or over-the-ear shooting muffs. First, the let’s take a look at the technical stuff.
Eye & Ear Protection Coverage on AllOutdoor
- Noise Reduction Ratings: How Much Shooting Ear Pro Do You Need?
- AllOutdoor Review – 3M Peltor Comtac III Hearing Defenders
- See Everything with GATORZ Eyewear Blastshield Shield-Style Glasses
- AO Review – Revision Military Enhanced Ballistic Eyewear: I-Vis Lens Tech
Wiley X Saber Advanced – Specifications & Features
- 100% UV protection (even with clear lenses)
- Available with ballistically rated prescription lenses
- Available lenses: Clear, tinted, rust, vermilion, yellow
- Meets MIL-PRF ballistic lens testing standards
- Meets ANSI Z87+ ballistic testing standards
- Meets OSHA eye wear standards
Wiley X Saber Advanced
I’ve also had issues with lenses fogging up while I’m behind my optics. This is something the Sabers handle better than most. It’s a combination of the lens coating, and the nose bridge and half frame that allow these particular glasses to mitigate the problem.
The Saber’s lenses are probably some of the best I’ve worn. They’re actually scratch-resistant; my issued pair maintained good clarity through plenty of drops and falls on gravel, and a few sandstorms and convoys sitting atop a hatch. The lenses are made from a polycarbonate that’s been tested to meet both the military’s ballistic eyewear ratings, and the “civilian” ANSI ratings. Wiley X claims to have taken protection a bit further than the bare minimum; these lenses will stop any .15-cal projectile traveling up to 725 FPS, which sounds about right for shrapnel or ricochets.
The Saber Advanced take full advantage of various high-vis lens colors, too. Options include orange, yellow, green, and a pink-ish lens that works well for contrasting targets against green (outdoors) and blue (indoors) hues. The smoked lenses offer 85% tint, so they’re on the darker side of most shades. The orange and vermilion shades have 47% tint, while the yellow lenses provide 14% tint. And, thankfully, the Sabers come optioned with a separate prescription lens insert. PX lenses cost about $100, with the order fulfilled by SportRX. The lenses provided for the insert are also Z78-rated, so you technically get double the protection, here.
I only ever ran with the smoked lenses and a pair of yellow shades for target shooting and, in spite of my own prescription, I never ordered a pair for the insert. But each pair provided great visibility and held up to the same use and abuse as the standard clear lenses. Overall fitment is another thing the Saber Advanced get right – much more so than other lenses I’ve tried out.
Like I mentioned, fog was a common problem when I wore eye pro and hit the range. We were often zeroing and qualifying during cold months, and most of the full-frame glasses I tried were troublesome. These, however, did the trick. The half frame, wide brow, and single lens coupled with excellent fitment on the nose piece helps the Sabers prevent fogging.
The bridge is properly adjustable, with a soft inner liner. The bridge keeps the lenses a bit further away from your eyes than other pairs I’ve tried, which helps with airflow and condensation. The bridge is also where the PX insert snaps on, requiring no tools.
And last, but equally importantly, the temples: They’re quite comfortable. They telescope, too, providing longer or shorter fitment which works great not just for your head size, but for ensuring a good fit when you’re wearing over-the-ear protection. It’s here that I found most glasses just suck – but these reduce pressure points and don’t cause any hot spots that leave you with a headache after a few hours.
What’s Not to Like?
The Wiley X Saber Advanced are, in my opinion, the only pair of shooting glasses you’ll need: They have all the lens options you could want for daylight, low light, indoor shooting, and high-contrast targets; they’re one of the few options on the market with comfortable PX inserts that fit, with good clarity; and of nearly a dozen different ballistic glasses I’ve collected over a decade in and out of uniform, they’re one of the only glasses that have never fogged up, and fit comfortably with ear pro and a helmet.
But they’re not perfect: Some might find these too bulky, and if you have a small nose, you’ll struggle to get the nose bridge to seal properly. They also just don’t look good. They’re not “cool” like a pair of Oakleys, or 5.11’s ballistic sunglasses. They’re also a tad pricey compared to other, similar options – you can easily find some ballistic one-piece lenses that cost $30 to $50 from brands like ESS or Walker’s. But if you can look past the cost and lack of aesthetics, the Sabers are perhaps the best option for proper, comfortable ballistic eye pro that work well in any lighting conditions. Of course, if you must have a pair that does get a full 10/10 in the “cool” category, you could consider Pit Viper’s BALL-ISTICS.
