Rudy Project Rydons

Recently on M4Carbine.net, one of Rudy Project’s shooting team members offered folks a substantial discount on Rudy Project eyewear. I’ll be honest, up until last year I’d never heard of Rudy Project. Then my friend Julie Golob (9 times USPSA Ladies National Champion … seriously, if you don’t know who Julie is, you live under a rock) started using their eye protection and joined their team as a sponsored shooter. She’s had nothing but great things to say about the product and the company, so it seemed like a good opportunity to give them a try.

A pair of Rydon Tactical eyepro with photochromatic clear lenses along with a spare set of red photochromatic lenses were soon on their way. The lenses are Rudy Project’s patented ImpactX material and are rated ANSI Z87.1+, which is the high-velocity, high-mass impact certification that exceeds normal eyepro standards. How tough are the lenses? Rudy Project guarantees them for life. According to Rudy Project’s literature, it’s the same base material that Apache attack helicopter windshield panels are made out of!

Important from a shooting standpoint, the Rydon lenses are optically correct meaning that you don’t “see” the curvature of the lens when looking through it. Cheap eyepro often distorts your vision, but Rudy Project (like Oakley) glasses guarantee that what you’re seeing is what’s actually in front of you.

The lenses are also treated with a scratch-resistant coating that repels dust and prevents water droplets from adhering to its surface, keeping your vision clear under almost any environmental condition.

Both sets of lenses I ordered are photochromatic. The amount of light they let through varies with the amount of light (UV light, specifically) that is striking the lens at a given time. This photo (click on it for a larger image) demonstrates just how dramatic the difference can be. The lens pictured on the left was exposed to normal afternoon sunlight for one minute while the lens pictured on the right was covered by a lens cloth. At their darkest, they block 80% of ambient light. But regardless of whether they’re clear or dark, they provide essentially 100% protection against UVA and UVB’s harmful radiation.

And because the lenses react to ultraviolet light, they don’t get dark just because someone shines a flashlight in your face or because you go from a dark room to a well-lit room. They seem perfectly designed for indoor shooting. Which is exactly what Julie told me in the first place. One side effect is that if you want to use the photochromatic Rydons as driving classes, they’ll stay clear all the time … very little UV light penetrates through your windshield.

The Rydons are extremely ergonomic and adjustable. The temples can be twisted in any direction, as seen in this exaggerated photo (right). Bending them back into normal position was just as easy. That’s because they’re made of what Rudy Project calls KYNETIUM, an alloy of aluminum, magnesium, silicon, and titanium. This makes them lightweight, durable, and so incredibly flexible all at once.

The nosepiece is also adjustable for fit. Heaven forbid it use the same alloy as the temples though! No, the ERGANOSE (I didn’t make that up) is made from a copper-beryllium alloy. Normal Rydons come with a perforated “E-LOCK” nosepiece but apparently the Tactical model doesn’t. I’m sure it’s much more tactical this way. (edited to add: Rob from Rudy Project informs me that this is the new & improved nosepiece that is standard on all Rydons. It is more adjustable and should be better for both comfort and non-slip) Here are some photos showing the range of adjustment for the nosepiece:

What else is different about the Tactical version of the Rydons? As you can see in the photo of standard Rydons (borrowed from e-rudy.com), the temples are shiny metal and the company logo at the bridge of the nose is shiny, too. The Tactical model has black temples and a black logo.

Standard:

Tactical:

It goes without saying, some day my life may be saved by my stealthy non-reflective eyepro frames. OK, maybe not …

So how does all the ergonomic genius work in real life? The Rudy Project Rydons are totally comfortable even when worn in conjunction with my tight-fitting MSA Sordin Supreme Pro-X electronic hearing protection. The thin temples don’t interfere with the ear protection, either, which is obviously important.

Protection (eye coverage) seems good though not perfect. It’s superior to the Oakley Half-Jackets I’ve been wearing for the past few years, but not as complete as the Oakley M-Frames which are so ubiquitous within the shooting community. There are probably Rudy Project models which provide better coverage, but it’s almost impossible to find a retail outlet with a variety of samples to try on for comparison.

I’m still undecided on the red lenses. As you can see from the photo at right, they don’t have as wide a range of shades (from 50% light transmission to 21%, compared to the “clear” lenses’ 78% to 20%). A number of shooters report great results using them outdoors because they help cut down on glare and define edges better. Indoors — where I do most of my practice — they were just too dim. If there was any benefit from the red hue, I didn’t notice. In the near future I’ll give them a try outdoors and see if it makes a difference.

About the only complaint I can lodge against Rudy Project is the cheap — and I don’t just mean inexpensive — plastic carrying case that comes with the glasses. For a set of eyepro that retails for north of $200, you’d expect something a bit nicer than this mass produced injection molded thing. It’s lightweight and certainly does the job protecting the glasses, but after years of Oakley black nylon “vaults” in my car and in my range bag this thing looked like it belonged under the kitchen sink.

Overall, though, the Rudy Project Rydon Tactical eyepro works great. It’s comfortable, provides good protection and absolutely outstanding visual clarity. With the photochromatic clear lenses, you can shoot indoors or outdoors, day or night, without needing to swap lenses and risk wearing out the lenses or the frames. Thanks again to “uscbigdawg” of M4Carbine.net and Julie Golob for their assistance and advice. I’m officially a Rudy Project fan …

Train hard & stay safe! ToddG