How to tell if glasses are ballistic rated: a five-step check you can do at the counter

The five steps

1. Find the stamp on the temple (and the lens).
2. Look for the plus after Z87.
3. Find a ballistic document number on the product page.
4. Look for the APEL logo on the frame.
5. Read the verb the maker uses.

Each step rules something in or out. A pair can stop at step two and be a perfectly good Z87+ range pair; it is ballistic rated only if it clears step three, and independently rated only if it clears step four.

1. Find the stamp on the temple

Every ANSI/ISEA Z87.1 protector carries the manufacturer's mark and "Z87" on the lens and on the frame, usually molded into the inside of a temple. No mark means no claim — the pair might be tough, but nobody has said so under the standard. Prescription safety frames carry "Z87-2". The full marking table is on what Z87+ means.

2. Look for the plus

"Z87+" means the lens and frame passed the high-mass and high-velocity impact tests. "Z87" alone means basic impact. On a product page the same distinction hides in the words: "Z87.1+", "Z87+" or "Z87.1 high impact" is the plus; "Z87.1" on its own is not. This is the range floor. It is not yet a ballistic rating.

3. Find a document number

A ballistic rating names a specification: MIL-PRF-32432 or 32432A (the current combined spec), MIL-PRF-31013 (the older spectacle spec) or MIL-DTL-43511 (the older goggle spec). The number will be on the maker's product page; it is rarely molded into the frame. "Ballistic", "MIL-SPEC", "military grade" and "tactical" are words, not documents. What each document requires is on MIL-PRF-32432 explained.

4. Look for the APEL logo

The U.S. Army's Authorized Protective Eyewear List is the one rating the maker did not write. Listed eyewear carries the APEL logo on the frame, and the maker sells the listed configuration as an "APEL" SKU. If you find the logo, the Army ran the MIL-PRF-32432 test on that configuration. If you do not, the pair may still be ballistic rated by the maker's statement (step three) — it is simply not on the list. Details on the APEL guide.

5. Read the verb

Makers choose their words with lawyers in the room. "APEL approved" and "certified" are claims of a recorded pass. "Meets" and "exceeds" are the maker's assertion of a pass. "Tested to" says a test happened and, on its own, nothing about the outcome. "Designed to" and "built to" say even less. Our rating column quotes the strongest statement the maker actually made, and the Magpul Defiant's card says "tested to" because that is the wording in the coverage we could read.

Read which lenses the claim covers, too. Howard Leight states its military V0 pass for the clear and amber Genesis lenses and not the vermillion. A claim belongs to the configuration tested.

Traps

• Brand halo. Oakley, Wiley X, Gatorz, Smith and Revision all sell rated and unrated models. The rating belongs to the model.
• Replacement lenses. The rating is for the lens in the frame it was tested in. A third-party lens in a rated frame is an untested assembly.
• "Ballistic" in a title. One youth pair on this site has "Ballistic" in its retail title and "Z87.1 rated" in the description, with no document named. We hold it at the Z87.1 tier.
• Sunglasses that look the part. Wraparound, dark, matte, rubber temples — none of it is a rating. See shooting glasses vs safety glasses.

Two pairs that pass every step

Both state the plus, name the document, carry an APEL listing on the page we cite, and use the strongest verbs.

Once you know how to read a marking, the next question is which makers write their claims precisely enough to be worth trusting in the first place. That comparison is on best safety glasses brands.