I like products that can do double duty. You know: Range bags with integrated brass catchers. Outerwear with built-in concealed carry pockets. Multi-tools. Add the Browning Sound Shield — safety glasses with built-in ear plugs — to this list. There have been other variations on the theme of combined eye/ear protection, but the Sound Shield does a great job of integrating them in a very efficient package. Weighing only 4.8 ounces and sacrificing nothing in terms of safety, the Sound Shield retails for $29.99 and offers a great means of making those quick trips to the range even more efficient.
As for eye protection, the Sound Shield exceeds ANSI Z87.1 impact standards, offers a frameless design and is comfortable to wear. They stay in place with rubberized temples and a soft rubber standoff nosepiece too. Put them on and you’ll feel like you’re wearing standard safety glasses like you always wear to the range. Except that built into each arm that extends over your ear is a flip-open compartment holding silicone earplugs with an NRR of 25dB. The earplugs (washable and replaceable) are on a string and both retract back into the compartment when you’re done. Neat and handy.
As you know, using ear plugs has the advantage of not interfering with a rifle buttstock like ear muffs would. It’s also easier to don a cap or other headgear. Those kinds of things are all fine and good, but the chief advantage is the convenience of having your two key pieces of safety gear literally able to fit in your pocket — in one piece of gear, no less. With the Sound Shield, you’ve got both eye and ear protection at the ready.
I’ve used Sound Shield at indoor and outdoor ranges, finding them perfectly adequate to the task. The vision through the protective lenses is good and there’s a slight tint to them. They don’t fog up but breathe freely. The grab of the arms and the way they sit on my nose is just right. With the safety glasses on, I can open the ear plug compartments, draw the ear plugs out and insert them. Nothing feels any different. But at that point, I’m certainly at a loss for hearing. Which, in addition to the eye protection, is the whole point.
I haven’t yet replaced the silicone ear plugs, but I can if need be. Other than that, the Sound Shield lens, padding, retractors and hinges are all doing fine, living up to their namesake. For the most part, they reside in my car and get used during lunch hours at the range — a useful set of eyes and ears in one!
