Today, Magpul introduces an entirely new product category, eyewear. But when you consider their expertise in injection molding and their ever growing clothing line, eyewear looks like the perfect bridge.
Naturally, they’re protective in nature, but Magpul wanted to offer something you’ll want to wear, no matter what you’re doing.
The first three styles are The Terrain, The Explorer, and the Summit. Add to that Black, Gray, and Tortoise Shell frame colors along with a variety lenses that have different polarization, color and mirroring for the various conditions you’ll encounter; whether driving to work, fishing on your favorite stretch of river, or on the shooting range.
Magpul offers full ballistic and safety rating and protection for active use with the Terrain (the larger full performance sport option) and the Summit (the smaller full performance sport option), and pulled it back just a bit with something a little more traditional with the Explorer (still full impact protection, but with less of a frame wrap).
There are currently 27 different options and by August they should all be available for sale.
Most of the stock went to Magpul dealers, so check with your preferred retailer.
Tags: Magpul
These look great. Good work Magpul.
Like all magpul gear, it looks great and I’m sure it *will* be functional…once they finally release it for sale, that is. Magpul has pre-released product after product after product recently with no actual sales in sight.
PMAG 27 GL9, Glock parts, bipods, rifle stocks, the list goes on and the release dates slip.
These will be available much sooner than you expect
Weird that there is nothing on their website about the eyewear…why would you announce something and not be able to see any product details??
As I’m sure you read in the article, look for them at your preferred retailer.
They are literally shipping right now.
I hope the prices are reasonable. There are a ton of high end sunglasses available however there don’t seem to be many mid tier options out there.
Prices are $90 to $160 MSRP, street price a bit lower once supply catches up. We’ve incorporated some very high end lens tech and coatings, stout frames, full MIL PRF impact protection and ANSI Z87.1+ protection, VERY reasonable upgrades for polarization (and we used high end polarization that doesn’t make your phone screen disappear and such), and they work with earpro, helmets, etc.
They meet or exceed the quality you’d expect from the highest priced glasses out there, and we use some of the same suppliers and technologies for lenses and coatings. We just don’t have to feed the Luxotica machine, so we can price them fairly.
“We just don’t have to feed the Luxotica machine”
Impressive.
Solid info. Will you plan on offering lens replacement in the future? Excited to hear that the cost is reasonable compared to a lot of other options out there.
Any possibility of offering with a prescription lense option?
Probably next year.
Country of origin?
Also because they are made in Taiwan.
Eyewear is available right now on our website, at Brownells, and they are shipping to distribution. Still dealing with some high demand strains on the firearms accessories supply chain, but Pro, Bipod, Hunter American, and even the 27 rd Glock magazine should be shipping by mid August.
Can you explain the difference between the Summit and the Terrain? They look very similar. Is it just frame and lense size?
Nevermind. Reading in detail helps.
Are they 100% made in the USA?
Nope, imported.
It’s exceptionally rare for eyewear to be 100% US Made. Military/Tactical eyewear that is 100% US typically goes to US military contracts and the products from the same companies sold into the consumer markets are at least partially imported (Even though they may appear identical to APEL units).
Even APEL eyewear that is sold to the US military, mostly isn’t 100% US made! Millions of pairs of APEL eyewear sold to the US military had Taiwanese lenses.
Magpul guys – I need something to replace my Oakley Hijinx & Antix for motorcycle use. What model do you recommend? I prefer brown frames / lenses & polarized
Yeah, they’re here to be your personal shopper…
I’d say the Terrain in tortoise with bronze/gold lens is your huckleberry
Yeah, they know more about their product and intended use than I do considering it’s literally shipping right now and nobody has hands on experience with them ATM. So when I specified motorcycle use, that would imply a closer, snug fit that blocks windflow around the lens & into the eye…. but you do you, Debbie
Asking for a friend, willthe Magpul polarization avoid the disappearing reticle on EoTechs?
(Seriously… is there a way around that issue?)
Only real way around it is to not wear polarized eyewear.
Actually I stand corrected, these should work just fine.
HEY MAGPUL,
Will you be submitting these glasses for approval to APEL? Are they rated to US Military MIL-PRF-31013 in addition to the advertized US Civilian standard ANSI Z87.1?
Not hard to do, they’ll I’ll just slap their logo onto luxottica’s glasses just like Oakley and everyone else does
Well, if it’s so easy why don’t you do it? Seems like a good way to get rich and have more time to be a douchebag on the internet for you.
Didn’t go anywhere near Luxottica or Essilor, or anyone else. These were designed at Magpul and built with zero partnership or ownership with/of other eyewear manufacturers or conglomerates. We don’t have a single product we make where we “just slap a logo” on it, but I’m sure you knew that already.
Too bad they are imported.
So when does your 100% made in the USA sunglass line come out?
Maybe instead of attacking me over facts you should be asking why Magpul couldn’t have done it. Plastic frames, polycarbonate lenses, and stainless steel hinges, tell me why they couldn’t be made here.
Because there is no manufacturing base that can perform to expected quality standards here in the US, unless you want to pay $500 a pair. We intend to work towards bringing as much as we can onshore, but, much like apparel, the capability just isn’t here right now at the quality level and cost that anyone would be willing to pay for. Some folks in the eyewear world bring components here to snap lenses in and then say they are US made. That just seemed disingenuous. Bottom line– if you’re wearing sunglasses, there’s about a 99.9% chance they were made in Asia. What we do give you is a purpose designed line of eyewear that we worked some smart features into, with the highest quality lenses and lens treatments available, at really reasonable prices for this level of quality, and we’re not beholden to luxottica or the other mega-eyewear conglomerates that own 99% of this market.
The frames aren’t too hard to make but the lenses are vastly more challenging. The lenses are molded from PC but they require very specialized optical molds and specialized functional coatings. The coating processes for lenses can be very sophisticated, especially for military applications.
The hard case shown in the video at 1:20: does it come with every pair? The blue mirror rose sounds awesome for driving/patrol.
Yes, every pair ships in a lens cloth bag with the hard case.
OK…in no particular order:
They all exceed MIL PRF Impact ratings, and ANSI Z87+ impact ratings. The Terrain and Summit have enough wrap to actually meet the full Z87+ protection for side coverage, so they are stamped with Z87+ right in the temple for those that need that for work.
We have a number of additional models coming starting next spring. APEL will eventually be something we will try to tackle.
We are not affiliated with, buying from, or related to any Luxottica operations. We are independent of the giant eyewear beast. That’s one of the reasons we decided to do eyewear is to provide a non-Lux alternative with priorities for features and quality that suit our own, and many of our customers, lifestyles.
Yes, after trying REALLY hard to have domestic manufacture of at least frames, It just didn’t make sense from a quality or QC perspective, and it seemed really disingenuous to do what some do and import parts and assemble them in US, accepting higher reject rates to employ a grand total of a handful of people snapping lenses in, just so we could pretend they were made in USA. Like apparel, you’ll find very few real domestic eyewear operations, and it usually requires some compromise in technology and/or massive premiums in $$$. We have a goal of gradually increasing the domestic capability until we can have US made glasses with the same quality and not have to pay $500 a pair. We have stuck to our usual practice of at least not sourcing anything in China.
Our polarization is available on a large percentage of the line. We chose a polarization technology that works exceptionally well, and also minimizes “blanking” of digital screens as much as possible. You’ll have no issues with iphones and the like, but some LCD screens may blank if you turn your head sideways. Don’t turn your head sideways. 🙂 They work great with aimpoints and MROs. For the life of me I can’t recall the EoTech compatibility, and I’m having someone check. I don’t have one here handy.
The lenses have anti-reflective, oleophobic, and scratch resistant coatings. The scratch resistance works pretty darned well. I finally damaged a pair that I’d been wearing for about 6 months when I had them up on my head and smacked the lenses on a roll bar getting into a razor. Got one small scuff. Everything short of that, they survived. The oleophobic helps to keep them from smudging and helps to be able to clean off face oil and perspiration without leaving a swirled mess.
The hard case is included with every pair. It’s quite nice. So nice that we will likely sell them separately once we are in full swing. It’s a true hard case that you can toss in a bag and not worry about your glasses at all.
OK, the product manager just confirmed the EoTech compatibility, so yes, our polarized lenses work with EoTechs.
And…the “upcharge” for polarization is only $20. Most brands charge a heck of a lot more for that, and then even use lesser polarization technology.
More models next year… I like the sound of that. Wearing sun/safety glasses 12+ hours a day every day, I’m not a fan of frame below the lens. I’m down for a 2 lens, no lower frame version in the future. Something to compete against half/flak jackets.
It is being reported by other people the eyewear is being made in Taiwan/ China, was that ever confirmed?
I can understand the need to have a product come in at a certain price point, so I don’t personally care where they are made, but it would be nice to be able to cut out some of the rumors.
Taiwan. After searching pretty much the entire globe and visiting lens factories all over the place, the quality we wanted was in Taiwan. Super modern factories, real capabilities, clean rooms, no dirt floor sweat shops. Nothing we do is made in China, except maybe some of the swag hats.
Lot’s of truth to this statement! Many people make the mistake of associating Taiwanese manufacturing with typical Chinese manufacturing, but it’s simply not the case. In general, Taiwanese manufacturing is closer to Japanese manufacturing quality and capability than it is to Chinese manufacturing. Of course there are always exceptions.