Each and every airsoft player knows that the most important protective gear for any player is eye protection that we sometimes tell our team mates that they can go naked in the field and play airsoft as long as they have adequate eye protection. What's more, while we use substandard tactical gear to save a few bucks, many of us would not scrimp on buying the best protective eyewear.

And some of the best are those worn by the U.S. Military and their allies. It is not also unusual for us airsoft players to share common brands in tactical protective eyewear: 3M, ESS, Wiley X, Oakley Standard Issue (Oakley SI), Arena Industries, Revision Military, Smith Optics, and Honeywell (though Honeywell is not particularly famous among airsoft players). These are best as they have gone through rigorous testing and meeting U.S. civilian standard (ANSI Z87.1 – 2010), Military Standard (MIL-PRF 32432), and a European standard (EN166, 169, 170 & 172). Even if the eye protection that some airsoft players have are rated to meet or exceed the ANSI Z87.1, it may not necessarily meet Military Standards since they weren't subjected to their tests. For milsim players, to be on the safer side, they'd rather get the Milspec eye protection.

As such, many airsoft players would welcome the release of the Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL) by the U.S. Army’s PEO Soldier. Here is an explanation of the APEL:

The Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL) is a Qualified Product List (QPL) of commercially available protective eyewear. Only eyewear passing the Army’s stringent ballistic fragmentation (MIL-PRF 32432 and ANSI Z87.1 2010) makes the list. Protective sunglasses also provide ultraviolet (UV) protection. Army officials update the APEL on a regular basis. APEL-qualified eyewear will carry the APEL logo on the eyewear itself.

Since these are all commercially available eyewear, they can easily be procured by civilians from authorized resellers. The protective eyewear from the brands mentioned in this story all meet the requirements to make it to the APEL.

For airsoft players intending to procure eyewear that is part of the APEL, they can consult the list below or download the APEL poster here: