Z87 vs Z87+: what the plus on safety glasses means for shooting

Z87 vs Z87+ is the standard nobody at the gun counter explains, and the marks are tiny. This page covers what each mark means, what the tests involve as the eyewear makers who publish them describe them, where the mark sits on the frame, and whether plain Z87 glasses are good enough for shooting. The short version: they pass a real test, but only the plus means the pair passed the tests closest to what flies at a range.

One thing up front: we haven't read the full text of the standard. Everything below about the tests comes from ISEA, the group that runs the standard, and from two eyewear makers, HexArmor and Wiley X, that publish plain-language summaries. Each claim is linked so you can check it.

What ANSI Z87.1 is

ANSI/ISEA Z87.1 is the U.S. standard for safety glasses, goggles and face shields. The International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) says "ISEA is the Z87 Secretariat". It describes the current edition this way: "ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2025 prescribes the design, performance specifications, and marking of safety eye and face products." It was developed by the Z87 Committee on Safety Standards for Eye Protection, which ISEA administers.

The newest edition is Z87.1-2025. ISEA announced it on January 8, 2026 as "the updated national standard defining performance, testing, and marking requirements for eye and face protective devices used in workplace and educational settings" (ISEA press release). ISEA lists what changed, including:

• "Clearer, more standardized product markings to better communicate intended hazard protection"
• "Updated performance language for impact testing, lens performance, and minimum coverage"
• It "also retains options introduced in recent editions, including relaxed optics and anti-fog performance"

Notice what's missing from that description: shooting. Z87.1 is a workplace and school standard. Shooters borrow it because it's the national standard for safety eyewear, the one OSHA's eye-protection rule incorporates. That's also why a shooting-glasses maker and a hardware-store safety-glasses maker can print the same mark.

You'll see different edition years on labels. Walker's cites the 2010 edition for its IKON Vector. Howard Leight cites 2015 for its HL100 over-the-glasses pair. Pyramex and Revision cite 2020. The year tells you which edition the maker certified to. We haven't compared the editions line by line, so we don't rank pairs by year. We look for the high-impact claim in whichever edition the maker names.

Z87 vs Z87+ at a glance

The two speed figures are the same speed in different units: 150 feet per second is about 102 mph, and 250 is about 170. HexArmor and Wiley X agree.

What the impact tests involve

Here are the three tests in plain terms, as the makers who publish them describe them. The descriptions come from HexArmor's guide to lens markings and Wiley X's ballistic eyewear page. ISEA says the 2025 edition updated its "performance language for impact testing", so the fine print in the newest edition may read differently. The basic idea hasn't changed: Z87 is one test, and Z87+ adds the harder ones.

The basic test (Z87): drop ball

HexArmor: "For safety eyewear to pass the basic Z87.1 standard, it must pass the Drop Ball Impact Test. This test involves a steel ball (that is one inch in diameter and weighing roughly 2.4oz) being dropped from a test height of 50 inches." It's the entry-level check, a blunt knock from a one-inch ball, and the only impact test a plain Z87 pair has to pass.

High mass (Z87+): the heavy pointed weight

HexArmor: "This test consists of dropping a 500-gram pointed weight from a height of about 50 inches (or 4.2 feet) onto lenses that are mounted on a head form." Five hundred grams is a little over a pound, and it's pointed rather than round. Where the drop ball is light and blunt, this one is heavy and sharp.

High velocity (Z87+): the small, fast projectile

HexArmor: "This test involves a ¼ inch steel ball being shot at 20 different specified impact points," at 102 mph for safety glasses and 170 mph for goggles. Wiley X states the same test in feet per second: "Wiley X ANSI Z87.1+ frames and lenses must withstand the impact of a .25" diameter steel ball. For spectacles the projectile must be traveling 150 fps and for a goggle 250 fps."

For a shooter, this is the test that matters most. What your glasses face at a range includes debris, hot brass and, around steel targets, fragments (the sources are further down). A plain Z87 pair hasn't been put through the high-velocity test. A Z87+ pair has, at 20 specified impact points.

Where to find the mark

HexArmor says that "With safety glasses, you can find markings either on the sidearm of the frames or on the right side of the lens." For the plus: "If the eyewear passed the high impact standard, you will see a '+' next to the Z87 or W marking on the sidearm or you'll see a W+ on the lens. 'W' is simply the manufacturer's mark." On goggles, "the markings will be found on the top of the seal."

The "W" in HexArmor's example stands in for whatever letter or logo the maker uses. OSHA's workplace rule requires that mark too: "Eye and face PPE shall be distinctly marked to facilitate identification of the manufacturer" ( 29 CFR 1910.133(a)(4)). So on a legitimate pair you should find two things, the maker's mark and the Z87 mark, usually with the plus.

A practical routine for a first pair:

1. Before you buy: read the maker's own product page for the rating. The listing may not quote it, so we link the maker's page on every card.
2. When it arrives: check the inside of the temple arm, then the right lens, for Z87+ (or Z87 with a plus beside the maker's mark).
3. At the range: if you borrow or rent glasses, check the arm the same way. It takes five seconds.

One caution: ISEA says the 2025 edition brings "clearer, more standardized product markings." Pairs made to the newest edition may print their codes differently from older stock. If the frame and the maker's page don't match what you expected, ask the maker before you rely on the pair.

Reading a maker's Z87 claim

Product pages word the claim many ways, and some wording promises less than it seems to. These are real examples from maker pages we read on September 19, 2026:

The rule we use on every roundup: the maker must say the pair meets the high-impact level, in words like "Z87+", "Z87.1+" or "High Impact". A plain "meets Z87.1" doesn't clear the gate. Neither does a comparison ("four times") or a sports-eyewear standard. Wiley X's Youth Force frames, for example, say their lenses "meet rigorous ASTM F803 sports safety standards" ( Wiley X WX Flash). That's a different standard from Z87.1, so those frames aren't on our kids' list.

Are Z87 glasses good for shooting?

Plain Z87 glasses have passed a real test, and they're far better than no eye protection. But for shooting, we recommend Z87+, and every pair on our roundups carries it. Here's the reasoning.

The things that reach your eyes at a range are small and fast. The NRA's safety rules say guns "can also emit debris and hot gasses that could cause eye injury" ( NRA Gun Safety Rules). Brass comes out hot and to the side. Ruger's rimfire rifle manual warns that "Empty cartridge cases are hot and are normally ejected from the rifle to the right. They could cause injury to any person who is standing too closely alongside the shooter" (Ruger American Rimfire manual). Steel targets add fragments. Champion's steel-target warnings start with "Always wear proper eye and ear protection while shooting" and warn that damaged steel "can present a hazardous situation due to unpredictable bullet fragmentation or ricochet" ( Champion steel target warnings).

The high-velocity test, a small steel ball fired at the lens and frame, is the closest of the three tests to that kind of hazard. Only Z87+ glasses have passed it. That's the case for the plus.

What OSHA and ranges actually require

OSHA's eye-protection rule, 29 CFR 1910.133, is an employer rule. It tells workplaces what to put on their employees, including the people who work at a range. It doesn't govern you as a paying customer. It's still the clearest official description of what "protective" means:

• Side protection: employers must ensure "eye protection that provides side protection when there is a hazard from flying objects." Clip-on or slide-on side shields are acceptable.
• Prescription wearers: eye protection that "incorporates the prescription in its design," or that "can be worn over the prescription lenses without disturbing the proper position of the prescription lenses or the protective lenses."
• Marking: gear must be "distinctly marked to facilitate identification of the manufacturer."
• The standard: the rule incorporates "ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2010, Occupational and Educational Personal Eye and Face Protection Devices" by reference.

Range rules are separate, and they vary. Some examples: Texas Parks and Wildlife's hunter-education rules say "While shooting at the range, you must wear hearing and eye protection at all times" ( TPWD). The Range 702 in Las Vegas says "Eye and ear protection are mandatory on the range" (The Range 702). None of the range rules we've read name Z87 or Z87+. At least one range says outright that "Prescription eyeglasses are an approved replacement for standard eye protection" ( Triangle Shooting Academy dress code).

That's the range's policy for getting in the door, not a safety standard. Your everyday glasses may carry no impact rating at all. So the range decides what it will let you wear, and the standard tells you what has been tested. We go by the standard. Call your range before your first trip to check its rules, and see your first time at a shooting range for the rest of the visit.

What about sunglasses and prescription glasses?

If it isn't marked, you have no published rating. That applies to most fashion sunglasses and most everyday prescription frames. It doesn't mean all tinted glasses are out. Wiley X sells a whole line it calls ballistic sunglasses, and that page says: "Eyewear meets ANSI Z87.1+ and MIL-PRF-32432A impact testing standards." Revision sells a polarized StingerHawk kit whose page states Z87+. The question is never "sunglasses or not". It's "is this pair marked?" Our shooting glasses vs sunglasses page goes through it.

If you wear prescription glasses, OSHA's two routes are the practical ones: prescription safety glasses that carry the Z87 mark, or a Z87+ frame built to go over your own. Pyramex publishes a fit-over size for its OTS (frames up to 137 x 44 mm) and its OTS XL (up to 151 x 49 mm), so you can measure before you buy. See best shooting glasses for glasses wearers and can you wear glasses at a shooting range?

Other marks you'll see next to Z87

• MIL-PRF-32432: a U.S. military ballistic eyewear standard. Wiley X describes its spectacle test as a .15 caliber projectile traveling "640-725fps depending on Mil-Standard and model." It's an extra on top of Z87+, not a replacement. See ballistic vs safety glasses.
• CSA Z94.3: the Canadian certification. Pyramex lists it as "Canadian certification CAN/CSA Z94.3" (Pyramex), and lists CAN/CSA Z94.3-2020 for the Intruder.
• EN 166: another eyewear standard, which you'll see beside CE or UKCA marks. Revision lists "EN 166 FT" for the StingerHawk, and Pyramex lists "CE/UKCA EN 166" for the OTS XL. For a U.S. range, it doesn't replace the Z87+ claim.
• Anti-fog: since the 2020 edition, the standard itself covers anti-fog lenses. ISEA says "The 2020 version includes testing, performance and marking criteria for lenses with anti-fog properties" (ISEA, 2020). A maker's own coating name (H2MAX, Scotchgard and so on) is a separate claim. Our fogging guide covers the rest.
• ASTM F803: a sports-eyewear standard (as on Wiley X's Youth Force frames). It's a different standard from Z87.1, so it doesn't count toward our gate.

Three Z87+ pairs to start with

The three pairs below show the plus in three situations a beginner runs into. The Pyramex Intruder is the simplest first pair: Pyramex states "ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2020 + High Impact" and sells seven tints. The Revision StingerHawk is the most fully documented: Revision names the exact clause and adds a MIL-PRF-32432A ballistic claim. It also comes in Regular and Large frames. The Pyramex OTS is for prescription wearers: the same Pyramex high-impact claim, plus a published limit on the frames it fits over.

For more choices, every one gated on Z87+, see our best shooting glasses roundup. For children and smaller faces, see our kids shooting glasses. If you're putting together a whole first kit, start at the first range kit.