Written by Kenzie Fitzpatrick | Published in USPSA Magazine

When Brian Conley developed the famous recipe for Hunters HD Gold lenses, he never imagined where it would lead. Fast forward to today, Brian is on the road in a tricked-out Sprinter van with the Magical Mystery Tour, traveling to matches all over the country. Before diving into what the tour entails, let’s go back to the beginning.

Brian is a co-owner of Triple Forks Hunting, 280 acres of rolling hills, rustling streams, open food plots, and natural hardwoods. At TFH, you can fish in the lake, relax in the rustic cabin, shoot archery out back, plink at the pistol range, and hunt deer, turkey, or the infamous bobcat. It was here that Brian began the research and development for the well-known Hunters HD Gold lenses.

Just like most entrepreneurs, Brian identified a problem and wanted to create a solution. If you’ve ever hunted before, you know that early light and last light can be some of the best times of day to see the movement of animals. But those lighting conditions are some of the hardest to see in, and visibility is everything in making a clean shot. Yellow, amber, orange, copper, and brown tints all are helpful in low-light conditions, as they can make the environment appear brighter. While there were many lenses on the market then and still are today, none came even close to the quality that will once become Hunters HD Gold.

Brian’s wife, Sherry, is the owner of Optical Prescription Lab in Pelham, Alabama. Since 1977, this lab has produced the best lenses for optometrists and ophthalmologists around the United States. For years, the lab has produced polarized lenses, photochromic lenses, and of course, has mastered the art of digital prescription lenses. OPL has won many nationwide awards that set them apart in the optical industry. It was this lab where Hunters HD Gold was born.

Brian tinkered with the lens coating, color, and depth until finally landing on what we all know now to be the iconic gold lenses. The actual process started in 2015 when Brian set out to make his own personal lenses that would allow him to see animals at dawn and dusk during prime hunting season. Brian went through more than 70 different variations of color until discovering the right medical dye that checked every box and goal he had set out to achieve. Immediately, the gold lenses were tested out by game wardens in North Alabama to confirm they could bring in the right amount of light. They confirmed that the lenses were legal to hunt with, and they continue to use them to this day.

Plenty of entrepreneurs go into business thinking that their market is for one specific group of people, and are caught by surprise when they find out there’s a much larger market for them around the corner. The hunting community adopted Hunters HD Gold quickly as they already knew the value of yellow-tinted lenses, but what Brian wasn’t prepared for was the competitive shooting market.

In 2017, Brian experienced his first taste of the competitive shooting world. The World Rimfire Competition took place in North Alabama that year, which was close to home. It was Bryan Haaker from TANDEMKROSS who gave him a list of six events he had to attend. Fast forward to 2021, and Brian now attends over 40 shooting-related events each year.

The adoption rate of new products in a market can take years, sometimes even decades. While Hunters HD Gold didn’t immediately take off into the sensation it is now, it found a few loyal customers who believed in the product enough to keep Brian going.

Alabama is home to some well-known brands in the firearms industry, many not far from the Optical Prescription Lab. Rainbow Technology was one of the first partnerships of Hunters HD Gold and is also located in Pelham. For those unfamiliar with Rainbow Technology, this company owns RangeStore.net and Steel Target Paint. For a long time and still today, Brian has supported his local gun shop, The Armory Guns and Ammo, in Pelham. They were one of the first authorized retailers of Hunters HD Gold glasses and have cerakoted just about every gun Brian has on the Magical Mystery Tour. In Bessemer, you can find the home of Steyr Arms USA. Hunters HD Gold and Steyr Arms was a natural connection as they make some of the best hunting rifles. Also located in Bessemer is Jays Hydrographics, who are the wizards behind the Sprinter van design. All of these connections have helped grow Hunters HD Gold into what it is today.

If you’ve never met Brian Conley or have only seen him in passing, you probably don’t know that he travels and supports just about every major shooting competition and every shooting discipline there is. In the early days, Brian would drive to matches and set up a table with Hunters HD Gold glasses for people to try out. Supporting and sponsoring the shooting sports however he could is what was, and still is, important to Brian.

Brian asked shooters what they were looking for in their protective eyewear and built the product around their needs. Many shooters he saw would switch out lenses or glasses as lighting conditions changed throughout the day. While some shooters wore contacts, many others would put on their prescription glasses when it was their turn to shoot a stage in order to see their sights and targets. All of this time spent at matches and on ranges is what led to the development of transition lenses, custom glasses, and adding prescriptions to the lenses so there would never be a need for more than one pair of shooting eyewear ever again.

As Brian traveled to state after state, people began seeing the difference between their shooting glasses compared to the superior quality of the game-changing gold lenses. From steel challenge to USPSA to 3-gun and IDPA, shooters of all disciplines began to change out their old eyewear for Hunters HD Gold. This one pair of glasses could replace the need for three interchangeable lenses and carrying around prescription glasses, without sacrificing the ANSI 2020 Z87 high impact ratings on the lenses themselves.

As Hunters HD Gold grew and Brian began attending more matches, he saw how often shooter’s guns would break or malfunction. Yet again, Brian found a solution to this problem. Brian started bringing his personal guns, magazines, and even belt setups for shooters to borrow so they could finish a match. Partnering with brands such as JP Enterprises, Vortex Optics, and Springer Precision, Brian is now able to supply shooters with different caliber guns set up for every division there is to complete a match without being bumped to Open or having to change divisions.

The 2020 Rock and Roll Roadshow started out at SHOT Show where Hunters HD Gold released the custom shop. The custom shop allowed shooters to send in any pair of frames that had two separate lenses to be swapped out for Hunters HD Gold lenses. The custom shop also gave shooters the option to add their prescription into the lenses from single vision to progressive lenses. With so many styles, favorite colors, different head sizes, and different needs, the custom shop really opened more doors for shooters wanting to wear Hunters HD Gold without sacrificing the frames they love and are comfortable in.

As Brian put more and more miles on his truck in 2020, he realized there had to be a more comfortable way to travel 35 to 45 weekends out of the year. Enter the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van. As Brian began designing and building out the future of travel for Hunters HD Gold, he was also in the works of introducing a new product line.

At the beginning of 2021, the all-new Hunters HD Ruby lenses were released to the public. Once again, these lenses weren’t born overnight. Prototyping began almost a year and a half in advance with testing done by trap and skeet shooters, competitive shooters using red fiber optics and red dots, and by shooters with red/green color blindness. The Ruby tint was engineered with shotgunners in mind. If you’ve never shot clays before, one of the biggest struggles is shooting into a bright sky without squinting and trying to see the aerial clay at the same time. Shotgunners have long since used rose-tinted lenses, but until Hunters HD Ruby was made, none were all-encompassing of their needs. Hunters HD Ruby lenses are made with all the same great features of Hunters HD Gold, in an all-new Ruby tint.

These change from light ruby to dark royal ruby in sunlight

Once the Sprinter van was outfitted thanks to Jay’s Hydrographics, Brian could now bring the Magical Mystery Tour to more shooters. What all does the Magical Mystery Tour entail? We’ll tell ya, but the experience is like no other. In the back of the Sprinter van, Brian brings all the toys with him from the all-new JP5 PCC, to custom-built 2011s, and all adorned with brand new Vortex Optics. The best surprise is ready-to-sell custom Hunters HD Gold and Ruby glasses that Brian makes and brings to each match he travels to. You never know what you’ll find. In 2021, Hunters HD Gold partnered with Kona Gold, the number one hemp energy on the market. Shooters can relax under the van’s automatic pop-out canopy, in extra-large chairs, and enjoy a refreshing cold Kona Gold. The inside of the van is air-conditioned 24/7, with comfy leather seats, and charging cables for cell phones. This experience is like no other and nothing you’ve seen at Area or National shooting events before.

One thing Brian has always talked about doing and finally made time for this year was the Hunters HD Gold, Behind the Lens podcast. As Brian travels across the country, he stops and chats with the sports top shooters, industry leaders, and match directors to seek answers to questions everyone wants to know but is too afraid to ask.

What’s next for Hunters HD Gold? Only time will tell, but if we can take anything away from watching the past four years of Hunters HD Gold’s growth, we know there’s a lot more to come.

Written by John B. Holbrook, II | Published in USPSA Magazine

Last summer, I was fortunate enough to win a pair of Hunters HD Gold Caliber shooting glasses at the 2018 Area 5 Steel Challenge Championship. These glasses were probably the best single gear change I made in 2018. You can read my previous review in the September 2018 issue of USPSA Magazine, but the bottom line is that the improvement in visual acuity with these glasses both outdoors and indoors has been significant and helped me make serious improvements in my shooting. I need corrective lenses when I shoot (or do anything else, really) and I vowed that each year when my prescription changed, I'd be getting a new pair of Hunters HD Gold right alongside my regular prescription glasses.

When January came around and I got my annual eye exam, I reached out to Hunters HD Gold President Brian Conley and he made me aware that they had a new model that he thought I should try - the Velocity. In the short time I've known Brian, I've quickly come to the conclusion that I should never question his good judgment, so I enthusiastically agreed to give the Velocity a try.

In terms of the lenses, everything I've come to love about Hunter's HD Gold shooting glasses stays the same with the new Velocity glasses. Hunters HD Gold lenses are constructed from Trivex® which allows the lenses to be made thinner and more impact-resistant than standard plastic or polycarbonate lenses, with 43 percent more light transmission. One of the keys to the enhanced visual experience provided by the Hunters HD Gold glasses is the golden amber/yellow tint to the lenses. The colored lenses filter visual light, creating an excellent contrast between colors, and improving visual clarity in low-light conditions. I shoot on an indoor range every Tuesday night, and the lighting is a little weak down range. I've noticed a considerable increase in down-range visual clarity since using my Hunters HD Gold glasses. The lenses have both anti-reflective (AR) and scratch-resistant coatings applied - just like my regular prescription eyeglasses. They are also "photochromic", which means that they darken on exposure to specific types of light of sufficient intensity, most commonly ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In other words, the lenses "change so you don't have to" as the Hunters HD Gold slogan suggests. This feature alone makes the glasses worth their weight in gold. I've seen shooting glasses out there (very expensive ones, in fact) which offer three sets of changeable lenses that forces the user to change lenses based on lighting conditions. That's something you'll never have to do with the photochromic lenses in Hunters HD Gold shooting glasses.

The big change with the new Velocity model is the frame itself. Let me start by saying that I've been wearing glasses for 40 (plus…) years, and there are things about glasses that I've just come to accept, like the fact that when I move around aggressively, my glasses will probably move around on my face - particularly in the summertime when I'm sweating. The design of the Velocity addresses these issues by providing unparalleled adjustability at all the points at which the glasses touch your face and head.

During 2018, Brian Conley was on the road almost every weekend attending state and national level USPSA and Steel Challenge competitions. His support of competitive shooting really defines the term "above and beyond." During his time on the road attending various events, Brian got to know the needs of competitive shooters extremely well. He used his unique insight to match up the fantastic lenses his company manufactures with frames which matched the performance of Hunters HD Gold lenses. For starters, frames are lighter than those previously available - and while my previous pair was by no means heavy, the new Velocity feels even lighter and "invisible." Thanks to the custom fit nose pad and the "infinitely adjustable" temples which are manufactured with wire cores, it is now possible to get a "no-slip" comfortable fit from the Velocity.

This is important from not only from a comfort and shooting performance standpoint, but it's also important from a safety standpoint. Glasses that don't stay in place can introduce the possibility of an ejected bullet casing or spall striking the eye. The Velocity even comes with a cord that wraps around the back of your head with attachment points that integrate into the frame of the Velocity. Personally, I've not found it necessary to use the cord, but the shape of everyone's head, nose, and ears are all different and some may well benefit from this feature.

For a long time, I shot with my regular prescription eyeglasses as my "eye protection", because…you know…any glasses will protect your eyes, right? I learned my lesson in this regard while at a handgun class at Tactical Defense Institute some years ago. A hot 9mm shell casing ejected from my handgun and actually managed to clear the top of my glasses and drop behind them, landing just below my eye, and leaving me with a nice burn on my face. It's a small miracle that the casing didn't actually burn my eyeball. The Practical Shooting sports can present some unique eye safety considerations - hot shell casings, spall and ricochets all represent possible and permanent eye damage. This is why every discipline of the Practical Shooting sports mandates that shooters wear eye protection. Hunters HD Gold lenses are rated and tested at ANSI Z87+1-2015 which provides impact protection from a .25″ steel ball traveling at 150 fps. Coupled with the Velocity frames (which are OSHA safety frames), you get unparalleled protection for your eyes. I see far too many shooters who choose to wear shooting glasses with a "fashion first" mentality - when your vision is on the line, vanity needs to take a back seat to safety.

I've been testing the Hunters HD Gold Velocity since January and I've worn them while shooting both indoors and outdoors during USPSA, Steel Challenge and 3-Gun matches, and I'm extremely impressed. More so than any other glasses I've owned, once I put them on, I completely forget they are there. The lightweight materials combined with the adjustability of the nose piece and arms really do a great job of keeping the glasses in place - even when perspiration builds on your face. The Velocity frame design also ensures optimal protection for your eyes from every conceivable angle.

Hunters HD Gold is the Official Eyewear of both USPSA and Steel Challenge. If you are a USPSA/Steel Challenge member, you can benefit from special pricing by visiting the USPSA Preferred Vendor web page. Brian Conley also extends this pricing when you buy them directly from him at the various USPSA, Steel Challenge, and other practical shooting events he attends throughout the year - it's always great to talk to and purchase from Brian directly if you have the opportunity to do so.

Finally, if you happen to see me at a match, I keep a pair of non-prescription Hunters HD Gold Aviators with me for anyone to try out just for the asking. I strongly believe in this product and want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to experience it for themselves.

-John Holbrook is a writer, photographer, competitive shooter and member of Team Steel Target Paint.

Written by Steve Foster | Published in USPSA Magazine

If you have traveled to a major match in the last couple of years, there is a good chance you have met Brian Conley, president of Hunters HD Gold. I first met Brian in the fall of 2016 and he convinced me to try his new line of glasses, which are now commonplace in the action shooting sports of USPSA and Steel Challenge. I had the opportunity to sit down to talk with Brian about his new invention, Hunters HD Ruby.

USPSA: After all of the success you have had with Hunters HD Gold, what made you offer Hunters HD Ruby?

Brian: I went to my first "shotgun" match in 2018, which was Agulia Cup in Decatur, Texas. I met many great shooters who competed in shoot shotgun events. They loved the contrast and crisp view of the Hunters HD Gold Lens. They, however, based on the great marketing by other companies, wanted a purple and rose-colored option. This was something at the time that was not even on my plate for the Hunters HD Gold brand due to attending events and building the brand. I created a lens that worked great for hunting and shooting, so this threw me off. I started listening to what they said and started studying. After all, engaging and listening to shooters is how I continuously improve the product and brand.

USPSA: Not a lot of people would have guessed Hunters HD Ruby was born in the shotgun world. Shotgunners wanted red, why is the color significant?

Brian: I started studying why the "color" was so important and wanted to know exactly what it blocked or enhanced. I heard from the shotgun community the purple/rose color enhanced the orange color of a clay pigeon against the sky. I knew that colors would enhance certain things but was confused on the Ultra Violet (UV) side of it. I found out that the grey base of a photochromic color made this possible. The Hunters HD Gold Lens has a brown base photochromic for contrast and being able to walk in and out of my garage not having to take my lenses off to see on a bright day. It was then I knew we were onto a solution which (would) allow us to take the shotgun market by storm.

USPSA: What was the process from there on developing the right color for both bright light and low light conditions?

Brian: I then went to Marcus, my lab manager, and said we need to find the right medical dye to begin this process to get the UV spectrum blocking that red and purple. This process started two weeks after Aguila Cup. He kept bringing me "solutions" that he thought were good, and I was not happy with the exact color. The color was just not what I wanted to make the sky pop in low light or cloudy and rainy days. This went on for about six months with no success. We went through over 30 different dye combinations with no positive results. I looked down at my wedding ring set with a large ruby in the center. "That's the color!" Hunters HD Ruby!! I went to Marcus and said if it's not this color don't bring to me, it's going to be called Hunters HD Ruby!

USPSA: So, where did you get the ruby color from?

Brian: 2020 happened and the year started off in confusion. Marcus came to me in March and said there is a new medical dye that just hit the market after Vision Expo! This is a show like SHOT Show, but for the optical industry. It's a medical dye that helps color blindness and other eye solutions. He said it's intense, but it's got the wow factor and it's going to be the perfect hue you are looking for. I told Marcus to make it happen and get my Rx made ASAP.

After three days of playing with the timing of the dye, to make the lens lighter or darker, Marcus walked into my office and said, we figured the dye out and I think we have it. The first appearance was just wow! just sitting on the counter in the lab before putting them on. It was a perfect match to my ring. I put it on indoors and was like, this is crazy intense! I walked from my office to the outdoors and was amazed at what I first saw. I saw the layers in clouds like I have never seen with Hunters HD Gold or the naked eye before. I asked if they were polarized and Marcus said, heck no. It gave me depth in the sky like never before.

USPSA: Now you have tried Hunters HD Ruby for the first time, who was the first to try a pair and what was their feedback?

Brian: I called my friend, Stan Shiparski, to go shoot clays. I made up his Rx without his knowledge; he was one of the first to try Hunters HD Gold before it had a name back in 2017. We showed up two days later at the range, and I got out of the truck wearing the new Hunters HD Ruby and Stan immediately noticed the color. He said "what the hell have you got on?" I said well it's what WE are going to shoot with today and I handed him his pair in his Rx. He first put them on and said "heck, that is aggressive!!" I said give it some time, your colors will come back. As we are loading up the golf cart, I noticed him looking all around as the colors came back. He asked, what is going on with his eyes? All of the colors started popping again.

We went and shot the course and the orange clays were popping like never before. The rabbits on the ground were glowing and Stan said "well no excuse any longer about not seeing the dang clays". We both agreed we had a solution for shotgunners.

USPSA: It sounds as though Stan fell in love with the Ruby lenses. What was your next step in expanding your pilot outside of the shotgun community?

Brian: I immediately went back the next day to the office and picked out several shooters across the US that I have made relationships with Hunters HD Gold to try this new lens option I had for them. I did not tell them the name, and I did not tell them who was all testing the lens. I just wanted raw feedback without them talking together. It was a huge success. Greg Yen was one of these people and he shared the following account of wearing Rubys. "I like my Hunters HD Rubys because it helps my red dot be extra vibrant and draws my eyes to it for fast laser focus. It's nice to have a choice of the best two lenses available. It doesn't matter where or what I'm shooting or doing. I know I'm covered, when trusting my eyes to Hunters HD Gold."

USPSA: As one of the people who piloted the lens myself, I can attest to Greg's comments. The first time I put on Hunters HD Ruby my Vortex Razor looked like a road flare! I had to turn it down even on bright days.

We have talked a lot about shooting. You have mentioned in the past Hunters HD Gold can have medical benefits such as treating Seasonal Affective Disorder. Any other benefits to Hunters HD Ruby?

Brian: I went to Dr. Charles Gloff, my cousin, who is red/green color blind to see if he saw an improvement with the lens. There is NOT a single choice or solution for red/green color blindness. He called me when he received it and was amazed. He took a colorblind test on his computer and said before using the Ruby lens he scored in the High 60's low 70's. After putting the lens on he scored in the high 80's low 90's. I was excited with his results and he gave me the thumbs up to say it helped him with color blindness.

USPSA: Any other interesting attributes to the lens you would like people to know?

Brian: There was a huge side effect of the lens I did not see coming. I went to Frostproof, Florida to see if I could see over the east berms with them and not be blinded as the sun came over them. I was pleased to have a solution for that blinding light. Feedback was coming in that they can see the red dot better and red fiber optic sights like never before. I was excited and nervous at the same time. This was not a lens to replace Hunters HD Gold, but something to complement the product line. Mel Rodero said it best, "Hunters HD Ruby is another option for red dot shooters, not a replacement for Hunters HD Gold. Hunters HD Ruby would not work well in the following conditions: driving, shooting indoors, low light or behind the computer. It was designed for staring at the sky in different environments to make the clays look like they were on fire in the sky."

If you would like to try Hunters HD Ruby, be on the lookout for Brian out on the range at one of the 40-plus matches he will be at this year to demo a pair. Hunters HD Ruby is also available at several retail locations, and more information can be found at huntershdgold.com.