Do you wear eye protection? Any pro ever blew and smacked you in the face?

Just what the topic says... I'm also scared af that a hooks going to blow and smack me in the face or something.  Luckily I haven't been doing any Olly styled hooks or anything but... yeah. Scary AF.

I got a fat lip from a TCU as it blew once.

It was fairly common practice cover a suspect piece with your hand while your face passed by, and maybe turn your head, close your eyes and maybe even pray.

This happened while free climbing not aiding, but I placed a little “mental” trash cam just before the crux and fell. The cam ripped out and smacked me in the mouth, breaking my front tooth off. I was in Canada and had to drive back to the US to use my dental insurance. If I hadn’t place that “mental” piece I would’ve been fine. I had good gear about four feet lower, and I wasn’t in danger of hitting anything. 

Yes, I have been hit in the face when pro blew. I then started covering pieces with my hand and looking away per Ben's method. 

Also, like Creed, my partner had a tooth broken, but while aid climbing on Cottontail in the Fishers. We finished the route the next day. Same guy (but with a different partner) lost almost all their food to a bear and then headed up Tis-sa-ack and topped out, days later, woozy from lack of food. The guy is a bit of a pit bull about goals.

Keep your finger on your hooks while moving, especially when the hook is near your face!

When protection blows, it's not just the piece that comes flying at you, it's often tiny razor-sharp shards of rock.  I always wear eye protection.

I use transition lens sunglasses that are essentially clear when it's dark out.  That way you can get alpine starts (or, more often, post-sundown epics) with the same set of eyewear.

Partner of mine had a method for cleaning nuts I did not care for. He'd grab the wire and and yank upward sharply. He wouldn't do this for tiny wires like RPs etc. But for regular sized nuts he'd yank them. We'd talked about it. He knew I didn't like it. So we settled - he could clean his own nuts any way he wished, but if they were mine he had to try a nut tool first. 

So he's following a pitch I led and he got to my last piece about 25 feet below me. He tried to jiggle the nut out, but I'd set it. So he looked up at me, irritated, looked me right in the eye and yanked the fuck out of that nut.

Well, I'd barely set it. A butterfly could have knocked it loose. He'd grabbed the sling instead of the wire, for whatever reason. As it was, the nut flew out and in a perfect arc set by the length of the attached sling, swung around and THOCK! Thocked the hell out of his helmetless skull. You would have heard it down in the parking lot, it was that loud. OK, maybe not the sound of one nut thocking, but you definitely would have heard my howls of laughter. He had a big ole knot on his head by end of day, lol.

I'm sure he was even rougher on my nuts afterward, but he made sure to do it out of view.

HA...I do wear eye protection almost always. I have hit myself in the face multiple times blowing gear and knocking rock on myself. Usually no biggie.

One time I had dragged all my crap out to do a new route in Valley of the Gods, UT and was getting my anchor set up (upward pull as I was soloing). I get everything dialed in and go to add one more small Alien to tension the anchor tight so shit didn't get cross loaded and such. At this point I was like 3 feet off the ground.

Popped that cam in and was getting stuff squared away when that fucker pulled and pegged me right in the face. Split my whole lip top to bottom and blood was everywhere. Of course I had no first aid gear (just tape) so I stashed my shit and hiked back to the car to clean up, drink beer and see what the damage was. Anyhoo as it was getting late (and I already had a few to many beers) I decided to tape everything up and deal with it the following day in ABQ (as one does).

Drove straight to urgent care (5 hours away) to get sewn up. Finally got in to see someone and told them my story hoping to get fixed up. They laughed at me and said you needed to get this stitched up right when it happened (not the next day) and that they couldn't do anything to help me (cuz I was an idiot).

I walked out all pissed off and went home to listen to my wife telling me I was an idiot as I patched everything up.

Still have a cool scar on my face that cracks me up every time I look in the mirror.

Be safe out there and if you need stitches do it ASAP.

On the attempted 2nd ascent of Coyne Crack, Leonard Coyne was using #1 Friends, as #1.5 Friends were not available yet.

One pulled, hit him in the face, broke his glasses and injured his eye.

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105717343/coyne-crack

I climbed with a Colombian in Bariloche for a few weeks who was blind in one eye from a blown nut while aiding. Bounce testing.

By profession he was a telenovela actor, + spent his off seasons climbing SA and the globe. The eye had that milky ghost look but he had a face that could absorb the imperfection. I thought it looked cool, but blindness in one eye... awful price to pay, and I've always taken care when aiding with him in mind.

Loved this!

The eye had that milky ghost look but he had a face that could absorb the imperfection.

Jeremy - pics or GTFO!

I pulled a #5 into my face; aiding a route I had been on before, placed it where I remember using it last time, tugged it slightly… oops, not the same pod. Got a nice scar an inch from my eye to remind me to be more careful. And always wear glasses. 

I have knocked out my front teeth when a piton popped. Had it rebounded, did it again. I now have dentures! I have smashed and ripped many fingers and thumbs. I recommend eye protection, fingerless gloves. 

I had a poorly placed .75 blow and hit me so hard in the face i lost a filling at some point between the impact and the fall. Was also wearing glasses at the time which unfortunately did not save my teeth 

I wore prescription glasses for over 50 years and a few years ago had surgery to reset my vision (bad astigmatism) to 20/20.

No going back, I love the great new vision. But yeah, this change made me appreciate how glasses helped protect my eyes from dust and grit and debris on all those Fisher Tower/Cutler sandstone routes.

So, my aid rack for 2026 includes safety glasses. These VVV are good. Glasses not goggles so the softish gasket keeps crap out with a loose fit so almost zero fogging, comfortable all day; despite the "clear" claim they have a slight tint that takes the edge off of bright sun but still usable at dusk. Waaaay cheaper than prescription glasses:

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KMDB49Z/ref=pe_386300_440135490_TE_simp_item_image?th=1

Wear two condoms on each eye!

A while back, I got tired of losing & breaking expensive sunglasses, so I switched to these 3M Virtua CCS:

 • https://a.co/d/6nF7FT3

They used to be $8 a pair, but they went up -- $12 on Amazon now.

They have a tinted (Class 3 equivalent) version, and a clear version. All impact rated, and provides great protection around the sides... plus a removable rubber edge gasket that will even keep out spindrift. They also completely preserve your peripheral vision.

They're the opposite of fancy. No coatings, not scratch resistant -- but they *work.* I use them for everything, from my daily driver sunnies to skiing to glacier glasses to aid climbing. Rare is the day when I find myself wishing I had anything else.

My partner popped a piece on Lunar Eclipse and it hit him in the mouth breaking his tooth.  I had always heard my friend Lucky ( Steve Smith) say on hard aid - "Don't Smile" as you move past the iffy piece.  It's good advice.  Eye protection is also a good idea, metal splinters can come off a piton, rock chips can fly towards your face and dirt & lichen can blow into your eyes.

It can get real dirty out there folks. Note lack of eye protection. :-)

I whipped myself in the eye coiling a rope once - be careful out there!