shooting glasses colors?

The light coloured pairs are for low light conditions usually found in indoor ranges, but also good for cloudy days outside. Yellow is really good for driving at night. Every thing else is about assorted daytime light conditions. So it is personal preference but according to the conditions.
The only real downside to cheapo clear ones is the quality of the lenses. Most usually have some kind of flaw in the plastic that makes 'em blurry. Occasionally you'll find a pair that has no flaws though. Cost me a buck for the one pair I have.
Oh and if it applies or ever does, regular prescription glasses are impact resistant. A long as the lenses are big enough to cover your whole eye, you don't need anything else.
"...defensive pistol matches..." No such thing. IPSC, IDPA, USPDA and all the rest are nothing more than shooting games. They are not practice or training for anything.

Yellow and blue are supposed to increase visibility through smoke and fog.

I like my amber lenses.

badkarmamib said:

Yellow and blue are supposed to increase visibility through smoke and fog.

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I have found that to be so too. On those "gray, wintry days", maybe with a little falling snow, the straight yellow ones increase the contrast, making darker objects stand out better from the lighter background. Same for rain.
I also have some darker amber lenses but under the conditions mentioned above, they make things TOO dark. As these amber lenses are also NON-polarized, they do not reduce glare off of road surfaces or other vehicles.
As I already have to wear glasses (polycarbonate lenses) to see, I don't wear separate safety glasses to shoot so I don't use any colored lenses to shoot.

I buy shatter resistant safety glasses at the hardware store. I have a polarized pair (would be clear but they have a rainbow like front to them), smoke gray, and yellow. I wear the polarized most often, but they're a little scratched so i'll likely replace them soon. When I wear the yellow I wonder why I don't wear them more often, everything seems really crisp and clear, and if it's a dim sun kind of day they're great. The gray ones work well in full sun.

In the human eye, blue light focuses just a bit in front of the retina, where red and green focus on the retina. Yellow lenses block blue light and pass red and green light. Therefore, the resultant image appears sharper to the wearer.

This is especially helpful when shooting birds or clays against a blue sky.

I used to like the yellow glasses because it made dark environments seem brighter and clearer. Then I realized that if I ever needed to fire a gun in a real life situation I probably wouldn't be wearing them so now I only wear clear glasses.

I wore vermillion lenses when I was shooting competitive skeet 20 years ago although when it was grey and overcast the yellow lenses gave a sharper picture.

Now a days, I'm mostly plinking out in the "back 40" and I use what ever safety glasses I have near at hand. Full lens correction is more important currently than some kind of color lenses these days. I have some dark lenses for sunny days and clear lenses for overcast days. (My competitive shooting days are behind me).

If I was still competing, I'd have several different color lenses for my shooting glasses and optimize the choice for the conditions. Unless your getting prescription corrective lenses, the cost is low to have several different color lenses on hand for different conditions.

I pick the color based on the conditions of the day, and have clear, smoke, silver, and yellow.

Even though I wore prescription glasses for many years prior to getting cataract surgery I would not recommend relying on your normal glasses at the range unless they also offer side protection. I had one incident where I had some debris blow in from the side, and since that day I have insisted on wrap around or side shield safety glasses.

F111 John

Yellow lenses block blue light and pass red and green light. Therefore, the resultant image appears sharper to the wearer.

This is especially helpful when shooting birds or clays against a blue sky.

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I found this be very true when I was shooting trap. Those yellow lenses made it easier to see those clays with a clear blue sky during the summer months.

According to the literature on this pair of glasses (so I won't claim accuracy):

Clear, mirror, indoor/outdoor (light gray) - should be obvious
Amber - low light to enhance contrast
Orange - reduces eye fatigue, heightens visibility of orange targets
Vermilion - reduces glare in bright conditions, enhances contrast, perfect for clay targets