They were ancient plexi and all scratched up anyway(and the threaded inserts were causing problems in the cabinside). With my coastal cruising, I'll never install them anyway(If I was crossing oceans, I'd get a different, longer boat ).

My glass guy(I've used him for years in my design/build biz) took a few pieces of 1/4" tempered and hit them as hard as he could with a claw hammer. He was able to break some of them after several full blows, but I was amazed. I don't worry about my ports as much anymore for simple impacts.

On the other hand, the laminated which they also use for ports, he broke with no effort. It stuck together as designed though so lobstermen feel that's a safety factor in keeping water out(unless it gets hit real hard, then it's gone). If it wasn't for the strength issue, I'd have had laminated cut for my boat. The lightly smoked finish looks great.

I define a dodger as something that is removable in the event of extreme conditions, so I'd go with sheet goods or even heavy roll stuff. A pilothouse on the other hand, I think of as needing to be designed to be as strong as the cabin, and that would mean tempered glass to me, and storm shutters if the boat was used offshore.

My glass guy also showed me how to spot tempered glass like my ports. He looked around the edges until he found a couple of dimples. These were the tools the glass was maneuvered with or rested on. Sure enough, each port had these little but obvious dimples on each of the four corners.