Eyewear

[DX115FALCON]

Place to discuss and review eye protection. If a topic already exists, link to it from here.

PS: I need new eyepro (mesh preferable). Any ideas?

 

[jcheeseright]

Hero shark still has some stock, only mesh eyewear I would personally trust!

 

[Namaco]

All I can recommend is ESS ICE, I own them and they are fantastic, only a problem is that they dont really go well with my patrol cap xd

 

[Ian_Gere]

I have some Hero Shark Daggernose and I'd be surprised if a shotgun could put buckshot through the mesh from a few meters away. With a small bend they fit my face very well. That said, they are not the best mesh to see through. Better than the sort with small hole perforated sheet, which darken the view like shades. Not as good as interwoven wire for seeing through.

It's to do with the largest dimension of the barrier in front of your eyes. With wire it's the diagonal where 2 cross, but with perforated sheet mesh it's the triangular shape between the offset circular holes, which can be a third to half again as large as the wire diagonal. Basically, the larger this dimension, the more you get a layer of shadows across your vision when looking through it. This affects how well you can resolve colour and also spot tiny movements, unless you are perfectly still. It also causes your eyes to involuntarily refocus close up, on the mesh, which then takes a while to get back to the long focus where the mesh seems just like shadows.

Unfortunately the best mesh for seeing through that is also safe, .7mm #8 mesh, is only safe to save your eyes from one full auto burst. It will deform while being hit and, although there is effectively no chance that any burst which could hit you during a skirmish could penetrate, after that, once the wires are deformed, is another question entirely. I do trust them after single hits and even a few from a burst, but mine have never been hit by a good burst all in one place: after that I will retire them.

This is the type I'm talking about, but I have also customised my ESS Advancer V12's with the same mesh:​

​

They work really well, but I'm sure I can do better. At some point I intend to try hardening the formed wire by oil quenching.​

 

[Reptile Smile]

I'm trying to decide what to get for my first set of goggles. Any any thoughts about the Black Bear Razor style of full face 'fencing' type mask?

 

[Ian_Gere]

I'm trying to decide what to get for my first set of goggles. Any any thoughts about the Black Bear Razor style of full face 'fencing' type mask?

Click to shrink...

Really good, except that you can't get anything in your mouth without lifting the mask - not such a problem for non-smokers, but drinking from a camelbak or putting sweets in your gob to keep it moist when heavy breathing dries you out...

I've seriously considered getting one and putting a door in it, sort of like a hamster cage.

They don't work with helmets though, and hats are a bit hit'n'miss...

Here's the sensible price.

 

[Reptile Smile]

Nice one - thanks for the reply.

I didn't know how much of an issue it was with 'copies' after seeing this video - perforated after a couple of shots (albeit at extreme close range...)

 

[Ian_Gere]

Tests like that are quite misleading. What you need to ask yourself is, under skirmish conditions, how many rounds are actually going to hit the exact same spot? Even when the shooter is firing full auto with a high ROF, say 30 rps, there's barrel wobble, wind, and you moving. I mean, 30 rounds in a second sounds like a lot, and it is, but when you're skirmishing your reaction time is measured in milliseconds and getting hit in the goggles, even though the BB's don't touch you, is enough to make you move your head whether you want to or not!

 

[DX115FALCON]

Are these any good?

 

[Shinobi]

I have some cheap mesh, but I much prefer rocking my Bolle Contours. Rated to some sort of protection level, and extremely comfy. Might pick up a clear pair too, as now I only have smoke. They can fog slightly, but as long as either your nose/mouth isn't covered, you'll have no problems

 

[Cheeky vimto]

I prefer safety glasses. A bit of fairly liquid on them and they won't steam up for ages!

 

[kejot]

ESS ice 2.4 or Revision sawfly, play underground so find mesh goggles bit too dark

and if you get some ESS antifog clothes no fogging,i can drink a cuppa without steaming up

 

[Ian_Gere]

Are these any good?

Click to shrink...

Weeeeell, that type can be really cheap - like £3 and a prevailing attitude is that you can't trust your eyesight to something that costs £3.

The thing is that whether you pay £15 or £3 for them, they don't have brand name marks on them, so you can't tell for sure. In fact we don't even know whether they are actually made by a number of different Chinese manufacturers with, presumably, different degrees of reliability for the various components/stages of manufacture. It's entirely possible that they all come out of one factory...

I tested a pair to destruction last year* and my opinion is that they are safe but, like interwoven 0.7mm wire mesh, once they take a hammering they're done. Vision wise, they are the best of the small hole perforated mesh types, because the small holes very close makes for very little in the way of shadow artefacts, however they do darken the vision like shades - best used outdoors.

*The photo's and analysis are on this forum in somebody else's thread about eye protection.

 

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

Those stamped steel perforated ones vary wildly. Mine came with a 'made it taiwan' sticker on the plastic wrap but that may be from something else. Who knows. Mine have taken quite a beating but with sub 1 joule guns in ireland,and especially at mid range they can take a big one.