BUY DECENT EYEPRO!

[Guest PT247]

Not sure if I've missed this being posted elsewhere already on here but think it is worth repeating even if there are 10 others already:

 

THIS IS A WAKE UP CALL FOR EVERYONE....

Guys & Girls please take note, This chap had a lucky escape today, the blood is from his eye lid, but fragments from the glasses have gone in his eye he was taken to hospital to have them cleaned out.

The weapon that shot him was NOT hot and was from 5 meters away

Do not buy cheap eye protection. Make sure the relevant standards are met. If you are in any doubt about the quality of your eye protection, chuck them in the bin.
Buy trusted brands, make sure they are not fake. If there are no CE markings do not use, be aware some fakes have the CE markings.
Please be safe

[Samurai]

If unsure, test it.

[Sitye]

Why i always shoot my eyewear before i wear it.

[jcheeseright]

you shouldn't have to 'test' your eyepro. If you buy EN166f (ideally EN166b) glasses/goggles you know they'll work, furthermore, impact lenses are designed to absorb a limited amount of impacts. You don't test a crash helmet by throwing it at the floor, so why would you test eye protection by shooting it?

[Ian_Gere]

Those shooting glasses were not adequate eyepro for airsoft anyway, even if they hadn't been made from recycled bog paper. There are gaps all around them. Mental!

[Chock]

Yup, that would be piss poor face protection even if the glass had held up. Even regardless of the fact that it offers no tooth protection, there are loads of gaps where a BB can come in from above, below, off to the side, and they don't even look like they would stay on too well either. I know it's a pain in the ass wearing full face pro, but it's the sensible thing to do.

[Undieing_Lust]

Always spend a good amount of money on two things. Eye pro and boots.

[jcheeseright]

I'd have no issue with wearing lenses of those shape/size, providing they were rated for impact (those clearly weren't). I've only ever ONCE had a BB get inside my glasses and that was because I was wearing a mesh lower and the BB ricocheted off the top of it and under my eyepro.

 

As for teeth protection, who knows, maybe he uses a gumshield and he'd taken it out for the photo?

[Airsoft-Ed]

Maybe he just doesn't wear lower face protection. I don't either.

It's not like I preach about the benefits of not wearing it, it's just a personal choice. I know the risks, I take the chance. Same with wearing mesh eye pro. I personally feel safer with full seal mesh over open sided ballistic lenses because they stop BBs getting around the edges, but they also don't fog up, so I can see obstacles better all of the time.

I trust myself to move my head out of the line of fire when I can see, more than I trust myself to not fall over something or walk into something when I can't see properly from fogging.

That aside, I wonder where he got that "eye pro" from. Hope it wasn't an airsoft site or retailer.

[Undieing_Lust]

I myself don't use mouth shields. I am aware of the risks and I still take the chance.

[Airsoft_Mr B]

Looks like the pair you'd get in a sportline starter kit like with my MP5. I use them all the time for plinking but that's all they're advertised as and are supposed to be used for - protection against a richochet.

Either he's used those or maybe bought them off some 'bb guns' retailer who sell them as super high impact rated military ballistic goggles.

[Chock]

Agreed, you can always get your teeth fixed I guess, I just prefer not to have to, so I cover the lot. But as far as eye protection goes you only get issued with one set of eyes, so it's wire mesh all the way for me. I don't trust those dinky little glasses to stop stuff coming in sideways and I also suspect they could get shot off your head by a full auto burst taking the hinge or side piece out.

[DEF]

Having been shot in the tongue (yes, in the tongue) on my very first day, I do tend to wear a lower face mask. To be honest though, the main reason is that I don't want to go back to work the following day looking like a spotty teenager!

[Ashilta]

I think all but two occasions that I got shot on my first day (I got shot a LOT) I took hits to the face. Like Ed - it happens, I know the risks, I'll take the chance. I hope this chap knew the risks as well and won't be trying to blame anyone but himself for what's happened.

[Undieing_Lust]

That's why I use glasses that fit very tight to my eye. There is no gap. They also have the head band strap so they can't get shot off.

 

(sent from phone.)

[TheGrover]

GUYS! EN 166f is NOT sufficient for airsoft! Most branded glasses will be but 166f means it will take a 0.8j impact without being damaged, whereas most airsoft guns pump out bbs with over 1.1j

 

You MUST ALWAYS test any 166f eyepro before you stake your vision on them.

 

166B however is plenty for airsoft, so a quick check from a friends/marshalls sniper is enough.

 

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS test your eyepro.

 

My ESS Cross shields earned their keep when they saved my eyes from a stubby twig that was kicked up at me by a mk5, you cant test for that, so you want to spend some good money on eyepro

 

Polycarbonate is cheap, your eyes are priceless. Simple

[jcheeseright]

I'm going to disagree and say DO NOT test your eyepro! All you're doing is weakening it, buy eyepro with the appropriate safety rating and trust that the testing has already been done. That's why lenses come with the markings and why the safety ratings exist.

 

You don't test a bullet proof vest by putting it on and having your mate shoot you, you don't test a crash helmet by getting run over at 40mph!

[TheGrover]

I'm going to disagree and say DO NOT test your eyepro! All you're doing is weakening it, buy eyepro with the appropriate safety rating and trust that the testing has already been done. That's why lenses come with the markings and why the safety ratings exist.

 

You don't test a bullet proof vest by putting it on and having your mate shoot you, you don't test a crash helmet by getting run over at 40mph!

EN 166 says that it should be able to take the impact indefinitely, as many times as you can hit it.

 

Most armour plates and all crash helmets are sacrificial, meaning they only work once. Eyepro should NEVER be sacrificial, as you might take a burst of full auto. If your eyepro is damaged, deformed or its performance impaired in any way when used within its test parameters, then it is faulty and does not meet the standards of EN 166

 

If you are worried that testing your eyepro might weaken them, how can yoy trust them to work when you need them?

 

this doesnt change the fact that EN166 F is not enough for airsoft use, since almost every gun out there is powerful enough to exceed the test limits of EN166f. EN166B (goggles only) is the next class and is plenty for airsoft.

 

Not to say that all 166f glasses are no good, military spec eyeshields are bloody tough, as 166 only sets the MINIMUM standard

[jcheeseright]

Since the standard requires that it can withstand the impacts indefinitely, why would personal testing be required?

[Sitting Duck]

some workshop googles are tested to withstand pointblank bb projectiles in excess of 1.2Joules

(noticed some in screwfix last week)

but they are probably just gonna mist up real quick and look like a misty scuba diver all lost

or fish out of water....

 

I've heard a few people or stories about peeps losing a tooth or chipped a tooth without proper full face

I'm ugly enough so will try and keep limited number of old teeth I have & use a fugly full mesh face mask to go with my fugly looks

 

But yeah one of them cheapo eye-pro set that came in a cheapo gun it seems

f*ck that crap, but is good example why we bang on about eye pro - yeah yeah yeah

no seriously yeah yeah yeah - f*ck losing an eye coz of crap cost cutting and ignoring sound advice

[BrightCandle]

Its been a while since I looked into this but I have never used a set of goggles that weren't capable of taking a point blank shot from the highest powered gun on the field, ie 500 fps or about 2.5j. Since I have been hit in every possible direction around my head and eyes at this point I know that not having full seal is going to be dangerous in some of the sites I play at. Out in the woodland I am sure that a standard compliant set of glasses would probably do the job almost always, but I prefer to ensure the safety of my eyes considering how important they are to me. So I go with standards exceeding airsofts energy levels.

 

My first set were Stanag 2920, that is it could survive a .22 calibre metal cylinder at up to 275 m/s. I believe the balls they use are about 0.8g so well in excess of the energy of a BB from a sniper rifle.

 

My current set exceed ANSI Z87.1-2010, EN 166, infact they exceed it so far that it can stop buck shot out of a 12 gauge shotgun at point blank range. Again far in excess of the energy of a BB from a sniper rifle.

 

These standards exist for a reason, so we know for certain what is stopped by them. They can test them under multiple strikes and very precise energy levels and confirm that they work as intended and continue to do so.

 

My very first game renting was using a mesh goggles on one of those paintball like masks. Not only did the mesh block my vision and made tracking my BBs hard but I also had a fragment get throw the mesh right in front of my eyes. I got lucky but it wasn't the only time I found bits of BB inside of the mask. Then I had a look online on tests done on mesh goggles and the end result was that they are all penetrated at all the energy levels we see on the airsoft field and thus you will get hit in the eyes using mesh goggles. This is why there aren't any ballistic standards markings on them, they simply don't meet any of them.

 

I clearly care more for my teeth (mesh lower) and eyes (standards complaint fan cooled full seal goggles) than most people but these standards in my opinion matter a lot and you should never be buying something that wont definitely stop a BB on the field and do so from the most powerful gun there and with a bit of margin as well.

[TheGrover]

Since the standard requires that it can withstand the impacts indefinitely, why would personal testing be required?

Because manufacturers cant test every single pair that they produce and we cant just take their word for it.

[jcheeseright]

Yes we can, that's the whole point of the standard existing.

[Lozart]

Because manufacturers cant test every single pair that they produce and we cant just take their word for it.

 

Of course you can. That's the whole point of quality control and testing to an established standard. Or are you suggesting that soldiers should stick a couple of rounds into their kevlar just to make sure?

 

The main point remains though, don't buy cheap crap. Get your eyepro from a reputable manufacturer that carries the correct relevant standards (be they CE or ANSI) because they have had to perform rigorous evaluation tests and will have to have documented, validated ongoing production batch testing to maintain that standard.

[Colonel Kurtz]

Can even be unlucky with good stuff, I've got a TM mask (fanboi lol) and this sunday somehow a BB managed to get inside my mask when i got sprayed in the face at close-range, no idea how! Start walking back to the spawn a feel a rattle, i assumed abit of mask had broken off inside it of so got a marshall to escort me back to the safe-zone to verify the state of the mask and find it's a BB, and absolutely no damage to the mask!!!

 

There's only a couple tiny vents in near the nose and they aren't wide enough for a BB, there's no gaps around the edges when wearing it so gawd knows how it got there!