ExFog vs Novritsch Antifog 2nd Gen from someone who has both

[ParHunter]

My son has been using ExFog for over a year now and is very happy apart from that, he hasn’t found a good solution for mounting the tubes to his googles yet (but then he isn’t trying very hard either).

 

I’ve recently received the Novrtisch Antifog Unit 2nd Gen and can now actually compare the two.

First of all they both will do the job just fine, it is more about the features and the attachments they come with.

 

 

Usability: 

The ExFog uses one button to toggle between different modes, low, medium, max, off while the Antifog has an analogue potentiometer aka knob and a ‘max’ button which goes to full power for 30 seconds to defog the glasses and then goes back to the current mode. IMHO the Antifog wins the usability. Having to toggle through the different modes is a bit annoying, having an analogue knob is more convenient.

 

Tubing:

The Antifog comes with green tubes so that is nice but they are a bit on the soft side and it is easy to get kinks. On the other side because the tubing is softer movements don’t tend to pull the tubings out of the glasses but just kink them. I guess that is a benefit.

The ‘T’ attachment that comes with the Antifog has IMHO a more solid connection (it doesn’t disconnect as easily) as the magnetic adapter you now get with the new ExFogs but the ExFog connectors are more versatile. ExFog wins the attachments unless you have a google where you can actually use the T connector. Then the Novritsch adaptor is superior.

 

Overall I would say ExFog wins the tubing one but time will tell. I haven’t been able to play with my Antifog yet thanks to a dodgy foot. The flexible tubing might not be an issue at all. 

 

Attachments:

The Antifog only comes with some Velcro stickers, that’s it. I bought the Novritsch bonie with it which has Velcro on the back so that is not a problem and most helmets have Velcro patches on the back but if I play with my Barrett then I have a problem. Luckily I have all the attachments from my son’s ExFog. That comes with all the Velcro stickers and a head band so that you can wear the unit without anything. That head band just has a Velcro patch on so it works with the Antifog as well. The winner here is clearly the ExFog.

 

Summary

So even though the ExFog wins two out of the 3 categories here I would choose the Antifog on the field just because of the usability issue.

 

The one complaint my son has with his ExFog is that his tubes come undone from his goggles. He routes them inside his helmet and they come straight down and he pushes them through holes on the top of his goggles. The tubes are quite stiff to avoid kinks but it also means that any shear force is likely to pull them out while some softer tubes might just kink for a bit and then relax again.

 

Is anyone playing with Novritsch Antifog and can give their feedback on how the tubes behave? 

 

 

[pyromancer6]

3 hours ago, ParHunter said:

Is anyone playing with Novritsch Antifog and can give their feedback on how the tubes behave? 

I personally use the ExFog headbad underneath my boonie with the Novritsch unit, as I couldn't get it to sit right via velcro and it kept doing weird things. Haven't ever had a problem with the lines, even if they're very soft and kink easily they still provide plenty of air to the magnetic T-connector in the middle of the goggle. On Sunday's game just went it was the first time wearing earpro and even with them pressing down on the lines I didn't fog at all, but if you're worried about line kinking being a problem you can always measure the inside of the rubber tube and get hollow spring tube that's just smaller to route inside to stop it from bending as easy while still being flexible enough in a pinch.

[ParHunter]

Good to hear that the kinky tubes don't really cause a problem. In that case they might actually be a 'positive' over the more rigid tubes from ExFog.

 

I saw the trick with the spring on a YouTube video (https://youtu.be/0oXgzxNgdJE?si=OvnlCnOwSRhGrDK1)

 

Nice idea but will only try it if needed. 
'Premature optimization is the root of all evil.' Donald Knuth