Goggles warning: Big Ben Clear Anti-Fog Goggles

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Speefy
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Goggles warning: Big Ben Clear Anti-Fog Goggles

Post by Speefy »

A reddit user has posted about a pair of goggles that failed to protect. Key issue is that these goggles are being sold by airsoft stores, without being ansi certified for impact resistance.


Thread here: http://www.reddit.com/r/airsoft/comment ... s_warning/

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sonic
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Re: Goggles warning

Post by sonic »

Speefy wrote:A reddit user has posted about a pair of goggles that failed to protect. Key issue is that these goggles are being sold by airsoft stores, without being ansi certified for impact resistance.


Thread here: http://www.reddit.com/r/airsoft/comment ... s_warning/
Good to know. I own a pair of these, and have so much trouble with fogging that they are pretty much useless for me. Glad I already stowed them away and bought a different pair. Thanks!

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Re: Goggles warning

Post by Moondog »

I urge all players to test their own goggles when they get them home. Simply, shoot at your goggles with your +350fps gun at 5ft. Take a couple of shots.

If you're goggles get damaged, that's ok. It's better to know they're useless before you wear them and find out the hard way and risk your eye.
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Taronkov
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Re: Goggles warning: Big Ben Clear Anti-Fog Goggles

Post by Taronkov »

I'm ordering a couple of pairs of these to shoot and make a video of. It honestly bothers me a little that the field owner didn't post it at the request of the company making them. I feel they should have a moral obligation to actually show how unsafe they are. I mean they had a minor take serious damage to the eye. If that's not worth bad PR for the company making them then I don't know what is.

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Re: Goggles warning: Big Ben Clear Anti-Fog Goggles

Post by Moondog »

Taronkov wrote:I'm ordering a couple of pairs of these to shoot and make a video of. It honestly bothers me a little that the field owner didn't post it at the request of the company making them. I feel they should have a moral obligation to actually show how unsafe they are. I mean they had a minor take serious damage to the eye. If that's not worth bad PR for the company making them then I don't know what is.
I don't think a retailer should sell any goggle model they haven't tested themselves.

But I would also like more details on the incident linked to on Reddit. What kind of field was it? What was the FPS of the gun that hit the player? What was the distance? All goggles should be able to withstand a 400fps hit from 5ft away. If it was a hot gun, it's not the retailer or manufacturer to blame.
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Re: Goggles warning: Big Ben Clear Anti-Fog Goggles

Post by Taronkov »

Someone said that the owner made a video of shooting it point blank at 350 fps and the rounds went through like butter. Regardless of whether it's .2 or .25's if that is actually the case it is completely unacceptable.

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Re: Goggles warning: Big Ben Clear Anti-Fog Goggles

Post by sonic »

I just "tested" my pair of BigBens, with disturbing results.
Disclaimer, I used the first rifle I had on hand. I chose one of my sniper rifles, which chronos at the high 400s with .20s. I popped in three .25s and fired from about 6 inches. The first shot created a visible crack. The second and third shattered the lens easily.

Obviously it's not a "valid" test, but does show the lens wasn't hard to destroy.

Image

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Re: Goggles warning: Big Ben Clear Anti-Fog Goggles

Post by Moondog »

I've done some additional research and I've found an alarming fact: those "goggles" may actually be ANSI rated if they were classed as safety glasses rather then safety goggles. ANSI Z87.1 requirements for shooting/safety glasses only requires that they resist impacts with the energy of a .20g BB at 334.5fps.

The Big Ben's did withstand the 1st hit from your gun which means it probably would have passed the ANSI Z87-1 2003 standard for impact resistance (it cracked but didn't break). It would have protected your eye from the 1st hit but obviously the frame is now damaged and did not have the same protective qualities with subsequent hits.

So the retailer and the manufacturer aren't necessarily negligent in selling these goggles as different fields have different FPS limits. But it does stress the importance of buying High Impact or ANSI Z87+ rated goggles. Also why goggles are superior to shooting glasses for eye protection.

I've written up my research in the following post:
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1792&p=8323
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