buying new glasses.. can anyone help???

[romeo sierra]

so, i'm sick of getting the goggle mark from my bolle's, jt's are HUGE, ess don't fit my face, so i've decided to go ballistic glasses. plus they look cool.

anyways here are my choices:

oakley m frame - don't know which lens though. are they all ballistic?
oakley radar range- i heard the all m fram are ballistic, are these?
5.11 eagle- cheaper than oakley, but only seen them online.
ess ice- cheaper the 5.11, have only seen online.

so what i was looking for was some user info. any help would be great. thanks.

[Mapcinq]

I'd ask Mr.Hitman if I were you...

[surebet]

I own a few Oakleys, and while nice, I wouldn't use them for airosft since they only offer frontal protection.

The biggest lense for the M-frame is the heater, and even that one doesn't properly seal all 'round.

Same deal with the Radar.

[super_six_four]

ess ice all the way

[Danke]

I think I have about 2 PTW's worth of Oakley glasses.

I have M-frames, Radars, and Racing Jackets all have massive wrap and ANSI rated lenses and I have no qualms about shooting with them.

There is no way in the world I am willing to be shot at while wearing them. They all have gaps around the edge of the frame and my face that a projectile will pass through.

Kokanee had a couple pairs of ESS goggles in the classifieds at a really fair price, If I hadn't already got a set of them I'd be buying his.

And as a side note I also crawled over all the ski/motorsport goggle frames also since I am connected to the trade so I get a price break. All the frames had holes in them covered with foam for ventilation. All were larger enough to let a projectile enter the frame.

[surebet]

Do you think an civilian Oakley A-frame would offer proper protection, or is their SI line thougher?

[Danke]

On all the Oakley google frames I checked (Crowbar, O-frame, A-frame, H2O, Wisdom, L-frame, E-frame) the body of the goggle itelf had a huge vent on the brow that was coverd with very thin foam. Now for anyone who's just joining us I'm not talking about the foam that welds the goggle to your face, this is the foam used to cover vents so dust can't enter the frame. The only goggle I didn't check was the women's ski one (Stockholm). I checked Smith and Spy also with no luck along with some Answer and MSR moto googles at home.

The frame of the ESS goggles is also vented but with a series of small round holes instead of the massive vent found on any other goggle I had in my hands. I'll edit this with a couple pictures showing this in a minute.

[surebet]

So you're basicly obligated to use it with a helmet and pray it seals correctly?

[Danke]

Originally Posted by surebet

So you're basicly obligated to use it with a helmet and pray it seals correctly?

I don't think I'd trust that myself. When photobucket is back up I can post the frame shots.

I haven't handled the Oakley SI frames so I can't say if they used a different version that the public can't buy. It's not like Oakly can't afford to create a new mold just for Mil-Spec orders.

[ex]

I swear by my ESS CDI's they are comfy and never fog up.

These are my daily wear sunglasses as well. I've taken plenty of goggle hits and they don't show a mark at all.

[Sterling]

ESS NVG all the way. Best 85$ I have spent.

[Danke]

Typical Moto/snow goggle ANSI lens but vents you can drive a truck through.



ESS vents

All oakley lenses are ballastic; so I've been told anyways.

[Mitchell12]

I have a friend that uses Oakley's and they seem to provide good protection... Not sure on what model though.