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Author Topic: Thermal Lens question  (Read 11442 times)

Ajax

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Thermal Lens question
« on: June 16, 2015, 10:00:09 AM »
So I recently watched this video and it left me with some questions.



 
I'm not sure if his testing is "scientifically valid" but it still looked impressive to me. My question is, would any thermal lens goggles have the same results? If not are there any particular goggles you would recommend? Please keep in mind they need to be large enough to fit over my prescription glasses (at least until I can get some contacts.)

Thanks.
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luke213

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Re: Thermal Lens question
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2015, 11:32:45 AM »
Well being a glasses wearing goggle guy, granted I run contacts the vast majority of the time. Reason is my current glasses are just an odd shape that doesn't fit well under any of my current sets of goggles which I've got bunches of.

So first things first glasses, you've got another lens in the system to fog and it typically will even with thermal lens your glasses are a single lens. You can antifog treat them with wipes etc and it will help but usually I don't have a ton of long term luck with antifog products. 30 minutes to an hour later I usually find myself reapplying the treatment, which is fine for short games but isn't going to work well if your running longer games.

For thermal lens usually they work pretty well, but being someone who can seem to fog up just about anything that exists they still don't work 100%. If you get just the right conditions they can and will fog, but it's less likely. Also more headgear like he mentioned will make the problem worse. His test while not bad I don't think really shows the problem, sitting still after running is the problem for me. So had he run around then laid prone for 5 minutes in the heat I'd like to see the results. I don't think they are doing anything different with these then the other thermal lens goggles on the market, other than maybe their own antifog treatment which they sell separately. IE I think if you used their treatment on any normal good thermal lens you'll likely get the same basic results other than maybe airflow being different goggle to goggle.

Recommendations anything decent with a thermal lens that you can fit your glasses under;) And treat the glasses or better get contacts. I'm running Bolle x500's that I got a good deal on most of the time and I'm fairly happy with them. I'm also testing some of the smaller tiny eyepro that is out there now but I'm running into the same issues I had years ago with my Wiley X goggles etc when they first came out. They fog like nobody's business for me, with antifog treatment I can get a short game but often times they fog allot for me. Still trying other things with them since I love the size of them, they work better with my hat etc, but they fog allot. If I'm up and moving around not too bad, but if I'm sitting with my sniper rifle waiting for a shot in concealment they are borderline useless.

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X

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Re: Thermal Lens question
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2015, 04:33:45 PM »
My advice is to get contacts. You don't have to switch to contacts entirely, just tell your optometrist you want daily lenses. They'll sell you like a 1-3 month supply which you can then use for 30-90 days of airsofting. I don't know about you but 30 pairs of contacts will easily last me 2-3 years. I'm pretty sure my supply is from over two years ago. The nice thing is that you then have contacts for anything else you don't want to wear glasses for. For example I'll use contacts when I go mountain biking, scuba diving, cedar point, etc...
« Last Edit: June 16, 2015, 04:40:25 PM by X »

Knief

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Re: Thermal Lens question
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2015, 10:06:38 PM »
Just a note about his test: he never stops moving.  In my experience, as long as the goggles have good ventilation, they won't fog when you're running.  When you're moving, you're forcing airflow into the goggles and cycling the hot, humid air out of the cavity between the lens and your face.  If he did all that running and then hunkered down behind a bunker, out of the wind, he might have different results. 

That said, thermal lenses are a great tool to keep your goggles fog free.  There are really five factors that come into play in a set of goggles that contribute to how well they fight fog on any given day.  First, how well they ventilate on their own.  Second, whether or not they have a fan to cycle air.  Third, a thermal lens to keep the cool outside air from condensing the moisture in the humid air next to your face.  Fourth, the anti-fog coating and/or solution you've applied.  And fifth, how clean they are.  If you want to fight fogging 100%, get a set of goggles that naturally have good ventilation, come with a fan and a thermal lens, apply a good anti-fog solution, and clean them gently with soap and water before every gameday.  You can't do any more than that to fight fog.  If you do three or four out of five, you'll have clear vision 90% of the time.

Troubadour

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Re: Thermal Lens question
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2015, 08:23:46 AM »
I am with Knief, get real sweaty and then sit behind cover for a minute. Let's see if they are still fog free. Meanwhile, I am gonna remain in M-Frame world.
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Gronk

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Re: Thermal Lens question
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2015, 02:50:33 PM »
 I don't mean to hijack this, but are there any M-Frame glasses that meet the full seal req?

 I've done some searching but haven't seen any.

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Re: Thermal Lens question
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2015, 06:12:00 PM »
...are there any M-Frame glasses that meet the full seal req?

With the Helo kit, yes.
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Gronk

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Re: Thermal Lens question
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2015, 09:12:56 PM »
 Thanks much, I appreciate the information.