TactiSMART 078: Goggle it!
We have waded into the EYEPROtection mess as you know, beginning with better Quick-Release retention head bands held by hard metal rings, stiff reinforced tactical or EDC pouches and SPY glasses with hidden video camera and integral BlueTooth (BT) ear buds tethered to their temples/sticks/arms for no-loss retention--unlike separate BT ear pieces. This un-tethers you from your atrocious OPSEC liability selfphonecamera, freeing your hands so you can actually do something KINETIC like defending yourself from attack.
https://jamesbondisreal.blogspot.com/2021/09/tactismart-077-spying-is-in-eyes-of.html
https://jamesbondisreal.blogspot.com/2021/07/tactismart-067-if-it-looks-stupid-but.html
EVERYONE--including civilian normies should wear at least non-RX, "plano" EYEPRO 24/7/365 EDC during all waking hours because once you lose your vision due to some impact, you're not likely to get it back.
IRL Needed EYEPRO Example: Legendary Turkish Leader Attaturk Lost Vision in His Left Eye in Combat
https://youtu.be/6YPuTsfjZkg?t=626
I like to see beautiful women's
bosoms; I can't if I'm blind.
So far, the best baseline EYEPRO (BASEEYEPRO) I've encountered is the ESS CDIs (Chicks Dig It) and Body Specs BSG-5s with mini-goggle capabilities via temples/sticks/arms replaceable by a head strap. Both can have RX lenses fitted. How you wear these is both TBATE (environment) and TBAM (enemy) driven. IMHO, you should have 2x EYEPRO on your person at all times; one for INDOORS + plus and one for OUTDOORS because its not practical or clean to swap tiny lenses in the "field" especially if there are no mini-pouchettes on the outside of the stiffened EYEPRO pouch currently COTS available. The K.I.S.S. Principle, lightest option of 1x BASEEYEPRO that you swap tiny lenses is not currently feasible. However, one 1x BASEEYEPRO with clip-on sunglasses is feasible.
OPTIONS
1x
BASEEYEPRO System
1x
BASEEYEPRO on your face indoors; clip-on sunglasses if its sunny outdoors.
2x
BASEEYEPRO System
2x
BASEEYEPROs--1x on your face and the other in the stiffened EYEPRO pouch is
best if you need RX but can't get it on specialty function glasses like the
ABTOCAR Spy glasses.
IMHO, you
should have a stiffened EYEPRO pouch on your SERE Kit Fanny Pack for EDC or on
your Load Bearing Equipment (LBE) aka flak jacket to carry one EYEPRO not being
worn.
INDOORS/Non-Sunny
Outdoors (INSOs)
CLEAR
lenses are needed for Indoors/Non-Sunny Outdoors (INSOs) aka overcast daylight
and night-time. Yellow lenses are also good detail amplifiers for night
driving/shooting though you look a bit weird socially. Have your BASEEYEPRO in CLEAR or YELLOW
lenses non-RX if you don't need it, RX if you do.
The
ABTOCAR Spy glasses with video & BT can have clear non-RX lenses fitted by
Direct Optical of Columbus, Georgia for $50 + S/H/T to be your INDOOR/NSOs if
your vision is 20-20. If you need them in a RX, www.LENSABL.com claims it
can make them for $77--but I am doubtful.
OUTDOORS/Sunny
But Not Dusty (SBND) & Sunny and Dusty (SAD)
You step
outside and its Sunny but Not Dusty (SBND).
To avoid
lens swapping and possible Murphy's Law loss of lenses, CLIP-ON sunglass lenses
held in your stiffened EYEPRO pouch onto your BASEEYEPRO. Flip-ups like
baseball outfielders use are best because you can transition to CLEAR if you
need to read something etc.
If your BASEEYEPRO during INSOs is the ABTOCAR Spy glasses, adding a clip-on sunglasses enables you to covertly videocam outside like a GOPRO but discretely--as well as answer or make selfphonecamera calls. So far, I haven't found any clip-ons that will accomodate the large & thick ABTOCAR frames. IF the ABTOCAR Spy glasses were RX-able, then you could get by with just 1x BASEYEPRO + clip-on sun glasses.
In the
desert with the decrepit MOTORIZED USMC riding in the back of vulnerable,
air-filled tire, death trap trucks, I found you could get by without Sun, Wind,
Dust Goggles (SWDGs) because we were not maneuvering unpredictably cross-country
in tracked tanks but along hardened trails where all sorts of enemy ambushes
await--not kicking up much dust. When dismounted from the death-from-a-truck,
slowly (1 mph) walking in the desert doesn't kick up sand/dust enough to
require SWDGs. A sand storm is another matter requiring SWDGs but the
cheapskate USMC didn't bother issuing us them. Just sit out the sand storm.
Sunny and
Dusty (SAD)
Let's say
you are TACTICALLY SOUND in a tracked MECHANIZED, Vertical Take-Off &
Landing (VTOL) AIR ASSAULT or Vertical Airdrop Landing (VADL) parachute or
glider AIRBORNE unit where you move at HIGH SPEEDS making much WIND, kicking up
much DUST. The wise U.S. ARMY issued us SWDGs with both clear, sunglass dark
and laser-protective lenses.
It's not
practical taking too much time to switch SWDG lenses.
The best
option is to regulate darkness at your BASEYEPRO and superimpose CLEAR
SWDGs over them aka Over the Glasses (OTGs) using the Soldier-input, created ESS Land Ops goggles, NSN 4240-01-540-5580; which has enough space to accommodate temple/stick/arms BASEEYEPRO inside its
cushioned seal to keep dust out.
https://www.otg-goggles.com/the-5-best-airsoft-goggles-to-wear-over-glasses/
ESS (Eye Safety Systems) high-quality ballistic eye goggles, and many of their models are the preferred choice for airsoft players. They’re the only goggles authorized by the U.S. Army for use over prescription eyewear, making them more than suitable to use as OTG airsoft goggles. Like others in the list, they also have good ventilation, and “ClearZone” lens coatings to keep from fogging. While the Land Ops are designed to fit over most sizes of glasses, any glasses wider than 5.5″ across might cause the arms to press into your temples, so measure the glasses you plan to wear underneath.
****
This is a
MUST for tactically-sound, unpredictable-to-the-enemy, MECHANIZED,
cross-country movements.
I've
always static-line parachute jumped with COMBAT MAG-1 with RX prescription lenses
that DO NOT HAVE A CUSHION SEAL capability to be mini-goggles with nothing
going into my eyes--though I switched the flimsy thin elastic strap that comes
with them for a PASGT helmet parachutist retention strap.
www.combatreform.org/glasses.htm
However,
I don't see any major adverse side effects of wearing the LAND OPS SWDGs over
your BASEYEPRO during a static-line parachute jump where the exposure to 150+
mph relative winds occurs only upon aircraft exit.
Speaking
from personal experience, society doesn't tolerate you wearing COMBAT MAG-1
glasses with OD green retention strap--but it does accept and even like when
you wear stylish, CDIs. Therefore, I wear CDIs as my BASEEYEPRO and have
retired my COMBAT MAG-1s to my extra gear, pegboard.
THE FOG
Wearing
2x sets of EYEPRO means greater eye protection from TBATE & TBAM threats.
However, it is hotter--trapping more sweating than just wearing 1x set of
EYEPRO that can fog up your lenses blinding you until you vent them from your
face and/or wipe them.
When we
ran airsoft plastic BB wars at Camp Benning Tactical Technology Center (CBTTC),
we found the best solution for now is to minimize eye fogging by just wearing
SWDGs and a metal mesh face mask for breath-ability that keeps 11mm BBs out. We
could not unfog full face masks and motorcycle helmets with ballistic facial
protection. We believe those that offer facial ballistic-protective helmets add
ventilation fans to them like some SWDGs have like the ESS TurboFans. Offering
a 5v USB recharge of "AA" batteries to avoid fumbling with battery
swap-outs is a must. A tiny solar panel to trickle-charge seems prudent to
extend fan life.
The
problem is the fan-equipped SWDGs that are now available don't appear to be
spacious enough like the LAND OPs to accommodate BASEEYEPRO. 1x step forward, 2x
steps back. We are waiting on some generic fan SWDGs to arrive to find out.
https://www.otg-goggles.com/keep-goggles-from-fogging-up/
If you’re using OTG (over the glasses) goggles and you’re still losing the fight against fog, you might want to consider upgrading your goggles to a pair that have better lens coating, ventilation, and interior volume. Give those crumbling goggles from the late 80’s a proper snow burial and take a look at something like the Smith Knowledge Turbo Fan OTG (pictured), which has a small 2-speed fan to keep your goggles fog-free.
****
Obviously,
if you don't need RX, you can avoid BASEEYEPRO altogether and just don your
SWDGs--albeit at the risk of your eyes being exposed to damages in EDC life.
THE GAS
One of
the selling points of COMBAT MAG-1 glasses is they can be RX and worn UNDER
Field Protective Masks (FPMs). I haven't tested my BSG-5s with elastic strap
under a M17 FPM, but I think they will work. Not so the CDIs which need a
version where the temples/sticks/arms can be replaced by a head strap with
gasket cushions to be mini-goggles.
Thus, in
the march from EDC to Home Defense (HD) to WAR, if you need RX eyesight help,
you switch out your BASEEYEPRO to temple/sticks/arms-less head strap
configuration to don a FPM to counter enemy gas attacks. Or you get the RX
inserts and attach to the insides of your FPM which is extra
costs/complications. FPM + RX inserts implies you dropping your BASEEYEPRO to
your neck held by the head strap, then donning the FPM/RX combo.
Obviously,
if you don't need RX, you can avoid BASEEYEPRO altogether and just don your
FPM--albeit at the risk of your eyes being exposed to damages in EDC life.
THE
REFLECTION
Long War (it's over now in Afghanistan for USA!) open-border, foreign-occupation-troops-makes-rebels, KILL/CAPTURE Moron's SWDGs:
http://www.combatreform.org/SWDGbadcamouinafghanistan.jpg
Glint aka
reflections from SWDGs, is a huge problem giving your presence away to the
enemy--NO, covers don't cover when you are wearing/using SWDGs. Tenebraex made
a prototype Anti-Reflection Device (ARD) for SWDGs--but hasn't put them into
production for Soldiers--yet. Is your life worth $100? I think so and I'd buy the SWDG ARDs at that or even a higher price.
https://armament.com/anti-reflection-devices/
https://www.facebook.com/tenebraex/
www.combatreform.org/killflash.htm
Summary/Conclusions
If you
don't need RX eyesight help, you could easily protect your eyes with a 1x
EYEPRO system.
If you need RX help, 2x ballistic EYEPROs protect you better than 1x-but it's hotter inside than just a single EYEPRO needing cooling fans.
If you
need RX eyesight help, you can also get by with a 1x EYEPRO system, but not one
with covert videocamera and hands-free selfphonecamera BT connectivity since RX
with the ABTOCAR Spy glasses hasn't been attained. This is why we advocate a 2x
EYEPRO system to mitigate against the HUGE SELFPHONECAMERA HAND FUMBLING
PROBLEM.
John 3:16
Semper
Airborne!
James
Bond is REAL.
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