If you are going to play paintball then you're going to need a set of paintball goggles. Not just any paintball goggles will do. Your shop goggles, sun glasses and skiing equipment won't make the cut for paintball goggles. As it turns out, paintballs are moving at about 280 feet per second on average. The worst, or the best Paintball Goggles are made to take any direct hit, at any range many times over. A pair of shop goggles will only supply a false sense of safety and put you in danger since they will fail to stop a paintball. All paintball manufactures meet or beat DOT safety standards for the lenses on their masks.
All paintball goggles manufactures make what is called a full face mask. Each paintball goggles system sold comes with the goggle/lens and a mask that covers your eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Since the mask fully covers the important parts of your face, it is called a full face mask. Full face masks were not always required. In the early 1990's players could choose to play with only the goggle portion of a mask. When insurance companies became more specific on required safety practices, full face masks no longer were a choice, but a mandatory piece of safety equipment.
Whether you own your own paintball gear or not it is definitely a good idea to purchase your own paintball goggles, also know as a paintball mask . A paintball mask is our recommended first purchase to make in the sport of paintball. Having comfortable paintball goggles that you can see well out of will make or break your enjoyment of playing paintball. If you intend to rent a mask from a field, allow us to explain the rental history of a paintball mask. A paintball mask on average is rented hundreds of times before you ever get to it and is probably fairly scratched up and difficult to see out of. It has gone through all seasons on many different people. People have sweated, coughed, spit and probably that one sick kid has vomited inside his mask, and knowing your luck, that's the one your going to rent!
Having your own paintball goggles guarantees you its history and maintenance. Rental masks have a neoprene foam that is not comfortable and a lens that is not fog proof. Masks like the Vforce Profiler and Vforce Shield have an open cell foam that is by far more comfortable and a lens that will not fog. When looking for a mask there are three things to look at. The most important quality of a mask is the lens, next will be the foam and comfort it provides and last would be the physical look of the mask.
1. The lenses that come with paintball goggles will either be thermal or non-thermal which is fancy for fog-resistant and anti-fog. The difference between fog-resistant and anti-fog is that fog-resistant means that when used with an anti-fog applicant the mask probably won't fog and anti-fog means that the lens won't fog without any extra help from an anti-fog applicant. Basically the best paintball goggles use Thermal lenses which are better because they simply won't fog, but that also makes the best paintball goggles more costly than non-thermal lens paintball goggles.
2. The foams that come with paintball goggles are for the most part all decent. Even the neoprene foam on a Vforce Armor is a good foam, but it is not as comfortable. The neoprene is comparable to a thin piece of rubber. The foam on a Vforce Profiler and a Vforce Shield is a two layer open cell foam that is much more comfortable. The open cell foam is comparable to a memory foam in a pillow.
3. Ok lets admit it, we do want to look cool when we're playing. Some paintball goggles cost more even if the lens and the foam are the same, but the style is different. The Vforce Profiler and the Vforce Shield have the same great anti-fog lens and both have the open cell foam, but the Profiler is significantly more expensive because of the style of the mask.
If you've looked over the paintball goggles we offer, read this article and still haven't found exactly what you're looking for, then feel free to give us a call and we'll be glad to help.
