Newbie seeking mask advice.

[sjwt]

Ive jsut palyed my first game and am looking at taking this sport up, my olny issue so far is sweating, I sweat like a pig, and of course the mask at the feild was allmsot useless after the first 10 mins.

Now of course if I get my own and treat it well, there will be a large improvment, but are there any sugestsion or recomndations on the best type of mask to aquier or ways to deal with this?

Tanks a mill.

[The Camo Kid]

have a read of this (http://www.billspaintball.com/vb3//showthread.php?t=17031) and this (http://www.billspaintball.com/vb3//showthread.php?t=10380)

[HeDsHoTz]

Do yourself a favour and get yourself Empire E-vents. They're by far the most comfortable set of goggles i've ever owned. I played yesterday at Mt White and was sweating up a storm but the E-vents didn't fog once. But if you're not looking at spending that much cash on them, get some JT Proshields with a thermal lens. They retail for about $90 and would be a great starting set of goggles. We use them at our field as rentals. They're old and a bit on the dodgy side, but they still don't have the fogging problems of other goggles.

[Ben]

1st: where do you live? if you live local to a proshop then go out and try as many on that you can. if need to be comfortable, give you good vision. As you say you sweat alot, perhaps look at investing into a fan and also a head band/wrap to help stop the sweat dripping down into your mask and causing fogging.

[THc]

ThesE haVe been very popular since releaSe mid 2008:thumbsup:

Light , comfortable, easy to clean, one size fit all ragardless of the sizE of youR ears or NoSe. They even fitted Mark the Nark , & he's got a head the shape of a PeNiS:thumbsup:

[Wol-Gran]

Hey dude
In my opinion theres no "Best mask" out there much like theres no "Best gun" it all comes down to personal preference, i used to use a dye invision mask and found they were great but after getting a set of V-force grills i cant go back.
Alot of people will tell u " go for something with a double/ thermal lense, but from my experiance they fog up just as much as a single lense, and the single lense dont fog up so long as u dont wipe or touch the inside lense.
But like i said everyones got a different opinion on the matter.
Another thing , will u be playing bush ball or compition/speed ball coz if ur playing speed ball u souldnt have any issues anyway....with any mask!

[sjwt]

Thanks, Best isnt what I ment, but rather which copes better, just as some cars go faster, some go longer, I woudl be sure that some masks are made for ppl who are in the top end of sweaters.. Just puting a mask on wont tell you how it will hold up over a long sesion.

Thanks for the advise on single Vs double lens.

[sjwt]

ThesE haVe been very popular since releaSe mid 2008:thumbsup:

Light , comfortable, easy to clean, one size fit all ragardless of the sizE of youR ears or NoSe. They even fitted Mark the Nark , & he's got a head the shape of a PeNiS:thumbsup:

Lol, I think Ill just stick with my current helmet then, I payed enough for it.

[sjwt]

1st: where do you live? if you live local to a proshop then go out and try as many on that you can. if need to be comfortable, give you good vision. As you say you sweat alot, perhaps look at investing into a fan and also a head band/wrap to help stop the sweat dripping down into your mask and causing fogging.

Im out at logan in BNE, I though Id at lest work on an idea before showing up, I didnt know there were fans, Ill look into them, posibly takeing 3.

[THc]

If you dont get paint in youR eyEs its a good mask:thumbsup:

Wore JTs for years but got sick of splitting the lense while wrestling them into the frame:thumbsdow

"Events" are the Toranas choice of Windscreen:thumbsup:

[sjwt]

have a read of this (http://www.billspaintball.com/vb3//showthread.php?t=17031) and this (http://www.billspaintball.com/vb3//showthread.php?t=10380)

thanks, I had allready broswed those and others around, but this issue its self wasnt realy coverded, on the day I did have a band, but if it helped I would have hated to see what tis like with out one <G>

[HouseholdDog]

Hi sjwt. Once you get up into the top range of masks the fogging is generally minimised no matter what the brand. You can still get condesation in circumstances, like the time I played in the biggest downpour Victoria had seen for over a year. :)

If you can't make up your mind then the Profiler's are probably a good starting point. Depending on the shape of your face they have good protection and great visibility. They are also light. Another thing is that they are rubber, in parts which encourages the ball to bounce rather than break. You get the odd bounce here or there that keeps you in the game. This is a bit of 2 edged sword, however as there is a higher chance of the ball being deflected to your kneck or slapping you in the face.

The Grills are nice, i own a pair, but the forehead protection is fairly minimal. Its also hard to appologise for mistakes, in them, as you look like you are out to kill everybody you talk to.They also don't have that many suppliers in OZ and I have yet to see a replacement strap advertised for them. They possibly bounce a bit more than the profilers, especially on the mouth section, with the same negative I talked about earlier.

E-Vents I really don't know much about but are also an option.

Flex 8's are quite nice too but it is, apparently a bit hard to remove the lens for cleaning. They come in camo colours so are a good option for bushball, I that's what you are into.

These ones are effectively competition masks. They try to minimise your profile and increase your bounce factor. You could spend a little less and still get a good mask with better protection from a hard plastic. Certainly its nice to stay in the game, but if you are getting bruised in the face every game it might take the fun away a bit. Just make sure they are thermal lenses.

Anyway hope it helps.

Kudos for recognising the most important first piece of equipment BTW.
:)

[Deadalready]

I vote for Empire Events, I've worn mine in all sorts of weather hot days, cold days, bright days, night days, stormy days, foggy days and muddy days. Never had a problem with fog ever since I got my mask.

The thing about Empires is the parts are easy to replace, easy to find and a solid range of lenses available. Out of the box I think they're the best because some other brands (JT, Proto and Dye) require a separate purchase of an actual thermal lense before they become fog proof. Additionally the Empires have the most peripherial vision of all the masks out there, coupled with an extremely fast and simple change system means easy cleaning.

My only gripe with the Events is the airflow isn't great, so there can be heat buildup in the mask. Heat bugged me at first until I got aclimatised to the mask, at this point in time I wouldn't trade my mask in for anything else out there. Since you say you sweat a lot I suggest borrowing a friend's Events for a match or two (they're very common masks).

Fans are ridiculously loud and annoying, don't waste you money on one.

~

If you're still not sure and willing to do some reading, I recommend browsing http://www.pbreview.com/products/cat/46/
It's got tonnes of player reviews the top masks (Empire Event, Jt Flex 8, Vforce Grillz and Dye Invision Pro3) and decide.

[bax71]

my mask of choice is the JT flex series but as mentioned the lenses are a bastard too change without cracking and the thermal lense's havn't fogged foe me yet but in sayin that i've got a grill on order any of the known brands should serve you well, i would steer of fans they annoy the crap outta me used a mate's proteus for half a day the noise was too distracting for me.
g/luck :armed:

[HouseholdDog]

Just saw this one. JT Status. Its new.
Sorry about linking to a shop but they had a good review of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_cHLLnUWWg
Looks like the easiest lens change so far.

[slcmorro]

They are purely an eVents ripoff made to look like I3s.

[HouseholdDog]

Do the E-Vents have the same removal system?

[slcmorro]

Something very similar, yes.

[Hornet Driver]

Hi mate.

One piece of advice; don't skimp.

The money is worth it. They're not only your major defence against serious injury, but you'll use them no matter what.

Some bits of kit you'll only use now and then, so you can afford to think about skimping on quality and/or features, but your goggles will end up on your head no matter what.

Spend the time, check them all out, or as many of them as you can and be prepared to fork out for what you REALLY want.

You'll be extremely glad and relieved you did. :thumbsup:

[piphysplat]

I am still kinda new to paintball and asked the same question a little while ago. After trying a few different masks I went for the Empire's. Easy to maintain, great feild of vision but are very close fitting. I'm a bit of a pin head so it doesn't worry me, but guys with bigger heads say that it gets a bit annoying having a mask rubbing on your face.

[sjwt]

Thanks everyone for the recomendations, youve all been a fab. help

[Shifted28]

Just saw this one. JT Status.
Nice, had seen the pics 4 these a while ago but not really what features they had, looks pretty decent. would consider getting one if i didnt already have 3 flex 8's :lol:

[wil71M]

But how annoying is changing lenses in the Flex8's:respekt: I really want something more user friendly in that area. Other than that tho, its been great, good 12mnths use hasnt fogged once, worked out how to fix the helmet cam on it, and its comfy enough to wear ALL day long.

[Urban paintball]

changing one flex 8 lens didn't seem to bother me much..... then i stupidly got 50 and trying to remove and clean 50 lens.... now thats a real pain...

[Mark:-)]

ThesE haVe been very popular since releaSe mid 2008:thumbsup:

Light , comfortable, easy to clean, one size fit all ragardless of the sizE of youR ears or NoSe. They even fitted Mark the Nark , & he's got a head the shape of a PeNiS:thumbsup:

Lol I never saw this post ;) I only wear that mask cos i'm TOO sexy... If I didn't wear it the other team would be running down the field to touch me, not mug me ;)

[outreach]

personally i love my proflex im not a huge fan of the feel but its light and it breathes and theres always the bounce factor. i have an invision and a few others laying around my house but after i started playing with the flex i just fell in love with it, but its all about preferance. try a few different ones before you buy