FOG HORN

Revisions Bullet Ant Goggles With OCCUMAX Plus Technology

By: Sal Palma

2013
Twobirds Flying Publication

transformed Revision into a global company supplying a superb product, with outstanding customer service and unwavering support for military men and women around the world. The vision to be the leading global supplier of protective eyewear for our military drives Revisions R&D, which resulted in leading edge innovation; one being the OCCUMAX Plus lens coatings for scratch resistance and fogging. Eye protection is only useful when worn, and Revision understands the factors that promote the use of protective eyewear. Certainly comfort is at the top of that list, as is optical clarity. However, fogging is all too often an occurrence prompting service men and women to remove their eye protection. So, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to evaluate the companys latest advancement, OCCUMAX Plus anti-fogging lens coating. To understand OCCUMAX we need to understand fogging; a natural byproduct resulting from atmospheric conditions described and dimensioned by dew point. Dew point is that temperature at which water vapor condenses at the same rate as it evaporates. It varies with ambient temperature and relative humidity at atmospheric pressure. Dew point is expressed in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit. In all cases except were relative humidity is 100% the dew point is below ambient temperature.

Revision Military has been designing and delivering standard setting ballistic eye protection for over 12 years. In addition to being a key supplier to the DoD, the company has been successful in acquiring contracts from many of worlds most forward-thinking military organization. In 15 August 2013, the company announced a 5-year contract to supply the Swiss Armed Forces. On 29 August 2013, the company entered into an agreement with the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) to supply the Danish military with an additional 3,000 Batlskin Cobra Helmets for delivery in Q4, 2013. Johnathan Blanshay, Revisions Founder and CEO, has a great deal to be proud of. In a short 12 years hes managed to assemble a team that

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Revisions Bullet Ant Goggles With OCCUMAX Plus Technology

2013

The mechanics of fogging are often misunderstood, so I am going to dive into that for no other reason than to set some level of understanding1. Fogging, as it pertains to eyewear, occurs when a surface comes in contact with the atmosphere cooling the air layer its in contact with to a point equal to, or below, the dew point. So, on a cold day ambient temperature lowers the surface temperature of your goggles lenses, they in turn are in contact with the warm and humid air volume between your face and the lens internal surface; lowering air temperature at the point of contact to, or below, the dew point. We attempt to deal with is problem by providing adequate ventilation to equalize internal and external conditions, and chemically treat the lens surface to inhibit or delay fogging. In applying an anti-fogging solution or a coating we dont defy the laws of physics; instead, we attempt to delay, by at least 100 seconds, the time it takes for droplets of moisture to form on a treated surface; doing so, buys us time for acclimation or equalization to occur between the lens surface and the ambient air. Once that happens, the surface is no longer susceptible to fogging and condensation. This is how it all works. The question to be answered in this review is how effective Revisions OCCUMAX Plus technology is at delaying the formation of condensation on the treated lens surface. To do that, we are using Revisions Bullet Ant goggles, which along with the StingerHawk Spectacles,
1

Desert Locust and Wolfspider goggles will all be rolled out with the OCCUMAX Plus lens coatings. Although I am not reviewing the goggles themselves, I must say that I love the Bullet Ant from Revision;

they are a low profile design with superb ventilation, fit and feel. The fact that they are low profile makes them an ideal candidate for fogging, especially when worn during physical exertion and prolonged periods of use. During the manufacturing process, Revision applies an Occumax anti-scratch coating on the exterior surface of their lenses and the Occumax anti-fog coating on the inside surface. The Occumax anti-scratch coating is a hard coating while the anti-fog coating is a rougher sticky surface. So, in testing, I expected to see fogging and condensation on the outer lens surface but no fogging on the internal surface of the lens2. In designing my test and evaluation I wanted to cover two conditions.
2

The Image Performance Institute has a web site that lets you easily calculate dew point. You can also see the interaction between ambient temperature and relative humidity to arrive at dew point. Its excellent and easy to use.

To prevent exterior lens surface fogging, Revision recommends use of its Anti-Fog Cloth, which is a dry towelette good for about 25 applications. They can be purchased here
Copyright 2013, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

Revisions Bullet Ant Goggles With OCCUMAX Plus Technology

2013

First, and by far the more prevalent, fogging that accumulates on the inside of the goggle resulting from ambient temperatures being lower than the interior of the goggle. If Occumax Plus works, there should be no fogging or condensation on the internal lens surface. The Second condition covers fogging that occurs when the goggle is at a lower temperature than the dew point, a condition that exists when youve been sitting in an air-conditioned vehicle, then without acclimation step outside into a warm and humid environment. To assess how effective the Occumax coating is in addressing condition one, I engaged in strenuous activity more specifically PT. Throughout a four and one-half hour period, I wore the Bullet Ants and experienced no fogging or condensation. Note that these goggles have ventilation openings at the top and along the bottom of the frames; and my breath, as I exhaled, had no clouding effect on the interior lens surfaces. Testing for the second condition required a trip to the refrigerator. Station weather conditions as reported at MacDill Air Force Base the day of the test were: 87.1F, 30.05 inches of Hg, 53% RH, 68F dew point. I chilled the goggles down to 42F for 20 minutes before exposing them to ambient temperature. The objective was to determine how effective the OCCUMAX coating is when transitioning from a cold environment to a warm humid surrounding. This is a situation you could encounter moving from an air conditioned vehicle or aircraft into a hot and humid environment. You can readily see in the picture above that fogging and condensation formed on the outer surface of the lenses, which weve already established as not coated for fogging. This begs the question, why would you not coat the exterior surface? I posed the same question to Revision, and received an enlightening response: When it comes to lens fogging and scratching theres a trade-off; you can either have really good anti-scratch or really good anti-fog. If you develop one coating that does both, it doesnt particularly excel at either, leaving the inside of your lenses somewhat foggy and the outside more susceptible to scratches. With goggles in particular, industry has developed a manufacturing technique called flow coating that places the right coating where you need it most. i.e.: anti-fog on the inside of the lens where warm air from the wearers face condenses, and anti-scratch on the outside of the lens which is exposed to the elements and requires protection from blowing dust, sand and general wear and tear

Copyright 2013, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

Revisions Bullet Ant Goggles With OCCUMAX Plus Technology

2013

Manufacturers Specifications: EXCEEDS U.S. MILITARY BALLISTIC IMPACT REQUIREMENTS FOR GOGGLES (MIL-DTL-43511D, CLAUSE 3.5.10) EXCEEDS ANSI Z87.1-2010 BALLISTIC IMPACT AND OPTICAL REQUIREMENTS CE CERTIFIED IN ACCORDANCE WITH EN 166, EN 170 AND EN 172 CAGE CODE: 30VZ5

In contrast, as the picture above clearly illustrates, the interior surface of the lenses had no perceivable fogging or condensation; any cloudiness in the photo is on the lens outer surface. This was quite amazing, and a testament to how effective the Occumax Plus anti-fog coating technology is. These goggles were a full 26F below dew point, and I am pleased to inform you that Im a believer! If that sounds familiar its because The Monkees did a song like that All of this boils down to some very good news for Revisions customers; a ballistic eyewear system of exceptional comfort; highly effective against debris from a surface blast or stray projectile, that wont fog up on you. When you sum it all up, its not difficult to see why Revision is the standard setting market leader. Be sure to check out Revisions military line with their Occumax Plus anti-fogging technology, I think youll benefit from the experience.

Revision Military 7 Corporate Drive Essex Junction VT 05452 USA T: 802.879.7002 T: 800.383.6049 F: 802.879.7224

-SP

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