Hatch B.O.S.S. (Ballistic Optical Safety System) 6000 I've never been happy with the standard Mesh mask. It's not that it's bad, or uncomfortable, or sweaty or any other failing generally... well it is, but mostly it's the mesh itself that bugs me. It takes your eyes time to adjust to seeing through the grid and still you don't get decent vision out of them. Try using them in any low-light situation and you'll be all but blind as the mesh really needs the contrast of bright light to allow decent vision. And the constant movement of your eyes behind the mesh means that movement on the skirmish field is very difficult to pick out, and movement is ultimately what gives targets away. Add to that the difficulty of properly using any sort of scope or sights with the mesh mask and they just had to go. So I made the decision to go goggle-eyed. This wasn't a decision taken lightly. The advantage of better vision is clearly countered by the lack of protection for the lower face. So it's worth bearing in mind that if you want to go the goggle route you'll need to think about how you want to protect your face, or if you'll just live with any potential damage. At first I thought I could get through this by using a paintball style mask and I bought a JT nVader to try it out. This wasn't the answer though as I ended up with less peripheral vision and it really didn't go with any military style at all. Having said that the vision quality was excellent and re-affirmed my need for polycarbonate instead of mesh. So I started looking around for a range of potential goggles and I came with a few different alternatives. One set, also reviewed on Arnies, the Bollé T-800 Tactical Goggles , did have some potential and I decided to get hold of some to check them out. Attending a day at one UK site I bumped into a group all using the T-800's and I got to have a look and a little test. They seemed to be excellent quality and quite solid but the main problem for me is that they are just too wide for my face, and I didn't find the rubber seal comfortable against my skin at all. So I kept looking and found a whole raft of potential options, there are simply dozens of ballistic goggles out there worth having a look at, especially if you don't mind buying from the US . It was on this search that I literally fell across the then newly released goggles from Hatch. Known for high quality tactical gear such as gloves, knee-pads, riot gear and the like Hatch had consulted with SWAT teams to design from scratch a new option for eye-protection. I liked the look of them, got in touch and they put me in contact with a distributor in the UK who got a pair to me in super fast time. So before the main review here is the official blurb' from Hatch: "...It's not a goggle. It's not glasses. It's both. Designed from the ground up in cooperation with S.W.A.T. professionals, the B.O.S.S. 6000 Ballistic Optical Safety System is an entirely new approach to eye protection. Tested to ANSI standard Z87.1, it features a revolutionary aircraft alloy frame; an impact resistant, anti-fog polycarbonate lens; On-the-Fly tear-offs; and a self-centering strap that can be adjusted while wearing. It weighs in at a mere 2.4 oz., half that of traditional goggles. All components are completely replaceable, including the lens, nosepiece, strap and foam. Optional prescription lens inserts are also available. The rigid alloy frame will not deteriorate like traditional rubber or plastic goggles and will last a lifetime. Most importantly, it prevents the lens from flexing to provide dimensionally stable optics. Its sleek design will fit under virtually any helmet, gives 100% peripheral vision and allows scopes and sights to be held in proper proximity to the eye. The B.O.S.S. 6000's unique non-sealed fit ensures proper air circulation, keeps you cool and prevents fogging. Adhesive On-the-Fly tear-off lens covers, available in clear, yellow, and smoke allow the wearer to quickly remove debris or adjust for changing light conditions during critical tactical maneuvers..." What's in the box? The parcel arrived and the box that comes out was a very colourful retail style box that wouldn't seem out of place on a shelf in any gear shop. And inside the box I was most impressed. The goggles came in a solid, black plastic hardcase for safely carrying around and chucking in your gear bags without worrying about scratching or damaging them. They also came with two lenses, one standard lens in the goggles and one double layer specialist anti-fogging lens. Both lenses are rated for ballistic protection and can take any legal airsoft BB you care to fire at them. The lenses simple pop in and out by pulling the upper frame upwards slightly and pressing the lens out, and then reversing to put a new one in. Also in the box are two nosepieces, one with foam and one soft rubber nosepiece and a tinted lens tear-off to make the goggles act as sunglasses in bright sunlight conditions. It's worth noting that all of the parts of these goggles are totally replaceable. You can get clear, yellow, tinted and anti-fog lenses. There are replacement nosepieces, foam, a prescription lens insert, straps and tear-off's in clear, tinted or yellow.
The goggles themselves seem to be made to the usual excellent standards you would expect of Hatch. You can see from the pictures that they fit very close to the face, acting as a cross between goggles and glasses, almost like wearing a pair of wraparound sunglasses but just having them held to your face by a decent adjustable strap. They are incredibly lightweight, weighing at only 69g (less than most mobile phones) and even at this weight the aluminium frame is very rigid, sitting on the skin via 6mm of replaceable foam with only a small gap at either temple. The foam itself is actually perforated with very small gaps to allow air to flow through the goggles. The foam gap at the temples is then covered by the strap as it joins here and passes round the head. The strap itself has two adjustable sliders which makes it very easy to adjust both on and off the head, just by pulling the sliders apart or closer together. Anti-fog? Well this is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why many people don't use goggles more and stay with their mesh masks. Fog is essentially the build up of moisture on the inside of the lens which obscures your view, which is obviously not what you want during a skirmish. Fog builds up for a number of reasons. The temperature difference between the colder outside of the lens and the warmer inside will develop condensation, the more you perspire (sweat) the faster this condensation will build up. This can be a serious problem for those goggles with low air-flow across the lens, as the air helps to equalize the temperatures and prevent fogging, it also carries away a lot of condensation. Those goggles that are completely sealed will simply build up the moisture as it has nowhere to go. Hatch claim, as many have before, to have solved the problem with the combination of frame design and lens construction. Firstly the frame is not completely sealed, as mentioned above, which allows for air to flow throughout the goggles. The original lens has been anti-fog treated, which is essentially just a lens solution to help prevent moisture build up on the polycarbonate. I swapped this lens almost immediately with the supplied double-layer anti-fog lens just to be on the safe side as I didn't fancy being caught under-fire being next to blind. The anti-fog lens is in fact two lenses in one. An inner lens is bonded to the main lens with a sealed strip around its circumference. The gap between the lenses acts as a vacuum air gap not allowing the inner lens to be cooled by the exterior and vice versa.
Overall comfort has been excellent for me. Due to the close fitting design it's not necessary to pull the straps too tight and the goggles will sit on the face just fine. So you don't end up with a big foam mark all the way round your face. Safety It goes without saying that safety is always the highest priority for anything coming onto the skirmish field and proper eye protection is a must. Any eye protection worn must be capable of withstanding any UK legal weapon, and I would suggest some illegal ones too, just in case. All of the lenses from Hatch pass the rigorous testing for ANSI Z87.1 which is the American standard for ballistic level eye protection. The main test for this standard is the dropped' and shot' ball test. A 1 inch diameter steel ball is dropped from a height of 50 inches. When it has withstood that, a ¼ inch steel ball is shot at the lens at a muzzle velocity of 250 fps. With my rough calculations, and I'm happy to be corrected, that steel ball, measuring roughly 6.35mm, fired at 250 fps equates to a projectile mass of 1.05 grams and a muzzle energy of over 3joules, which by far exceeds anything that you should find on any skirmish field. But for the sake of my eyesight I decided to do my own testing. So these goggles, my new pride and joy, had to be tested. I fired upon them with an AEG shooting at 370 fps from less than a metre with absolutely no effect on the lens (using the double layer anti-fog lens). To prevent any surface scratches I always keep a tear-off attached and hence the lens is still in perfect condition. The lens has also taken hits from all sorts of AEG's, upgraded and standard, during skirmish days and a number of sniper rifles. Indeed it has taken a 500+ fps sniper rifle hit at a range of approximately 10 metres with no effect other than some profuse swearing at the shooter from me.
Having said that there are some downsides. Firstly, these are not easy to get hold of. Although Hatch put me in touch with the UK distributor they don't generally hold a great deal of stock as they are new and there's not been much demand in the UK, so be prepared to find a US supplier or wait for the UK distributor to get stocks and supply you directly. Related to this is the availability of spares. If you want spare tear-off's, lenses or other bits then get them at the same time as you buy the goggles as you won't find them anywhere else in the UK . Secondly the price. The retail price listed in the US varies between $80 and $120 wherever you may find them and then add to that the cost of getting them to the UK . However going through Hatch and the UK distributor will get you better prices. Going through the UK distributor will get your price down to around £40. And ultimately you get what you pay for and these are quality items. So overall I have to say I'm most impressed and would recommend these to anyone. They are excellent goggles and in my opinion some of the best on the market today. By Axe External Links: Hatch Site links: TBA Comment on this review in the forums Last modified: Friday, January 23, 2004 5:55 PM Copyright 2003 ArniesAirsoft
|
