Black Bear Airsoft Rampage verses TMC Extreme mask

[Scout03]

Appearance:

 

 

The appearance of the Black bear Airsoft mask straight from un-packaging the 2 masks was that it looks a lot better constructed. Both these masks are made with Cordura fabric. The fabric on the TMC mask is terrible; it's very thin and lacks the padding that the Black Bear Airsoft mask has. Next the TMC mask has stitching strands sticking out and very poorly sown together. The glue is visible on the TMC mask and strands of glue are all over the place.

 

As a result of this the Black Bear Airsoft looks and feels a lot better.

 

Wearing the 2 masks, the Black Bear Airsoft looks a lot better than the TMC one, The fabric on the TMC mask makes you look like an idiot where the Black Bear Airsoft mask, although looks fairly big on the face, is a lot more streamlined with the contours of the face.

 

 

 

 

Comfort:

 

The comfort of the 2 masks varies hugely. The TMC mask seems to have been made for a small head as my nose and lips touch the mesh when I have it on, I don't think I will ever be able to get any communication boom mic under the mesh as I can with the Black Bear Airsoft mask.

 

The Black Bear Airsoft mask does slightly touch my nose if I have it done up too tight, but as it clamps the face comfortably I don't have to have the straps as tight as the TMC mask and this stops this issue.

 

After I realised the mask had been bent during transit (large dent in the box) I reshaped the Black Bear Airsoft mask only by a fraction and it no long touched my nose.

 

Visibility:

 

The visibility out of the Black Bear Airsoft mask is a lot better, the fine mesh on the TMC mask makes seeing items in darker conditions a lot harder. In direct sunlight I was squinting when wearing the TMC mask, but with the Black Bear Airsoft mask was able to comfortably fit a pair of sunglasses under the mask and didn't have to squint at all.

 

Protection:

 

The protection levels mentioned by the manufacturers for these masks are as follows:

 

TMC: up to 480 fps

 

Black Bear Airsoft: Over 600fps

 

I don't have a rifle that can go over 600fps but I did manage to get my VSR to fire 560fps so I shot these to masks at point blank range. The following results happened.

 

TMC: Dented mesh by 6mm, Flaked paint off and parts of the bb shattered and went through the mesh

 

 

 

Black Bear Airsoft: Dented mesh by 2mm, no paint flaked and the BB shattered but never penetrated (shattered into larger due to the larger mesh)

 

 

Conclusion:

 

 

The black bear Airsoft mask although slightly more expensive is a lot more protective against bb's than the TMC mask. Not only can you also wear sunglasses and communication devices under the mesh but you don't have the mesh pressing against your mouth or nose.

 

Also with the larger mesh, the Black Bear Airsoft mask can with stand higher FPS and also allow more moisture content to evaporate instead of clogging up the mesh with water which with the poor paint covering of the TMC mask will result in rusting and even ingestion of that rust/paint when it starts to flake off with every shot it takes.

 

In my honest opinion I would suggest to avoid the TMC mask full stop and just spend the little extra on the black bear Airsoft mask.

 

Masks bought from www.acmgear.com and www.ebairsoft.com

Edited July 7, 2011 by Scout03

[Ballistic Tsunami Airsoft]

Thanks for the comparison!

[SRadler]

The ability to wear sunglasses...ballistic ones....for me makes the Black Bear the better choice. Thanks for the review.

[TK4235]

This mask will be superb for CQB for sure. I actually have the blackbear raider mask which covers the ears too... The quality of the mask and the strength of the mesh is second to none..... Yes you do pay a little extra for the blackbear kit, but it's worth the peace of mind...