Eye protection is crucial for airsoft. In fact, many groups won’t let you play without it. The eyes are one of the few spots that you can actually sustain permanent damage to when playing airsoft. Plastic orbs flying at speeds upwards of 300 feet per second and your eyes just don’t mix. If you get hit in the eye, you can be blinded.
When choosing eye protection, you want to look at a few factors. Cost, aesthetic appeal, usefulness, strength, and comfort are all important. Those goggles may look good, but if they cost a ton, fog up a lot, and aren’t very comfortable they’re not worth it. You want something that’s fairly cheap, looks good (or at least not bad), doesn’t fog up too badly, is very durable, and feels good. Glasses are the most basic form of eye protection, with masks being the most complex (and often most expensive).
Basic shooting glasses can protect you pretty well in airsoft. They cost around $5 and come in various colors, but i recommend getting the plain ones with the clear lenses. These give you a decent line of protection and don’t obscure your vision. They’re also fairly comfortable, and only fog up if you hold them in front of your mouth. For face protection, you could buy a lower or entire face covering (they’re designed for use by hunters). These probably won’t lessen the impact much, but anything is better than being hit on your bare skin, and they look pretty cool.
Goggles are great. They cover the entire area of your eyes, the have a comfy foam material to cushion your face, and they almost always look cool. The only downside is that the plastic is usually tinted, therefore they are hard to see out of. They also fog up often. Sometimes they even cost as much as a mask, but they work incredibly well.
Masks are the top of the line for airsoft eye and face protection. They usually involve a face covering made out of a plastic resin material with a set of goggles or glasses fitted into them for eye protection. They look cool, they minimize pain, and they protect your eyes. The downsides are that they can be expensive, they fog up often, and some of them can be uncomfortable.
Basically, the choice of what to cover your eyes with is all up to you. Maybe you’ll go basic and just grab some glasses, or maybe you want to look decked out and you’ll grab a cool looking mask. Just remember, one of the most important things when choosing face protection is that the glasses/goggles/mask are able to take fire. Companies often test their materials beforehand and put their results on the box. Good luck finding what you need, and have fun airsofting!
