Black Bear Razor Mask (Multicam & Punisher skull)

[chas]

After a few months of using the Reaper mask and some A-Frame goggles, I decided to go ahead and get myself a mask that covered all of my face, including the eyes, as the whole “wearing glasses over the mask” thing made me loose a lot of peripheral vision. Ive always been a bit scared of mesh eye protection, but I have never gotten a single piece of shrapnel go through my mask, so now Im confident that it wont happen now that I have left my glasses at home.

Given the good results I have had from my Reaper mask, I decided to go with the “upgraded” model from the same company, Black Bear, whose masks offer both a strong, thick mesh and a very nice build quality.
I got a Multicam version for me and a “Punisher Skull” one for my buddy Alex, same model, different colours. There’s but loads of different patterns, BTW, including vegetate and a 3-Desert colurs. The desert digital is my second option, though. I might actually paint a skull on mine, Id loose a bit of “tacticool” value, but would gain a lot of points in the “badassery” department.

The main part of the mask, the steel mesh front is one piece of very strong, pretty thick, mesh, which has been stamped to the shape of a human face: mouth, mouth, nose, cheekbones, eye sockets, … It was a bit tight around my mouth, but I was able to bend it a bit more open. Its not super moldable, but I still appreciate that it comes in a sturdy cardboard box to protect it during international transport; still, I will simply throw it into my backpack when going to games. The are below the nose (the mouth, hehe) is where the mask is protruding the furthest away. I you are using a headset and your mic isn’t very good, I recommend putting it inside the mask, there’s room enough.

It has a semi-satinated finish on it (brown on the MC model) that seems to be pretty resistant (my reaper has barely lost paint on two spots, from all the hits I got, especially testing the mask).

BTW: the manufacturer states that you can wear glasses beneath it and its true for my Guarder C4s, both with the elastic strap or the normal frames.
The rest of the materials: lining, cordura wrap, back straps, etc. seems to be of very decent quality, don’t think Ill ever see this ripping or wearing off. The mask is secured by a very large piece of this cordura-like fabric that goes over the back of your head, that has two female clasps to which the males, secured with adjustable elastic straps at both bottom corners of the mask, connect. This makes for a very secure hold, but at the same time, the area of pressure is very wide and distributed. The mask weighs a around 350 grs, btw.

Every textile material in this mask is covered in this fine anti-sweat mesh, which also makes it it a lot less rough that other masks. The whole area which contacts your face is, on top of that, padded: this serves two purposes: protecting the skin and comfort, but also it seals your face from the outside, to prevent BBs coming in from the back.

All the stitching and the finishing details are of great quality, so the price is justified. Im usually not to picky about this, but, as an ACM product buyer (haven’t bought originals in quite some time) Im used to certain aesthetic and functional flaws, so its nice when every once in awhile, you buy something that is simply flawless.
To wrap it up: if you are, like me, concerned about tooth loss and other airsoft related maxilo-facial injuries (even if small welts), this is an excellent option, my third mask and definitely my favourite.
Please: comments, feedback. Questions are welcome and will be answered as far as possible.

Multicam version:
http://www.acmgear.com/black-bear-ai...am-p-1968.html
Punisher version:
http://www.acmgear.com/black-bear-ai...er-p-1445.html

[John Spartan]

Chas,

In my opinion your logic is flawed. You stated that you have never had shrapnel reach your eye up to this point so now you are 'confident'. Past results do not influence future possibilities in this case. A BB can still shatter against the mesh and send pieces into your eye.

Please think carefully about this.

[SuperHog]

I hope you are planning on wearing full seal goggles under this mesh mask. Broken shar bits can still get to your eyes if you are just wearing glasses.

Most masks will take away some peripheral vision, but then again you are playing with others with similar peripheral disadvantage. I prefer looking through goggles than a mesh.

[chas]

Hi to both of you and thank you for your concerns. Ive been playing airsoft for 7 years now and this will be the first time for me to use mesh eye protection. This isnt an easy decision (which, BTW, I can change at any time just by popping my Guarders out).

I didnt say I never got pieces of BB in my eyes with my Reaper mask, I said I didnt get any shards at all, on no place on my face. Of course a certain event never to have happened doesnt exclude it in the future, but a few hundred hits (in game as well as in testing at home) with no penetration prove (pretty much) that this isnt gonna happen. Flipping a coin a few times and getting heads doesnt mean you will always get heads; but if you do it a few hundred times and you're still getting heads, you can bet the coin is unbalanced.

Long story short, Okham's razor: hundreds, probably thousands of airsoft players have been using mesh eye protection for years. Imagine a few people had suffered eye injury because of those type of goggles. Dont you think the word would have spread, people wouldnt trust them and n one would be using them anymore? But this hasnt happened.

Either way, as the review says: you can use regular protection glasses underneath the mask. Use it if you are not sure of the 100% safety of the mask.

[Kimbo]

Originally Posted by chas

... hundreds, probably thousands of airsoft players have been using mesh eye protection for years. Imagine a few people had suffered eye injury because of those type of goggles. Dont you think the word would have spread, people wouldnt trust them and n one would be using them anymore? But this hasnt happened.

LOL, people DONT trust them. That's why most clubs to not allow them on the field without secondary ballistic eyewear.

Whether a BB shattters or not depends on the ammo that is used. If someone shoots you in the face with a BB that is prone to shattering, prepare to buy a fashionable eye patch to wear around.

It's sooooo not worth it. Wear ballistic eye protection.

[Trevatd]

How snugly does it fit to your head? And how large can it go? Will it accommodate larger skulls? Can you take a picture with it on your head? I've seen it on the dummies but I haven't seen any pictures of anybody wearing one.

I don't like large goggles or masks that obscure my vision. I plan on wearing this and perhaps a pair of small goggles under them, but I've got a big head, I need to know if it'll fit.

[MaciekA]

I've said it before in other threads similar to this one, while working on AEGs, I shoot BBs into a box. They are of many different brands, at velocities ranging from 300 to 360fps. They include higher quality ones like BB Bastards, and all of these brands shatter in the box into tiny little sharp pieces. The box is padded with soft cotton bathing towels, and often BBs are only shattering because they're hitting other BBs sitting in the towels. That's already a light object hitting a light object that's lodged into a soft surface with a lot of give, and they *still shatter*.

Luck is not on your side here..

[~JARSH~]

Originally Posted by Trevatd

How snugly does it fit to your head? And how large can it go? Will it accommodate larger skulls? Can you take a picture with it on your head? I've seen it on the dummies but I haven't seen any pictures of anybody wearing one.

I don't like large goggles or masks that obscure my vision. I plan on wearing this and perhaps a pair of small goggles under them, but I've got a big head, I need to know if it'll fit.

LOL! I got to try one on, I've got a huge dome, and they do fit a large head....gigity.

But, really, if a bb did break, the size of the holes in the in the mesh, would allow for a pretty fine dust to travel through and maybe cause some damage to your eye. I personally have never seen a bb break up that small, but hey It could happen.

BTW I use goggles and a mesh half face mask, I enjoy my vision not being obstructed.

[Kuji]

If you want to look cool then wear it, but wear protective eyewear as well. If you don't and that shit goes into your eyes and possibly blinded you, kiss airsoft goodbye.

[Trevatd]

I've had a chance to test mesh goggles myself. I got a pair of "broken" mesh goggles from a friend, a friend, .20, .25s, and .25 bios.

I placed the mesh goggles in the palm of my hand, and had my friend fire "through" the goggles at about 1 foot distance. They were fired from a gun tuned to fire 430~ FPS (.20) and 375 FPS(.25).

I didn't record my tests, so one can consider them anecdotal.

Generally speaking as such;

.20s shatter when a BB hits a BB. As such, during single fire, they simply bounced off the mesh- as the mesh "gave way" and flexed as it was hit. I did not feel the impacts, other than the goggles being pushed when hit. During fully automatic, they shattered often and little bits of low-velocity bbs went into my goggles as a mixture of broken bb bits and dust. An annoyance.

.25's rarely shattered. I had similar experience to the .2s, but they were just much less likely to shatter. Out of the 20 some shots fired, only two broke into small enough "bits" to make it past the mesh- again, low velocity.

The .25 bios. There was a reason I did Bios as well as regulars- I had heard from another member of our local community that bio bbs- due to the material they are formed out of (which I understand, isn't even that consistent between different manufacturer of bio BBs) are more easily shattered. My test showed that they are much easier to shatter on impact- and when they do, they tend to shatter into many 'small fragments" and high velocity dust. Some of these actually hurt a little bit, with my hand right behind the goggle. On fully auto, all bets were off, I was getting little bits of plastic flying all over the place.

These weren't tested with THIS model of mesh- rather a generic set of mesh goggles. Like These

They had been snapped at the center point (noseline) and we figured a test would be good.

I figure I'll wait a pair of small pair of safety glasses under the mesh. With that, I don't expect to lose any eyes or teeth and to stop getting welts on my forehead, too!

[chas]

OK. I think your pint is pretty clear by now: wear glasses underneath. Good.

Someone asked: yes, the mask fits on big heads. Its pretty big, but with some force you can press or stretch it to the general height and width of your skull. I have a pretty big head, big guy.

Sorry for the crappy bathroom pics, lol.

[Trevatd]

That looks fucking awesome. I think I'm gonna pick one up.

Thanks for the pics, man!