Durability Test - Mesh Masks

[SWAT A4]

Durability Test - Mesh Masks.
Written by: SWATA4

Introduction:
One day while I was sitting in the staging area at a local field, I saw that a few kids were wearing a wire mesh mask. I thought to myself, that entire concept sounds dangerous. I decided that I wanted to test that theory out, but no locals wanted to give up their eye protection for me to shoot, which I can easily understand. I talked to Trinity Airsoft about it, and as soon as the word "safety" was mentioned, they told me the box of 2 wire mesh masks will be shipped out later that evening at no cost. Many players buy wire mesh masks because of every airsofters worst nightmare, fogging. Buy not "fogging," are you putting your health at risk?

What am we trying to find out?:
Are wire mesh masks actually safe? Many players use them, no major injuries have been discussed, stores sell them. They must be, right? Can they stop a high velocity BB? That's what we are here to find out!

After Effect:
I took about 10 shots with .12 bb's from a $39.00 spring rifle, assuming that's what many of the non experienced players would use. I figure that to be about 200 fps. The bb's were lime green, so they would be easy to see if they go through or not. Then I shot about 15 rounds of .25 ICS bb's out of a KWA ( Gas Blow Back) Glock 19. The ICS Stealths are high quality bb's that I fire out of my upgraded AEG, not some cheap garbage like the .12's. Below are pictures of the damage that the (approximately) 25 bb's did. (This was from about 6 inches away, Figuring the low FPS of the weapons used, as well as the possibility of close shots from CQB )

Initial Result:
While looking at those 3 pictures above, you can see that it bent the mesh pretty good, but did not actually penetrate it. The wire mesh go a little closer to where the users eyes would be, but none of the mesh gave way or cracked. It's all still tightly woven together, just bent inwards. After seeing that result, It's pretty scary, but seems safe. WRONG. We did what most players would most likely do, shoot it up, and it seems safe. One thing I did not tell you above was that I taped a bag onto the back of the mask before I shot anything at it. My worries were about small debris from the bb flying through. I securely taped it all around, so it would catch only the objects that went directly through the mesh, as you can see below.

Final Results:
The bag caught a lot of debris. There is no telling how fast that flew into the bag, but that really scares me to think about what could have been in my eye. I've had a scratched eye before, I can't even begin to explain how bad that is. One of those small chips floating into your eye is all it takes for your eye to get scratched. The impact may not cause it, but as soon as you blink it may drag under your eyelid. And that's not even talking about any larg amount of force at all.

So, What's all this mean?:
I will give you a quick color chart here, to help explain what all that junk is.

Black Chips: All the paint from the wire mesh, that got shot into the back of the mask when the bb hit.
White Chips:High Quality .25 BB
Green Chips:Low Quality .12 BB

There is a HUGE chunk of .12 that got through. That may have seriously hurt someones eye.

Conclusion:
Should you still wear the mask? I would say no. I'd say it's as good as garbage, and buy a paint ball mask, or certified airsoft goggles to replace them. That is a lot of garbage that got through too easily. That's a very large chunk of bb in that picture above, so out of 25 shots, about 3/8 of an entire bb got all the way through. I'd rather buy goggles and a $10 fan to prevent fogging. My eyes are to valuable to lose over something so stupid.

[Jestar]

Swat', great review and a valueble contribution to the Airsoft community.

[Greysquirrel]

Very good examination. I think this should be stickied.

+1 Swat

[operatordoc01]

good review but remember you are shooting this form 6inches away. big difference from 6 in to say 20 ft or more. I have been using thist type of mesh mask, and i have never had a problem with. again, good review, but i would like to do the same test say at 20ft+. I use full seal googles for CQC, but for outdoors, these work great, never had a problem.

OpDoc

[Orion]

Meshes are all the rage down here. I guess some guy was recently shot on at full auto from a few inches away, and the BBs broke down like your review shows. His eyes are fine, but I personally, would never wear them. Great review Swat, you've got some good reviews so far. Keep it up!

[point-blank]

squirrel semen works wonders for anti-fog. why do you think they are soo hard to catch?

on an on topic note:

This was a long standing question in my mind (about the fragmenting)
+1 for taking the time to answer it.
there is no way I would ever wear those (I have had an eye damage scare)

[SWAT A4]

Doc, This has been something brought to my attention before too. First I want to thank-you for saying good review though. Many people were too inconsiderate to even say that, and just bashed it.

I figured the relatively low fps and close range may account for say... a higher fps, at a bit farther range.

300 fps from 6 inches, or 400 fps from 20ft. Your point is very valid, I was supplied 2 masks, If I have the other still, I may run that test. Just thinking, not hard evidence proving this point.

Again, thanks for all the great replies. I will keep working hard on these articles for you guys. My next one is going to be goggles I believe. ( Ski goggles, safety glasses, etc. )

[Rustpot]

Did Trinity say they would no longer stock the masks if you found them to be unsafe?

[SWAT A4]

rustpot said:

Did Trinity say they would no longer stock the masks if you found them to be unsafe?

No, I was hoping they would, since they "only carry the best."

They added a warning to not use them with cheap bb's, and high velocities.

They still stand by the products on their shelves, and they said they would like to do the experiment with different brands of bb's.

Stealth BB's are high quality, and MANY people use them. Cheap walmart bb's are always used in backyard games and all that too. So I felt my test was enough to prove a point. Many people doubt it, becuase the lack of bb's I used, but my eyes are not a joke, I'm not taking the chance of ANY brand BB being used. Stealths are right up there with excel and elites for me.

I could really scare people and shoot some bio's at it.

Maybe I will buy one of the variety packs of bb's next time.

[Psychosis]

use the M15 on it if people don't believe you... sheesh, there are plenty of anti-fogging options out there, there's absolutely no reason to be using a mesh mask

[Savage]

There's something else a lot of people don't think about with those mesh masks too-

Sometimes crappy bb's will shatter before even leaving the barrel of an AEG.

So, how far do the particles that exit the barrel make it? From my experience they go far enough you wouldn't ever catch me wearing a mesh mask.

DON'T BE STUPID. DO NOT RISK YOUR EYESIGHT BY WEARING THOSE MESH GOGGLES.

If you have fogging problems go out and buy a set of thermal lens ESS's. Is your eyesight worth the $50?

[BoredKender]

SWAT- would you mind attempting this test with a tighter-knit mesh mask? if so, pm me as i might have a doner mask or two for the cause

[Trooper]

Yeah, great review.

[Munin]

As another test, try the following: tape off the mask as you did here, then put it next to a tree. Shoot the tree hear the mask for a short full-auto burst and see how many chips of bark get through. We did it once and were able to get chunks of debris almost 1/16th" square through them.

In my mind, this kind of fragmentation damage (be it from the paint on the mask, from nearby dirt or bark, or from the pellets themselves are the biggest dangers. This alone is enough to keep me from recommending them to anyone I don't hate and secretly want blinded by their own stupidity.

Good job, SWAT A4, +1 to you!

[BoredKender]

myself as an eyeglasses wearer have come to rely on the wire mesh for the sake of not having two layers of fog going on while running, but the mesh i use is the much tighter pattern of the Stealth mask. This is why i was curious about testing with one of these masks as well. I know i shot mine from about 4" away with a crossman .20gram bb at about 475fps just to test it out and it barely dented it, but i would think further testing cant hurt.