First of all I would like to start off saying this is my second review, so please keep that in mind…
Before I bought this mask I was wearing flex 8s, profilers and proflexs…
Here is the review I made a while back when I first got my Pre Production E-Vents
http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=1318371
Now here is an updated review…
At first glance these goggles are dead sexy. They come in a clear display case type box, which is really nice to keep your goggles in. Originally this box was more of a smoke color when they were first released but changed to clear on the production models. As soon as you take the cover off you see your amazing new goggles and some extra goodies. With these goggles you get an additional clear lens which comes in a nice micro fiber bag and a nice goggle bag, but isn’t thermal like the smoke lens is. You also get a micro fiber mask bag. This is perfect for cleaning your lenses. Then you get a visor and a brow shield that attach securely into the mask and finally a manual which tells you how to get the lenses out.
The mask looks very nice with large lenses and soft ears. The first thing you notice about this mask is the large lens, it’s HUGE. The stock lens is a dark smoke and you can barely see your eyes, dark enough so you can see eyes but not where there looking. This lens is thermal. Then comes the soft ears… Originally these soft ears were much bigger and had a slot were you would plug in your visor. On the production model there is now more goggle and less soft ear. The visor now plugs into the goggle itself. Also originally the soft ears were held on by zip ties. This could dig into you and hurt sometimes. Now there are little button type things that are 10x better. You also get little clips on the soft ears to keep them from rotating. These are great! If anyone carries there mask on there head your soft ears will no longer rise up on you but stay where they are. When you look to the inside of the goggle you see the air dissipaters?. These are little three pronged foam pieces that help with fogging. They are totally changed from the original as well.
After putting these goggles on……DAMN. These things are amazing. They almost form fit to your face. They have a very low profile, even smaller than the flex 8s (which I used to have before this). I have a very small face so this isn’t a problem for me but for bigger people the sides of the mask might be a problem. I let my fat (don’t kill me) teammate try it on and his cheeks and chin is sticking out, which could be painful. The mask is very small exposing your ear lobes and the sides of your cheek, but only from the side. You cannot see your cheeks from the front. The mask is very flexible. The front barely flexible at all but the sides are very flexible. Not as much as a proflex but still very soft. Surprisingly I have gotten bounces both off the front of the mask and amazingly the lens! This has actually happened not once but many times.
The lens is very easy to change. All you do is rotate the ears themselves up and then pop of the Empire logo on the side. The lens then takes little force to take out. One nice thing about the lens is that the lens fits snuggly and easily into one little slot under part of the nosepiece making it very easy to put in and take out the lens. In other goggles *cough *profiler*cough* there are many little slots that can become a hassle after you put the lens in and realize you missed one of them.
One of the best things about this mask is the lenses themselves. You get a Smoke thermal and a clear single lens. Immediately I though I would never use the single lens because it’s single lol. But I play indoor a lot so the smoke works but I would rather be able to see clearer. So I put on the clear lens…..wow the thing doesn’t fog and is just as nice as the thermal. These lenses are huge. They rap around most of the goggle. They have a very nice field of view and are extremely clear. These lenses are the best I’ve ever looked through. They are also probably the biggest.
I would also like to say that I got (from Simon Stevens) the VERY FIRST PRODUCTION WHITE E-VENTS and as you can see were signed by Simon by the air dissipaters.
Overall I would rate this mask a 9.9 out of 10, because no mask is perfect but this comes very very very close. They really did an amazing job with this mask
Especially glasses wearers. Up until relatively recently I wore glasses and I know how tought that can be with some goggles, so I took it into account when designing these.
