Face Protection idea

[The Lettonian]

I just wanted to run an idea of mine through the forums and see if anyone has ever tried anything like this or if it's even worth the effort.

It seems to me that there are three options when it comes to face protection: Paintball mask, those mesh goggled masks, and keep your damn mouth shut. Now, as someone who wore braces, I'd like to protect my parent's investment in orthadontal care while still being able to aim my rifle properly, breath easy, and not look like Darth Vader. (Though he is cool.) So here's the idea:

Take a balaclava and sew neoprene strips into the inside of it where my mouth would be close enough together that a BB which landed between the strips would be caught and NOT smack into my front teeth. This would (theoretically) keep my pearly whites safe, and still let me avoid using a paintball mask.

What's the verdict? I have a balaclava and I can rustle up some neoprene...is it worth a shot? I sense a "try it and find out" or two coming on....

Thanks in advance!
The FNG that's actually an FNG

[Mr Jon]

You know I was thinking that exact same thing awhile ago, instead of wearing a stupid ass mouth guard, just sew some foam strips over the mouth area in a balaclava, i'll have to attempt this at one point as well... but really it would be more than enough to protect your teeth I would imagine.

[The Lettonian]

yeah. Face shots I can handle...but one of our guys lost half a tooth during a night op last year, so It's a bit of a concern for me. I'll give it a shot and post some pics. And good to know I'm not the only one thinking this

[Amos]

... It's going to be really annoying to breathe through.

I say just get one of those mesh masks, take out the mesh and wear a pair of goggles underneith it..

[AngelusNex]

or wear a gortex balaclava which is thick enough that though it'll still hurt to be shot in the mouth, it'll not damage anything... or just one of those neoprene masks.

[Mr Jon]

Alternatively you could just keep your mouth shut

[The Lettonian]

Originally Posted by Mr Jon

Alternatively you could just keep your mouth shut

As mentioned, that IS an option...but whenever I'm not paying attention my jaw just goes slack and my mouth opens up. I could go into why, but suffice to say I've been working on doing that for a while and it's still not working too well for me.

And the reason I want to do strips is so I can breathe EASIER than through a mask (neoprene, paintball, or otherwise) or thick balaclava. The one I have in mind is a thin one I got from armyissue (see here.)

I know it'll be a bit of work, but I've been DIYing my stuff lately, so I'm in the spirit I just modded my shoulder holster (which broke at splatter's...don't get them from AAA surplus if at all) so I can mount it directly on my tacvest. I also added some velcro to augment the single snap it was using. Clearly not designed for combat, but I was thinking straight when I donned it...but that's another topic for another time.

[Sergeantmajor]

what about THIS!!!<--- click me

[arman]

buy a paintball mask and cut away the cheek peice so you can look down your rifle

[Chubby]

Hey there

Yeah I'd suggest giving it a shot and testing it out in the field. It's probably the best way to find out if your gear will really work and do what you hope it does. You might even run into a player who can make some suggestions on how to improve it in ways you hadn't thought of.

It would be nice though if someone could take some ABS plastic and make an airsoft safe version of these (with mesh in the eyes):

[Syn]

If you need a cheap source of neoprene: I was at the dollar store and they had neoprene mouse pads large size for $1.

If I had the will I would get one of the army of two masks and cut safety glasses and use clear silicone to glue them from the inside of the mask eyes.

[kmsakura]

if you enjoy burning money and like army of two (like ppl already mentioned) then look into these http://www.securityprousa.com/tabaleiiima.html

one of the designers of the game frequents these boards and said thats what gave him the idea. though it costs as much as an aeg and would stop a nine mill no problem.

[Jimski]

dollarstore mask.
If you wear it over rubber-rim goggles like on the pic it fits snuggly, the rubber keeps the mask in position.

funny thing is that the plastic breaks when bbs hit it, it's fun.

[Cleric]

Buy a piece of fiberglass-reinforced mesh (sport-fabric outfitters should have this stuff) a little bigger than your mouth area. super glue some gel mesh (available from Intellibed stores) to the mesh. sew the mesh-gel into your balaclava, mesh side out. The mesh is strong enough & has a small enough weave to stop BBs, while the gel provides sufficient cushioning to prevent tooth damage. Whole system is pliable enough to cheek-weld your AEG.

I'll post pics later, if anyone's interested. Stopped a 330fps BB at point-blank, with zero damage to my face. It's easy to breath thru, and best of all, doesn't look like Darth Vader... I think that was your main criteria, right?

[PaCHeKo!]

Yeah show us those pictures please!