Mask lens condensation???

[Anjin3515]

Wife and I have recently gotten V-Force profilers. First game out they were fantastic...no fog or anything...that was a nice 75* to 80* day.

Saturday we played..temp was mid 60's. Both our masks weren't fogging....but they did get what I would call for lack of a better word condensation. A thin film of water was forming on the inside of the lens. It wasn't sweat dripping on the lens....it was an all over layer.It made it almost impossible to see.

Anyone else experience this? Is this from your sweat and body heat?
Suggestions on how to stop it?

Thanks.

[trevorjk]

i have had my vforce profiler with only 2 lenses for almost 4 or 5 years now. and ive never had that problem :)

so i cant help ya on this one :p

[mostpeople]

Anjin, do you sweat a lot?

If so, have you used a sandana?

Down here in the humid south I sweat a lot when I excersize, im usually running or sprinting around anyways (its the speedball in me :) and I would sweat and fog up the mask all the time. I bought a sandana and the problem went away like a light switch. So I highly reccomend getting some sort of padded bandana/sandana thing to soak up any sweat that might get down in the mask.

[mr doo doo]

yea, Anjin, that same problem happened to me too. very hot, but no fog :) . cold, sprinkling a bit, fog :( . so im going to have to go with mostpeople's opinion. never tried it out yet because wearing a sandana makes you look good, when im not THAT good, so i steer away from it (but that's just my problem). good luck!

[Anjin3515]

its strange...I cant really call it fog cause it was more like water...if that makes sense. It wasn't like if you blow hot air on a lens and you see it fog over....it wast "hazy"....the view was distorted not in what I would think of as a "fog haze" but more like a layer of water
Maybe we are talking about the same "fog" but it wasn't like what I normally think of as fogging

I dont think it was the actual sweat getting on the lens...there was no dripping down the lens and it want in streaks....
what I am thinking is that the heat in the mask....and the colder temp outside was causing water on the inside lens....

LOL....I dont know if what I am saying makes any sense.....


But yeah I sweat enough, I had on a baseballcap...Ill try something different next time :)
Thanks for the advice/info

[mr doo doo]

haha, yes, you're right, my experience was water-like. no fog, but yea, like looking through a window after it had just rained, but worse.

[Josh2Xtremes]

Hi there, I'm Josh, I work for VForce ever so often. I've played for years with everything from Morphs to Profilers to the Grill and I have experienced what you're going through once or twice. Thanks to our amazing lens system and well-ventilated mask they don't fog, but in extremely humid or cold environments where the hot, moisture-laden breath makes its way up to the goggle area sometimes a little condensing DOES happen. It happens more to scenario/rec players than tourney players simply because rec/scenario types are out on the field, actually wearing the goggles, for much longer periods of time at once, often sitting still which slows the amount of air flowing through the goggle area.

A few great suggestions to combat this have already been mentioned in here, including wearing some form of moisture-gathering sweatband or headband like a Sandana. I most often wear a FullClip headband (fullclipusa.com I think) and they're great, and I've also worn a Monkey With a Gun headband that helps. I actually keep more than one headband/headwrap in my gear bag so that if one gets really sweaty and laden with moisture that could cause this problem, I switch out for a dry one. I also do this because a soggy smelly headband just disgusts me...but I digress...Anything to keep that sweat and moisture from heading down towards the foam around your eyes and leading to condensation. There's always the ol' "breathe in through the mouth, out through the nose and direct your breath downwards away from your lens" trick if you've been on the field for a while without moving, too.

The best defense for this whole thing is to keep air moving through your goggle. I'm by no means suggesting you should get up and move if you're in a tight spot or ambush or whatever, but if you've been in the same place a while, don't be afraid to move your head around a little and keep some air transitioning through the mask.

If you have any further problems let me know, shoot me a PM or an email at JoshuaSilverman.com and I'll shoot an email up the chain of command to the big bosses at VForce and see if corporate can offer some solutions for your particular situation that these slightly more "generic" answers don't deliver.

Josh

[Anjin3515]

Just so I get it right...what you want to do is keep the foam as dry as you can...hence the suggestion for a bandanna...

If you dont mind I am going to re-post this on a few other forums where I asked the same question....that way others can benefit from it too.

Thanks Josh....I appreciate the advice. If I have any other questions Ill PM you.

[rkjunior303]

Not just a bandana, make sure it's sweat-wicking or it at least has some sort of terry cloth/foamy layer to gather up the moisture.. It doesn't hurt to dry it out once in a while with a towel, etc.. You can do this to your mask foam as well. I had a profiler for years and even after the fog layer was gone, it never fogged on me - somteimes wearing it for HOURS at a time while reffing scenario/big games.

[Spider-TW]

Another thing that helps is breathing through your nose as much as possible. It carries less moisture and ejects it farther away from your face. Dryer foam at the bottom of the mask will help the overall humidity inside.

[TwilightG]

I recently purchased a Profiler and had some MAJOR fogging a weekend ago. Although it was a little humid, it was only in the mid-70's

I bought it based on the great reviews I've read about it and how it has the best anti-fogging lenses out there, but I was very disappointed.

I've only owned it for about 2-3 months and used for about 3-4 days of paintball.

My 10+ year old Scott mask w/ dual-pane thermal lenses have already outperformed my $70+ Profilers.

... and yes, I sweat A LOT :(

[Ruler_Mark]

My profilers have never fogged on me before till we were playing in the rain.

[Ninjeff]

Ive had that problem. It gets super humid around here and ive noticed it happens in the woods almost exclusively. (no suprise as the vegetation with "hold" alot of moisture. I havent found a way to combat this yet, so if you do, please let me know.

[Lenny]

1. Go to sporting goods store.
2. Purchase "Sea Gold" swimming goggle anti-fog.
3. Read directions.
4. Apply.

I've been using that stuff for years. Never had a problem.

[Ninjeff]

1. Go to sporting goods store.
2. Purchase "Sea Gold" swimming goggle anti-fog.
3. Read directions.
4. Apply.

I've been using that stuff for years. Never had a problem.


hmm.

I just might. Thanks for the heads up.

[Lenny]

hmm.

I just might. Thanks for the heads up.
No prob. :cheers:

[cpt]

I've tried everything. The only thing that works for me is a cpu fan mounted on top of the vent to keep the air moving. Try everything else and if you want to try it pm me.

[DvS21]

1. Go to sporting goods store.
2. Purchase "Sea Gold" swimming goggle anti-fog.
3. Read directions.
4. Apply.

I've been using that stuff for years. Never had a problem.

clever I'm gonna get me some..

[Fantom]

Here in South Florida fogging is a constant problem.

My group uses anti-fog cream and works great in my mask which doesn't have a thermal lens.
We have tried the anti-fog liquid (spray) but it doesn't work for long and distorts the images.

Also, I installed a 25 mm cpu fan on my mask and it works, but the noise level is too high, so you can't have it on all the time while trying to hear what is going around you.

By the way, the cpu fan is a lot much quiter than the fan Proto sells for my mask.

About the sandana/bandana/headband.....it is so humid and hot here that it doesn't make any difference during the hottest part of the year......you will be soaking wet from head to toe in the first 15 minutes of action. Thankfully, wx started to cool off a little now.

BTW, it is hard to find the cream in the stores. Sometimes our local Navy/Army surplus carries it and sometimes WalMart or Sports Authority....but not always.