Goggle Systems

Courtesy PGi Magazine

The most critical piece of equipment for any paintball player is a quality goggle system that will protect and perform.

VForce Profiler SE
The Profiler, the most successful goggle launch in paintball, garnered a massive number of teams for the VForce camp, including 2005 NXL Champions Baltimore Trauma, the 2004 and 2003 NXL Champion Philadelphia (All) Americans, the Boston Red (Russian) Legion and the Oakland Assassins, Infamous and the Naughty Dogs before Vents pulled them away. What got the Profiler to this lofty position were its user friendly features and comfort mated to a style that proved that form and function could be crammed into the same compact space. The ability to quickly and relatively easily pull tabs to clean and replace its single-anti-fog cured lens in only moments earned it a place in the hearts of XBall pit crews everywhere through their flurry of water spray and flying orange paper towels.

After some time riding the success of the Profiler, those crafty Canadians decided to offer their customers a few more color choices, and at the 2005 PSP World Cup the Profiler SE debuted. In-essence a “reverse Profiler” in which the facemask colors were inverted, it's clear that VForce used the “if it ain't broke don't fix it” approach, as little else has changed. Colors available in the SE line include a “deep forest green” and “cosmic blue” that are much darker than their original Profiler counterparts, creating a goggle line with more than ten color choices, the most diverse line in the sport. While it's more than capable of sitting atop the goggle totem-pole for now, with all of their competitors rapidly redesigning their top goggles year after year, VForce had better have something new up their sleeve for 2007 to avoid being toppled from their perch.

Dye i3
The latest incarnation of Dye's flagship goggle, the Invision, is radically improved for 2006. Already worn by such legendary teams as the California Ironmen and Chicago Aftershock, as well as Joy Division, Nexus, NYX and impressive up-and-comers LTZ, Dye's goggle is in the hunt with the best of them. A much softer facemask graces the new i3, which is available in all the sexy colors including blue, red, grey and black/yellow to suit most uniforms. The i3 is packaged with a soft bag and color matched visor. As usual Dye's presentation and packaging are light-years ahead and a retailers dream, and the system itself isn't too bad either.

Protecting more of the face than previous models yet remaining low profile, the i3's translucent goggle frame hangs onto its thermal lens like Ashlee Simpson onto her sister's show-biz table scraps. Attractive mirrored lenses and lower-profile, smaller ear pieces are available. Extremely comfortable on the face with abundant padding and well-ventilated, the peripheral vision of the i3 is somewhat less than other top goggles, though if you're looking sideways at an opponent in today's game he's already shot you seventeen times anyhow. Light, comfortable, attractive and well-appointed, the i3 is undoubtedly Dye's best goggle yet.

JT Flex-8
JT, the company that created the first modern mask and goggle system entirely for paintball in the mid-eighties continues to soldier on into the new millennium with its venerable Spectra goggle frame relatively unchanged. What has changed, other than a few minor aesthetic refinements around the thermal lens, is the JT facemask, which has seen numerous alterations and redesigns since the Spectra debut in the nineties. Beginning as a hard plastic face shield that is still available today, the Spectra line has seen the Flex-7, super-soft Ize, Proteus, FX-10 and Pro-Flex, each with varying degrees of softness and success as the whims of paintball players ebb and flow. Worn today by two of the best teams in the game including XSV and the undisputed kings, Dynasty, the Spectra is still has more trophies than any other goggle system.

The latest incarnation of the Spectra, the Flex-8, has yet to take hold as firmly as the popular Pro-Flex, thanks in no small part to the fact that the two top teams in the JT stable have yet to switch to it en-masse. Members of Dynasty, Arsenal and Avalanche have been seen on-occasion sporting Flex-8's but most members of all of the above opted for the end of 2005 to stay with the Pro-Flex, a testament to its comfort and quality. The Flex-8 differs in its facemask, which uses a “dual fusion” design to mold the colored pieces to the black pieces, but the mask is much more rigid and less flexible than the Pro-Shield. Still as comfortable as any other JT and offering excellent peripheral vision, the lenses still take some time to remove and the limited color choices of the Flex-8 will, for the time being, likely prevent its widespread adoption, at least until Dynasty puts them on.