I'm assuming forge work isn't an exception? Anyone have a certain fog resistant eye protection they prefer? I got some, but here in Texas I sweat like an Eskimo in a heat wave. The fogging drives me crazy.

I've even considered $80 paintball goggles that have good reviews.

I use Bouton safety glass with the wire mesh side-shields. They do fairly well on fogging. The downside is that the quality seems to have dropped on the fit of the side-shields. (They hinge like the temples for folding them up, but are too small/tight to fit against the frames when "deployed".)

 

I have no idea if paintball goggles meet any appropriate impact specifications. I strongly suspect they do not.

Most paintball masks and goggles actually have a very high impact rating regulated by the ASTM. They are designed to take multiple high velocity impacts. I wouldn't trust any old pair off the shelf but would look into the raiting from the manufacturer.

For a face shield I finally purchased the "Uvex S8510 Bionic Shield" and can say I am very pleased with it especially when grinding or sanding. Of course I still wear safety glasses as well. The shield is designed in such a way as to keep pretty much everything from getting inside it, with the exception of dust of course.

I own a fairly expensive paintball mask that is supposedly anti-fog, but every time I'm on the field it fogs up like crazy. Just rub a little dish soap on your safety glasses, then wipe it off. That's what I ended up having to do and it works great.

Double D I have that same face shield, I love it also, very comfortable, I often forget I have it on.  My only concern about it is that the plastic seems a bit thin for my taste, wish it were thicker.  

Are the mesh face sheilds any good? They are a fine black mesh, easy to see through and wouldn't fog up. I'm considering it if they protect well. I could imagine anything overly dangerous getting through the tiny holes. Any opinions?

​I can comment on the metal mesh face shields as I wear one everyday. I am a production forger though. I wear the 'logger' shield on 4k and 5k drop hammers without exception. Excellent scale protection while also absorbing quite a bit of the radiant heat and allowing for much needed ventilation. They never get scratched and they never fog up. Easily cleaned with some compressed air and they can be bent to different contours that fit the user if needed. As a side note they also cut down on the intensity of the light from a 35lb billet glowing at forging temp.

Edited March 29, 201511 yr by Thatllbuffout

I want to make as sure as I can that my 12 year old is protected when using a power hammer.  He is well trained in keeping goggles on all the time and i'll make sure he keeps them on with the face shield.  I think that mesh might be good to protect from scale and not get scratched.  The safety goggles would provide the eye protection.  This would be to keep a small flying chunk from hitting his face.  Would a logger helmet with ear protection built in make sense?  Whatever he gets, I'm getting too so that I can drive home the message that safety gear is important, not just something that protective parents make kids do.  We have already talked about how the power switch on the hammer does not go on until the safety gear is in place.

Any suggestions for models that are comfortable, effective, and robust?

Finally, should I go all out and get the hard hat too or is that overkill for what we're doing?

 

On 11/8/2015, 3:19:49, phabib said:

Finally, should I go all out and get the hard hat too or is that overkill for what we're doing?

 

  And for those that occasionally have call to wear a faceshield with a hard hat, there are aluminum frames that mount very nicely to wide brimmed hard hats.  I also wear torch goggles at the same time, at least when doing demolition on rusted out, wet, or steel that I know will be otherwise uncooperative.  Even with the shield and goggles I still have an occasional spark get hold of an eyebrow every now and then.  There is also the occasional spark pop that somehow showers sparks off of my chest, inside the faceshield and off the back of my collar and straight down my back.  Self control is a must when using an acetylene torch in a field environment, as well as a tolerance for the smell of burnt hair, bacon, and stupid.

  Seriously though, when I'm fully geared out for high chance of fire, I just need a couple of extra straps on my leather jacket to look like I crawled out of looney bin that just burst into flames (there's a couple char marks on my gear).