REVIEW: VForce Grillz Mask

The Grillz

       First thing's first, school has set in and I'm going to have to keep blog entries a little smaller for the time being. Over Christmas I was pounding out at least four pages single spaced a day, now it's looking like 2 pages a week. I've never been so swamped at the beginning of a semester in my life. On with the review.

       I must admit, at the beginning of season two while searching desperately around my home to find my Dye I3, which I'd only worn one time for airsoft of all things...! I was pretty choked when I couldn't find it, voila, 60+ $ down the drain. I was a sad panda. The Extreme Rage Full Head Mask I had was a pain to wear; the mask would fog and the foam around the eyes was actually some kind of bizarre, bubbly, rubber which wasn't soft at all and even chaffed my face on long days of play. After purusing a lot of paintball pictures for what I might like to look like, as well as a lot of reviews, I came to a decision.

       Enter, the VForce Grillz.

       First thing I have to say is it's roomie inside, and all the foam makes contact with my eyes. Of the 8 masks I've tried in my 3 years this is one of the best for comfort and fit. Easy to tighten, great field of vision, plus an awesome profile to it as well. The grill around the mouth has lots of large holes for venting and moisture builds up much less quickly than with the Sly Profit, not to mention it doesn't curve down, contouring to the chin so no wetness gets transferred to you. With the Grillz, when I open my mouth there are no teeth exposed at the bottom. The mask also comes with one of the nicest micro fibre carrying bags I've ever had the pleasure to dump a mask into. It's stretchy and thin, but fairly tough and there's lot of room to set the mask into, not a tight fit at all. The Grillz has a very soft chin as well as other soft areas which encourage ball bounces, I've take several off the chin and come away clean, as well as some hits to other particularly hard areas such as the brow ridge on the top of the mask and left without a mark. The lens is also very easily changed on the mask: all one needs to do is unbuckle the goggle straps and push out the two tabs they were connected to and the lens comes right out.

Mirror Finish Rubs Off With a Stroke of My Finger

       Speaking of lenses, lets get on to some peeves I have with the mask. First and only is the lens. It has a habit of fogging. For me it happens quite quick but only when I'm hunkered down and huffing and puffing, this mask does not do well when you're curled into a ball and breathing deep; most masks don't but it's very pronounced with the Grillz. This problem is easily resolved with a steady gust of wind or by moving a lot and getting air flowing through the ports. This is also not much of a thermally treated lens, the coating inside is very gel-like and becomes slick when heated or slightly moist, significant moisture making contact with the lens causes the coating to flake away and then the fogging problem is exacerbated. Another thing is I opted to get one of them fancy orange mirror lenses so I could look like Master Chief, cheesy, I know but it seemed like a great idea at the time... Don't do this! VForce (and I've heard a number of other companies') mirror lenses scratch like crazy. Half the real estate on my mirror lens is bare after one season of having it. If you have to get a new lens, get an amber or high-def lens, the mirror ones will degrade too quickly. Last gripe about the lenses is the foam around them: It makes good contact with your face and this really ought to be a moot point given the amount of time I wore mine for but the foam does seem to come with an expiration date. The foam in my black mask is falling apart and is entirely squished to the point of not being able to rebound now. Maybe it's my short time in the sport talking but I would have assumed I'd get 3 seasons out of the foam before having to think about replacing it.

Some of that Permanently Compressed Foam

       The verdict: at the 120$ I paid for mine when I got it, it's not really worth the price. For the 60-80 it can found for these days it's a much better buy, I'd actually consider purchasing another. What could be done to make this mask even greater? Improving the lenses, that's it. A lot of companies have the mirror lens scratching problems so I won't judge them on that but their anti fog methods need work. If the lenses were more robust I'd forgive the foam degradation because I have much less of a problem replacing a sweaty old piece of foam for 24$ as opposed to 40 for a new lens which has a shorter life.