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View Full Version : Revision Eyewear Vipertail review (non-shooting)



mnealtx
07-29-2011, 09:13 PM
Website (http://www.revisioneyewear.com/vipertail.html)

Style: Very similar to Oakley Gas Can - squared off lenses and wide (top to bottom) earpieces at the frame. Frames provide good coverage over/under the eye socket, cutting out unwanted light and glare. Peripheral vision is restricted due to the width of the earpieces. The earpieces are flexible/rubberized for the part that goes over the ear. They are very flat and should fit under earpro without compromising the seal. They don't exert undue pressure on the sides of my head like M-frames sometimes would.

Nosepiece: non-adjustable, but has very small nubs to prevent slippage. No complaints.

Lenses are smoke and non-polarized - approximately 15% light transmission (similar to Oakley "Gray" lens at 18%) - I'd like to see them produce a 10% lens, but these are still very comfortable to wear even in strong sun. Ballistically, lenses are advertised to exceed ANSI Z87.1-2010 (.25 cal ball bearing at 150 fps) as well as well as MIL-PRF-31013, clause 3.5.1.1 (.15 cal, 5.8 grn impact at 640-660 fps) and are UV A/B/C protective. Optical clarity (at least to me) is very good - it seems better than the Oakley offerings, although my experience with them is solely with M-Frame and Half Jacket styles.

Kit consists of a soft, padded nylon case, cleaning cloth and the sunglasses.

Retail was 90$ through the Revision webstore, which matches the Oakley Gascan retail price. The Vipertail only appears to be available through Revision. With rebate (there's several discount codes floating around the internet) the shipped price was $68.14 to APO/FPO.

I'm looking forward to my next vacation to see how well they perform at the local outdoor range.

mnealtx
02-08-2012, 06:34 AM
Post-range update (sorry for the tardiness, I had completely forgotten about this thread until the recent eye/ear recommendation thread):

Good coverage around the eyes - a couple cases bounced off the side walls of the shooting position but never got near my eyes.

Earpro compatibility - so-so. The earpieces didn't excessively interfere with earpro fit, but did leave a larger gap for noise than a wire earpiece would have, although subjectively less (IMO) than Oakley M-frames, for example. Sound leakage wasn't excessive in my opinion (HL electronic muffs), but I double up with plugs and have a congenital hearing loss to begin with - your mileage may vary.

Overall, I'm pretty well satisfied with them as daily wear glasses and for daytime range use.