Comments on Patejl's Review

Patejl Friday, January 30th, 2009 Period of Product Use: Only tested Paintball Experience: 3 years Similar Products Used: JT Spectra, nForcer, Elite Radar Thermal, V-Force Shield Marker Setup: Tipmann A-5, Hammerhead Dominator barrel Strengths: Good view, good breathing, no fogs Weaknesses: Weak protection Review: so for strenghts - this mask has any strenght you can imagine - it is light, it is comfy, it has great field of view, no fogs and breathing is easy, fair price - in this respect like the older classical Spectra (maybe this one felt a bit more comfortable, but avenīt used the old model for a while to really compare). These may be reasons for lots of people to buy. For me on the first place is PROTECTION. This is why I buy mask, I want to be 100% sure I do not suffer meaningless injury during play. Protection in this case is WEAK. Firstly, the old Spectra pain, not much of a coverage, from side and neck is uncovered. But not so big deal if u use hat, helmet and scarf or neck protector, whatever. Big breathing holes used to allow paint inside mask when direct front hit, sometimes u could feel sting. Acceptable. Secondly (but most importantly) the new rubber face protection lack evn the "acceptable" level of old Spectra protection. So - if you get hit in your face, prepare itœ gonna hurt. I believe it is ok, when you play against people with correct fps set and fragile pro paintballs. But I play mostly woodsball, and sometimes with ppl I donīt know their weapon setup, also tough shell paintballs are mostly used. So I have experience that when I lend this mask for one play, I got hit from approx 10meters into chin - and it hurt. Next time a friend of mine wearing this got hit from 5 meters (we palyed inside building) and GOT INJURED his mouth (torn lips, bleeding hard). From that time on I played last games with fear and this will decrease your performance. Yes, I know, you can object it might be shooters fault due to big fps and whatever, but you never know what will happen on the field. Did my friend have a lemon? I donīt care, I can accept a fail on anything else, but not on a mask. So, no, thanks, I will keep my old Spectra as a backup mask, using V-Shield and not gonna "upgrade" this time. Conclusion: If u play X-ball and know your opponents, proflex might be an option for you, just avoid being shot from flank. (add +3 to Rating) If u r into woodsball, using hard shell paintballs, CO2, playing indoor scenarios (very close encounters most likely) - DEFINETELY not buy this, you will not be well protected. If u still like the other advanteges, try to look for old Spectra, itīs nearly the same but with better protection. Rating: 4 out of 10