Can't fight if we can't see.- myopia in SAF.
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I think the idea of giving out a google to all the bespecticaled recruits is a good idea.
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It isn't tat comfortable wearing goggles for extended periods of time. I'll stick to my specs thank you.
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Actually it'snot too bad. Though maybe a type of google should be made to reduce the distance between eye and lens and to remove the sideways blind spots.Originally posted by insouciant:It isn't tat comfortable wearing goggles for extended periods of time. I'll stick to my specs thank you. -
hehehe
friends,
it is goggles
not googles
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i had my contact lenses on throughout my CST...5 days in Tekong. Wasn't that bad, but you have to lubricate your eyes often. I was freaking sick of breaking my glasses outfield, happened 4 times. Once even by a rover, can u imagine! KNN...the feeling of not having clear sight out in the field really saps ur confidence. Worse off in the night.
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Originally posted by moca:
WOW crap lol that's a 1st for me
hehehe
friends,
it is [b]goggles
not googles [/b]
Ahh well it's only been awhile and my glasses and all bent outta shape liao.
Mainly by the helmet lah.Need to remove when wanna wipe sweat and all that so in out in out with helmet still on...... -
I don't really see what the problem is ... I've worn specs all through my 2 yrs NSF and the last 11 years as an NSMen.
This is what I've been doing.
i) 3 pairs of specs. 1 pair, my "book out" pair stays in the bunk. 2 Pairs are my "field specs" go out with me into the field, 1 worn and the other as spare.
ii) The "field specs" are butt ugly but cheap and tough. No gals going to see me so why do I care?
iii) The pair worn ... stays on at all times with spec bands. If you don't take them off, they won't get run over by a rover ... if they do, then I'd be more worried about my head
iv) I carry a cleaning kit with me in my SBO, anti-fog lens spray (which helps alot) and cleaning cloth. I do maintenance on my specs like I do my weapon ... often.
v) I never wear contact lens unless it's a "clean" excercise with easy access to water, eg. NavEx or as controller ... and I only do so so that I can wear sunnies with my jungle hat ... okay so I care how I look
In all those years, I've yet to break, lose or damage a pair ... so you can understand why I don't see what the fuss is about.
And that's also why the SAR-21 is a god-send for speccies ... can you say optical sight?
A cheaper alternative to the S$1000 Air Titanium would be the Silhouette Titan which goes for S$350 incl. polycarbonate lenses. Light, strong and comfortable. I've accidently worn them for field and sports without any problems. Cuurent pair is on it's 4th year. -
Actually, never had any problems with specs in all my years as an NS and now reservist 12yrs? Never had a pair break, never really fogged, thru river crossing, night shoots, heliborne training, jungle training, etc.
All I did was wipe it with camo scarf. Altho I have changed it over the years (obviously) but it has usually been some sort of middle-of-the-road wire frame specs with plastic lens never totally more the $350.
I did have the spec straps on during heliborne and river crossing training tho. -
No, I never had real problems either. Why should I? After all, it was only training.Originally posted by insouciant:Actually, never had any problems with specs in all my years as an NS and now reservist 12yrs?
We are talking about a shooting war.
You don't need to be very imaginative to think of the situations where your specs might be separated from you or broken.
If peace time, so what if your specs get broken? Better still, get to stop training and rest.
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My post was more directed at the various accounts of bad experience in the field by fellow posters. I was trying to illustrate that a lot of the common problems faced by bespectacled soldiers in the field can be solved by simple preventative action.
Stuff like specs fogging in the rain, lens becoming filthy, specs keeps slipping, specs fogging when discharging weapon, breaking glasses outfield, specs getting run over, glasses bent out of shape ... These are all situations that will repeat themselves whether in peace time training or wartime conditions. If you can solve them in peacetime, you can solve them in wartime ... until you run out of anti-fog
The only situation I can see as very different will be the concussive force of explosions and the increased amount of debris you will come into contact with.
Speaking without experience of a wartime environment, I can only guess that it again shouldn't be too much of a problem for most military vocations ... a sturdy pair of (butt-ugly) plastic specs with Polycarbonate lenses, good anti-fog and retaining strap should be fairly proof against most events that don't rip your head off. I've used this combination for some very rugged (and wet) activities without problems.
Combat goggles are IMHO, nothing more than mil-spec workshop safety goggles. Their primary role is not to provide indestructable corrective eyewear but to protect the "Optical Sights Mk1" from debris on the battlefield. It'd be good to have but is not entirely necessary ... also, you CAN wear goggles over specs (do that all the time skiing)
I'm not trying to say that problems do not exist, just that they are not as bad as it's being made out to be. Soldiers will break/loss their corrective eyewear somehow and will be less effective when that happens. However, I feel that with proper habits, the problem can be minimized ... as an example, ever notice how some people are always losing their handphones/wallets but some don't? It all boils down to habits and attitudes.
Oh .... have I mentioned optical sights? -
you CAN wear goggles over specs (do that all the time skiing
Try that here, and no amount of anti-fog will help you. You'd be all "fogged-up"
[/b] -
I agree. I heard there is a company called ESS Ice. They make good specs for war time use.
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ESS Ice is the model of the shades im using lar... *bish acwire*
ESS Ice also has RX-inserts where u can put a prescriptions on, and insert it behind the polycarbonate lense. However, I do not reccomend ICE as a "combat" wear. It does not secure fully around the face, (asian heads smaller?) as well as oakleys M-frames.
ESS combat goggles can be considered though. They may be able to have the same RX-inserts behind the goggles. The combat goggles provide a relatively wide field of vision. Just that the RX-insert may narrow it abit. Impossible to have the insert lenses as wide as the goggles i guess.
Still, it protects the user's eyes, and specs (rx-inserts) from debris, sand, dirty, fogging. Unfortunately it migh cost a bomb too. A user has to make new prescription lenses for the rx-inserts jsut for the goggles. Is the SAF willing to pay that kinda money? -
I've tried that in Singapore, in the field ... fogging wasn't that bad (some but nothing major). What was more of a downer was that it was bloody uncomfortable, the rim of the goggle on the face (on top of camo cream) causing major itch and rash if worn for extended periods.Originally posted by moca:Try that here, and no amount of anti-fog will help you. You'd be all "fogged-up"
Speak to the scout riders and LSV guys, their experience would be more extensive and relevant.
I'd say that use of combat goggles in our environment is strictly for when the brown stuff's flying around ... all other times, goggles on helmet. Hence the reason why I'd advocate specs+goggles combo rather than a goggles with corrective lens solution. -
Actually the scout jeep guys also suppose to wear googles when in field and on the road (for safety).
Many people opted not to use the SAF goggles but opted for safety specs like those used in companies..