I have purchased 4 masks over the last 2 years and can't recommend to you enough that if you can go to paintball store and try a mask on then do so. As the key to any mask is that it has to be comfortable when playing if your mask annoys you in anyway shape or form you wont have a good game and unlike say a knee/arm pad annoying that you can take off. Your mask is glued to your face the second you walk out on to that field to play, so it is all about being comfortable.
So this lesson was brought to you by mask number 1 my Valken Annex MI-7 mask, which whilst it protected my head was the most uncomfortable thing in the world to wear due to the ridged plastic that just seemed to crush my head.
Next I gave the V-Force Grills ago, which whilst it stopped the head crushing I found the peak seemed to encourage paint to find its way to my forehead and the field of vision wasn't that great.
Next up was the Empire E-Vents, amazing as it came with a sun visor and a high rise peak and this stopped the pain of paint hitting me in the forehead but I started to fog up a lot when using it.
Then Empire released the EVS mask and from the start loved the fact the lens was so big, so when one come up for grabs on one of the FB pages I bought it...for what seemed like a great deal, until Just paintball did their Pre Christmas sale and reduced them to £80 new
Anyway the EVS is now what I'm using, as suspected due to the lens the field of vision is amazing, the bigger vent holes around the mouth seem to help with fogging up and whilst it doesn't stop it it's far better than the E-Vents or the Grill.
The mask itself is also a bit larger, which means if you don't have a narrow face like me this will give you the protection you need and is why I didn't try the Dye range as these seem to be a very narrow fit mask.
