Annoying, frustrating, obnoxious, those are all the epithets you find familiar if your airsoft goggles fog continuingly during a match. Most of the players have experienced this, however, there is a way to prevent your goggles from fogging and keep enjoying your airsoft match from begging to end without interruptions.
You prevent goggles from fogging by buying high-quality goggles, using some anti-fogging products present on the market, or homemade solutions. However, most goggles fog from time to time and it is normal unless you buy anti-fog kits or ventilated high-quality goggles.
Some work and some do not work so well, so I decided to make my own research and come up with the best solution for this itchy problem.
1. Install Anti-fog kit on Goggles
Anti-fog kits are special devices used for negating the fog on airsoft goggles. If you are looking for something that will permanently stop fogging, these anti-fog kits are what you are looking for. Sprays and wipes will work fine, but they are not perfect and will eventually stop working and you’ll have to reapply them, while these kits are installed once and you no longer have to worry about fogging ever again.
This lightweight, silent fog defender kit is the best recommendation I can give you, the only disadvantage is the higher price compared to sprays and wipes but in long term, it’s worth it.
Being able to see perfectly every time without frustrating and wasting time dealing with fogging is priceless.
You’ll have to manually install this kit to your goggles in a few easy steps, after that you’ll only have to check the battery level prior to stepping into the field. It uses a rechargeable LiPo battery, so you already can guess the quality of this product.
2. Anti-fog spray
You can use anti-fog sprays to provide protection for a whole day of play, just buy something proven from a good brand as some brands claim their sprays can last up to 48 hours without backup.
For a long time, I didn’t use anti-fog sprays, but I recently found some great options on Amazon that work flawlessly. Just spray both sides of the lenses and you can expect long, high-quality anti-fog protection.
The company says the anti-fog protection will last up to 72 hours, but I never played airsoft for 72 straight so can’t confirm this. However, it will certainly last enough for your average day on the field and you can always reapply it.
3. Anti-fog Wipes
When I first time wrote this article, I didn’t have much information about this product when it comes to airsoft goggles appliances, but they were a popular choice among players. There are wipes that are good for cleaning but do not continue to protect against fogging, so you end up using them every time your goggles start to fog.
However, I found Anti-Fog wipes available on Amazon that actually apply an anti-fogging filter which means the glass will be less likely to fog for up to 12 hours after applying. At the end of the day, the best solution against fogging will either be the wipes or the spray, so if you can find these products in a local store or order from Amazon it will save you from headaches.
4. Goggles with integrated fans
When we talk about the problem of fogging and ways to solve it, this is probably the second-best long-term practice besides the anti-fog kit I mentioned earlier.
Airsoft players who use those goggles fans report that they experience fogging super-rarely or never. They can be found integrated within goggles or can be bought separately and then added accordingly by following the instructions.
The reason why this method works so well is that the goggle fans affect the airflow and the temperature within your goggles, and therefore do not contribute to the conditions that condense the air.
Other practices apply a layer of foam onto the glass and give it some resistance for a temporal time, but do not resolve the problem completely, and eventually, goggles will start fogging again.
The fans are simply powered by batteries that fit into your goggles and solve this problem nicely as you could see with the kit I mentioned above.
However, for every positive, it’s expected for some negatives to occur, so in this case, the negative is the fact that cheap fans may be too loud and buzzing which can easily become a new problem.
This does not happen with high-quality goggles, so in order to remove fogging and avoid the problem of buzzing you will need to invest in high-quality goggles with fans included, or just get a high-quality fan and attach it to your existing goggles if they fit such with the kit above.
5. Wear Glasses Instead of Goggles
Although some people praise goggles, I prefer glasses. Protection glasses do not fog as much as goggles do. People will say that glasses do not protect you that well and there’s some truth to it, but they still fog less and you can combine them with a helmet and a face mask for more protection.
6. Baby shampoo is a handy trick
Mix some baby shampoo with water, following a ratio of 50/50, and apply it to the glass. This will probably last enough for a game and if you already have a baby shampoo by hand it may be a cheaper solution.
Bear in mind that you will have to apply this before the game and reapply it occasionally after some rounds. Players report that this solution lasts for hours and works as a nice substitute for anti-fog sprays.
7. Dish soap – another handy trick
Apply some dish soap to a glass and rub it over it with a piece of cloth. Another good solution works similarly to the baby shampoo solution. It is cheap and everyone has dish soap in their kitchen, if you are missing one, ask your neighbor.
8. Shaving cream has its purpose
Be creative to find out what gives you the best results. The shaving cream is probably something that you have in your toilet already, so you will not spend a penny. This seems to work nicely just like soap solution and may give you some great results.
9. Rain X – the assistance of the chemical
This synthetic hydrophobic surface certainly works for windshields, but I would not use them on my goggles and neither should you. Although it would probably work, you do not want to put any chemicals around your eyes if you care about safety and health. So, stay away from it. Some guys did apply it to their goggles and still experienced a little fogging, did not hurt their eyes, and so on, but do not take the risk for not much of a reward.
10. Spit – the primal method
Not so a conventional method that is actually used most of the time. May not be fancy, but is temporarily going to get the job done. Saliva has certain natural properties that will prevent your goggles from fogging up for a short period of time. Just use some cloth to rub it before you put it back on your head.
Why do my goggles keep fogging up?
In order to understand why certain products and techniques would work, we need to understand what is the reason behind goggles fogging.
The thing is that whenever you have a noticeable difference in the temperature between two sources and humidity, things get foggy. The glass is the membrane that creates the separation and depending on the quality of the glass, it is going to get fogged or not. In other words, the condensation will always create fog on the nearby glass unless the glass has some sort of special anti-fog property or you ventilate the area.
Not all goggles or protection glasses share the same characteristics, and some fog more than others. The very first tip should be that you always go for quality when it comes to protection glass, even when you are on a tight budget.
If your goggles are fogging by their nature of it, the mentioned products and techniques will help you out.
The proven goggles that do not fog
If you are interested in equipping yourself with proven and non-fogging (rarely fogging) airsoft goggles and glasses, check out my recommendations for goggles under $50.
I have mentioned only the stuff that I know will serve you well, although there are probably more of these that you can find on different websites. I will be updating this post if I find any better alternative accordingly.
I have also found two great goggles that do not fog according to what players who use them report, but they are a bit too expensive for some players and sometimes not available in shops.
The first ones are used by special forces all over the world, and I am sure that they can not be a mismatch for any airsoft player. It is the ESS Turbofan goggles, and if they fit the specialists they will fit you. However, they are really expensive and cost about 180$.
Yes, sure they are great and must be expensive for such high-end gear, but an average airsoft player probably will not spend that much money on goggles alone.
The second and less expensive pick is Revision Military Desert Locust goggles which can be found at about 50$ and are one of the favorite picks of experienced airsoft players.
You can surely find other models that I have not mentioned that will work great if you continue the research, it is just that I do not want to splash you with 10 different models that I have found by simply searching the term and copy-pasting it.
The conclusion to end this with
The conclusion is that there are methods that will help you solve this problem temporarily but will have to be repeated numerous times in the long term. Investing in good gear is often recommended especially when it comes to something that is protecting your eyes.
If you hate to experience time-to-time fogging, my recommendation is airsoft goggles with fans which may additionally reduce the fogging but not every player likes them. Removing one problem from the future will allow you to focus on other important things in life. The game of Airsoft requires you to invest in good gear or to face the consequences of low-quality one. Remember, you only have one set of eyes, keep them safe!