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FOG HORN 2012Twobirds Flying Publication
Copyright 2012, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights
Reserved.
Revisions Sawfly with
Photochromic Lenses
By: Sal Palma
Revision Military, located inMontreal1, Quebec (Je me
souviens),
Canada, launched the Sawfly Eyewear
Protection System back in 2004, if
memory serves me. Revision Military
has been producing ballistic eyewear
since 2003.
Soon after its introduction, Revision
Military became a serious competitor
for Oakley who enjoyed a lions shareof the military
business.
1Montreal is one of my favorite cities; Ive been there
several
times. While in Quebec if you need to order eggs and bacon
you
can do that in French, but if your French is not so hot ask for
two
eggs parallel.
Revisions approach to the Sawfly
was novel and technology driven. The
Sawfly system, gave the soldier a
lightweight comfortable frame and
interchangeable lenses, with an
option for Rx inserts, which offered
the best ballistic protection available.
The rest is history.Drawing on my personal military
experience, soldiers will not use
equipment that does not make life
easier for them. In my case, I was
issued a steel pod helmet that was
hardly ever worn and was summarily
replaced by the ubiquitous boonie
hat, and the all too heavy and
ineffective flak jacket.That same rational holds true for
ballistic eye protection; extending
that thought process, a soldier
wearing dark lenses will remove his
eye protection when he enters a cave
or dark structure and will remain
unprotected for the duration of that
operation. So, lenses that transition
from dark to light and vice versa weresorely needed. However,
any old
transitioning lens wont do. The
soldier needs a lens offering
exceptional ballistic protection
capable of transitioning from dark to
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Revisions Sawfly Photochromic 2012
Copyright 2012, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights
Reserved
light, and light to dark, quickly, so as
he moves in and out of bright areas
to dark caves or dwellings his
eyewear wont impede his or hervision. The capability was absent
until
Revision launched, in 2011, its highly
successful Sawfly with photochromic
lenses.
A photochromic lens responds to
Ultraviolet Light (UV), so even if you
enter a room that is illuminated with
tungsten or fluorescent light sources
a photochromic lens will not respond.The same holds true if you
are inside
a vehicle driving in bright sunlight.
The vehicles glass windows filter out
UV light so your lens does not
transition.
Revisions Photochromic technology
is quite exceptional; taking a mere 20
seconds or less for the lens to
transition from clear to about a 50%tint; transitioning from its
darkest tint
to completely clear takes about 60
seconds. That metric is a bit
misleading. A better way to
communicate its dark to clear
performance is to use a graph.
The x-axis represent tint and the y-
axis represents time (the tick marks 0
through 5 do not represent a specific
time increment. They are there onlyto dimension the discussion).
When
moving the Sawfly Photochromic
from light to dark the lens begins
clearing immediately. Within the first
15 seconds, which occurs between
tick marks 1 and 2 the majority of the
lens tint has dissipated. The clearing
process then progressively slows, and
at 60 seconds the lens is completelyclear.
From the soldiers or wearers
perspective you dont have to sit and
wait a full 60 seconds before the lens
becomes usable indoors. The
transition begins immediately and
aggressively.
Sawfly Photochromic Eyewear
System exceeds ANSI Z87.1-2010 andU.S. military ballistic
impact
requirements for spectacles (MIL-
PRF-31013 clause 3.5.1.1), and 100%
UV protection. The Revision Sawfly
Photochromic Basic Kit retails for
$149.99 and is available in three sizes
to fit any facial contour.
Theyre comfortable and functional,
so theres no excuse. Your eyes areprecious, protect them!
-SP
