7/31/2019 Revision Sawfly Photochromic Review

1/2

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

7/31/2019 Revision Sawfly Photochromic Review

2/2

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