So, after finishing my previous mini project, modifying my pistol's sights, I've gotten somewhat bored and decided to start another.
I'm the type of person that likes things to fit me properly so I wasn't happy with the mesh mask I picked up a few weeks earlier. It was uncomfortable, the dual straps were gimmicky, and it didn't really work well with my headset as the strap splitter sat over my ears and my headset didn't have a good seal due to that and the edge of the mask. It also didn't really match up with either of my goggles so I decided to customize it for the perfect fit.
Cue a bit of brainstorming and a shopping trip to Home Depot and I was ready to get started.
And here we go, the mask itself, two D-ring hangers, and a couple of rivets.
First things first, I needed to remove the straps from the mask so I cut off the velcro loop which held the dual straps to the mask.
Next, I went ahead and peeled off the elastic nylon webbing which lined the edges. Its held on by hot glue so it came off with a tug or two. The remaining glue needed to be removed from both the mask and the strap as I'll be using it again later on, so I did that while catching up on some news.
Removing glue.
Once that was done, I grabbed my dremel and trimmed off both sides of the mask, just in front of the rivet. Sometime between doing that and removing the glue I also painted the D-rings black... somewhat regret doing it after but its fine either way.
Now I was ready to profile it for my goggles. Stuck on some painter's tape (don't want to scratch up the lens), did a bit of test fitting, and marked off a very general cut.
Went at it with my dremel and touched up the ends with a file. Stuck on some tape again and this is what I ended up with.
Did a quick test fit and it fits very well with the boogies, not so much with my Bolle's so I'll probably need to modify another mask for those goggles. Overall, there's room for improvement but I was happy with the results.
Next was to glue back on the lining and rivet in my D-rings. Some of the tools I used.
Getting an idea of where to rivet the D-ring.
Glued on the lining. Definitely wear gloves and get an extra pair of hands to help with this. It's not as clean as I would like but its not bad. Would've been better if I had some new elastic lining but it does the job.
I punched a couple of holes and riveted in the D-rings the mask but didn't get any pictures of it as some of my rivets didn't pop correctly and I got somewhat pissed at that point. Fixed that problem with the dremel in a few minutes though.
After that I cut up the strap and stitched up the end. I was planning on using a head strap but after a bit of testing, it didn't work that well. The mask ended up pushing my goggles up and sat somewhat uncomfortable against my face.
Got stumped for a bit as I had the same problems I wanted to get rid of but after a bit more test fitting I cannibalized the straps again and hooked up my mask to my headset.
Problems solved! Its a perfect fit! The mask pretty much floats on my face, there's no pressure anywhere and it doesn't move at all even with all the jumping jacks I did. I'll need to refine the straps a bit but it works. Though I really feel like the mask is missing something... Might spray/paint on a decal and give it a bit of character.
Now I'm ready for that game on Sunday! Or am I... lol
Mini Bonus Project!
There's one thing I hate with goggles & visors and that's fogging. I hate fogging when I'm snowboarding and I hate fogging in motorcycle helmets so I'm pretty sure I hate fogging in airsoft as well. That being said, I haven't gotten my either of my Boogies or my Bolle X1000 dual lens to fog yet (Bolle's passed the boiling water steam test) but since my cat crap anti fog solution hasn't arrived yet... I decided to make a mini fog wiper!
Got the idea after seeing the laylex thing and turns out its not a new idea. Lots of stuff like this out there for visors and goggles for firefighters, scuba divers, swimmers, etc. Since its pretty much two magnets with a piece of cloth on it, I'd rather not throw $15-20 on it when I can make it for less than a dollar myself.
Got a pack of neo magnets, punch, some very nice German quality cloth thingy I had, along with some super glue.
Stuck on some tape (works better if you tape one side, taping both sides does not work well, and I did it again with tape on one side), punched out some circles and glued the taped side to the magnet. The tape is needed as the cloth will just pull off otherwise.
And this is what I ended up with. I also cut out a small square, put it between them just to let it magnets press the circles down so it gets glued down properly and evenly.
Quick test on my shop goggles and it works fine. I may make another one with larger magnets but I'll see how these work out first.
I'll be fully testing both of these mini projects at my next game so I'll do an AAR if I run into any issues. I've got a bunch of other small projects and DIY, maintenance write-ups in mind so I'll probably be doing more in the future.
Lemme know what you think! If you've got any neat DIY projects or ideas for improvement, let me know!