Hey everyone! Today, I introduce you to an underappreciated accessory: lens protectors. For players that run optics, a lens protector can save your glass from getting shot out. If you don't think you need it, you'd be surprised. I have had my red dot sight shot out on an occasion or two when I thought, "Oh, I can go one day without it," just because I was excited to play. I thought wrong. If your optic is not expensive or valuable to you, don't worry about it because it would be hard to justify a $15 or $20 sight protector, especially if your sight or scope costs that much. Or you might be a keep-it-simple player and don't use or care for optical sights, so this might not be relevant.
However, not all lens protectors are created equally. The more expensive ones are rated to take multiple hits and use materials more resilient than just a simple plastic screen. That is why you may see the price range widely for something so simple. Some even include extra lenses as replacements, so you can see where the added cost comes from. We will leave that to you to decide if a more resilient lens protector is justified. For players who engage in CQB in heavy BB slinging environments, these lens protectors will prove their worth. When you look at CQB-specialized players, you might see lens protectors on their flashlights, too. The flashlights give them a tremendous advantage at low-lit indoor fields, and good-performing light is an investment they want to protect, just like their red dot sight protector.
Action Sport Games makes a nice one here that can take multiple hits at a very high FPS, even up close. Our demo was shot with a 500fps DMR at point blank; the best it could do was deform. There were no cracks or chips, which is amazing. Should you want to replace the lens, a couple more are included in the package.
Speed Airsoft also makes very slick ones, and since they specialize in CNC and the manufacturing of nice parts, these tend to look very sleek, too. I cut mine down a little to match the height of another optic I was running.
The ASG and Speed Airsoft lens protectors are some of our most robust lens protectors.
If you like to record gameplay or make videos, you should also protect your expensive action cameras with these. The bodies on these cameras might be rugged, but the lens is not intended for a direct impact.
Another lesser-known option that is a carryover from a real-world application is a kill flash. These are usually steel wire mesh/honeycomb pattern protectors that offer limited protection but prevent scope glare from giving you away. The protection value is not good, though, as steel mesh has proven to be unsafe for eye use in airsoft for the velocities we run in the US, and your typical Bio BB will just get shredded on impact, and the debris will bypass the screen altogether. Consider using a red dot sight protector to protect your optics from damage during gameplay.
The last type of cover you might get when you purchase a scope is the see-thru bikini-style cover. They offer some form of protection, which is good, though they are usually just a plastic lens, so hard or repeated hits will ruin it. One lens is sometimes an amber/yellow color to improve your image definition in sunlight conditions, and some players may or may not like that and prefer a neutral picture. It's better than nothing to use it, and can save your optic, so why not run it?
The type of scope you use, your mounting space, and mounting options will dictate what lens protector you can use. Guns with more picatinny rail space have the advantage of more flexible mounting. You should stick to bikini covers if you run a magnified optic on a gun with very little rail space.
A random question that I got asked once was if one or two protectors are needed. Typically, players run just a front one. The back of the optic is often obscured and hidden behind the body, and I've heard almost no one getting a random hit on the ocular side of the scope. That being said, the possibility of you being snuck behind could come up, so you can decide if that's something you want to do. The front-facing impact is the most likely scenario, so using a red dot sight protector on the front is usually sufficient to safeguard your optics.
What do you run for your optics setups? Do you keep a protector or kill flash on it, just in case? Let us know in the comments how you like it!
