CamoVision Eyewear

 by Ken Morrow on Friday 14 May 2004


CamoVision, or Blurro-vision? I received 3 pairs of CamoVision glasses back in September of 2003. In all my conversations with this company prior to receiving the glasses, I came to the distinct conclusion that if anyone ever needed any serious assistance from the manufacturer, they might be disappointed. I field tested these glasses on a number of duck hunts, and had numerous men, women, and children wear them too. Everyone's first impression was "Wow! Those look neat." But immediately upon handing them a pair, most made some remark about how flimsy or "cheap" they feel. I must say that I agree. Construction and durability proved poor at best. We also found that they are too wide to be comfortable on most women or children...anyone with a narrower than typical face or smaller head than the average full-grown man. They come in a variety of camo patterns, but I am still uncertain after many conversations with the entire management team at CamoVision as to just what patterns those actually are. Their marketing program is convoluted and poorly thought out to say the least. The website offerings don't match up with what I was told was available, and there were constant changes as new "deals" were being cut with the likes of Bass Pro, Cabelas, and Wal-Mart. I did learn that the Wal-Mart version is NOT going to be a true CamoVision product, but rather a cheap Chinese knock-off with CamoVision providing the lense coating only. I think they are only going to be available in one of the less popular (read "costly") patterns, too. I have to say they fit me well, and were very comfortable. They are a wrap-around style frame and lense and are very lightweight. I added a lanyard, as CamoVision explained that they were having production difficulties with theirs. The first time I wore them, I figured I'd check the vision issues and wore them in the dawn's early light as I drove to a bird hunt. It was raining a bit and everyone's headlights were still on. The effect of the light refraction from the oncoming headlights is something akin to what I have always imagined an acid trip would do to your vision. It is very distracting, and I could not really tell if the oncoming vehicles were in their lane or mine. It's interesting, but dangerous. Of course, who wears sunglasses in the dark, right? Actually, this can tell you a lot about what the lenses are actually doing to your vision. The more distortion you see in such conditions, the more distortion your EYES are having to compensate for ALL THE TIME. The camo patttern makes up a tiny grid on the lenses. It's like looking through a window screen from very close to it. This creates problems for bird hunters that big game hunters probably wouldn't notice. Over time, I found my eyes growing weary as the day went on each time I wore these glasses. Another deficiency is the way they handle a little water. If it begins to rain, or your duck dog shakes off in your general vicinity, the CamoVision glasses somehow managed to catch and HOLD the beads of water more than any glasses I have ever worn. Add THIS to the tiny camo grid and you can't see a thing! So, you take them off to wipe them dry, right? Wrong! No matter what kind of cloth was used, these glasses are EXTREMELY hard to clean. They seem to have an oily film on them and everything smears them. So, once they get a drop of water or sweat on them, they're worthless. Needless to say, at $49.95 for the anti-glare coated versions (and WHO would buy HUNTING glasses that were not anti-glare coated?), it is safe to say that CamoVision is NOT one of my gear picks for 2004. They may be a great novelty or gag gift item if priced under $5 per pair.
Author:   GunMuse       Date:   Thursday Sep 23 2004 11:09:01 am