Product Test: Face Visors

Gary Stretton advises how to get up close and dirty without risking your eyesight

Tempting as it is to just get stuck in with maintaining, repairing or restoring your Land Rover, personal safety should always be a priority. Getting blinded through negligence is not a macho badge of honour. Full face protection is essential when sparks, debris and dust are directed or deflected at your eyes, nose and mouth. If you’ve ever succumbed to dirt or grinding debris in your eyes while lying on your back under a vehicle, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Face visors offer much peace of mind when dealing with grinding sparks and other high-speed debris as the materials used in the screens are tough enough to withstand most impacts. A wire cup brush mounted on an angle grinder and rotating at 15,000 rpm, for example, can fling out loose wires before it makes contact with any surface.

Being comfortable is key to having a visor you’ll want to wear, so buy one that offers exactly that. If your excuse to yourself is that a visor gets in the way or is uncomfortable, find a visor that isn’t. The visors tested here offer differing levels of protection, suitable for a variety of circumstances. If, like me, you wear spectacles, a visor is ideal for unhindered vision without compromising safety. They also allow the use of face masks if dust is an issue.

Being invariably made of plastic or polycarbonate shells, visors are generally capable of putting up with workshop knocks and scrapes but the screens will succumb in time to all the impacts and abrasions your face was saved from. This is where replacement screens come into play. Their design is largely universal although the quality of plastics and polycarbonates vary, creating the prices differences you’ll likely experience. Look for En-compliant screens as a measure of protection.

Fitting and removing a visor involves tightening and loosening a headband on the best designs, as these can be adjusted to prevent the visor slipping when you change the angle of your head as you work. A single ratchet mechanism at the back of the head works best and can be used when wearing gloves. Changing the angle of a visor to suit your working position is also very useful for deflecting the line of fire debris can adopt, so controls that are easy to use when wearing gloves are definitely a bonus.

If ear protection is also required when wearing a face visor, then choose a design suitable for the ear defenders of your choice. The old headphones style defenders typically fit over the designs tested here but check first.

Finally, once you’ve bought a visor, store it carefully to prevent abrasive dust from prematurely ruining the clarity of the screen. Always wash a visor screen under running water before you rub or dry it with a soft cloth or tissue.