We are excited to work with SHOC Visors on a review. Since it’s a visor, be sure to check out our video review as well. Some key points for SHOC:
- Some high schools do not permit colored visors, but they should be good to set the tone for summer ball and pick up games.
- For the older guys these visors are great for a great price and lots of variety. We worked with the Red Iridium and Sky Blue Iridium for our review. For this review I partnered with Nick Tone of Huntington Beach, CA who was home after basic training with the United States Marine Corps and about to leave for his tech school. Happy to say we sent the Marine home happy with a Red Iridium visor so he is set for whatever conditions he may play in.
Installation 10 out of 10
I was able to install both of the visors SHOC sent me within 5 minutes. They work amazingly with most helmets. They will not work with Pro 7’s. We tried removing the center tab in order to make it fit like other visors have in the past with extensive risk of damaging the visor and it did not seem like a good idea. CPX-R’s and R’s work perfectly though. The quick fasten clips worked great with the face mask on our R’s and the screw kits came in multiple colors and made the process much easier, especially since no tools are required.
(Greg from East Coast Dyes has an awesome demo video for how to set up the visor in an R, and Joe from Throne of String has a nice tutorial for the CPX-R as well).
Weather Proofing/Anti-Fog 10 out of 10
I challenge you to fog this visor. SHOC used an awesome coating similar to Rain-X on steroids. Testing in California I figured I wouldn’t be seeing much rain, I was wrong, so I took the visor into my shower for a long hot steam and then put it immediately into open cold air in my apartment just under 70 degrees. No fog whatsoever during this test. During my games outside in Cali I played a game half in rain and half in hot sun and you couldn’t even tell it was raining. There was no streaking and the water could not stick to the visor at all, when the heat came on the moisture in the air still couldn’t fog the visor. Our second game brought a new benefit we had not even thought of.
When Nick and I tried out the helmets in Orange County we were at Aliso Niguel High School on the turf in 103 degree weather. Between the heat of the air and the turf combined it was stifling but the visors actually cut this heat on our faces and when running. Normally we get the feeling of running in the desert with the conditions in SoCal but with the SHOC visor it cut the temperature around our face so much that the game was actually a joy to play in again. Unexpected but definitely a good benefit.
Breathing 10 out of 10
We both tilt our helmets pretty low and a lot of visors get in front of your mouth making breathing a problem. We found that we had the same opinion as Greg from ECD, the visors stayed away from our mouths and didn’t prohibit breathing in the least. As I said before in the heat if anything it helped with breathing but cutting the heat back a bit.
Light Protection 10 out of 10
For anyone who’s ever owned a good pair of high end sunglasses the SHOC visor will feel familiar. I compare it to my Oakley Flak Jacket glasses in that the light was flattened but my visor was completely unimpaired. The sun can be near direct and I can still break the ball away from the background, no more losing the ball in the sun for me.
Durability 10 out of 10
I’ve pulled the visor in and out of the helmet a lot to check this and I haven’t noticed any scratched or dings in the visor. It holds up awesome and wont let you down. Also all of the visors have warranties through SHOC so they stand by the product.
Overall 10 out of 10
This is the first visor I’ve ever tried and liked. I highly recommend them. For more info and a inside view with my GoPro check out the video review.
