By David Crane
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A company called Numa Sport Optics is manufacturing and marketing a line of tactical eyewear called Numa Tactical, the purpose of which is to provide military and law enforcement (LE) tactical operators with eyewear that’s resilient and rugged enough to withstand combat operations. The key to this is Numa Tactical eyewear’s lightweight, indestructable-seeming Swiss-developed Swiss FlexFrame a.k.a. MemFibr FlexFrame “smash-proof” frame that can be bent in extreme fashion to the point that it’s virtually “unbreakable”.

When we spoke with JB, President/CEO of Numa Tactical, he told us that they are using the best-quality polycarbonate lenses with perfect optical clarity that are tapered for zero distortion. He also told us that the lenses also now have an anti-fog coating on front and back of the lens.

According to the Numa Tactical website, all models are wraparound style with “anti-fog venting, no-slip-grip-rubber temple/nose pads, perfect distortion-free ocular clarity, impact- and scratch-resistant lenses, 100% UV400 protection, and interchangeable lens options to suit every condition.” All Numa Tactical models now have ANSI Z87.1-compliant ballistic lenses for optimum protection against frontal impacts.

DefenseReview has been wearing the Numa Tactical Lo-Pro 204-01 model glass that we obtained at SHOT Show 2008. This glass is exceptionally lightweight and very comfortable to wear. We’ve used them for several shooting sessions, and can attest to their excellent optical clarity. They performed very well.

Defense Review will be adding photos of newer Point 301-01 model glass to this article shortly, so check back in to see those. The Point 301-01 model has a deeper lens groove so the lens can’t get knocked out (rearward) from a frontal impact. This aspect, combined with Z87.1 lens, offers the wearer the highest level of ballistic (a.k.a. anti-ballistic) protection available.

USASOC MAGAZINE, VOL 3, ISSUE 1, pp. 41-54
http://www.officialusasocmagazine.com/U.S.A.S.O.C.%2013th%20Issue.pdf

Reviews: Numa Optics “Point” Tac-Sunglasses

In our last issue, we reviewed a pair of ESS goggles—how about we switch it up and go to the other end of the tactical-eyewear spectrum and look at a new, upcoming eyewear manufacturer—Numa Sport Optics—and their new model of their ballistic series tactical-sunglasses – the “Point.”

First off, I’d like to thank Numa Sport Optics (http://www.numa-optics.com) for sending us the “Point” for a review. They are a bright up-and-coming tactical and outdoors’ sunglasses manufacturer, and it doesn’t hurt that the owner—JB—was a former Scout/Sniper in the Israel Special Forces; plus they are the official eyewear of some of the biggest outdoors adventure races, triathlon teams, etc; but enough of that—let’s get into the review of the “Point.”

First Impression:

With airsoft in transition from only allowing tactical-goggles for required eyewear, to the point where the sport is now allowing a more “user’s preference—as long as it’s either ‘full-sealing’ for goggles or ‘wrap-around’ for tactical sunglasses”, I was quite interested to see how Numa’s new model would hold up. Of course, as with many airsofters, military operators, contractors, law enforcement members, etc out there, I’ve used other brands (Oakley, ESS, etc), but I was curious to see what Numa was bringing to the table. With a decent price range, compared to some of the other companies, and the technology they use for their glasses—Swiss FlexFrame™, the smash-proof frame material from Switzerland—I was glad when the box from Numa appeared on my door-steps.

When you open up the packaging, you are greeted to a very nicely designed box that contains the glasses; with an orange/grey color scheme, it is definitely eye-catching, and I couldn’t wait to see what was inside the box. Upon sliding the cover off, you view a sleek sunglasses’ case with “Numa Sport Optics” printed on the top. Once you open the case, you see the “Point” in a protective sunglasses’ cloth case. Overall, the initial impression is a positive lasting one—A+ Numa. You also receive a sticker inside saying, “WARNING—NOT FRAGILE.” We are about to find out if that’s true, aren’t we. 

Looks & Features:

The “Point” tactical-sunglasses model has a very aggressive, edgy design to it—with sleek curves, a nice paint scheme, and smoky-colored lenses. “NUMA” is printed on both the left and right sides of the frames, near the hinge points. On the inside, right location of the frame, there is more lettering—“z87 NumaOptics.com 100% UV Protection”; likewise, on the inside, left location of the frame, more lettering is printed on the frame—“Point 301-01 z87 Swiss Flex Frame Formula 1.” There are also two small logos of Numa’s on the top edges of the lenses as well.

Speaking of the frame, let’s take a bit closer look on it; one thing that I liked about Numa’s “Point” model, and their other models, is that in their catalog and on their website, they list out what models fit different individual’s facial structures. For those of you who are into sunglasses, we all know that certain styles of frames and how they are curved/etc are very important—especially is you are paying a large sum of money for a pair. The “Point” is modeled for the “small-medium” face structures (i.e. mine, thankfully).

Like I stated early, the frames have an aggressive, stealth look going on with them—they scream “badass” when you look at them closely. The rear of the frames, the part that will rest on or around the top of your ears, has a curved design to them; also, on the outside of the rear of the frames, there is a little rubber insert piece—just adds to the look of the glasses. About a third of the way into the front portion (near the hinge location) of the frames, on either side, there is a dip in the frame, adding to the “lines” of the glasses; the frames also has a built-in nose-rest.

One of the primary reasons that Numa has been making a name for themselves in the outdoors (both regular and extreme sports) and tactical arenas is because of their Swiss FlexFrame™ material that they use in their frames. Basically, and this is straight from Numa, the frames are virtually unbreakable. You’ll see in our testing section later why we agree with them on this; you can do just about anything to the frames—bend, smash, crumple—they just jump back to their original shape. Now, the lenses might pop out, or depending on how bad they hit the ground, might scratch, though. The advantage of Numa’s products over buying tactical sunglasses from another company is that you don’t have to worry about the frame getting destroyed. You might need to buy new lenses, but that’s about it; is there anything saying that other brands’ models will break in harsh conditions? No, but you have a smaller chance of your frames getting destroyed with the technology Numa’s uses.

Let’s talk about the lenses—the model that we got had a smoky/dark grey color; one thing Numa likes to talk about with the “Point’s” lenses is that they exceed ANSI Z87.1 high velocity impact standards. Although the model we received to review was the standard black frame with smoky lenses, Numa has also stated that they plan to have three other primary lenses: clear, orange, and photochromic (clear-to-grey transition lenses). Also, if all goes well, they are hoping to offer the “Point” in two setups—one as photochromic and one as a “three-lens” kit; included in the “three-lens” kit will be: smoky, mandarin, and clear lenses.

Comfort & Testing:

Alright—two other very important factors when trying to decide on sunglasses are: are they comfortable to wear and use in all circumstances, and how well do they measure up to the standards their manufacturer says they achieve?

First off, let’s talk about the comfort-factor. When I placed these tactical glasses on, they instantly conformed to my head; this is what I was hoping for because when it comes to the tactical-realm, for me, I prefer the feeling of a “non-glasses” sense. This means that for whatever eyewear I’m wearing, I want the eyewear to “become one with my head.” I know some of you are laughing out there, but the more in-tune the tactical glasses, or goggles for that matter, are with my facial structure, they easier it is for me to acquire a target, lock onto that target, and get a good bead on that target—just as if I had no eyewear on. The frames fit right against your head and are an ease to work with.

One thing I do not like about the “Point” model is that it is the hardest pair of sunglasses, that I have ever used, to keep on my head when not in use. Every time I’ve placed them on the top of my head, they’ve fallen off. Now, I have shorter hair so I’m sure individuals with longer hair, or a hat on, the glasses would stay on just fine; but it is one thing I’ll say negative about the “Point.”

Finally - what everyone has been waiting for—the testing. Let me explain a little bit about my testing procedures for sunglasses of all types. I have my own testing procedure for them as I’m an avid collector and user of sunglasses; not only that, but I’m an avid outdoors type of person—whether that be hiking and camping, my daily workout routines, runs, biking, etc. Basically, I’m an outdoors kind of guy. 

With that said, the way I test glasses are, simply, by taking them on my different outdoors activities and by taking them to the max on the airsoft field, putting the glasses through all the normal paces of an modern airsofter; I push the glasses to the limit by trying to go past the standards that the manufacturer says they will hold true to. I, also, want to see how they measure up on the comfort level after wearing them for an extended period of time; how do the lenses do in hot weather, and when you’re sweating like a pig, will the lenses fog up or not? How do the lenses do for limiting my vision, and how do they rank up when the sun is in your face? How well do they do while running, shooting, etc? For the tactical safety aspect, how will the lenses hold up once I shoot them with a direct hit? And just for fun and the hell of it, how will the frames and lenses hold up after I drive over them with my truck? Numa did say they were “virtually unbreakable” so I wanted to see if that was true or not. 

Let’s start with the comfort level first; while on some of my weekend hikes here in New England, not once did I get tired of wearing the “Point” model. To be truthful, after about twenty-minutes, I forgot I even had them on. The time I did start to notice them, again, was when I began to sweat, which brings me into my next topic—the lenses and how they perform.
Numa states that the lenses are “anti-fog.” If I had a dollar for every-time I heard a tactical eyewear company say that about their different models, I’d be a very rich man; but nonetheless, I was still hoping for the best with the “Point” and its lenses. Believe it or not, the lenses actually stay “anti-fog” about 95% of the time. While on my weekly runs and/or bike rides (which, people, aren’t a “run-around-the-block” runs; I’m talking about anywhere from three-to-eight mile runs to twenty mile runs, five+ days a week; for the biking realm, it would be in the twenty-to-fifty miles range.), they held up perfectly—at key moments, the lenses did start to fog, but they ended up going back to their normal state within a minute or two. The 5% they did get foggy was when I slowed down once my run/bike ride was completed. This was a big plus in my book for Numa and the “Point”, and it should be for all of you too. Why? Because on many of those runs, it was high 80s-to-90s with 80-100% humidity outside. If the lenses can stay ‘anti-fog” during those conditions 95% of the time, then they should hold up just fine when you have all your gear on and whatnot, and you’re in the field. 

Also, have you ever been wearing goggles or sunglasses, and you begin to sweat. Then, all of a sudden, you see drips of your sweat on the lenses? Well, fortunately, I didn’t experience that with the “Point” model. Believe me—I have large, heavy eyebrows that led to more sweat in my eyes then I care for—the “Point’s” frame allows the sweat to just sit on top of the frame and not run down onto the lenses—another good feature. “
Do they limit your field of vision? No—as with other “large-lenses” models from other companies, the lenses on the “Point” acted just as I wanted them to—they didn’t narrow my field of vision at all; I could see just about everywhere I would normally see as if I didn’t have the glasses on (i.e. they allow for good peripheral vision).

The lenses have a nice dark coating to them to reflex the sun when it’s right in your eyes. I’ve noticed that, although they are a bit dark, on the sunny days, these are the lenses you want to use.

As I said before—the frames are made out of the Swiss material—Swiss FlexFrame™ - which allows you to bend, twist, and mold the frame into any shape, and it won’t break. The worst it’ll do is pop out the lenses, but you can get those back in with a little bit of work. We tried to do everything to the frames—throw them, drop them, step on them, bend them, hit them, etc. Nothing breaks these frames from all the tests that we’ve tried—sure, there are some cosmetic scratches, but the structural-integrity of the frames are still intact—well done Numa.

Our final “structural” test was the one we were waiting to do for a long time—drive over them. When any company says something is just about “unbreakable”, send a sample to us (or preferably me hehehe) because I love to try to destroy things and prove the company wrong; and most of the time, I’m successful.

Anyhow, what we did for the test was this: place the glasses in their protective cloth (to protect the lenses—being that this was a demonstration, we wanted to try to preserve the lenses if at all possible. We understand in real life, the lenses would be screwed, and you’d need to buy a new pair.), place them on a gravel drive-way, and then drive a truck (Ford F-250 Crew Cab) over them. If a truck like that could run over the “Point”, and it still can measure up to its “unbreakable” status, I would be sold on them 110%.

The first test went fantastic—see the video below. The lenses did just as they were stated to do: bend, twist, etc, but not break. As you can see, other then a little scratch here and there on the lenses and maybe the frames, there is NO damage whatsoever. You can just place the glasses on your head, and it would be hard for a stranger to know that they were just run over with a truck on a gravel surface.

We did a second test, because anything worth being doing once, is worth being done twice—at least for testing purposes anyways. Plus, that and the fact that my guys and I were pretty pumped after we ran them over, and they were still good to go. We had to try at least one more time to break the “Point”, and we were “successful.” Yet hear me out on what “broke”—the hinge point where the screw attaches the left side of the frame to the center piece of the frame (see photo below). The actual frames still DID NOT break! Sure, you would need to take out that screw, possibly get a new one from Numa—which they offer, and then put the screw back in. That’s it—seriously; you won’t have to go out and buy a new pair of sunglasses at $150+ because your frames got smashed. Granted, you may need a new pair of lenses as well, as we did, because of the scratching, but in the grand scheme of things—that “ain’t” too bad. My team and I couldn’t believe how impact-resistant the “Point” is—Numa has their hands on some incredible technology and some awesome tactical/outdoors sunglasses—another A+ in our book. 

Lastly—how well do they hold up when you shoot directly at the lenses? Fantastic—just as you would hope them to, if not better. We did a couple of tests, as eye-safety is the most important personal safety factor when it comes to our sport. First up, we shot directly at the lenses from fifty feet away—we figured that was a good, decent mid-range that someone might get hit by—with an AEG that was shooting around 350+ FPS. Not one dent, scratch, mark, etc was shown on the lenses after being shot. As our confidence in the glasses improved, we got closer—twenty-five feet. Again, great results—a little mark, but nothing serious. Lastly, we tried from ten feet away—the worst case scenario that we thought (anything closer then twenty-five fit is a bit dangerous; I know CQB means close-quarters’ shooting, but a direct hit to your lenses from that distance or closer—it’s a bit aggressive on the shooter’s part considering this is a sport.). Anyways, we did the test, and there was a little bit more of a mark on the lenses, but again, nothing major at all. This was one of the most, if not the most, important test for these Numa glasses, and they passed.

Pros:

The following is what I enjoyed about Numa Optics’ “Point” model:

• Its price—coming in around $90+/- USD for the three-lenses kit is a great price for all the features you get. Don’t quote us on this, but the single-lenses version would be around $90+/- USD.
• The Swiss FlexFrame™ material that the frame is made out of—being that it’s virtually indestructible, you’ll be very happy that when you do drop these glasses, or something else happens to them, the frames are still good to go.
• The sunglasses hard and cloth case—always great that you don’t have to buy a case just to protect your glasses; with the “Point”, it’s all included.
• The 95% of the time “anti-fog” lenses; also, how they deflect the sun’s rays, exceed the Z87.1 high velocity impact standard, allow for almost complete “non-glasses” vision, and the color—smoky grayish. Also, the other lenses’ colors Numa plans to have out (clear, orange, and photochromic).
• The aggressive design of the frame and how it conforms to your face.
• The fact, that even with heavy eyebrows, the sweat doesn’t run down the lenses and distort your vision.
• The comfortability of wearing the glasses over an extended period of time.
• How durable the frames are—even after being run over by a truck.
• They come with a No-Questions-Asked Lifetime Warranty. Processing fee is $30 and covers shipping and handling, and Numa doesn’t care if you ran over the glasses with your truck or if your dog chewed them up—you’re covered.

Cons:

The following is what I did not like about Numa Optics’ “Point” model:

• Not staying securely on top of my head when I did not want to wear them on my face.

Conclusion:

Am I a Numa Optics fan, and would I recommend these glasses to you; first off, yes, I’m now a Numa Optics fan—I’m looking forward to testing out some of their other models in the future; also, they are now my primary active outdoors and tactical sunglasses manufacturer. I’ve always been one for trying, and liking, newer and smaller companies compared to the “well-known” name companies. On the other hand, as I’ve always said, “If something works, use it” (i.e. there is nothing wrong with the other brands’ models if they work for you); second, yes, I’d highly recommend this glasses as both a tactical and “every-day” sunglasses model.

Now, the “Point” does have it flaws, but so does every other regular and tactical piece of eyewear out there. I foresee Numa rising to the ranks of the other high-end tactical and outdoors eyewear companies out there, and it was a pleasure to review the “Point.” Also—if you liked the “Point” from what you’ve read, seen, etc, I’ve got some more good news. The model will be out, ready to buy, in time for the upcoming Holiday season. I’d, again, like to thank Numa Optics for allowing us the chance to review this particular model, and to all of our readers, be sure to check them and their models out at—http://www.numa-optics.com.