Lenses, sunglasses, and eyewear can all be compromised by dust, natural oils, and even mud or dirt, regardless of their quality. These contaminants can hinder your performance whenever you’re out on a mission by blocking your field of vision. But, there is a solution to this problem with the Oakley Lens Cleaning Kit. Specially designed by Oakley, the kit helps bring your eyewear to the ultimate level of clarity without sacrificing the performance lens coating.
About the Brand
Oakley is one of the leading brands in lens manufacturing. Recognized for its superior craftsmanship and sleek/modern style of sunglasses and eyewear, Oakley continues to impress with its products. Military members, especially, love the brand due to its quality and durability. To this day, it’s one of the most commonly seen brands in the Armed Forces.
Review of Materials and Construction
The Oakley Lens Cleaning Kit comes packed inside a 6.9 x 2.5 x 1.7-inch box that weighs approximately 3 ounces. Inside the package you’ll find three separate items:
Ballistic Nylon Carrying Case
Surprisingly durable and light, this tough guy is small enough to fit in your pocket and strong enough to withstand the travel from the post office to a naval military vessel with no problem. Ballistic nylon products tend to be used for heavy duties, and this carrying case meets all those same expectations.
Wiping Cloth
A streak-free cloth with a beautiful, patriotic look is designed to fit nicely around the spray bottle. Additionally, it’s hard to rip, unless you directly take something sharp to it. Generally, you would need a decent amount of force to rip or tear the fabric apart, which makes it incredibly durable while you’re in the field.
Pump Atomizer Spray Bottle
The Pump Atomizer Spray is designed to protect and clean your lenses after delivering a controlled dosage to your lens. The bottle is about the size of a regular pen and fits well into the carrying case (especially when wrapped in the wiping cloth). As a testament to the durability of the cleaning kit, it survived a trip to the middle of the Pacific Ocean without leaking a single drop. The product itself is similar to many others on the market, and while the quantity seems small, the company does offer free refills at available retailers near you.
Oakley Lens Cleaning Kit Features
Right off the bat, there are quite a few key features that are marketed heavily for this cleaning kit:
Coating Proof
The Oakley brand sunglasses/lenses have their own special coating applied during manufacture, and the Pump Atomizer Spray is specifically designed to not damage or remove this coating.
Ease of Use
Just spray one dose of the Pump Atomizer Spray, wipe the lenses, and you’re done. The instructions are on the back of the case, in case there is any doubt about how to use it.
Protective Coating
Not only is the Pump Atomizer Spray a cleaning agent, but it also provides an effective additional coating to protect against Ultraviolet rays and dust/dirt that might stick to your glasses.
Ease of Travel
The carrying case makes taking this cleaning kit on the road with you a breeze. The case will fit fairly well within any regular pants or uniform pockets, and it’s sturdy enough to avoid any potential premature spraying while stored inside. When the package arrived at the ship, the box was dinged and banged up fairly bad, but none of the contents inside had spilled or broken. Additionally, traveling with large containers of liquid is forbidden by most airlines, but this bottle is just small enough that airlines might allow it to slide by with minimal issues.
Oakley Lens Cleaning Kit Performance
Product testing results of the Lens Cleaning Kit were slightly mixed. The instructions on the back of the box claim that it is formulated to clear dust and other types of foreign particles. So we decided to put it to a test with some common and some not-so-common materials that one might expect to have to remove from glasses during normal use. The following samples were rubbed on the lens of a non-Oakley brand pair of glasses: a dab of toothpaste, hand sanitizer, the natural oily residue of a finger, and a dash of dust that had accumulated in a nearby corner of the room.
Following the instructions, both lenses were sprayed in the initial dust particle test and the results were excellent! The glasses were crystal clear and clean of any potential contaminants (aside from some old paint smudges that have long since cemented themselves in there).
In that regard, it worked as expected by doing exactly what the product claimed it would do. The sheen of the lens was magnificent and left a good impression on those who observed the procedure. However, when testing the same process with the toothpaste, the results were a bit different.
Trying to wipe it off after a single spray only left a smudge, and while the area around the dab was crystal clear, it took some vigorous rubbing to eliminate the stain altogether. This contradicts the instructions that read “wipe gently after applying spray.” Instead, in order to clean it off, we had to spend a solid minute wiping the lens before it was completely eradicated.
While it’s true that spraying toothpaste on eyeglasses is a rare occurrence, it does help gauge the effectiveness of the product. Oakley’s Lens Cleaning Kit is used mostly for dirt and grime that accumulates during day-to-day use, and it works perfectly in that regard.
For the lens on the right, the alcohol-based solution does not appear to be sticking to the lens, and it was applied after using the formula to clean the dust/fingerprints particles in the first test. What actually ended up happening was that when wiped clean, the disinfectant came right off.
Overall, my experience with the Oakley Lens Cleaning Kit was good and met my expectations of an excellent cleaning solvent for eyewear.
Target Audience
The target audience for the Oakley’s Lens Cleaning Kit can be considered unisex, and the product is primarily aimed at regular users of the brand. This is because the product is catered towards the special manufacturing and protective measures that are readily available in all Oakley products. However, the design of the cloth just screams patriotism and red-blooded Americanism; it’s clearly meant to resonate with patriotic Americans who love their country.
Value
Oakley’s Lens Cleaning Kit retails at $15.00, which is comparable to other products on the market. However, if you’re a fan of the Oakley brand and regularly purchase or use its products, it’s definitely worth the price over alternatively priced products.
You also have to consider the fact that some authorized retailers do offer free refills of the Pump Atomizer, and the durability of the carrying case is excellent. Additionally, due to the fact that the kit is designed with Oakleys in mind, your products will not suffer any potential deterioration.
Star Rating
Review Synopsis
Durable, sleek, fashionable, and portable, the Oakley’s Lens Cleaning Kit is a great purchase for any fan of the brand, and still a solid one for anyone who is not.
Buy the Oakley Lens Cleaning Kit
Disclaimer: The content in this article is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of US Patriot Tactical.
