Hide Your Eyes: Oakley’s Cerakote Custom Camo Eyewear
Russ Chastain 07.30.14
If you love military camo and you love Oakley glasses, get ready to get happy.
Oakley’s Standard Issue (SI) division has released a highly customized, handcrafted line of camouflage eyewear made using Cerakote. That’s right, it’s the same Cerakote ceramic finish used on firearms, and they’re putting it on Oakley eyeglass frames. It’s called SI Fuel Cell Ultrablend.
It all began when someone took note of how modern-day soldiers are creating unique camouflage patterns on their guns and other gear using spray paint and laundry netting (and apparently taught in chapter 1 of the Army Field Manual 21-75). Oakley decided to use the same methods to create one-of-a-kind, limited-edition eyewear with a highly durable Cerakote finish.
Each set of frames is first sandblasted to create a textured surface to which the Cerakote can adhere. Then a base coat of Cerakote is applied, followed by a custom application (by hand) using two different netting patterns and multiple colors of Cerakote Generation II Firearm Coating. After that, they get baked in a high-temp oven to cure the Cerakote into a durable, scratch-resistant coating.
Lenses are High Definition Optics® (HDO) lenses, and these glasses meet or exceed ANSI Z87.1 impact protection standards.
It’s no surprise that these glasses are made with the military in mind; Oakley SI has spent more than two decades working with the United States military “to develop new technologies that improve the safety, performance, and comfort of tactical eyewear.”
SI Fuel Cell Ultrablend™ glasses are available in black or desert color patterns and should be available now at OakleySI.com.
