Revision Eyewear

Revision Eyewear designs, develops, and manufactures ballistic protective eyewear for military and tactical clients.

Background

In February 2001, Revision Eyewear was founded in Montreal, Canada, as a performance eyewear company that catered to the sporting market. In September 2003, the company was awarded a multi-million dollar contract to provide 80,000 pairs of Sawfly® ballistic protective eyewear to the Canadian Department of National Defense (DND). Later in 2004 the DND increased the order to 110,000 pairs. According to a May 2005 Revision Eyewear press release the contract was completed with the provision that Revision supplies the DND with up to 50,000 additional units over the next 5 years¹.

In October 2004, Revision Eyewear established its first U.S. branch of operations when it opened a new facility in Williston, Vermont.

Revision continued their business relationship with the Canadian DND and in 2005 they asked Revision to develop a ballistic visor for their soldiers². Revision Eyewear completed their development on their first optically correct ballistic visor in December 2006.

In August 2006 Revision Eyewear completed their first contract with the U.S. Army. The contract required Revision to supply 104,000 units of Sawfly glasses to U.S. soldiers. In February 2007, Revision marked their fifth anniversary with two of their largest contracts; the U.S. Army commissioned the company to supply 85,000 set of Desert Locust ballistic goggles and an additional 178,000 Sawfly eyewear³.

Revision has continued their relationship with the U.S. Army, and as of April 2010, has delivered over 2.5 million sets of ballistic eye protection for their Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI), basic training, and unit-level needs. The Revision Sawfly Eyewear System and the Desert Locust® Goggle are both on the U.S. Army’s Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL). Both pairs of eyewear have been used by various military units including the 82nd Airborne, 10th Mountain, 101st Airborne, 10th Special Forces, 5th Special Forces and 4th Infantry Division.

This new milestone once again required Revision to expand their operations. In August 2007 Revision Eyewear moved its U.S.-based operations to its current facility in Essex Junction, VT.

Revision has been working to expand globally. According to company press releases they have established sales offices in England and Germany, which has helped them to promote their products to audiences in approximately 50 countries4. In the past, Revision Eyewear has worked on contracts for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Netherlands Defence Materiel Organization, the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, the Belgian Ministry of Defence and the UK Ministry of Defence.

Facilities

Revision Eyewear employs 200 people and is co-located in Essex Junction, Vermont and Montreal, Canada with international sales offices in London, England and Brueggen, Germany.

US Operations Headquarters (Essex Junction, Vermont, USA) Since opening a US facility in September 2004, Revision relocated in August 2007 to its current Essex Junction Headquarters. In summer 2008, Revision invested in an class 1,000 clean room for ballistic-grade, optical quality lens production. The operation is designed to run 24/7, and is capable of producing millions of lenses annually.

According to the company, engineering, manufacturing, assembly, quality inspection, warehousing, order processing, shipping, customer service, finance, administration, U.S. sales, and marketing are undertaken at the Vermont facility.

U.S. Army Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL)

Revision’s Sawfly Spectacle and Desert Locust Goggle are on the U.S. Army’s Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL). This is a list of ballistic eyewear that has been approved for combat use by the U.S. Army and Air Force. Also on the APEL list is the Revision Rx Carrier, a prescription insert that is compatible with both the Sawfly Spectacle and Desert Locust Goggle9.

References

¹Revision Eyewear. “Revision Eyewear Concludes Canadian Department of National Defence Fulfillment.” Army-Technology.com. May 5, 2005 http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/personal/revision/press4.html.

²National Defence and the Canadian Forces. “National Defence Awards Ballistic Protective Visor Contract.” Forces.gc.ca. May 11, 2004 http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/news-nouvelles/news-nouvelles-eng.asp?cat=00&id=1380

³Lowe, Mark. “Revision Eyewear Marks Fifth Anniversary By Announcing Two Major Contracts With the US Army.” Revisioneyewear.com. February 27, 2007. http://www.revisioneyewear.com/upload/files/NEWSRELEASE_270207C.pdf

⁴Revision Eyewear. “Revision Eyewear Establishes German Sales Office.” Revisioneyewear.com. March 13, 2009. http://www.revisioneyewear.com/upload/files/NEWSRELEASE_130309.pdf

⁵Heiting, Gary. Safety Glasses and Goggles: Protective Eyewear for Work, Home and Play. Allaboutvision.com. May 2008. http://www.allaboutvision.com/safety/safety-glasses.htm

⁶Safety Specs. “Prescription Safety Eyewear: British Standards (European Standard EN 166- specifications/markings). Safetyspecs.co.uk. 2007. http://www.safetyspecs.co.uk/BS%20EN%20166.htm

⁷Safety Glasses USA. MIL-PRF-31013 Summary. Safetyglassesusa.com. 2010. http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/milprf31013.html

⁸Gullifer, Kathleen. Detail Specification Visors, Flyer’s Helmet, Polycarbonate. Everyspec.com. October 12, 2006. http://www.everyspec.com/MIL-SPECS/MIL+SPECS+(MIL-DTL)/download.php?spec=MIL-DTL-43511D.015101.PDF

⁹Preston, Kenneth. “Leader Book Notes- Authorized Protective Eyewear List.” Army.mil. June 20, 2008. http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/06/20/10229-leaders-book-notes---authorized-protective-eyewear-list/