Sisu gum shields.

Looks interesting. Available in white... also available on ebay, for slightly more than on amazon (£3 postage rather than free).

Also available direct from amazing skates for inbetween the two (£2.50 postage) : http://shop.amazingskates.co.uk/amazing ... 1101-p.asp

Shame it only protects the top teeth, one of my teeth that has been shot out was a lower one! However, it should protect my upper teeth better than the guard I have been using.

Crikey, that's dear!

As an experiment I bought two different gum shields a while back as I had lost my old one somewhere. Neither were dear and both were mouldable - one covered both upper and lower teeth and had a slot to breath through. Hated them and discarded straight away. The other was a £3 upper guard in transparent plastic. Very mouldable and took three heating/moulding cycles to get a perfect fit. However, I just couldn't have them in for more than a few seconds, the gag reflex was so strong. I don't understand why this is as the thing is nowhere near the back of the throat! Anyway, the solution was easy enough - keep paring away material with scissors from the back and roof until gagging stops. Plenty of material left to be secure and cover the exposed front teeth and a perfect fit requiring persuasion to remove.

I used it at Pavlov's (wouldn't normally bother but in light of events at venue previously) with no problems. Had to remove it to speak though - a blathering sound - like suffering from the effects of dental anaesthetic. Otherwise no probs. Ever though I didn't have a single shot to the mouth area all day.

I cut down my mouth guard too. I just slobber like a great big dog otherwise.

Cheers
Martin

But that's the point, you don't slobber, it doesn't drop down, you don't look like you've done 12 rounds with Mike Tyson or had a Leslie Ash and you can talk and be understood..
I will be using it at Crete so people can have a look then and see what they think, but after having lost a front tooth already to our beloved hobby, I am sold on these.. When they reform to the shape of your teeth and set, they are very rigid.. Like Kevlar..

Well I've taken your word for it and bought one, been thinking about them for a while now and if it's as good as you say, it's better than paying ten times in dentistry bills. The real test will be to see how it handles my crooked teeth

ive tried and hated having the shields in, having to take them out all the time to talk and i kept salivating. i tend to wear a scarf now and if its going to be a bit close up i just tuck it above my mouth

My sisu 2.4 gumshield arrived on Saturday. I got it direct from amazing skates which were cheaper than getting it through amazon or ebay (which came from amazing skates anyway). The delivery was super fast as I'd only ordered it late on Friday. I ordered the snow white version so it wouldn't show so much in-game.

First impressions: this is one tough gum-shield!

The gum shield is very hard to the touch with very little bend to it. When placed in hot water it goes transparent and when fully transparent comes out very floppy and perfect for fitting to your teeth. The instructions cover clearly how to fit it and after a few minutes of it in your mouth it is back to being opaque white and is solid as a rock...

This is where the one concern comes in... It is VERY solid and if you fit it properly it is VERY tight on your teeth. The lack of bend in the mouth guard actually makes it a real effort to take it off! Rather concerning when you have a rebuilt tooth like mine!

So I thought I'd see about getting a looser fit. I put the gumshield back in the warm water and it immediately returned to it's transparent state and flattened out. I then tried fitting it more loosely by moving my teeth around as it cooled and not sucking (the instructions say to suck)...

This produced a mouthguard that wouldn't stay in at all... So back it went into the hot water and I tried the original approach again... with the same results as the first time.

So I have a very, very close fitting mouthguard... There's no way it will come out and I can talk and drink with it in. I probably could eat with it in as well, but I would get bits of food stuck in it. This is not a mouthguard I'd be taking out to talk with in, it takes both hands and about a minute of careful pulling to get it out.

However it is tough as nails. I'd me amazed if a bb could do any damage to my teeth whilst it is in. 2.4mm is a lot thicker than you think...

So in conclusion for the upcoming Crete game I won't be wearing it when outside, but should we get to go inside the buildings at the site I will be seriously considering putting it in.

Oh, one thing to note... this only protects the top teeth.... my bottom teeth feel naked... which is a worry, especially when you consider that one of the teeth I've had shot out was a bottom one...

Oh, one thing to note... this only protects the top teeth.... my bottom teeth feel naked... which is a worry, especially when you consider that one of the teeth I've had shot out was a bottom one...

Questions arising:
Would it be possible to buy a second and fit it to the lower jaw?
Also, did you ever have a gagging reflex with normal silicone rubber gumshields? Have you had such a problem with the new one? Does it reach as far back as rubber ones?

It might be possible to buy a second one to fit the lower jaw. But you'd probably not be able to close your mouth... not sure...

I've had no gagging reflex with any gum shield so far. This one didn't completely cover the rear teeth...

An update...

I used the SISU 2.4 gum shield during the afternoon fighting at the Crete game on Saturday.

There was the usual discomfort/pain when I put it in initially, but this subsided after a few minutes and I soon almost forgot I had it in. My speech was only slightly impaired and I carried on wearing it until endex.

I didn't get hit in the face at all during the fighting so cannot comment on the effectiveness of the gum shield.

I will certainly be using it again though!

Ditto..!

I know the states has higher fps but this is a video which might prove informative on this kind of gum shield.

[youtube2]gCGwl-IGu0k[/youtube2]

Currently I'm still just going with a half mask, but on the trying to get something that would fit in with WW2 dress I'm starting to experiment with things I could make lower profile face masks out of that could sit behind a scrim scarf or something, I've got an 8" square of chainmail heading my way in the post as part if that testing.

In Finland we have similar, higher FPS limits (1.6J for automatics [~410fps 0.2g], 2.25J for semis [~490fps 0.2g] and 3J for bolties [~570fps 0.2g]). Alot people here use gumshields, my self included (don't like the whole Darth Vader look), and I have never even heard about someone getting a chipped tooth while using a gumshield. The video did make note of the material not being as strong as teeth, so what's the point of the experiment really?

I think the point was mostly to show the difference between these "slimline" gum shields, the larger "bite and mould" ones and a specially made dental one.

Certainly it appeared that the slimline one was letting more of the impact through but the larger ones would be difficult to wear on both upper and lower teeth together.

It would probably protect well from glancing blows which would be likely to take small chips off the edges but a solid hit could still weaken the tooth, then there is higher fps to consider.

Also for me his point about soft tissue is important too, having seen a video of a guy having to remove a BB embedded in his lip after a close range incident I'd rather not run the risk of seeing how that feels.

The video isn't a "don't get these they are rubbish" video, just giving more information really.

Currently I'm still just going with a half mask, but on the trying to get something that would fit in with WW2 dress I'm starting to experiment with things I could make lower profile face masks out of that could sit behind a scrim scarf or something, I've got an 8" square of chainmail heading my way in the post as part if that testing.

This is pretty much exactly what I did, and for the same reasons.

I usually wore a 'snood' as lower face protection, but it was always very obvious that the protection this afforded me was a hair next to bugger all in the teeth department. So, I cannibalised a square of steel mesh from an old mesh mask I had lying around, sewed some cloth to the backside of the mesh to make it more comfortable when pressed against my mouth, then sewed the completed piece onto the inside rim of the snood. Then, it just gets worn as normal with the mesh part positioned over my mouth. As its mesh, I can breathe through it fairly easy, and it can be quickly pulled down out of the way if I want to take a swig from the water bottle or talk more clearly to teammates.

It's not perfect by any means - the snood can be uncomfortable to wear in very hot weather for long periods of time, and I'm unsure how it would work with a buckled helmet - and it's no more accurate in a WW2 impression than a full- or half-face mask, but it certainly looks more the part and is far more convenient.

Yeah I mean as far as being accurate goes I'm sure some soldier somewhere must have pulled his scarf up to cover his mouth and nose from all the dust, dirt and smells of the battlefield.

The chainmail was a bust because I'd forgotten that when not draped over a large area to distribute the weight that stuff is far heavier than it looks.

Mesh would be the easiest but I was wanting a little more flexibility so considering making some small pieces of scale armour out of moderately thick plasticard or just stitching small squares of the stuff along a piece along some fabric.

My nearest site requires full face, and full seal goggles if using goggles/half mask. So might try to make some small bits of leather to put round the rims of my ESS goggles to make them atleast seem a bit more period too along the lines of the various desert, snow, dust and tanker goggles.

And I need a hat, cause the other day I got 4 rounds stitched across my forehead, not that painful but I look like a right erse.

One other option would be to fit a gas mask with protective lenses and use it without the filter