A CLEAR VISION

ACQUIRING AND MAINTAINING GOOD EYE PROTECTION HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE FIRST THING MANY OF US IN THE OLD GUARD WILL IMPRESS UPON ANY NEW PLAYER; YOU ONLY GET ONE SET OF EYES, AND THEY CAN’T BE REPLACED, UNLIKE TEETH, AS STEWBACCA WELL KNOWS! WITH THAT IN MIND HE’S BEEN ON A MISSION TO BRING THAT MESSAGE TO PLAYERS IN GENERAL, LEADING HIM TO KAM TACT, A TAIWANESE DOMESTIC SPECIALIST IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND APPLICATION BASED IN TAIPEI WHO ARE GAINING TRACTION WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND MILITARY USERS, AS WELL AS MANY RECREATIONAL SHOOTERS…

Having been at this nearly two decades at this point, I’ve not only seen some *very* close calls in terms of almost getting shot in the eye, or having BBs rebound off the surroundings or eye pro itself and into the eyes, as well as having a few near misses myself and hearing about others within the community losing eyes in unfortunate incidents.

I always try and impress upon anyone I play alongside, and especially those I personally introduce to the shooting sports, the importance of good quality eye protection, long before any ideas about ‘What am bestest gnu?’ (for you UK airsoft forum veterans) I make sure people are covering the essentials in terms of personal protective equipment.

Losing teeth is not fun, as I know myself, and having good boots with proper ankle support is also important… Again, ask me how I know…

Thankfully I have always had better luck with eye protection from the outset, having worked in industrial environments from an early age I’ve had it drilled into me (no pun intended!) about proper PPE in places where things might fly at you…and your eyes.

In the UK I quickly gravitated towards ESS ICE 2.4s after a few years of play and trying different things, and these remained my standard go-to even out here in Taiwan until I got introduced to KAM TACT and their products, which many of team Taiji make use of, as well as some of them and our lady in country ‘Military’ Anny cooperating with them for trade show work.

With that in mind, Anny and I made time to go and visit KAM, or Kuni Applied Materials, in their Sanchong office in the west end of Taipei/New Taipei City to have a sit down and catch up with their latest goings on.

KM is headed-up by Ricky Zhang, a graduate of Texas A&M University and specialist in chemical engineering, whose previous work included over a decade working with GE in advanced materials applications and promotion of their power generation systems prior to his moving into the automotive sector and dealing with the earliest applications of polymers in vehicle light fittings.

These changes in materials obviously offered massive weight savings over more traditional lensmatic glass fixtures, always a key consideration for vehicles and fuel efficiency, as well as rust imperviousness over metal components. But they also came with their own challenges, such as heat tolerance given the power output of the lights (the likes of fog light reflectors and lenses in particular have to deal with intense light and heat without deforming) as any change in shape would change the focus of the output light beams.

The arrival of the recession in Japan forced the hand of many industries to look inward and ‘cut the fat’ or flatten the hierarchy in terms of company structures as well as highlighting the need for diversification on the part of Taiwanese industry to avoid such dependence on their Japanese automotive market share.

With GE shifting their focus away from China and the Middle East, they eventually wound down Ricky’s entire department and he found himself out of a job in 2015.

All of these experiences lead him to found KAM TACT a month later, and he began looking into the use of plastics in vehicle roofing applications, again with transparency and weight reduction aspects in mind; with hundreds of kilograms of polymers already being made use of in vehicles as it is, further savings could be made as well as allowing for integration of pigments, functional materials or surface coatings at the moulding or manufacture stage rather than upon installation or completion. However, investment in this path was likewise wound down in the end and another avenue was closed.

Moving into the firearms and adjacent realm, KAM TACT then focused on the production of hybrid polymer components for real firearms, producing various AR & AK magazines as well as Glock frames which were able to retain 85% or more of their structural strength even in -40 degree environments.

Product Focussed

In the last twenty-five years Taiwan has become a powerhouse of glasses and general lens manufacturing, with many recognisable names having their frames and glass or polycarbonate lenses being OEM produced in Taiwan, with many worldwide taking an increasing concern as to where their products originate, branding and leveraging of Taiwan’s good standing and reputation as well as high technical capabilities and production quality (especially with the growth of Chinese copycats and their continued undercutting and race to the bottom with knock off or direct imitation products), especially when it comes to eye pro.

Thus KAM TACT sought to carve out a long-term and trusted branding within this growing industry space, focusing on the resilience and longevity of their individual products as well as their name. As a result of this they have developed a following even among those who already have eyewear solutions but are otherwise intrigued as to what new products KAM TACT are working on given their expertise.

KAM TACT’s eye protection solutions derived some inspiration from Armalite rifles, focusing on great longer term modularity, innovation with materials solutions, and developing an instantly recognisable profile and aesthetic as well as becoming a trusted industry standard.

The common frame geometry allows for an array of nine different lens types to be installed as well as coming in a vast range of colours, and customisable appearances, giving a very open ended or individualised potential for end users within their ecosystem. Similarly, larger contracts can be covered with a standardised frame and lens selection, decals or emblems for particular units or national flags on the frame edges or indeed packs that include a toughened carry case that allows for an assembled eyepro pair as well as a few lenses in separator sheaths to keep them protected from scratches - giving the end user options to suit different environments or mission profiles.

Some of the lenses make use of specialist pigmentation or treatments such as their earlier cadmium/amber style which are fairly common in the industry and help increase clarity or attention to details or movement in lower light or changing environments, while their more recent ‘cats eyes’ will give a similar or better performance in terms of light gathering and focus, without the typical associated eye strain and general fatigue some of the earlier amber lenses.

Newer products in the works look towards effective protection, not just ballistically but from laser radiation for those who work in industrial or military environments where prolonged laser exposure is a concern.

Other applications look to make use of PEEK or similar hardwearing and high-strength industrial polymers for fasteners to replace metallic ones which are more susceptible to corrosion in marine environments, thereby greatly reducing expensive and time consuming or difficult to effect maintenance in hard to reach or dangerous environments.

Once again, KAM TACT will be joining the upcoming bi-annual TADTE defence expo in Taipei, showcasing their latest efforts not only in eyepro, but in ballistic protection and military applications, with EOD-grade over shields which clip straight to the front of their standard ballistic glasses and offer a more accessible and less cumbersome option, which is more likely to get used compared to the extremely restrictive and heavy full face shield and helmet setups. This gives operators an in between of minimal and maximum protection, to give something more practical and easily deployable to at least increase their eye protection.

Ventures into modular helmet or body armour offerings join the developments on previous polymer replacement ideas for firearms, this time focusing on polymer cased ammunition for launchers in particular, as well as fire suppressant systems for civilian firefighting use, as well as inflatable lighting solutions for camping that are even long term submersible!

New Directions

Another product of interest we were shown was a polymer modernisation chassis kit for the venerable M14 system; these are still prevalent in the reserve armouries of Taiwan’s armed forces given their previous employment in the earlier years of the RoC’s military following their relocation to Taiwan.

These kits offer a much lighter weight overall system as well as the usual ‘mod-cons’ such as adjustable and side folding stock, optics mounting, M-LOK slotted handguards and even AR pistol grip compatibility, giving potential for new life in otherwise mothballed full-power battle rifles in a similar fashion to the US’ EBR kits, but in a much more readily carried fashion, should the need arise.

Efforts are already underway to spread the brand and enter the US market more directly with the help of their established man in country Stan Liu, who’s now an established airsoft and real steel IDPA shooter (in fact I covered his and his family exploits in Taiwan’s IDPA scene way back in Issue 120 prior to him and his family resettling in Virginia in the intervening years!).

With his efforts the hope is to establish a full US wing of the company, while their Sanchong office will also look to convert their facility into a more store-front-style layout to allow direct sales of their own products as well as potentially 5.11 clothing or equipment to broaden their domestic market and direct customer interface.

Clearly there’s a lot still to come from KAM TACT and they have a clear vision of their direction, diversification and future in the industry. Many thanks to Ricky for taking the time to talk with Anny and I to demonstrate and explain the wealth of his product range. AA