Hats keep being referenced for why the gas mask should have glare protection. A standard pre-cataclysm gas mask barely has a brow over the lens, compared to a hats 5" or so brim, which I would see as having something comparable to a quadratic effect on glare protection.
And it has 1 at a bare minimum of 4", a 1/2" to 1" brow would be comparable to a .1 glare protection. Something there is NO mechanic in place for. Best case you can argue is a more granular glare protection mechanic, and this is the WORST case to argue for it.
As Viik pointed out BEST case (almost impossible in most post apocalyptic scenarios for the STANDARD lenses is that there is that it is equivalent to looking through a cardboard cutout, which means loss of peripheral vision, something that can only be simulated by increasing EYE_ENCUMBRANCE, which is exactly what the mechanic is intended for.
Thats BEST case though, considering its a lens probably a minimum of an inch from the lens of your eyes, theres a lot of largely unavoidable problems to run into, and negation of which would cause more problems than it would solve.
Case 1: flat lens- any flexibility in the mask means that the lenses are going to move out of position or be distorted, changing how light refracts through them, increasing glare and generally making it so that things at the edge of the lens are harder to see properly due to light coming from an angle through a flat surface.
thats not even including things like scratches on the lens, or fog and condensation on the inside of the lens, or dirt and grime on both sides. Have you ever worn goggles underwater? some still leaks in, and just a little is enough to get the whole thing foging without extra measures being taken.
Thats in cold water where your not sweating behind the lenses. The effect would be even worse when its a full face covering, holding in heat and keeping the water from ever leaving. And if you managed to cool down behind the mask again, the salt would remain on the lenses.
Case 2: round lens - Congrats, less peripheral vision loss, but now you don’t have any depth perception, which means dodging anything is going to be difficult, and making sense of any peripheral things is going to be difficult due to how distorted they are. Insects have eyes like this, but They are adapted to make use of them, have MANY of them, not 2, because that is necessary for this kind of lens to not be a total loss. Even then they have essentially no ability to see at a distance.
Case 3: Near match to curve of the lens of your eye but further out. Mitigates most of the angle problems, but glare is still going to be an issue due to diffraction, and unlike the lenses of your eyes which have muscles to adjust the curve of your lens, allowing you to see at different distances, the mask lens is set to certain curve, so any curve less or greater than that is going to cause some distortion similar to wearing prescription glasses that don’t match your eyes. All other problems also persist.
TLDR: Even a high quality over the counter mask is going to have things that give the equivalent of EYE_ENCUMERANCE, and even with that accounted for should, if anything, give a negative glare rating.
