Ski/Snowboarding Goggles (4/7/2009

As the weather starts getting cooler and the rain starts to fall, it is time to think about the winter sports season. Snow is already falling at the local mountain and ski goggles and helmets are the new hot item. We do offer prescription ski goggles. The most popular way to Rx a ski goggle is with a prescription adapter. This is a piece that carries your prescription and snaps inside the goggle. It is similar to wearing the goggles over your glasses without having the pressure the goggle puts on the ear pieces of your goggles (however, we do have ski goggles that are designed to fit over your eyeglasses that have special cut outs on the side to relieve this pressure). The advantage of the insert system is that you can change the lenses out of the goggles for the various light conditions you ski in without having to purchase and expensive prescription lens in every lens color or limiting yourself to one lens for all lighting conditions. For instance, if it is a clear, bright day (my personal favorite weather to ski in), you can use a ski goggle lens with a mirror to reflect the light and act like a sunglass while giving you the full coverage and wind protection a goggle offers. If you are skiing in a blizzard, a yellow lens will really brighten everything up for you increasing your visibility. On an overcast day with some snow, a rose, vermillon or orange lens will help brighten things up but not be too bright.
For goggles with the insert system, we recommend the Bolle ski goggles at http://www.sporteyes.com/bolleski.htm. We often get the question of whether the insert system will be more likely to fog. Fogging is an individual issue that is dependent on how much body heat one generates. As long as you are moving and getting air flow in the goggle, the goggle and insert should stay fog-free for most people.
We also have the Smith goggles with an insert. These have a built in fan to generate airflow and keep the insert defogged. Because of the fan technology, these are a more expensive option but is the best way to go if fogging is a concern. You can view these at http://www.sporteyes.com/smgturb.htm. Unfortunately, there are those people that generate too much body heat for the goggle to stay defogged. This person would also have a problem with a full goggle lens being made in prescription as well.
The problem we get into with a full goggle lens is two fold. First, there is very little technology out there for this. The problem with a goggle lens is that it is a sheild type design, and special technology is required to make a prescription in a sheild. The one we use for this is the Seavision Skivision (http://www.sporteyes.com/seaski.htm). You can see from looking at it that you get two cutouts in the shield lens for each prescription lens. This makes for a goggle that is not cosmetically appealing as you can see you have a prescription, but also, that prescription lens is now touching the outside air which makes it more likely to fog.
The other way to go is what we call a "snowboard" goggle. This is a goggle with two separate lenses, more like sunglasses but with full goggle foam and larger coverage area. An example of this is the Bugz Classicz at http://www.sporteyes.com/bugz.htm. Bugz uses a double lens to help to eliminate the fogging problems, but because these lenses will fit closer to the face, the risk of fogging again is greater than with the insert system.
All in all, the insert, though bulky and visible under lighter colored lenses is the most economical and best way to go for fogging. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to email or call us at 888-223-2669.