eyewear

[Perry]

Hello all.  I have the bug again.  I generally lurk or pursue other hobbies during the summer, but, the time has come to lurk no more.  I am back in the gym, and wearing a grin!

I am looking at eyewear with two initial considerations and would love your input.
     Zeal photochromatic such as the Detonator.  I would have to wear these with contacts, not a problem and definitely warmer on cold days.

    7eye/Panoptix - the advantage of getting them prescription, I can take them off in the lodge and read the trail map!!  They could double as sunglasses to play golf during the summer with.  But - may not be as warm or comfortable under a helmet.  I really don't like it when my face gets cold.

I used to wear eyeglasses under my goggles but have gone to contacts and for me it is much better.  Less surfaces to fog up and one less thing to keep track of.

So - tell me your favorite goggle or eyewear when skiing and tell me why.

Thanks  -  Perry

[Gary]

Hey Perry...the good news....YOU'RE BACK IN THE GYM...NICE! 

I personally use Smith Goggles and have for the last 5 years....

The logic I use for picking my goggles is #1....how it fits the helmet...now if you don't wear a helmet, crazy as that thought is, then having "gapper gap" is not an issue. But fit and comfort are certainly a priority.

#2 it's obvious you are not too concerned on the cost, you want a quality product. Again for me, Smith like many of the top  manufactures have an excellent assortment of available lenses for different light conditions. So here lens choices are big and as appealing as ones that change with the light, I have no experience with those although I think the concept make awesome sense as long as there's no downside like clarity and perphial vision.

Smith has been good to me, very scratch resistant, non fogging, easy to clean, excellent fit and excellent clarity and peripheral vision.

Best,
Gary

[midwif]

Hello Perry
Welcome back.

I have Panoptyx and gave up trying to wear them d/t the discomfort under the helmet.
They ended up putting way too much pressure during the day from the temple behind the ear.

I ordered the Zeal from Tramdock at one point and returned. They didn't fit my face, but these things are relative.

Let us know what works for you.

Oh, I ended up ultimately with Lasik. Ended all the prescription glasses/sunglass/cleaning solution etc, annoyance. Now I just buy reading glasses by the handful and have them all around. I keep a little cheap pair in my ski jacket too.

Lynn

[jim-ratliff]

Parry:

Not much help here.? I get along just fine with eyeglasses, and wear Smith TurboFan goggles. They do a good job of defogging my glasses in that rare case where they fog up.

I have always thought the phototchromatic was a good idea, but wasn't impressed at how they performed in eyeglasses.? That's been a few years back so maybe the technology or the material is better than was the case in pure glasses.

How about the Panoptix with a pair of goggles over them to be worn only on colder days?? (assuming, of course, that they are comfortable with your helmet).

Welcome back from your lurking stage.? Colder weather cometh.

Jim

[Perry]

Jim and lynn,
Good to here from you again.  Had great fun at Sol Vista last year.  Maybe we can ski some more this season.

Had the Lasik, suffered later a detached retina and the corrective surgery left my right eye nearsighted again (this was my 20/20 eye)
At least now my glasses are not coke bottles and my astigmatism is corrected.

Jim, you have the gift of approaching problems with a unique perspective.  I would never have thought of wearing the Panoptx (now 7eye) under goggles.  My recent glasses with photo-chromatic lens are way better than the early versions.  That is part of what has me curious.  Sunny day gets overcast and the light gets flat in the bumps and the same pair of goggles are perfect for the conditions - is it just a dream or is it a current reality.  I may check it out on Epic.  I'll let you know what I find out.

Lynn, thanks for the comment on comfort under the helmet.

Perry

[ToddW]

Perry,

Welcome back from hibernation!? Like Jim, I'm still in the stone age using smith turbo goggles over glasses.? They worked fine last week in Loveland, but sometimes fog up in our east coast humidity.

I hope you and Gloria have a great ski season.? If you're ever skiing up Vermont way, let me know.

cheers,

-todd

[Philpug]

I had the Zeal and was very disappointed and sent them back the Zeal never could get light enough for flat light. . The best goggle I have ever has is the new Smith i/O. comes with two lenses, both are very good and very easy to interchange.

[Perry]

Phil - I like the info - keep it coming

Todd - good to hear from you.... and yes I noticed Loveland LAST WEEK! Now that is the absolute best way to get into skiing shape.  I have to admit, I'm jealous.  Good for you.

Perry

[Ron]

Smith turbo for sure. Hands down. If you have a smith helmet, they are designed to fit.  Flat light up to partial, Mirror sensor. Bright sun, platinum sensor. Only two lenses you need.

[jbotti]

I have been using the Smith Turbo's for years. I found that the Phenom fits me better than the larger one. I bought two of them last seaosn on Sierra Trading Post for around $50 each (gave one to my wife). I am also a big beleiver that the color of the lense is very important. I will only use rose colored lenses. For me this gives the best contrast in flat light. I have heard people say that the best lense color will vary depending on your eye color. I don't know if this is true. Everyone I know does better in flat light with rose colored lenses. If the light is not flat, I don't think it matters what color the lense is, they all work well.

As well, whether you need a turbo depends a lot on where you ski. In Tahoe, the turbo is essential. The humiduty is high and you can also get freezing fog and other miserable stuff. I used the fan almost all the time that there was any weather in Tahoe. In Montana, even when it is snowing hard you really don't need the fan. Also bear in mind that if you take a spill and get snow in the air vents, even the turbo will fog up on you.

I would say that if you ski in the rockies mostly, I would go for the Smith IO. If you ski in Tahoe or on the east coast I would get the turbo. That's my $0.02. JB.

[Ron]

I bough thtem off of STP as well!  Too funny.  The sensor mirror is based on the rose color spectrum but does an even better than just the regular rose. Try it if you haven't. It's a considerable difference.

[jim-ratliff]

Perry:

The consistency here is somewhat amazing.
The two Smith Turbo-Fan goggles that I have are the 'RC36' which is the rose tint and the other pair is the blue Sensor Mirror.

Unlike Ron, I really can't tell much difference between the two in low light conditions (maybe a slight preference for the rose color) but Sensor Mirror looks a lot better with my blue jacket and is better all-around I think.? The rose color is sometimes a bit bright in full sunlight. But, as someone said, some of this personal preference may depend on eye color.

[Ron]

Hmm, let the facts speak.....? VLT means the amount of light transimission through the lens. The higher the % the more light it allows, so on a low-light day, you would be getting twice as much light over the RC lens. It aslo has a mirrored surface which reduces glare. it has to be better; it costs more


RC36 VLT 36%

Sensor Mirror 70%

http://www.smithoptics.com/Phenom-Turbo-Fan_19_208.html?fl=flase

[ToddW]

Perry,

I ski with 3 lenses for my turbos:  sol-x (10% vlt), rc36 (36%), and sensor mirror (70%).  It's easy to switch them out as the weather changes or the sun begins to set, and my eyes thank me for it.  If you prefer the psychedelic experience, wear polarized sunglasses beneath the sensor mirrors.

[Perry]

? If you prefer the psychedelic experience, wear polarized sunglasses beneath the sensor mirrors.

  Leave it to a math whiz to dredge up long forgotten lessons in physics with this subtle reference.  I would guess that combining 2 polarized lenses would make quite the kaleidoscope.  Now tell the truth.  Did you find that out yourself by mistake or did it just naturally occur to that logical brain that this would be a bad idea.