Goggle Advice From Experienced Skiers / Snowboarders

[Wanny]

Getting into snowboarding a bit this year and thinking goggles would be fairly helpful.

 

What do you guys recommend for quality and tints? Can I go cheap with these or will I be wasting my time?

[reevesr1]

I'll let others comment on color and tint. I've always liked bronze. But do not cheap out on goggles. Cheap=bad optics (bad optics actually make me physically ill) and bad design makes them fog up more often. Don't mess with bad goggles!!

[scorpiondeathlock]

get oakley "a frames" best goggle for your buck. my two cents

[Wanny]

Thanks guys. Makes sense to pick up something with quality..... fogging would suck. I'll have a look at the 'a frames'.

 

Any suggestions to tints?

[Parry]

Talk to Bryce, he is a very recognized a decorated snowboarder around the Alberta/BC area and is sponsored by Ride and some other companys as well as a hell of a fly fisher. He works at the Source down south, send him a message on here and ill give him a heads up so he checks for it.

[ÜberFly]

Mike,

 

MEC has a pretty good selection of high quality reasonable priced goggles. I'm with Rick, get something in the gold/bronze range or even polarized to block out the flat light...

 

Also, if you haven't already done so, please, please please buy a helmet! Brain injuries are not fun!!

 

C-ya on the slopes!

 

P

[Wanny]

Brain injuries weren't fun in hockey so I assume just as little fun on the slopes..... I will definitely be renting a helmet first and looking to buy one.

 

As far as the goggles I have a sportchek gift card from work kicking around for a year and a half... hopefully not expired. so I will probably look there first. Polarized sounds sick, i love my polarized shades.

[parryb]

Hey Wanny,

 

As its been said cheaping out is the wrong way to go. As your price-point gets lower the quality of optics in the lens gets. If you stick with any Oakley Spherical Lens ( a spherical lens matches the curvature of your eye) you will be getting a 99% opticaly correct lens. My suggestion would be the A Frame for a smaller face and the Crowbar or Splice for a larger face. All 3 are helmet compatible and highly ventelated. As for tints it all depends where your riding. IMO the best all around lens from oakley is the VR28, but my choice is usualy a Black Iridium for high light, and a Pink Iridium or High Intensity Yellow for low light.

 

 

The best option to get what you want is the Oakley Website so you can match the colour of frame to the lens you want. But head to a local shop first to try them on and see what you like!

 

 

-Bryce

 

Ps. Polarized goggles are very expensive and IMO not worth the money.

[bigbowtrout]

Or you can follow behind me and about every third run I have a yard sale

[Taco]

turn or run??

[bigbowtrout]

turn or run??

 

Run

 

My theory is if you don't wipe out you're not skiing hard enough!!!!!!!!!

And when a big guy like myself hits the ground it's not pretty.

[brownsbask]

Goggle/helmet fit compatibility is important too, or you can end up with the dreaded "gaper gap".

 

I have a pair of Smith Phenom goggles that fit excellently with my Giro helmet. But I would try the goggles you are looking to buy with the helmet you may also be buying.

 

FWIW I really like the Smith Phenom goggles (more so than oakleys), they've never fogged on me, and the lenses are great. They fit a small-medium face the best. They can be a bit pricey, though, if you can't find them on sale.

 

 

[WesG]

I have got 2 pairs of OAkley a-frames. Last year i bought the first pair on sale on boxing day from sport check for $69 which was a hell of a deal. They have an amber lese on them which I figured would be good for all around. I picked up another pair of of the high intensity yellow lenses with the blue mirror for those very flat light days. I only have 1 day on the yellows ones so far. Even though they have a the anti fog coating inside I still had them fogging up a couple times last season. They also stood up very well to having ice scraped off of them at the top of revy in freezing rain. The best time to buy this kind of stuff is at the end of the seasons when they are %40 off though.

[Nick0Danger]

If you wear glasses, there is nothing that will stop the fogging, untill you get enough speed down the hill and some circulation though tem

[unclebuck]

No need to spend a fortune on goggles!! Get a pair of smiths, they are just fine. I would recommend getting two pairs, one bronze or orange tint for cloudy days and a purplish pair for sunny days. If you were to get just one get the gold tint ones... Way more important to get some definition on the flat light days! Otherwise you can get surprised by the terrain somtimes, Oakleys are way overpriced and not much different - they all scratch the same after a couple wipeouts. You should be able to get some smiths for 50 bucks. They will not fog so long as you are moving.

[dube]

Lots of good advice here and here's my .02$.

 

To me the MOST important thing is fit. Fit to your face and fit under a helmet as has already been said. If they fit nice, then fog will be less of an issue. I would recommend buying a lid and goggles at the same time if possible. I don't think you really need to spend too much money until you really figure out what you want, I like oakley myself and as wes said you can find good deals at places like sport check. Should find something fair for under a 100$ for sure. Remember they all get trashed and left in chalets or on roofs of cars no matter how much you spend .