GOGGLES

How functional goggles are, is often overlooked, with a lot of people just buying the cheapest pair they can find. Yet the difference between cheap pair of goggles and a good pair, is vast, and can make a huge difference to how well they work, and how much time you spend on the mountain.

Below some of the different features that you can find on goggles are explained.

Anti-fog Coating

A coating on the inside of the goggle lenses, that stops them from fogging up so easily. This does not mean that they will never fog up, it just means that they will be more resistant to it.

Field of View

This is how much the goggles restrict your vision, especially around the outside where the frame of the goggles is. With a good pair of goggles you will be able to see almost as much while wearing them as you can without. Having a good field of view will help a lot with your awareness and make you feel more comfortable on the slopes.

Optical Distortion

Many of the more expensive goggles will have very little optical distortion, meaning that what you see through them is very close to true. Cheaper goggles can make it seem like there is a dip in the snow in front of you, or make objects towards the outsides look odd, as they distort your view.

Lens Tint

Different lens tints are better for different conditions. If you have lots of money or are a very keen skier you might have a different lenses for each weather condition. Below is a rough guide to lense tints for different conditions:

• Overcast / Snowing - Yellow, Rose
• Sunny - Orange, Gold, Blue, Grey
• Allround - Amber, Rose

Ventilation

As with the anti-fog coating the ventilation in the goggles will also stop them from fogging up so easily. Once you have stopped moving though the ventilation does not have so much effect, and goggles can be prone to steaming up if you are hot.

Comfort

This comes down to personal preference, but there are a large number of different thicknesses of foam used in goggle padding, and different shapes of goggle that fit different faces better. So if is worth trying on a few different brands and types of goggles.

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