Goggle Recs

[Blueberry]

I did a search, but couldn't find anything sort of recent...

I'm on the hunt for goggles. I need a basic pair for pool training - clear lenses - that will not leak or fog (to the extent possible). I would also like a UV protected tinted pair for outdoor swimming/OWS. Any ideas? I'll call TE too as I get a chance to see which of their products they would recommend - but wanted to see if anyone had had any great experiences lately.

[roadie gal]

If you can, try on different brands. They all fit differently. What works fine for me may leak on you. It's like recommending a saddle, everyone has a different preference.

[GLC1968]

Ditto roadie gal. I've gone through more versions of goggles to find the right pair than I did saddles! Luckily, goggles are cheaper. ;)

I have settled on a pair that actually fit in my sockets a bit so I don't know if they'll be comfortable for LONG swims. I'm not there yet though, so they work for now. I have found that they do need periodic treatment to control the fogging though - I don't know that any goggle is permanently fog-free. My problem is that my head heats up on hard swims so the temp differential between my head and the cold water causes fogging no matter what I do.

It's helpful to find a local swim place that carries lots of styles. Then you can try them on. If the goggle will seal to your eyes without use of the strap, you probably have a good pair for your face. Then, like saddles, you can stock up from online vendors who probably carry them cheaper once you know what to order.

[Veronica]

What kind of cap are you wearing GLC? I wear a cloth cap for my pool swims because I get so hot in the water. That might help with your fogging issue a bit.

Veronica

[GLC1968]

V - that's a good point! I never even thought about that! Any recommendations?

I currently wear a silicone cap - finally found a brand that stays put the whole workout. I have a TON of hair and a big head, so I think I'm weird. :p

[TriMom217]

I've tried on lots of different goggles and love the Speedo Vanquisher. It comes in smaller sizes for women's faces and has 3 different bridge pieces so you can customize the fit.

just my 2¢.

[HillSlugger]

I use TYR Pro Nest, clear in the pool and tinted/mirrored for OWS. They are treated to resist fogging; it worked pretty well when they were new but they do fog some now 6 months later; they are still better than the untreated goggles I used to use. Hmm, 6+ months without them leaking, that's better too than what I was using before.

[Veronica]

V - that's a good point! I never even thought about that! Any recommendations?

I currently wear a silicone cap - finally found a brand that stays put the whole workout. I have a TON of hair and a big head, so I think I'm weird. :p

:p

I have a little head and not much hair. I use a cloth Speedo cap. It moves a round a bit, but for a pool swim I don't care if gives me a little drag.

Veronica

[colby]

I have switched to the Aqua Sphere Kayenne, I have one pair of black/tint (mirrored, for OWS) and one pair of gray/clear (might be a slight tint, can't remember, but I use them for pool and less bright OWS days). I like the Aqua Sphere masks, but found that I am good enough at sighting and whatnot that I don't really need the peripheral vision of the mask (they are comfy though).

As for fogging, swimming apparently turns my body into an oven (I am warm for hours after getting out of the water even), so after about 15 minutes in the pool they start fogging. I'm going to try re-applying the anti-fog stuff and see if that helps. My OWS pair don't fog as badly but I don't wear them as often and in cooler temperatures/water.

I'm hesitant to experiment, but I am considering trying other brands/styles. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming, though, and it's hard to find enough styles in person that you can try on.

[Blueberry]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'm having an issue finding somewhere that I can try them on - most of the places I've found are buy then try (and I've tried one of the 2 that REI carries, and they didn't work for me).

[Veronica]

I use to think that it was hard to find goggles that fit me, but once I put them on and kind of push them into my eye sockets, they all work pretty well. They sort of suction on to my face. :rolleyes:

Veronica

[GLC1968]

Do you have a D1ck's Sporting Goods near you? They carry a decent selection this time of year. I went in and opened a bunch of them. I believe they carry Speedo, Tyr and Aquasphere, I think...still worth a shot.

:o I put them all back as best I could, too.

PS - I ended up with Speedo Vanquisher's as well. Men's version (big head).

[Veronica]

Funny! I guess you typed

D
I
C
K

What do you do if that's your name? :eek:

Veronica

Awww... you beat me to the fix.

[Blueberry]

I use to think that it was hard to find goggles that fit me, but once I put them on and kind of push them into my eye sockets, they all work pretty well. They sort of suction on to my face. :rolleyes:

Veronica

Yeah - the pair I tried were sort of outside of my eye sockets in a weird way:rolleyes::cool:

GLC - I will try D!cks. I didn't think of them - I was thinking of all the locally owned places (except that you can't take anything out of the package or you buy it....). Maybe in this case, bigger is better:rolleyes::rolleyes::cool::cool:

[roadie gal]

No regular goggles have ever fit me. I ended up with Aqua Sphere's Seal Mask and their XP mask. Both work great, although the XP is less clunky looking.

[GLC1968]

New goggle issue worth noting...

I now have what looks like a line of broken capilaries under both of my eyes where my goggles 'suction' to my face. This is from last night's swim where I had my goggles on for the entire 45-50 min. Usually, I have to remove them a bunch of times to de-fog them but since I recently treated these (for Saturday's tri), they didn't fog so I didn't need to remove them. Now I see that that wasn't necessarily a good thing. The marks are not just dents...they are still there this morning. :mad:

Looks like I need to begin my hunt for non-socket suction goggles now. Grrr.

[withm]

New goggle issue worth noting...

I now have what looks like a line of broken capilaries under both of my eyes where my goggles 'suction' to my face. This is from last night's swim where I had my goggles on for the entire 45-50 min. Usually, I have to remove them a bunch of times to de-fog them but since I recently treated these (for Saturday's tri), they didn't fog so I didn't need to remove them. Now I see that that wasn't necessarily a good thing. The marks are not just dents...they are still there this morning. :mad:

Looks like I need to begin my hunt for non-socket suction goggles now. Grrr.

Are you going a little deeper than usual on your flip turns? Sounds like what happens if you try to swim underwater with goggles on. Even swimming underwater at very shallow depths can cause this, because unlike a diver's mask, you aren't able to blow air into the goggles to reduce the pressure on your eye sockets. If you weren't swimming underwater, then loosening the strap just a little will probably help. But don't loosen so much that the goggles leak.

[sgf726]

I have the Speedo Air Seal Tri Mirror Goggles - I wear then both indoors and OWS. They seal well, don't fog much for me and don't give me as bad of raccoon eyes as my old goggles did.

Sharon

[GLC1968]

Are you going a little deeper than usual on your flip turns? Sounds like what happens if you try to swim underwater with goggles on. Even swimming underwater at very shallow depths can cause this, because unlike a diver's mask, you aren't able to blow air into the goggles to reduce the pressure on your eye sockets. If you weren't swimming underwater, then loosening the strap just a little will probably help. But don't loosen so much that the goggles leak.


I don't do flip turns, but I do push off underwater for as far as I can each open turn. I don't think I'm doing anything differently than before except for keeping the goggles on longer (so pressure is probably building up inside more than it used to...).

[Blueberry]

So I ended up with the TYR Tracer. We'll see how they work for me - I found most of the "larger goggles" didn't feel like they were going to suction in the right place (they didn't have adjustable nose pieces for the post part). I almost just got the socket rockets - but I don't know how comfy they would be after a while....

[zia]

Belated, but I thought I'd add that someone on a similar thread about a year ago recommended the Barracuda Ultimate goggles. LOVE them. As for fog, I just use a squirt of "Quick Spit" (I get mine on swimoutlet.com) once a week, and I'm fog-free.

[Melalvai]

Just the thread I needed. I swam every morning this week, and had raccoon eyes really badly. I managed to do nearly all my flip turns without coming up sputtering, but sounds like I need to keep practicing them to stay more shallow. I'll also try out a different goggle or mask mentioned here. The raccoon look wouldn't bother me but is probably considered unprofessional appearance.

[GLC1968]

Ah, I have an update too!

I got a lycra swim cap and my pool swims are WAY more comfortable now. It's soooo much cooler and I love feeling the water in my hair. I swim in a saline pool, so chlorine isn't really a huge issue anyway. Thanks for the recommendation, V!!

AND, I found that my little Speedo Vanquishers were not optimal for OWS. They fogged and were not tinted dark enough...and in rougher water, they did not give me nearly enough visibility. I now have a pair of Aqua Sphere Vistas that I use for OWS. They are only slightly tinted, but it's enough. The huge field of vision is wonderful and they are very, very comfy.