Polarized Snowboard Goggles

[Tmuld]

Hello,

I need a new pair of snowboard goggles.

Bright days - things are pretty good, however cloudy or flat light
situations sort of suck with my $29.99 Smith goggles with the orange
tint - but otherwise quite good.

Are polarized lens going to help?

Suggestions on a good pair of snowboard goggles and/or info on
polarized lens?

Thanks,

Tmuld.

[[email protected]]

On Dec 21, 4:29 pm, Tmuld <[email protected]> wrote:[color=blue]
> Hello,
>
> I need a new pair of snowboard goggles.
>
> Bright days - things are pretty good, however cloudy or flat light
> situations sort of suck with my $29.99 Smith goggles with the orange
> tint - but otherwise quite good.
>
> Are polarized lens going to help?
>
> Suggestions on a good pair of snowboard goggles and/or info on
> polarized lens?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tmuld.[/color]


I doubt that polarized lenses are worth the high cost. At Oakley, I
think they are around $80-110 more than the equivalent non-polarized
lens. I used polarized glasses out on the water on my boat and there
they do cut down the glare and make it noticeably easier to see. But
that is on bright days. Riding, I don't have a glare problem on
bright days. The problem is seeing the contours on grey, flat
light, overcast days, etc.

For that, the best I've found so far is Oakley High Intensity Yellow,
though they are not perfect either. A resort employee that rides a
lot and has the same HI yellow, told me he thinks yellow without the
HI feature is actually better for these conditions.

I like the Oakley A Frame. They are one of the few goggles that fit
well over my glasses. And I've found them to be fog free.

The best solution is likely going to be 2 pairs. One for low light
and one with less transmission for bright days. I had the Oakley
Fire Iridium for bright days, mostly because they look cool. But
they were damaged, so I'm trying to figure out what to get next myself.

[Christopher Cox]

Tough one.

How much expendable income do you have....:-)

I have found polarized lens do help you see features in gray lighted
days and when they are blowing snow. I wear them even during night
riding. It makes for dim lighting, but you will not miss a feature.

But the Oakley A Frames with polarized lenses are outrageously
expensive. You will be spending an additional $170 over your Smith's to
purchase them. For that kind of money, you could buy several types of
goggles for varying conditions!

Yes, I own a pair of A Frame's with polarized lenses, as does my son.

They do fit over my glasses rather nicely.

But the cost still makes me wonder why I purchased them, I actually feel
guilty about the purchase.

Chris



Tmuld wrote:[color=blue]
> Hello,
>
> I need a new pair of snowboard goggles.
>
> Bright days - things are pretty good, however cloudy or flat light
> situations sort of suck with my $29.99 Smith goggles with the orange
> tint - but otherwise quite good.
>
> Are polarized lens going to help?
>
> Suggestions on a good pair of snowboard goggles and/or info on
> polarized lens?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tmuld.[/color]

[[email protected]]

On Dec 22, 10:09 am, Christopher Cox
<[email protected]> wrote:[color=blue]
> Tough one.
>
> How much expendable income do you have....:-)
>
> I have found polarized lens do help you see features in gray lighted
> days and when they are blowing snow. I wear them even during night
> riding. It makes for dim lighting, but you will not miss a feature.
>
> But the Oakley A Frames with polarized lenses are outrageously
> expensive. You will be spending an additional $170 over your Smith's to
> purchase them. For that kind of money, you could buy several types of
> goggles for varying conditions!
>
> Yes, I own a pair of A Frame's with polarized lenses, as does my son.
>
> They do fit over my glasses rather nicely.
>
> But the cost still makes me wonder why I purchased them, I actually feel
> guilty about the purchase.
>
> Chris[/color]

Which polarized Oakley lens do you have that you say is good for the
low/flat light conditions?
Have you compared them to the same color lens without the
polarization?

If they really help significantly, then I would consider getting them.



[color=blue]
>
>
>
> Tmuld wrote:[color=green]
> > Hello,[/color]
>[color=green]
> > I need a new pair of snowboard goggles.[/color]
>[color=green]
> > Bright days - things are pretty good, however cloudy or flat light
> > situations sort of suck with my $29.99 Smith goggles with the orange
> > tint - but otherwise quite good.[/color]
>[color=green]
> > Are polarized lens going to help?[/color]
>[color=green]
> > Suggestions on a good pair of snowboard goggles and/or info on
> > polarized lens?[/color]
>[color=green]
> > Thanks,[/color]
>[color=green]
> > Tmuld.- Hide quoted text -[/color]
>
> - Show quoted text -[/color]

[Christopher Cox]

[color=blue]
>
> Which polarized Oakley lens do you have that you say is good for the
> low/flat light conditions?
> Have you compared them to the same color lens without the
> polarization?
>
> If they really help significantly, then I would consider getting them.
>[/color]


Hello trader4,

I own the H.I. Amber lens while my son has the VR28's.

It would be best for you to test drive a polarized lens to see if they
would be worth it to you. You could wear a much less expensive set of
polarized sunglasses to experience the effect before making a large
investment.

It is my experience the polarized lenses do make a difference in flat
lighting conditions. I believe this is because your head is always in
motion while boarding. A polarized lens will block/allow different
polarizations of light as your head moves. Your brain builds images
based on this information with the end result being seeing features that
you may have missed in poor lighting conditions.


<RAMBLING INFORMATION>
LCD monitors use polarized light. While you rotate a polarized lens in
front of a (on)LCD monitor, you will see the monitors display disappear
and reappear depending on the rotation of the polarized lens. You will
notice this while looking through two colorized lenses as well. This is
how I test to see if the lens I am purchasing is really polarized or
just some marketing hype.
</RAMBLING INFORMATION>

Hope this helps!

Chris

[Christopher Cox]

Whoops

[color=blue]
>
> <RAMBLING INFORMATION>
> LCD monitors use polarized light. While you rotate a polarized lens in
> front of a (on)LCD monitor, you will see the monitors display disappear
> and reappear depending on the rotation of the polarized lens. You will
> notice this while looking through two <STRIKE THIS>colorized</STRIKE THIS> POLARIZED lenses as well. This is
> how I test to see if the lens I am purchasing is really polarized or
> just some marketing hype.
> </RAMBLING INFORMATION>[/color]

"polarized" not "colorized".

Silly spell check mistake.

[[email protected]]

On Dec 24, 12:41 pm, Christopher Cox
<[email protected]> wrote:[color=blue][color=green]
> > Which polarized Oakley lens do you have that you say is good for the
> > low/flat light conditions?
> > Have you compared them to the same color lens without the
> > polarization?[/color]
>[color=green]
> > If they really help significantly, then I would consider getting them.[/color]
>
> Hello trader4,
>
> I own the H.I. Amber lens while my son has the VR28's.
>
> It would be best for you to test drive a polarized lens to see if they
> would be worth it to you. You could wear a much less expensive set of
> polarized sunglasses to experience the effect before making a large
> investment.[/color]

Thanks for the suggestion. I don;t know why I never thought of
that. I do have a pair of polarized sunglasses so I can easily try
it out!

My friend just got a pair of the non-polarized HI Amber, so I can try
them too.



[color=blue]
>
> It is my experience the polarized lenses do make a difference in flat
> lighting conditions. I believe this is because your head is always in
> motion while boarding. A polarized lens will block/allow different
> polarizations of light as your head moves. Your brain builds images
> based on this information with the end result being seeing features that
> you may have missed in poor lighting conditions.
>
> <RAMBLING INFORMATION>
> LCD monitors use polarized light. While you rotate a polarized lens in
> front of a (on)LCD monitor, you will see the monitors display disappear
> and reappear depending on the rotation of the polarized lens. You will
> notice this while looking through two colorized lenses as well. This is
> how I test to see if the lens I am purchasing is really polarized or
> just some marketing hype.
> </RAMBLING INFORMATION>
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> Chris[/color]