 Poster: A snowHead
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...what is the next best alternative? With only 1 ski week per year, its hard to justify £100+ on a pair of googles.
(But, OTOH, with only 1 ski week per year, it's arguable that buying the kit which will allow you to enjoy the week the most is easy to justify!)
Anyway, SWMBO is finding it difficult for me to persuade her that spending £100+ is good value for money. Are there any goggles which might compare favourably with Oakley's sporting the HI yellow lenses (I struggle with flat light).
Any help gratefully received!
Matt
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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There are some Cebe goggles with yellow lenses on SportPursuit at the moment, worth a punt at £13 + postage.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Cheers - I tried the search, but (with due respect to the forum owners) it's not very "refined"! And that's where I came up with the conclusion that just about everyone recommends Oakley's, and no-one really discusses the next tier down.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Buy once, buy right 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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larkim, I've got some O frame Persimmon lenses (oakley of course!) which I have used a few days but are now surplus to requirement. They are a great all round lens. You can have them for not very much if you like.
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That's a very kind offer Rishie - but currently not sure about fit. My darling wife tells me I've got a massive face (!), so I'm going to head into some shops over the next few weeks to make sure that I get a decent fit. But I may come back to you!
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| Quote: |
I struggle with flat light
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most people struggle with flat light. Not convinced goggles make much difference, frankly.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I find the A frame is better for a smaller face, but will second the Persimmon lenses, they did me fine as an all rounder and were pretty good in flat light. Or in really crappy conditions I just use clear lenses, they are very cheap.
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larkim, ah yes, that old face size problem. Don't think they'll be very good for big faces.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| pam w wrote: |
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I struggle with flat light
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most people struggle with flat light. Not convinced goggles make much difference, frankly. |
They do, but flat light still won't be great.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Or in really crappy conditions I just use clear lenses, they are very cheap.
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I bought a pair of photochromic goggles last year - they were very good, but sadly I lost them. Might get another pair. They were recommended by a guy in Snow and Rock - and I think it was a helpful recommendation. Seemed to work quite well - he reckoned that in very low light you need all you can get.
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| pam w wrote: |
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Or in really crappy conditions I just use clear lenses, they are very cheap.
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I bought a pair of photochromic goggles last year - they were very good, but sadly I lost them. Might get another pair. They were recommended by a guy in Snow and Rock - and I think it was a helpful recommendation. Seemed to work quite well - he reckoned that in very low light you need all you can get. |
I got some clear lenses last season for night skiing in Japan (about 20 pounds). Great for that purpose, but I wouldn't use them in daytime, except maybe in a full blown blizzard. Even then I'd have other lenses to swap out if a bit of sun came though.
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You know it makes sense.
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larkim,
Bolle have what they call 'modulator' lenses which are photo-sensitive, and IMHO are the best goggles I've owned.
Like most people I hate flat light and a few years ago shelled out a lot of money on a pair of Smith Phenoms, with sensor mirror lenses - which at the time, everyone was saying were the canine's dangly bits for flat light. Everyone is different, but I have to say that for me, they did very little.
I subsequently bought Bolle Novas with said modulator lens and I love them. I'm not sure they make the Nova frame any more but they almost certainly still make the m lenses, and they're not particularly expensive so perhaps worth a look.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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clarky999, Yeah, I keep mine mostly for night skiing, but have swapped with my fire iridium goggles when the day has got too dark. If I spot some hi yellow going cheap I'll grab them. I do a few night tours each year so skiing down is great with clear lenses and a bright headtorch. The lenses were only £25 and replaced the very old persimmon ones which had started to mist up.
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Mon 22-09-14 23:44; edited 2 times in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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Actually, I just looked online and found a pair of black carbon A frames with hi yellow lenses for £72, £3.99 P&P so snapped them up. Shit, I now have 3 pairs of A frames (oldest is 10 years though).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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clarky999, mine were the Bollé photochromic modulator lens, as noted by mozwold. I found them satisfactory in a big range of conditions and they weren't particularly expensive. Which is just as well as I am going to have to replace the ones I lost.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I have some pink tinted Bolle currently which I bought simply because I liked the look of them. But every time I've skied in low, flat light I've ended up feeling very dizzy and queasy. THey're fine on a bright day, but then I prefer sunglasses anyway.
My son has some clear MTB goggles which he happened to bring with him last year, and I reverted to them for a few hours in heavy snowfall, and they did seem to be much better in keeping me away from those queasy feelings. And I even tried glasses and goggles free at one point, but my face froze so that was somewhat less pleasant!
Those HI Yellow lenses do seem to be much sought after - for just about every pair in the Oakley range you pay at least £20 more for the pair with the yellow lenses compared to just about every other colour scheme.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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This "Oakley is the be-all and end-all" feeling is a snowheads phenomenon. I'm not saying they're not excellent goggles, but go over to TGR and you'll see that they also worship for instance at the altar of Smith (and not only).
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horizon, agreed, in the finish on the basis of the recommendations I sprung for the Oakley Hi Yellow lenses. However, I was distinctly unimpressed. I actually think my Scott Amplifier black chrome lenses (mentioned in my link above) are significantly better in bad light than the Oakley Hi Yellows, and have the advantage that you don't end up blinded if the sun decides to peak out in the afternoon. I've only ever used the Hi-Yellows once, and now tend to ski in the Scott lenses as all-rounders. I've got an Oakley Pink lens (I think its persimmon) too and I fancy that out-performs the Hi Yellows in bad light too. Now maybe I just have odd eyes, but as many SH's know I hate poor light and whiteout conditions with an absolute and all encompassing passion. I will do/pay anything in those conditions to see better and I consider the Oakley Hi Yellows were a waste of money in that respect. I suspect it's a very personal thing, but on the basis of my own experimentation I wouldn't recommend Oakley Hi Yellows for low/flat light and personally think they are over-rated.
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Megamum, yep, there's something unusual going on with your eyes if that's your experience with the Hi-Yellows - but there a small percentage of people that are not suited to the blue light filtering of the Hi-Yellow. The other clue to that is that you're concerned about the sun coming out if you're wearing them but the Hi-Yellow have full UV/antiglare coatings & are very easy to wear even in reasonably bright light.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I am an Oakley fan and although I haven't experience of other premium brands I am impressed by Oakley customer services and for this reason I would always recommend them.
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I tried a lot of goggles and just found that A frames fitted perfectly.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Megamum, you are not alone on the yellow lense thing. I had a pair of googles with them in a few years back now and they didn't do anything for me in low/flat light. I persevered with them for a couple of weeks and then got myself a pair of A frames with HI persimmon lenses that work much better for me.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I find my Hi-yellows help me hugely in flat light. And the Oakleys are the only goggles I've ever had which don't mist up. I'd be most upset to lose them.
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spyderjon, thank you for identifying a possible reason for my personal findings, it is better than folks just thinking I am being obtuse, but I really didn't get on with, perhaps I am in that percentage that you identify, I certainly found them very hard going in any degree of sunshine so you could be right. In terms of the brand I have purchased Oakleys for the kids next googles so I am not anti-Oakley (incidentally spyderjon, those Spy Goggles I got from you for them some years ago have been a really excellent purchase!) I have had my persimmons mist up on me on one occasion - it was a really hot day, but although Oakley customer care were willing to act they wanted to go through a process of me sending the lens back to them then wanting to test it before they replaced it. Not an unreasonable request, I grant, but it seemed a lot of faffing around so I just gently dried the lenses in a warm place and the condensation between the panes vanished and I must admit it hasn't happened to the same pair since. However, as a brand I have also been really pleased with the Scotts which have never misted, but the extension strap for use over a helmet is a bit fiddly at times.
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You know it makes sense.
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Any one got experience of Bloc goggles? Tried some yesterday and seemed great, but cheap compared with the others I tried.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| horizon wrote: |
| This "Oakley is the be-all and end-all" feeling is a snowheads phenomenon. I'm not saying they're not excellent goggles, but go over to TGR and you'll see that they also worship for instance at the altar of Smith (and not only). |
+1 Smith I/0s FTW!
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've gone Oakley because I use OTG goggles and theirs fit me better than the equivalent Smith, but in terms of lens and quality, there's very little to choose from between the two. The wife uses Smith Anthems and loves them
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Filthyphil30k, Cheap can be fine. IME There is v little difference in optical quality between a £150 pair and a £30 pair. I've has some great Bloc ones and a crap pair of Oakleys.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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foxtrotzulu, thanks for that, I put off the purchase, but did like them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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zealoptics are worth a look. some of the entry goggles are good quality and not ridiculous. the other more general point is to look on US sites if you can as many of these brands come from that side of the world and GBP/USD is now not bad
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Saw a demo of the new prizm lens coming out from oakley. If it is as good as it appears should help us all with thr flat light problem!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Seems a very good shooting lense.
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Scarpa
snowHead
Posts: 18361
Location: North Wales
Seems a very good shooting lense.
_________________
That awkward moment when you realise that you have seen the actress in another snuff video.
http://poemstodrinkaloneto.com/
Wed 24 Sep, 14
21:02
Not bad for world cup ski racers,also
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It could be a good dual sport model, would I look out of place on the clay range wearing goggles? 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Visited the Oakley Vault store at Cheshire Oaks yesterday just to try on a range of different models. Apart from the Airbrakes being behind a sealed display (and too pricey for me anyway) and half of the other display models having no name or lens description on them at all, I did manage to try on a fair few of the models, and settled on the Canopys being the best fit for my face.
Now just tracked down some horrid coloured mint green Canopys but with HI Yellow lenses for £70 so have treated myself as a Xmas present. If they don't work for me in VT in April, I can always ebay them and doubt I'd get much less than £50 if I keep them scratch fee, so worth an experiment.
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larkim, Plus you could wear them for a season and then just swap the lens with someone else who wants to try hi-yellows and who has the same frame. Loads of people start with persimmon and then buy more expensive lenses later.
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FAQ
