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Sunglasses/goggles

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi there

We’ve left things right to the last minute and are in the process of booking a family ski holiday for feb half term!

It’s both my boys first time and Nu1 son wear glasses all the time, what is the best thing to do? We are probably too late to get him prescription sunglasses I think ! He is eye sight is not really bad but as it is his first time and I’m thinking it would be best for him to be able to seeproperly !!

Any advice very welcome.

Thanks in advance.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
For my wife and daughter, I got goggles that fit over their glasses. Fairly easy to choose goggles that worked - just go into a shop wearing the glasses!

For myself, I wear daily disposable contacts under my goggles/sunnies.

We got goggles from various shops - Decathlon is our place of choice for budget kit these days.
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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?
OTG goggles (OTG = Over the Glasses)
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more expensive but i find the visor helmet works really well, the OTG googles constantly fogged up and if you take them off i found they pulled the glasses off too, which i found very annoying. The visor helmet ticks all the boxes and now you see a lot of them on the slopes.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I wear glasses, contacts are not an option. My old goggles got water in the double glazing last week, so bought some Oakley Canopy goggles with pink lenses. Absolutely fantastic as OTG’s. I tend to use them more in flat light and rely on my photochromic glasses in bright sun. No fogging issues. These were not cheap, but I wish I had these years ago. My glasses are quite skinny.

However I can see the benefits of a visor helmet, though not sure how well this will work.
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@Mackers74,

This is based on 30 years of climbing and skiing experience.

At this time of year, the weather can be extremely changeable, and sunglasses will not really cut it. They let a lot of UV round the sides - huge amounts of reflected light at altitude in the snow. Young eyes really should not be exposed to high level of UV.

So...OTG googles are vital I would say. And can easily be obtained. I have used everything from top of the range Oakleys to rubbish goggles as an act of desperation. I am a glasses wearer since the age of 6 - glasses not contacts. Visor helmets are going to be expensive by contrast with helmet/goggles and can let a lot reflected light around the visor, depending on model. I would not use them with kids.

You will need to consider fit - a lot of googles are HUGE these days, but most interface well with standards helmets. Youth small-medium or womens' googles tend to be fine for kids to 12-ish.

You need to consider tint. We use three sets of googles - CAT1 for low light and snow; CAT2 for mixed, and CAT3 for Easter. You can't wear CAT1 in bright light. So......I am NOT saying you should go for threes sets...rather...in your setting go for orange or rose tint CAT2s. They should do you fine at this time of year for low light and sunlight.

Models:

Oakley have been recommended but are expensive for kids. Sure, they are excellent but we don't use them for youths.

Bolle are excellent, and now have an excellent range of OTG goggles. They are MUCH cheaper than Oakley but with lens which are based on really good R&D.

For example

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOLLE-small-fit-EXPLORER-OTG-ski-snowboard-Goggles-Shiny-White-Citrus-Gun-21375/331982669386?epid=1743465424&hash=item4d4bb5864a:g:cigAAOSwmfhX6T9P

But note that this particular pair is CAT3 and I suggest you want CAT2- these are CAT2 but in a slightly larger style, suitable for an older child:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOLLE-over-glasses-Y6-OTG-Ski-Snow-Goggles-White-Vermillon-Gun-Mirror-20491/381586304237?epid=1012836339&hash=item58d850eced:g:WjYAAOSw8KNW~Oki

But this gives you an idea of what to get, and all these suppliers, even on ebay, can be contacted for faster postage.

So you are looking at around 35.00 for a pairs of OTG high quality goggles. Being able to see is one of the most important safety issues in skiing, and so 35.00 is peanuts, really.

Smith have an excellent IGNITOR lens, which my small one (12) really rates in all conditions, including heavy snow, but the OTG ones come out a little more expensive than BOLLE.

I would go onto ebay, take a look, and contact the suppliers by phone to have an assurance that they can get them to you in time.

Hope this is helpful.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@valais2, good point on visor helmet possibly letting in light around the edges, my helmet is a Bolle cost £150 and lets nothing in at all, but it's expensive and i'm not sure how the fit would be on a child. So i'd heed @valais2 advice.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@Mackers74, you can also modify normal goggles to work with glasses, which may give you a better choice compared to dedicated kids OTG models. Check the fit carefully, and if the problem is that the goggles press on the side arms of the glasses, cut away the foam with a sharp knife. We did this for my daughter 2 years ago when we discovered that her new glasses were too big to fit under her goggles the night before a trip. Works perfectly. There are a couple of threads on Snowheads that describe what to do.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@mgrolf, up to a point Lord Copper. In an emergency, yes. But OTG goggles often have thicker foam to get better clearance between the glasses and the goggles lens, so the OP could buy some goggles in the hope of modifying them, get them by post, cut them up, and then find they don't work. And OTG goggles are the same price as regular ones, and sometimes cheaper since shops often overstock on OTGs. So yes in emergency. But I think the OP needs to get something fast and something which will work.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@valais2, our experience has been that finding kids OTG goggles that fit is hard (the choice is poor compared to normal goggles, in shops where you can try them on) so just offering an alternative. The key point with modifying goggles is to be sure that they fit everywhere else. If the glasses touch the goggles lenses, or they get squashed across the bridge of the nose, no amount of modification will work. If adult OTGs fit it's a different matter, there are plenty to choose from.

YMMV, as always.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
My daughter is 9 years old and for the last two years has always just used a pair of my old goggles over the top of her glasses. She has never complained about anything and skis every week with them. I'm sure there are some very expensive perfect solutions available but try the simple ones first in case they don't fall in love with skiing.
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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.
I’ve just got back. I like wearing sunglasses, and goggles I’d the weather is foul. If wearing lenses, take extra as I had one drop out and stick to my goggles, so take plenty of dry eye drops. I also had to do a lot of blinking as they were slipping around on my eyes, and I don’t ski that fast! I’ve got bolle goggles for conditions 1-3 so i can see better in low light but won’t be blind if the sun comes out.

When wearing glasses under the Goggles I found I steamed up when we stopped, making setting off blind a bit too much fun for me.

I didn’t want to wear my prescription glasses bare on the slope in case they fell off when I crashed.

I agree that being able to see helps you ski!
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@Pumba, ...but look at the OP...she needs them NOW....she does not have time to mess around with things which may or may not work - yes, a number of googles are now being made to be OTG compatible - Bloc Evos, Cebe index, Oakley flight deck, Oakley Canopy - but the thing is to hear the needs of the OP - OTGs for the Half Term - and there are LOADS of OTG kids' googles on ebay which will work and cost around 30-39 gbp. Sorry to seem grumpy, but I have diagnosed a few accidents where the cause has come back to poor vision due to cr+p goggles. For 30gbp per child I think decent OTG googles are a very small expense...but that's just my view....
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@valais2, I know the OP needs a solution straight away which is why I suggested trying a pair of adult goggles , assuming OP has a pair, then no need to be trying online which may not be suitable anyway. Just saying what has worked for my daughter!
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@Pumba, fair enough...indeed trying what they already have in the household might work...

OP if you are still out there...if you action Pumba's suggestion there are a couple of things to bear in mind:

Adult goggles must not push a youth's helmet up too far on the forehead - if the goggles are too big, they may meet the helmet seamlessly and look fine, but if the helmet is pushed too far back, the forehead can be exposed to impact. So, just simple check from the side to make sure that this is not happening.

Adult googles non-OTG goggles may have insufficient internal volume, so that the corners of the glasses tap on the inner lens. This is not good, disturbing the glasses when you ski and so affecting vision, and scratching the inner lens.

So if you have an adult googles you can indeed try them in the way Pumba suggests, but just do these simple checks.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I asked my optician about this a couple of weeks ago and we have now got high water content daily disposable lenses for my 11 year old daughter. She loves them and has no problem getting them in and out. You may just have time if you wanted to consider them.
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