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Goggles

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Need new goggles what's best to look out for?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Ones that fit in combination with your helmet if you wear one. Oakley Prizm lenses are spendy but brill.
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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?
+1 for Prism, I've got the Jade and works for everything but snowy/whiteout conditions
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Like this?
https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15923464/oakley-line-miner-prizm-snow-goggle-15923464
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Another Prizm fan here.

- Sapphire/Jade/Torch - All round, with a bias towards sun
- Rose - All round, with a bias towards flat light
- Hi Pink/Cinnamon - Not really an All Round lens, as too bright for sunny conditions (for most people).
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Had cheaper/other brand goggles and lenses for a few years.

Treated myself to Oakley Flight Decks with a prizm lens.
It was like a different world. Seriously impressive.

I’ve got Prizm Torch for my go to in pretty much all conditions.
If it’s a real white out, I’ve just got myself the Hi-Pink to change into.
In real sunlight I usually switch to sunnies anyway, but they have prizm lenses in as well.

If you just want one lens. Then either the rose which leans towards flatter light but still is an all rounder. Or either the Jade/Torch/Sapphire which leans slight more towards brighter conditions but still a good all rounder.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
vote for Prizm Rose. We have loads of these, Canopy and other models. Good in bright winter sun, Even good in very very zero viz. For me as good as the Hi Yellow in the old series, which I still have. Others will argue not, but hey ho. We have bought loads of replacement Rose lens from Absolute (39.00!!!!) and then bought old canopy's, with Cat 3 lens, wherever for peanuts and so have variety of lens later in the season.

We have Bolle (good in spherical form); Smith; Cebe; etc - nothing a patch on the Rose Prizm. Last pair was 30.00 new in Go Outdoors ... grabbed them.
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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!
Oakleys with Prizm are great, but get past the marketing and several other brands offer as good lens technology, with many also having much better lens change systems than Oakley offers, plus cheaper and you generally get 2 lenses with the goggle as standard, which you often don't with Oakley models.

Smith has ChromaPop, with Storm Yellow being reviewed by many as better than the best Prizm low light lens (Rose I think)
Anon has Sonar (and the Anon M4 has easily the best and quickest lens change system on the market)
Dragon has Lumalens (and their swift lock lens change system is really really good and quick too, again superior to Oakleys)

All these lens tech do the same thing. Selectively filter certain bands of blue light in order to increase contrast in snow-specific conditions. Prizm may be "the best" but if it is, it's not by much, an many people debate it is/isn't. They're all doing the same thing in the end. You can often pay a significant premium with Oakley (depending on which model you get, older models will be cheaper and sales notwithstanding) so I would suggest you do your research, look at which goggle styles you like, which sizes they come in and what suits your face (helmet compatibility is crucial), how much they cost, and then make a decision on whether you want Oakley, Smith, Anon, Dragon, Electric, etc etc etc Very Happy
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True. There are other brands out there doing similar stuff to Oakley and prizm technology.

Just do a bit of research and try some on. Fitting your face correctly is just as important as the lens.

The only reason I went Oakley is that I’ve always had their glasses etc, so I guess am a bit brand loyal but they have been around a while and they know their stuff! And I just love the contrast prizm gives.
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The (selective) contrast you get with Prizms are unlikely to be much different to that with other companies' tech (at least to the average person). There is at least one video on youtube I watched a year or two ago where they put the lenses in a machine that shows you exactly which frequencies are being filtered and there's very little difference.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying Oakley, as I have no loyalty to brands in this particular case, I would simply want buyers to know that Oakley lenses are unlikely to be massively "better" than the equivalent lenses from other companies (ie. compare a high VLT% lens from Oakley to a high VLT% lens from company x or y). If you're buying them, just be aware of that, and if you still prefer them because of look or feel/fit/whatever else reason then great!

The reason I haven't bought any is because getting only one lens and no hard case, as is the case with many (most/all?) Oakley goggles, for (at the time) >30% premium over Anon/Dragon (which did come with hard case/spare lens included and had ridiculously superior lens change systems) just didn't seem worth it to me. Have to say the Fall Line XL (replacement for the Line Miners) do look really good though! Shame the lens changing on Oakleys is quite poor in comparison.


One other thing to be aware of (for any goggle make) is the likelihood of you being able to buy replacement lenses, either because the goggle didn't come with any, you damaged one of your own lenses, or you want to buy a different VLT lens to the ones you have. If you buy a newish model of goggle this shouldn't be an issue. If you find a sale where they're selling one that was released a number of years ago, be aware that when it's discontinued, they won't sell lenses for it anymore and once stuff runs out on random sites/ebay that will likely be that. Eg. this might be the case with the Oakley Line Miner now/soon, or the Dragon X1 or 2, which were popular goggles until last year.
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I have Rose and Jade are the Hi Pink that much better in flat light than the Rose which are a good allrounder , Jade when it gets sunny.
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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.
radar wrote:
I have Rose and Jade are the Hi Pink that much better in flat light than the Rose which are a good allrounder , Jade when it gets sunny.

IMO. If you have the Rose, then the Hi Pink is a luxury, rather than a necessity.

If you only had the Jade and were looking for a second lens, then the Hi Pink (or Prizm Cinnamon) would make more sense.
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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
I have the Prizm Sapphire, Pink and Black, all excellent. I’m really good at wrecking them too especially the sapphire....on my second replacement, first one cracked in a big face plant, new one some idiot on skibus decided to let his skis slide into me as I was sat minding my own business....expensive hobby! rolling eyes
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Old Fartbag wrote:
radar wrote:
I have Rose and Jade are the Hi Pink that much better in flat light than the Rose which are a good allrounder , Jade when it gets sunny.

IMO. If you have the Rose, then the Hi Pink is a luxury, rather than a necessity.

If you only had the Jade and were looking for a second lens, then the Hi Pink (or Prizm Cinnamon) would make more sense.


Exactly what I’ve done.

I’ve got the Torch which does me well. But I found a good offer on a Hi-Pink lens so couldn’t resist.
If you had Rose, then you defo wouldn’t need a Hi-Pink (unless you really really really wanted one or could get one for like a tenner Very Happy. And maybe not even then).
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I got these WLZP goggles for 29€ (price has increased since then) just before xmas.

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B076D4SN86?tag=amz07b-21

Comes with a yellow lens for flat light, and a black one for sunshine. I tend to stick with the former (using sunglasses for sunshine).

They have worked well so far, but due to all the ventilation & cushioning, the lens is a little far from the eyes so doesn't give quite as wide a field of view as my previous Carrera goggles.
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@Old Fartbag, @Fridge03, thank you both, will stick with what I have, the Rose has been good so far, I rarely use the Jade.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
My advice would be to try some on and see what fits well and see what is available at your price point . As mentioned above a lot of the top brands using fairly similar technology.

I have traditionally used Oakley and like to have a couple of lenses for different conditions. But as i am not doing as much skiing as i once did i couldn't justify spending that much on goggle's and lenses that i use for 1 week a year. I recently picked up a set of Smith I/O googles for a very good price on sports pursuit, outfitted with smiths latest lens technology and 2 sets of lenses.
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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?
Reading this thread I have a ridiculous question. I have Oakley's with both Torch Iridium and Rose. When indoors its quite difficult to tell the difference between lenses. Does anyone have a definitive method? One of them is sort-of reflective when you look front on.
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rdk wrote:
Reading this thread I have a ridiculous question. I have Oakley's with both Torch Iridium and Rose. When indoors its quite difficult to tell the difference between lenses. Does anyone have a definitive method? One of them is sort-of reflective when you look front on.


The Torch should be a lot more reflective than the Rose. As well as letting through less light. The Torch should also be more red/orange whilst the Rose, more red/pink.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
rdk wrote:
Reading this thread I have a ridiculous question. I have Oakley's with both Torch Iridium and Rose. When indoors its quite difficult to tell the difference between lenses. Does anyone have a definitive method? One of them is sort-of reflective when you look front on.

On a Sunny Day, look at the Cloud Patterns - that should enable you to see the difference. I have the same two lenses and doing this allows more "pop" on the detail, with the Rose.
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Fridge03 wrote:
The Torch should be a lot more reflective than the Rose. As well as letting through less light. The Torch should also be more red/orange whilst the Rose, more red/pink.


Thanks - I can notice that when I look at the lenses.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
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Old Fartbag wrote:
On a Sunny Day, look at the Cloud Patterns - that should enable you to see the difference. I have the same two lenses and doing this allows more "pop" on the detail, with the Rose.


I'll give that a go next week.Hopefully some sunny mornings to check.
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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!
OK so these new high contrast goggle lens innovations are based on a similar principle - the blocking of blue light waves. They are the waves which cause flat light vision, so as a result you are getting more contrast in flat light conditions.

Interestingly Zeiss claim that Prizm does it wrong, and filters all blue light which can cause confusion/distortion. Anon and Melon both use Zeiss Sonar (Vivid by Giro is also Zeiss Sonar with a different name) which claims to filter out the blue light waves which cause the flat light vision...Melon have a video here: https://melonoptics.com/sonar-lenses/

I have been using the Melon Zeiss Sonar out in the Alps last and this Winter and I love em! I found that the green or blue sonar work super good in dark conditions as well as when the sun is out (S2), and the silver one is a great allrounder which I changed out to the Sonar Infrared lowlight (which i would say is the best lowlight i ever used) and I was a happy rider.
I tried a Giro Vivid of a friend and had similar experience.
Zeiss would be my go to... been making lenses for bloody ages, and are the best in the game! Their marketing sucks too, so not being brainwashed by branding haha.
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@surfers79, happy with my Prizm’s thanks.....I use 3 lens options dependent on conditions and haven’t felt confused yet. wink
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Anyone on here moved from Oakley Prizm to Summit ?

The Summit ones seem very good value (Xpose II - £ 90 with two lenses) and have easy peasy magnetic change .

I don't care what others say - I find the Oakley lens change (flight decks) hard work in the hotel room - no way would I bother trying up on the mountain so I pick a lens and stick with it even if conditions change.
(I have the Jade Iridium for sunnier days and a low light one - think it was the rose)
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Although I find Anon lenses to be excellent , I've had poor experiences with their M2 goggles, specifically the magnetic lens attachment system. For that sole reason , I wouldn't recommend them, and I'd be very wary of any of the copycat systems.
I strongly suspect that's why the Smith "magnetic" lens change has a secondary locking system in place too.
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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.
Wasnt saying Prizm are bad, just according to Zeiss (i guess they will say that) that the way they filter the light isnt ideal. Maybe a few gluehweins sort that out Wink
I wouldnt consider the need to have 3 lenses though, even when living in the Alps and riding on a daily basis never seen need to have more than 2 lenses. The Zeiss Sonars Silver Chrome and then Infrared Lowlight have all bases covered for me for most the season i would say - but each to their own of course!

Summit goggles...looks like another of those off the rack direct from factory lines to me - their goggs are available by shed loads of other Amazon brands at similar or lower price. Zero R+D, so what does that say about any lenses they use? Using polarised for snow for one of the stupidest ideas ever - with the angle of the head looking down, it can create lack of detail or shadows so you dont see patches of ice, bumps etc. Fine for himalayan hiking, but dont use them to 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
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
@surfers79, like you say each to their own, 3 lenses works for me....I only ever take 2 out black iridium and sapphire, or sapphire and hi pink, the likelihood of requiring all 3 in one day is pretty low.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I've got the Giro Axis, excellent goggle that came with 2 Zeiss vivid lenses for the princely sum of £90 (picked up from US eBay and didn't get hit for duty etc - lucky?). The lenses are the best I've come across, they're the first 'vivid/prism' filtering type lenses I've used so I can't directly compare. So to Boredsurfin if you've a giro helmet (mines a Giro somethingoranother MIPS) go for it.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
sheffskibod wrote:
Anyone on here moved from Oakley Prizm to Summit ?

The Summit ones seem very good value (Xpose II - £ 90 with two lenses) and have easy peasy magnetic change .

I don't care what others say - I find the Oakley lens change (flight decks) hard work in the hotel room - no way would I bother trying up on the mountain so I pick a lens and stick with it even if conditions change.
(I have the Jade Iridium for sunnier days and a low light one - think it was the rose)


I've been skiing with Summit Xpose IIs for a couple of seasons now. Love them.
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I recently changed my excellent but old Smith I/O goggles that were starting to fall apart after many years of regular use, with the new Smith I/O Mag system. I also have a Smith helmet so they integrate perfectly, no gaps and ventilation is great so never steam up.

The new mag system is easy to use, but definitely needs that extra clip at the side as mentioned above as I hadn't quite clipped it in correctly one time and the lens came off in my hand when lifting the goggles on a chairlift.

The contrast seems good and even better than my previously excellent Smith goggles. The lenses do seem to scratch fairly easily though - I don't know if this is an issue with all goggles with some form of reflective coating?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I'm an Oakley sunglasses fanboi, but I prefer Smith Chromapop goggles to prizm.
Fit with the helmet is very important too.
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