Oakley Wisdoms .. to polarize or not to polarize

A snowHead

Thinking of splashing out on some Oakley Wisdom goggles and wondering whether to go the whole hog and get the polarized version.

Does anyone know what difference polarized lenses make?

A snowHead

RichA, I prefer non-polarised for skiing as I have difficulty seeing icy patches with polarised lenses. A mirrored coating is good enough at cutting out any glare.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I would have said always go polarized but until this year I haven't skied with polarized lenses. Didn't notice any problems a few weeks ago on the glacier, will have a better test in a fortnight.

I can't say that I particularly look out for icy patches though, one should "ski with one's feet"...

You need to Login to know who's really who.

David Murdoch,

" can't say that I particularly look out for icy patches though, one should "ski with one's feet"..."

If I adopted this strategy I would be very soon "sliding with ones back bottom"

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

blueskix, which is slightly better than "planting with one's face"!

You'll need to Register first of course.

blueskix,

Kramer, too true...

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

ok, so to protect both my back bottom and front face i think i might go for unpolarized !!

After all it is free

no, no, no, go polar. I must admit to not having skied in them but if you believe the hype you should see the ice better.

IMO polarized lenses are great, I use a pair for fly fishing (for sharks obviously, I'm double hard Shocked

), I couldn't believe how much better they were than normal (high quality) lenses.

RichA, No to polarized for skiing. I have the same lense in polarized & non-polarized for my specs & you can't tell the difference on snow. As the polarized are waaay more expensive they're a waste of money.

More importantly, AFAIK Oakley only offer a few goggle lenses in polarized - VR28 & HI amber plus maybe one or two more. These aren't the best skiing lenses. For a mid to bright light go with the fire iridium & for low to mid light go with the HI blue.

The black & blue iridiums look great but they don't give the same level of contrast as the fire's which is really noticeable (dangerous?) when you ski from a brightly lit area in to a shaded area.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

spyderjon

thanks for that ... just to claifry

I want them for low light so I should go for the HI blue ??? What about the HI Yellow ??

I got a bit confused with the blue iridiums not being good when going into the low light ... is that a different lense to the HI blue?

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

http://www.the-eye-shop.com/feat/gb/oakley_screens.htm

HTH

snow reports

RichA, have a look at the Oakley Website it helps to make things clearer Laughing

spyderjon, I am a bit confused at to why you recomend a blue lense for low light. I was under the impression that blue was the absolute worst colour in these conditions. For low light, a colour opposite to blue in the colour wheel should be used. Additionaly I cannot find Hi blue on the Oakley site.

You know it makes sense.

RichA, Yep, it's a bit confusing. The blue iridiums are a different lense to the High Intensity (HI) yellow or HI blue. You want the HI yellow or HI blue for low light. They are a superb lens, it's like somebody turned the lights on.

Now the even more confusing bit. The HI blue & the HI yellow are the same lens. Until earlier this year they were called HI blue, although they are actually yellow with a light blueish hue when you angle them. Punters were getting confused with the blue iridium which is an obvious blue colour. Oakley has recently changed the name to HI yellow. Any shops with goggles left over from last season might still have HI blue otherwise new 'uns are HI yellow.

I use this Oakley chart which is for goggles only (Source: Oakley, 28.11.05). It gives Lens Type / Transmission / Protection / Use for the different ranges:

NON POLARIZED DOUBLE LENSES (Wisdom, A Frames)
Clear 83% S0 Neutral transmission. Very low light. Indoor use.
High Intensity Yellow 83% S0 Flat to very low light.
High Intensity Persimmon 63% S1 Flat to very low light.
Persimmon 62% S1 Flat to very low light.
Pink Iridium 57% S1 Flat to very low light
VR50 50% S1 Flat to very low light.
G30 30% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
VR28 28% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
Blue Iridium 30% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
Gold Iridium 20% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
Black Iridium 16% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
Fire 16% S3 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.

blueskix, I trust that the above answers your question. And that's why the Oakley website shows the HI yellow & no longer the HI blue.

EDIT: Above chart updated 28.11.05 from information received from Oakley for '06 production. It looks like Oakley have altered the coating on some of the lenses as some of the light transmission levels have changed compared to the '05 chart below:

NON POLARIZED DOUBLE LENSES (Wisdom, A Frames)
High Intensity Blue 83% S0 Flat to very low light.
Clear 82% S0 Neutral transmission. Very low light. Indoor use.
Persimmon 56% S1 Flat to very low light.
High Intensity Persimmon 52% S1 Flat to very low light.
VR50 44% S1 Flat to very low light.
Gold Iridium 28% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
VR28 25% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
G30 24% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
Blue Iridium 24% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
Black Iridium 16% S2 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.
Fire 16% S3 Neutral transmission. Medium to bright light.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

excellent, alles klar .. it's the HI blue/yellow for me then .... cheers fella

i must say i'm dead impressed with the help/info available from posters on here .. got some very useful help wrt bindings the other day as well

A snowHead

spyderjon, Thanks, I guess that the marketing people at Oakley know what they are doing but the rational of naming a yellow lens "Hi blue" defeats me. Additionally any ideas what the s0 s1 etc means in the table you posted?

A snowHead

RichA, Have you tried the Wisdoms on? If yes, great go for it. If not, I'd do so first as they're pretty big & the A Frames probably fit a greater %age of the population. Alternative, Oakley now offer the Wisdom in what they call an 'Alternative Fit' model which is the same design but I think is a tad smaller, although I've never seen/tried them.

If you wear a helmet don't forget to take it with you when trying on goggles. Oakley do a special 'helmet strap' for both the Wisdom's & the A Frames which positions the elastic so that it comes out of the sides of the goggle body to around a helmet. Saying that, my A Frames fir my Giro helmet fine with the standard straps.

blueskix, it's from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Pr EN 174 which is the protection index (ie light transmission) for ski lenses:
S0 - Aesthetic, very low protection
S1 - weak sun brightness
S2 - average sun brightness
S3 - strong sun brightness
In addition, they all have to give 100% UV protection.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I received a pair of Wisdoms as a gift last week. Really nice goggles but one problem. They dont fit my helmet !! The plastic "wings" connected to the straps slide under the helmet ! So I have to take them back and get some A frames. Just something to beware of if you are a helmet wearer

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Diarmuid, Have you tried their aftermarket helmet straps? They're designed to stop that very problem by positioning the strap 'around' the helmet.

Help!!

Oakley Wisdoms .. to polarize or not to polarize

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Equipment Reviews/Questions