Chinese goggles

[skiNorbert]

Have anyone any experience with lens from aliexpress or from ebay?

For example these are not the cheapest lens in relations of china. Maybe it can be such good such smith lens are?

39.4C$ 37% OFF|Ski Goggles For Glasses | Ski Goggles Over Glasses | Polarized Goggles | Blue Ski Goggles - Aliexpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

 

[Ogg]

I know you can get decent cheap goggles on Amazon for about that price. I've never used them but they seem to get good reviews.

Amazon.com : ski goggles

 

[cantunamunch]

It might be a visitors-to-WVa thing, but that^ specific brand was all over Snowshoe last weekend. The styling is nice, the optics are meh*, and gaper gap was everywhere.


*yes I compared against my Smiths.

 

[Andy Mink]

I think there must be a factory in China the churns out goggles for many, many brands. There is a review here of one of the budget priced goggles that is likely along the same lines as the ones mentioned. For the price, they were quite adequate.

 

[Carolinacub]

It might be a visitors-to-WVa thing, but that^ specific brand was all over Snowshoe last weekend. The styling is nice, the optics are meh*, and gaper gap was everywhere.


*yes I compared against my Smiths.

I've actually got a pair of the outdoor master otg goggles. they work ok (notice the use of the lower case ok)

 

[slowrider]

I've had good luck with mine (3 yrs) they were $12.

 

[Spinning Wheel]

A buddy claims those OutdoorMaster goggles on Amazon come from the same factory that makes my new Anons. They seem OK, but I'm not sure they're the "exact same thing" like he claims. I've done some poking around but I can't find anything backing up that claim. I'd certainly buy a pair for my kid who trashes his goggles every season though.

 

[raytseng]

At a mom and pop rental shop they had a basket of loaner goggles which were completely random with smudged and scratched up with no working antifog layer. On a bluebird spring day, I saw a couple borrow a hi vis yellow and clear night-skiing goggles; These are better than those.... but those are better than no goggles.

 

[zz28zz]

I've actually got a pair of the outdoor master otg goggles. they work ok (notice the use of the lower case ok)

I usually wear sunglasses if bright enough but just picked up a pair of the Outdoor Master otg's to replace my old Smith's. Haven't tried them out yet but they do seem to fit over my glasses OK. Lenses are easily replaceable and use magnets. Got the 24 % orange lens. Thinking abt picking up an extra 80% green lens for low light conditions. Anyone tried the 80% greens??

 

[oldschoolskier]

With eBay/PayPal and Amazon you have good protection. With the rest it buyer beware. That said you do your research and yes it can be a great savings. Just ensure you account for duties, taxes and shipping.

Customer support can be hit and miss, either extremely good or not at all.

My foray in to alternate market on a recent (no ski related purchase) was both frustrating (language issue) and rewarding (significant cost savings) at the same time.

In the ski side of things I’ve purchased goggles and 2 sets of boots (yes boots, only do boots if you really know what you are doing, its, if you have to ask on a news group see a fitter idea).

 

[Rod9301]

There are no duties or taxes

 

[jzmtl]

I've tried one with 2nd lens stick on top of low light lens with magnets. Lost the top lens walking from ski rack to cafeteria, the magnets are way too weak. The low light lens makes things really yellow green and bright, but doesn't provide any additional contrast compare to my old Smith blue sensor.

As with many Chinese brands, the manufacturers lacks the experience to work out many small details that affect functionality.

 

[Wade]

I've tried one with 2nd lens stick on top of low light lens with magnets. Lost the top lens walking from ski rack to cafeteria, the magnets are way too weak. The low light lens makes things really yellow green and bright, but doesn't provide any additional contrast compare to my old Smith blue sensor.

As with many Chinese brands, the manufacturers lacks the experience to work out many small details that affect functionality.

Are you saying you put a second lens on top of the lens that was correctly fitted to the goggles, and hoped the magnets were strong enough to just hold it there?

I have no dog in this fight, and I’m sure these goggles have their flaws, but this isn’t one of them. Why would you think the second lens would be secure just by putting it on top of the other lens?

 

[dbostedo]

A buddy claims those OutdoorMaster goggles on Amazon come from the same factory that makes my new Anons.

I don't know about goggles, but there are other items where cheap items and expensive items come out of the "same factory". But that doesn't mean the cheap items are built to the same standard, go through the same quality control, have the same tooling/refinement, etc. This isn't any different than when cheap electronics brands (or at least the salesmen who sold them) would claim something like "it's an unknown brand, but it has Sony guts".

 

[Jimski]

Part of the reason that Smith, Anon, Giro, Oakley goggles cost more is of course the branding effect (think YSL handbags). But another important component of the price is to recoup the cost to these companies of the R&D to innovate and improve their products: mag attach, chromo-pop lenses, etc. Many of these innovations likely are patented or otherwise protected, but as we've all read, the IP protection is often ignored by Chinese companies.

 

[crabjoe]

I just bought a pair of cheap goggles on Amazon.. Under $15 and they fit over my glasses fine. They just came in today. Brand was Olarhike.

 

[Dwight]

Just volunteered my daughter to try these:
OutdoorMaster Ski Goggles PRO - Frameless, Interchangeable Lens 100% UV400 Protection Snow Goggles for Men & Women

We'll see.

 

[Henry]

A good test for goggles is to try some in a shop on a gray day. Ask to take several to the window and look outside at the snow to see which picks up the contrast best for each person. A group of us did that. It was interesting how different brands worked for different eyes. If someone had their own cheapo goggles that would make the test even better. I found that Oakley Prizm doesn't work the best for my eyes. Others love them. I see better and ski better with Dragon LumaLens, Spy Happy Lens, Smith ChromaPop. I'd like to compare the cheap goggles with one of these.

 

[raytseng]

I took a look at some of those amazon postings, and they really are pushing the full sun low VLT lenses. It's weird that like 75% of the offerings are VLT15 and lower; and only a couple options in the typical "everyday" VLT 20-30.

It could also be that their measurements are also random and they just roll the dice.

 

[jzmtl]

Are you saying you put a second lens on top of the lens that was correctly fitted to the goggles, and hoped the magnets were strong enough to just hold it there?

I have no dog in this fight, and I’m sure these goggles have their flaws, but this isn’t one of them. Why would you think the second lens would be secure just by putting it on top of the other lens?

Because it's designed to do that.