Flat light goggle question

[Sidewinder]

I currently use the Smith sensor mirror for my low/flat light lens. I’m wondering if the Oakley Hi Yellow would be better. I tried a pair on at a store but they had the plastic film still on so I couldn’t really tell how they’d be without it.
The Smiths are pretty good, but sometimes I still struggle to see. I realize no lens will be perfect, but has anyone tried both to see which is better?
Thanks all!

 

[raytseng]

I think this is very dependent person to person.
I don't like oakleys but I like smith lenses, in terms of the optics, but a friend of mine is the reverse.
Even in terms of the smith sensor/storm lenses, there are different tints too.
Overall in terms of lowlight you can really broadly only compare the vlt numbers and the higher numbers is going to be brighter.

The specific tints and wavelengths that it enhances/ filters out, is going to be very dependent on you

 

[Tony Storaro]

I currently use the Smith sensor mirror for my low/flat light lens. I’m wondering if the Oakley Hi Yellow would be better. I tried a pair on at a store but they had the plastic film still on so I couldn’t really tell how they’d be without it.
The Smiths are pretty good, but sometimes I still struggle to see. I realize no lens will be perfect, but has anyone tried both to see which is better?
Thanks all!

Smith’s own Storm Yellow flash will be better although for really bad flat light nothing really helps, you have to soldier through it.

 

[DanoT]

I like the Smith Chromapop light yellow tint Storm lens for foggy days. Oakley has similar technology called Prism.

 

[Paul Lutes]

Smith’s own Storm Yellow flash will be better although for really bad flat light nothing really helps, you need to wisely admit defeat and live to fight another day.

Fixed it for me

 

[BC.]

I currently use the Smith sensor mirror for my low/flat light lens. I’m wondering if the Oakley Hi Yellow would be better. I tried a pair on at a store but they had the plastic film still on so I couldn’t really tell how they’d be without it.
The Smiths are pretty good, but sometimes I still struggle to see. I realize no lens will be perfect, but has anyone tried both to see which is better?
Thanks all!

Eye dependent….but Oakley HI Yellow and Smith Yellow and Blue Sensor will all be better than a Mirror Sensor in low light.

 

[KingGrump]

although for really bad flat light nothing really helps, you have to soldier through it.

Stop looking and feel instead.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Fixed it for me

Yeah that’s an option as well..

 

[Tony Storaro]

Stop looking and feel instead.

Good advise, yes.

 

[Paul Lutes]

Yeah .... right up until you smash into that chair pylon.

 

[Scruffy]

My wife, who had retina problems and has a real had time with low light has found Ted Ligety's Shred goggles with their Contrast Boosting Tech to be better for her than the Smith Chromapop Storm lens she used to use. She's using the Shred Ski Mirror lens 45% VLT. Their web site is hard to find the VLT but keep poking around you'll find it.

 

[Tony S]

My wife, who had retina problems and has a real had time with low light has found Ted Ligety's Shred goggles with their Contrast Boosting Tech to be better for her than the Smith Chromapop Storm lens she used to use. She's using the Shred Ski Mirror lens 45% VLT. Their web site is hard to find the VLT but keep poking around you'll find it.

Interesting.

 

[Tricia]

The thing I've learned about goggle lenses is that different tints work for different people. I often wonder if it has do do with the person's eye color or some other physical aspect.

For example, when someone is diagnosed with dyslexia, they often us a different color celophane over the page for different types of dyslexia.
For me, its a blue celophane that brings the words together.
The color lens I like for flat light is different than the lens that @Philpug likes. I have been skiing with the Revo #6 Goggle with the photochromic blue water lens and have had really good luck with that lens the past few years.
This year I started skiing in the all new UVEX Evident ATTRACT Cylindrical goggles with Sapphire/Green S5. It comes with the Yellow Clear S1. We haven't had much of a chance to ski flat light with them, but so far, I like these optics. Stay tuned.

 

[Henry]

One more vote...everyone's eyes are unique. You gott'a find what works for you. When you're at the hill on a gray day, in a shop with windows that look out over the snow, ask to take several goggles or just lenses to the window and see what works for you. Yes, ask if you can peel off the protective film. My eyes have changed over the years. I used to like Oakley Rose. Now any rose in the tint gives me floating pink clouds. Best for me in dim light now is light yellow.

 

[salvatore]

My wife, who had retina problems and has a real had time with low light has found Ted Ligety's Shred goggles with their Contrast Boosting Tech to be better for her than the Smith Chromapop Storm lens she used to use. She's using the Shred Ski Mirror lens 45% VLT. Their web site is hard to find the VLT but keep poking around you'll find it.

I heard Ligety on with Jonathan Ellsworth and bought a pair of Shred goggles because TL convinced me -- while trying to convince JE -- that their newest lens (CBL 2.0) was a game-changer.

I think as far as contrast and clarity go, the Shred are wonderful. The issue I have is that the tint is just too dark for flat light (along with being too depressing in normal conditions). I ended up switching back to my Revo #6.

Maybe I should grab a Shred VLT lens to try.

Ellsworth did say something during that conversation that I agree with 100%: “I hate it, it’s my least favorite thing… I would far rather ski crap snow with good light than really good snow in bad light.”

 

[Tony Storaro]

Yeah .... right up until you smash into that chair pylon.

Lol I don’t think he meant that sort of “drive by feel”. If you cannot make out the lift pylons no lens out there will help improve the visibility and is time for packing up and going home.

 

[Scruffy]

I heard Ligety on with Jonathan Ellsworth and bought a pair of Shred goggles because TL convinced me -- while trying to convince JE -- that their newest lens (CBL 2.0) was a game-changer.

I think as far as contrast and clarity go, the Shred are wonderful. The issue I have is that the tint is just too dark for flat light (along with being too depressing in normal conditions). I ended up switching back to my Revo #6.

Maybe I should grab a Shred VLT lens to try.

Ellsworth did say something during that conversation that I agree with 100%: “I hate it, it’s my least favorite thing… I would far rather ski crap snow with good light than really good snow in bad light.”

Shred's website is not very good in telling you the VLT ( visible light transmission ) of each lens unfortunately. I made the same mistake and bought a pair for my wife that was too dark. She loved them however for sunny days, and noted to me that the clarity was better than her other sunny day goggles. So I went back to their website and found the VLT of the lenses and then got her another pair of goggles with a higher VLT for flat light, and she is happy with them. Also they have some very high VLT lenses that are not their CLB ( contrast boosting tech ) lenses, so be carful not to buy them, as the whole point what they bring to the table is their CBL.

Here's the link to the lenses. If you mouse over the thumbnail pics of the lens for the different models of goggles, you should get a popup that tells you the VLT. CBL Sky Mirror has a VLT of 45% ans is good for east coast low light.

Spare Lenses

Go from VHS to HD with ShredWide™, for the largest field of vision in the game and Contrast Boosting Lens™ 2.0 and Contrast Boosting Lens™ technology for unparalleled vision in ALL conditions, developed with the MIT Sport Lab. And Click Here to shop the Contrast Boosting Lens™ 2.0 line, as seen...

shredoptics.com

 

[Tony S]

Shred's website is not very good in telling you the VLT ( visible light transmission ) of each lens unfortunately. I made the same mistake and bought a pair for my wife that was too dark. She loved them however for sunny days, and noted to me that the clarity was better than her other sunny day goggles. So I went back to their website and found the VLT of the lenses and then got her another pair of goggles with a higher VLT for flat light, and she is happy with them. Also they have some very high VLT lenses that are not their CLB ( contrast boosting tech ) lenses, so be carful not to buy them, as the whole point what they bring to the table is their CBL.

Here's the link to the lenses. If you mouse over the thumbnail pics of the lens for the different models of goggles, you should get a popup that tells you the VLT. CBL Sky Mirror has a VLT of 45% ans is good for east coast low light.

Spare Lenses

Go from VHS to HD with ShredWide™, for the largest field of vision in the game and Contrast Boosting Lens™ 2.0 and Contrast Boosting Lens™ technology for unparalleled vision in ALL conditions, developed with the MIT Sport Lab. And Click Here to shop the Contrast Boosting Lens™ 2.0 line, as seen...

shredoptics.com

I saw that. What surprises me is that 45% is still not all that high for east coasters like us who spend half the season inside a virtual cave when it comes to ambient light.

 

[Cheizz]

After trying Oakley Prism Hi Pink, and similar lenses in yellow and pink by a few manufacturers - they have all been beaten by a cheap and simple € 30 light yellow lens from a French rental shop.

For European white-out conditions, my cheap yellow no-nonsense goggles beat all the expensive tech.

 

[Scruffy]

I saw that. What surprises me is that 45% is still not all that high for east coasters like us who spend half the season inside a virtual cave when it comes to ambient light.

The Smith Chromapop Storm lens is 50%, so it's not far off. Shred has higher VLT lenses, they just don't have the CBL tech, which seems to work according to my wife who has terrible issues with flat light; to the point where she is snow blind in flat light that I can see perfectly fine, but everyone's eyes are different, so.... I keep buying her the latest goggles to keep her skiing. We have a goggle museum.