Help with goggles

[stepho]

My 13 yo son started skiing last year and was instantly hooked. Probably went @ 30 times last season.
He wore clear lens goggles because we were new to skiing and didn’t realize that there are different lenses for different sun/cloud conditions.
What do most skiers do for goggles? Multiple pairs with different lenses? Single pair with lenses you can switch out? Single pair with your most preferred lens? Thoughts on photochromic lenses?

 

[dbostedo]

I think you'll find that skiers have a lot of different preferences and ways of doing it. Single pairs with switching lenses have gotten more popular, as lens changes have become easier, over the last ten years. Plus, with one lens frame, it can fit to your helmet consistently.

But really, for a new young skier, who's probably going to switch gear pretty frequently as they get older. I'd suggest two pairs of affordable goggles - one a light lens for dim days or night skiing, and one with a pink tint or amber tint (the lens can appear different color than the tint) for bright days. That's probably more economical than finding a good pair of interchangeable lens goggles with the appropriate lenses.

 

[pchewn]

"Most Skiers" (1-10 days per year) I suspect have 1 pair of goggles that suit them for "all" conditions. They will be sub-optimal for very dark cloudy days (or night skiing), and sub-optimal for bright high-altitude sunny days.

"Skiing Enthusiasts" (10+ days per year) probably have one pair of goggles with 2 or more lenses as their "everyday" goggles. They probably have 1 or 2 other well-worn pairs laying about for backup, for changing the chains, or for visitors to use.

Those clear lens goggles he has would be great for night skiing.
I suggest adding another pair of goggles with darker tint for sunny day skiing.

I get free goggles and lenses as part of my consulting with the goggle supplier. So I can't even count how may pair or lenses that I have right now.

 

[Dwight]

I use the Sol Alpine and they come with 2 lenses. Magnetic mounting and works great.

Fast-changing magnetic cylindrical ski and snowboard goggle lens system delivers great anti-fog optics in every condition.

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[raytseng]

For the occasional skier, which makes up the bulk, I've noticed the increaading trend is to use the low-priced noname brands from Amazon, or from Costco.

Not just goggles but all their ski softgoods. A bit of fast fashion/ throwaway consumerism but for ski gear.

If the boy is still learning, and takes care of their equipment in the typical fashion you would expect from a boy of that age, you could still just treat it as consumables and still just buy multiples of cheap pairs and not worry too much about it.

At 30days/season you definitely would make use of better gear, but kids tend to be rough with things. You may want to postpone that only when you are sure the skier can take good care of the lenses and also rarely crashes. This does mean like putting helmet away in a soft bag or using goggle bag and avoiding touching or scratching the lens.

Nothing hurts my soul more than people rubbing the insides of their $150 expensive goggles at the slightest fog, ensuring they are ruined.

 

[Tony Storaro]

My 13 yo son started skiing last year and was instantly hooked. Probably went @ 30 times last season.
He wore clear lens goggles because we were new to skiing and didn’t realize that there are different lenses for different sun/cloud conditions.
What do most skiers do for goggles? Multiple pairs with different lenses? Single pair with lenses you can switch out? Single pair with your most preferred lens? Thoughts on photochromic lenses?

Keep it simple. One frame with 2 lenses is all you need in 98% of the cases

 

[Eric@ict]

We ski a couple of times a week. We both have one set of goggles with 2 lenses. One is rose colored and the other dark. I find I use my rose more than the dark because of shadows and the contrast for terrain. I think my wife leans more towards the rose as well.

 

[Tony S]

My 13 yo son started skiing last year and was instantly hooked. Probably went @ 30 times last season.
He wore clear lens goggles because we were new to skiing and didn’t realize that there are different lenses for different sun/cloud conditions.
What do most skiers do for goggles? Multiple pairs with different lenses? Single pair with lenses you can switch out? Single pair with your most preferred lens? Thoughts on photochromic lenses?

As others have hinted, Goggle lenses are EXTREMELY prone to scratching. I baby mine and they still don't last forever. No 13yo I've ever met would take the care necessary to keep them in good shape for long. Therefore do like raytseng says and budget for occasional replacement rather than investing in top quality.

Edit: Bring the kid and his helmet when shopping. Try the goggles on with the helmet to make sure there is good close alignment in the forehead area between goggle and helmet.

 

[AmyPJ]

Kids don't have the same level of pickiness or requirements that older adults do. My 16 YO daughter has some hand-me-down Oakley Prizm goggles with several lenses. She puts one lens in and skis it in all conditions, despite me asking her (nagging) if she wants to swap the lens for the day. "No, these are fine." She definitely does not care for them like I would, so I at least make her put a goggle sock on them at the end of the day. If she didn't have the luxury of quality hand-me-downs from me, I'd probably buy her the Spy goggles at Costco.

 

[x10003q]

Kids don't have the same level of pickiness or requirements that older adults do. My 16 YO daughter has some hand-me-down Oakley Prizm goggles with several lenses. She puts one lens in and skis it in all conditions, despite me asking her (nagging) if she wants to swap the lens for the day. "No, these are fine." She definitely does not care for them like I would, so I at least make her put a goggle sock on them at the end of the day. If she didn't have the luxury of quality hand-me-downs from me, I'd probably buy her the Spy goggles at Costco.

Plus - kids eyes work better than our "old"eyes . Despite multiple lens choices, my kids also wear the dark lens, no matter what the conditions, unless they are night skiing when they use a clear or yellow lens.

 

[jt10000]

Kids don't have the same level of pickiness or requirements that older adults do. My 16 YO daughter has some hand-me-down Oakley Prizm goggles with several lenses. She puts one lens in and skis it in all conditions, despite me asking her (nagging) if she wants to swap the lens for the day. "No, these are fine." She definitely does not care for them like I would, so I at least make her put a goggle sock on them at the end of the day. If she didn't have the luxury of quality hand-me-downs from me, I'd probably buy her the Spy goggles at Costco.

Do you think a (Smith) lens that lets in 60% VLT is light enough for kids for night skiing?

 

[Mel]

I have 2 kids (14 and 16) and second what everyone has said about them not being picky. If you have a decent mid-bright lens, they’ll happily use it for almost everything.

Two other things to consider: one, it might be worth buying a goggle that comes with interchangeable lenses so that when they damage one, they still have another. You can find some (especially if they’re being discontinued and/or replaced by a new model) on close out prices, and I bought the same goggles for me & one of my kids plus a spare pair to cannabilize for lenses - it was cheaper than buying a single replacement lens, and since they were being discontinued I couldn’t count on getting lenses when/if I needed them. Just make sure there’s no gap between the goggle and their helmet so they don’t freeze their forehead and they aren’t so big that they push down on his nose. By 13 most adult goggles will fit their face better than juniors goggles.

The second thing to consider is the style, which may or may not matter to your 13 yo. My kids usually don’t care too much about style, but they both had preferences for goggles. Most lenses are either spherical or cylindrical, meaning they curve around L to R only (cylindrical) or L to R and top to bottom (spherical). Spherical tend to be a bit more expensive, but the supposed vision advantages probably don’t matter when you have young eyes. My 14yo likes the style of spherical, 16yo likes the look of cylindrical. If he’s got a preference, he might be slightly more likely to look after them. Examples below - teen on the left has cylindrical, mine on the right are spherical.

 

[dbostedo]

meaning they curve around L to R only (spherical) or L to R and top to bottom (cylindrical).

I believe you have spherical and cylindrical backward.

 

[Mel]

I believe you have spherical and cylindrical backward.

Whoops! Can’t even blame autocorrect! Fixed so I don’t confuse anyone

 

[AmyPJ]

Do you think a (Smith) lens that lets in 60% VLT is light enough for kids for night skiing?

FWIW my kid would probably ski with her normal lens and not bat an eye. (No pun intended.)

 

[Henry]

The spherical lenses are easier to scratch...face down on a cafeteria table, for example.

How about this (given that youngsters are somewhat prone to leaving things behind) some cheap low light goggles that fit over cheap sunglasses for the bright days?

Goggle frames come in different shapes and sizes to fit different faces. Try before you buy. Also, the goggles and helmet must fit together. Try those before buying, as well.