Sable Water Optics Swimming Goggles were declared overall winner for outstanding swim goggles for their features and style!

Check out the Goggles Video Channel at FDTV, the video hub of FramesDirect.com.

Related links: UK Sable Water Optics Goggles, UK Sable Water Optics Prescription Goggles.

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The large wraparound lenses of the Smith Sonic Motorsport Goggles offer excellent protection from wind and flying debris.

In the United States, 38,000 sports-related eye injuries are reported each year, according to Consumer Product Safety Commission. Many could be prevented if the athletes had been wearing protective eyewear, such as safety goggles with polycarbonate lenses.

Ski goggles are a must, and so are face shields (either “cages” or clear polycarbonate shields) for baseball or softball catchers, and hockey, football, and paintball players. Racquet sports (e.g., racquetball, tennis, squash, badminton, etc.) account for a significant number of sport-related eye injuries. Nonetheless, the most popular sports (i.e., basketball, baseball, and football) have the most numbers of such injuries because of the larger numbers of participants in these sports.

The sad part about these eye injuries is that they often result in permanent damage, and over 90% of the injuries sustained could have been prevented. A deflected ball, flailing finger or whack of a racquet are all big offenders when it comes to eye trauma. Mother Nature, however, is just as likely to be a guilty party. Rocks, dust, water and gravel are all can cause eye injuries.

Sports-related eye injuries can produce anywhere from minimal eye damage (scratches and/or abrasions) to injuries that can result in permanent loss of vision or even the loss of the eye itself (ocular hemorrhages, retinal detachments, open globe injuries, etc). Obviously, this depends on the nature of the injury.

Many athletes don’t enjoy wearing glasses, because they can fog up or slip down. They also don’t provide peripheral vision as good as that obtained with contact lenses. However, prescription polycarbonate goggles with a wraparound strap, like the kind Kareem Abdul Jabbar wore on the court, are a good solution. And many kids think they’re cool because Jabbar wore them.

Never use “dress” eyewear during sports. Glasses made for street or office wear are not made to the same standard as safety eyewear and will probably not hold up under impact. Not only will they shatter or bend, but pieces of the lens or frame can cause eye or face injury.

Tips when choosing your sport eyewear

1. If you wear prescription glasses, make sure you either get prescription eyewear or goggles that can be used with prescription eyewear.
2. Buy name brand sport specific goggles from a reputable dealer.
3. Don’t buy sports eye guards without lenses. Only “lensed” protectors are recommended for sports use.
4. Fogging of the lenses can be a problem when you’re active. Some goggles are available with anti-fog coating. Others have side vents for additional ventilation.
5. Check the packaging to see if the eye protector you select has been tested for sports use. Polycarbonate eye guards are the most impact resistant.
6. Sports goggles should be padded or cushioned along the brow and bridge of the nose. Padding will prevent the eye guards from cutting your skin. In goggles designed for skiing the padding will help keep out snow and debris.

If a sports-related injury does occurs, the athlete should be referred to a medical facility or to an eye care professional (ophthalmologist or optometrist) immediately if they experience:

1. blurred vision that does not clear within a few minutes,
2. loss of all or part of their field of vision,
3. eye pain that does not subside in a few minutes,
4. double vision,
5. flashing lights or
6. bleeding on or inside the eye.

If there is ever any doubt as to the nature of the eye injury, then the athlete should discontinue participating in the sport and should immediately consult an eye care professional.

Protective Eyewear Features

Frames
Protective sports eyewear is available in either a goggle design or a shield. Goggles offer better protection than shields.

Regardless of which design you prefer, the frame should cover the entire socket and not just the eyeball. If you select a shield, look for a frame that fits closely to the face, so as to minimize the potential for a finger to get underneath and displace the frame. The frame should have padding at the temple and bridge. This will absorb some of the shock to lessen the overall impact, and will limit damage the frame may cause to the face.

An elasticized band is best to hold the frame in place. Regular temples will not secure the frame tightly enough and a finger could displace the frame and end up in your eye. In addition to having an impact resistant lens, the frame must also be able to withstand impact. Frames molded with propionate are lightweight and offer strength and flexibility

Lenses
The key element to look for in protective eyewear is polycarbonate lenses since they are virtually unbreakable and can sustain the impact of a ball or racquet. Safety is not the only reason to use sport specific eyewear. Performance levels can be increased when the the issues affecting poor vision are addressed. Visual aquity and clarity are important factors in insuring good vision and performance in any outdoor activity.

Color Enhancement
Some tinted sports sunglasses enhance particular colors, such as yellow, by filtering other colors out. Specially tinted contact lenses, such as yellow-enhancing soft contacts and tinted RGPs, can do the same thing. (Don’t confuse these light-filtering lenses with regular color contacts, which are tinted in order to change the color of your eyes, but don’t affect the colors you see in the environment.) Yellow enhancement is particularly desirable in tennis, where balls are usually yellow.

Other contact lenses are being developed to enhance certain colors for golfers, skiers, trap-shooters, and more. Amber or rose ski goggle lenses enhance the soft grays that mark shadows on a ski slope. Since these shadows indicate ridges or bumps in the surface, skiers “read” them to decide when to turn, so they won’t catch an edge and fall.

Light Control
Polarized sports sunglasses reduce glare so athletes can see the ball or other players better. Anti-reflective lens coating is another glare reducer that works even at night, if you’re playing under bright lights. Another light control lens is a photochromic. This changes from clear or almost clear to a light or dark sunlens, depending on how much light is around you. Photochromic lenses are terrific for golf, where you’re moving from light to shade when walking from one hole to the next. In fact, they work for any outdoor sport on days when it’s partly sunny, partly cloudy. With anti-reflective coating applied, they also reduce glare.

Related pages and posts: Specialty Eyeglasses – The Gift of Vision, Wiley X Tactical Series Safety Glasses, Sunglasses 101 – Outdoor, Tennis & Sports Sunglasses, Get Going With Goggles, Top Eyewear & Optical Tools, Bolle Tips for Wearing Goggles over Corrective Eyewear, It’s Summer – Time for Swimming Goggles, Get Going With Goggles This Summer, UK Goggles .

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BOLLE GOGGLE TECHNOLOGY

Flow-Tech Venting – Bolle designs its goggles to control and optimize the flow of air over the inside of the lens to reduce fogging. Venting ports are located to enhance design and control air flow without clogging with snow.

P80 (Anti-Fog Coating) – Bolle applies P80 to the inside of our cylindrical double lenses. Combined with thermal insulation of the double lens and Equalizer technology, it provides superior anti-fog capabilities and truer optics.

P80 PLUS (Anti-fog/Carbo Glass® Anti-Scratch) – Applied to our new spherical polycarbonate decentered single lenses (Zoopla), P80Plus is Bollé’s proprietary, maximum protection against lens fogging and scratching.

Quick Release Strap – Easy on. Easy off. The Bolle Quick Release Strap makes getting your goggles on/off your head or helmet easier.

OTH (Over The Helmet) – All Bolle goggles are designed to be compatible with most helmet designs currently on the market.

SOS Prescription Adapters (RX) – Prescription wearers can customize their Bollé goggles with optical Rx adapters that fit inside the goggle

Double Lens with Equalizer – Bolle double lenses create a thermal barrier, but have a superior seal and better optics with Equalizer technology.

100% UV Protection – All of Bollé’s goggle lens protect the wearer 100% from harmful ultraviolet rays (UVA/UVB).

OTG/OTC (Over the glasses/contacts) – The Bolle X700, X500, and X200 goggles are designed to fit over most glasses and contact lenses.

Polarized Lens – Low sun angles and the high reflectivity of snow create the need for polarization, which blocks the horizontal, reflected component of light. Gray lenses, however, offer no contrast for seeing icy patches or terrain features. Bolle combines polarization with a vermillon tint for high contrast perception.

Spherical Lens – Featured in the new Bolle contour goggle the spherical lens offers enhanced vision and superior optics over traditional flat lenses. Unique, sculpted look, reduced fogging with lens further from face.

Equalizer™ – Bolle Equalizer technology uses a breathable, gore all-weather vent to equalize air pressure between the lenses, without introducing moisture. The result is distortion-free vision at any altitude and no fogging.

BOLLE LENS OPTIONS

Vermillon – High contrast. Mostly cloudy/overcast conditions
Phototropic – Light sensitive amber tint that darkens with increasing solar intensity.
Bollé 100 – Amber colored lens that absorbs 100% infrared. Infrared rays contribute heat which accelerates the drying of the eye.
Night Ski – Clear lens for very low light or night skiing.
Citrus – High contrast. Direct sun/bright conditions (combines yellow and amber qualities)
Vermillon Gun Flash – Metallic silver coating applied. Our Vermillion lens reduce glare and enhance visual acuity. Ideal for bright days on the slopes.
Vermillon Polarized – High contrast. Highest glare and reflective conditions.

Related pages and posts – Bolle Sunglasses, Bolle Prescription Sunglasses, Bolle Eyeglasses, Get Going With Goggles, Bolle Tips for Wearing Goggles over Corrective Eyewear, Video: Bolle Goggles, UV Protection, UK Goggles.

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The Electric EGI Ski Goggles are popular snow goggles available in a unisex one size fits all model.

“Seeing well” for an athlete means optimizing the qualities of vision in relation to the velocity of movements. Performances are achieved by pushing reactivity of excess. It is crucial for the athlete to make coordinated and rhythmical movements to perceive the irregularities of the slope or course without hesitation.

No skier can make secure judgments in advance of the obstacles or course poles without clear, undistorted vision. The world’s leading manufacturers in ski goggles and snow ski eyewear provide you with the best possible protection and most technologically advanced lens designs.

With manufacturers like Oakley and Bolle, you can find eyewear for those who love the freedom of skiing. Bolle snow goggles offer a technology like no other. The trademarked Equalizer lens and ventilation system offers one of the best snow goggles on the market. The Gore-All weather vent equalizes air pressure between the lenses, without introducing moisture, so you get distortion-free vision at any altitude.

Selecting Goggles for Skiing and Snowboarding
At high altitudes, it is especially critical that your eyewear protect you from ultraviolet radiation, of which up to 85% can be reflected off snow. This means you need sunglasses or goggles in both sunny and overcast conditions. Snow blindness is a sunburn on the surface of the eye and the most common skiing injury that optometrists treat.

Skiing without goggles, regardless of weather conditions, increases exposure to UV rays, which puts people at risk of cataracts and macular degeneration, the number one cause of blindness in seniors.

People don’t usually think about the potential for eye injuries but they can happen. If you take a bad fall while wearing inappropriate eyewear, the lenses can break and cut your eyes; if you aren’t wearing any eyewear at all, a low branch can do serious damage to your eyes.

Goggles
If you prefer to wear a goggle, use the same lens color guidelines. Make sure the goggle is well ventilated to prevent fogging. Goggles should fit properly and comfortably and should be tinted in accordance to weather conditions, for additional safety.

A good all purpose tint is gray, with or without a mirror. For hazy conditions choose cinnamon, or amber. And for foggy days a vermilion or yellow tint helps to enhance what you see. Goggles with interchangeable lenses are good options for people who want to be well prepared.

Frames
We recommend a plastic frame since these hold up much better in the cold. Metal frames become brittle in the cold and may break. Wraps are very popular since they protect your eyes from wind and snow, which is especially important for contact lens wearers. They also help block out incidental light from the sides, helping to minimize glare.

Lenses
Most importantly, the sunglasses/goggles should offer 100% UV protection. Since glare increases on surfaces such as snow and regular sun lenses do not provide adequate absorption of glare, you may want to consider polarized lenses which absorb 98% of the glare so you don’t need to squint.

Please Note: Polarized lenses absorb so much glare that you may not be able to distinguish patches of ice from regular snow. You also may want to consider a photochromatic lens, which will lighten or darken according to the amount of light, getting darker in bright sunlight, and lighter in an overcast sky.

Polycarbonate lenses are highly recommended because of their impact resistance. Polycarbonate is also more fog resist than any other lens. Plastic provides adequate protection but can still shatter. Avoid glass lenses if at all possible. When skiing in bright sunlight, you should wear a sun lens. A brown or amber lens will provide the best contrast against a white background and works well for lower light conditions (i.e. when the sun goes behind the clouds).

Related link: UK Goggles.

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Leader Phoenix II Racquetball Eyewear features optically correct lenses to eliminate distortion and enhanced peripheral vision.

Protective sports eyewear should be a requirement for almost anyone who wants to pick up a ball, bat, racquet or stick, whether their sport involves contact or not.

As more and more athletic clubs and organizations realize the danger to the eyes involved in many activities they are requiring the use of protective eyewear.

Little League organizations are no exception. Kids can be resistant to the idea of “looking funny” while they play, but sports goggles are quickly becoming an accepted part of society, much as bike helmets have become the norm. And for good reason: according to the National Society to Prevent Blindness, of the 100,000 eye injuries sustained each year, the largest number are attributed to school-age athletes.

Even non-contact sports, such as badminton, hold inherent dangers to the eyes. Any sport in which balls, racquets or flying objects are involved poses a potential for eye injury because of the high rate of speed at which the objects travel.

Although they may seem to take place at a leisurely pace, racquetball, tennis and badminton can involve objects moving at 60 miles per hour (mph) and faster. A racquetball, for example, can travel between 60 and 200 mph during a game. Racquetball poses an additional danger when the racquets make contact with each other in a confined space while moving at high speed.

Beyond the objects involved in various athletic pursuits, many eye injuries are caused by pokes and jabs by fingers and elbows, particularly in games where players come into close contact with each other. Basketball and soccer, for example, have an extremely high rate of eye injury.

Sports eyewear that offers maximum protection is available in both prescription and nonprescription styles. The frames are constructed of highly impact-resistant plastic (Grilamid for example) or polycarbonate, and most have rubber padding that cushions the sides of the frame where they come into contact with the head, as well as in the nose area.

Lenses made for sports eyewear must be made of polycarbonate in order to meet industry requirements for safety. Polycarbonate is the most impact-resistant lens material, and it is effective at protecting the eye from fast-moving objects. Polycarbonate lenses may also have built-in ultraviolet protection and scratch-resistant properties — pluses for outdoor sports.

Some nonprescription sports styles are contoured, wrapping around the face, which protect the eyes from the wind as well as flying debris. These goggles are excellent for biking, hang-gliding, and sailing. Contact lens wearers especially benefit from the wraparound style.

Most sports goggles are more square in shape, however, offering strong protection around the eye. Goggles of this type can accommodate polycarbonate prescription lenses.

It is important that goggles be fitted correctly for each wearer. Proper fitting is not a huge challenge for adults, but when it comes to children, there is a temptation to purchase a goggle that is much too large in order to give the child “room to grow.” A small amount of growing room is acceptable, and sports goggles are made to be a bit flexible in terms of width adjustment. However, if the frame is much too large, the sides of the goggle wind up pressing against the soft flesh of the temples. Allowing the goggle to rest at this point can pose a danger to the child under impact.

Allowing a youngster to continue wearing a goggle that is too small likewise poses problems. First, it’s uncomfortable, and second, it will obstruct peripheral vision. Proper fitting means that the padding inside the goggle’s sides rests flush with the face and that the eyes are centered vertically in the lens area.

Related: UK Goggles, UK Contact Lenses.

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