Tips for Selecting Snowboard or Ski Goggles

Posted by Abdullah Mahmood on May 30, 2009 with No comments

Tips for Selecting Snowboard or Ski Goggles

The use of snow goggles has started from the Inuit people who used to live the coastal regions, which are now called Siberia, Greenland, and Alaska. Thousands of pre historic sites have been seen by the archeologist, which see thousands of years old with snow goggles in them. The Inuit version of the snow goggle is a carved piece of bone, shell or driftwood which has horizontal slits for eye holes which are an inch a half wide. These goggles were used on the place of the sinew and were used to cut down the suns light and the ultraviolet rays, so as to prevent snow blindness. Snow blindness is a sunburn effect in one’s eyes and is painful. It can also create blindness in the extreme cases.

Even after a thousand years the primary function of the snow goggles have remained the same to prevent the eyes from the ultraviolet rays. And it is useless to purchase a pair of snow goggles which do not offer the protection of eyes from ultraviolet rays as it Is its basic function. According to the American National Standards Institute one should look for the lenses that offer the blockage of two components- UVB and UVA- by 99 percent and 95 percent respectively. Other than offering the protection In one’s eyes from UV rays it also acts as a physical barrier which keeps snow, wind, ice rocks and flying debris from your eyes. However before you set of shopping for them consider to keep in mind the following important points.


Make sure to buy a pair of ski or snowboard goggles which have good peripheral vision- while traveling at high speeds it is important to have good visions that hazards could be identified quickly. They can be natural hazards as uneven terrain, rocks or trees, or even the lovers of snowboarding and skiing.


Be sure you buy a comfortable pair of snow goggles so that you can wear them for longer periods of hours at a time. And if you are used to of wearing helmet wear it while trying the goggles to avoid hitting the slopes. Adjusting the equipment again and again can be really annoying and it’s worst discovering later that you cannot buy those expensive goggles at all.


Anti fog: but those kinds of skiing goggles which have the anti-fogging technology built in. there are several kinds of approaches- a double year lens. While manufacturing chemical treatments can be used and finally you can take an anti-fogging spray or wipe at the store.


The conditions of your lens should match with the conditions in which you’ll be skiing or snowboarding, yellow or rose snow-board goggles provides a better contrast when skiing in low light or overcast conditions.


If you plan to go out on the slopes at night then wear clear goggles. In order to reduce eye strain in bright conditions use a darker tint purple, green etc. new ski goggles offer you interchangeable lenses in which you can change the lenses according to the conditions, and the colors suitable to them. Finally, Uvex has introduced the interesting approaches to have the correct lens at hand. A battery powered liquid crystal technology allows you to switch from the high contrast for light conditions and dark lenses for bright conditions by pressing a button only.


There has been a great improvement in the technological standards of the ski goggles but its primary purpose of protecting your vision remains the same.