Vision in the course - are corrective lenses a net gain ?

[swbca]

I could wait a few months to answer this question myself, but I am sure some of you know the answer. We installed a submersible course through the ice 2 weeks ago; resuming competitive skiing with older vision.

 

Is it better to have corrective lenses than blurry vision, or does the spray on the lenses make it a net loss ?

 

My distance prescription is a plain 2.0 diopter reading lens. These 2.0 safety glasses would do the job, unless water on the lenses is too much of a distraction. At 3 for $25.00 on Amazon losing a pair is no problem. I bought one pair and the optical quality is good.

 

Has anyone used an agent to disperse the water ? like Rainex ?

 

 

 

[Calisdad57]

I use glasses made by Silverfish. Check them out. I was a game changer for me.

[markn]

My correction is -10.5 . Without corrective contacts, I can't see the tip of my ski. Have always used contacts for skiing. ( I wear contacts all the time...hate glasses as I had to start wearing them in first grade.) With bad turn, yes, you can get some spray in your eyes but just lean harder, pull longer and look for the next orange blob..that is where you turn.

Good luck with your return to tournament skiing.

[ALPJr]

Thanks @Calisdad57 . The Silverfish surf sunglasses look great, and have perscription options.

[Horton]

@swbca I have used Bomber floating safety glasses plus contacts for at least 10 years. Some people are lucky and can just use contacts but without the glasses I lose my contacts almost immediately. The bombers are cheap. I lose a pair or two every year.

 

As for the water spots - you will forget they are there pretty quickly. Once you turn in for the gates .... I wipe my lenses off on a boat towel every ride or two but it is pointless to be anal about it.

 

Do you need to see? Yes - 100%.

 

See https://www.bombereyewear.com/collections/h-bomb-safety/products/h-bomb-8

[B_S]

I've been using floating goggles since I was 15. My uncorrected vision is really bad, so everything is way too blurry without. Never cared for contacts in general, and definitely not when skiing die to spray getting between eye and lens. You wont really notice water on the lenses.

[dbutcher]

I stopped using prescription glasses while skiing because the lenses fogged up too easily and too often. It is not as bad in the summer, but fogging still happened occasionally in spite of treating the lenses with anti-fog spray. I guess if my vision were so poor that I couldn't see buoys soon enough, I'd still use glasses. Water droplets on the lenses did not bother me, but with fogged lenses you can't see anything.

[dbutcher]

You can prevent losing ski glasses by using an elastic band from the glasses frame around the back of your head to the other side of the frame and securing a float to the band. I never lost a pair, but I have knocked lenses out of the frame via OTF face plant. I stopped that by having the optician drill a hole in the lenses and tying the lenses to the frame with dental floss.

[MDB1056]

@dbutcher / can you show a picture of that ?

[dbutcher]

Sorry. I don't have a pair of ski glasses anymore. If I did, I wouldn't know how to attach a picture to this post. It's pretty simple really, or I couldn't do it. You start with athletic glasses - soft, fairly flexible plastic frames. Have hardened prescription lenses installed and have a small hole drilled in the lenses close to the outside of the lens close to the frame. Tie the lenses in with dental floss or any strong, small diameter thread. Put a float on the elastic band that goes from the rear of the frame (near your ear) around the back of your head and fastened to the frame near your other ear.

[skibrain]

I’ve worn eyeglasses since age 6.

I free ski without, and if light is great (sunshine, calm water) can manage the course, but low light or ripples it becomes impossible.

 

@swbca To your question, for me corrective lenses outweigh the spray/water on lens distraction. I tend to wear old polarized prescription sunglasses with a strap across back of head. Lose a pair occasionally.

[hammerski]

Just got lasik 2 months ago, shoulda done it 30 years ago! Snow skiing today was amazing. Everything is 4K hd. I was able to ski quite a bit faster, my eyes were picking up changes in terrain a lot faster. Two thumbs up! Can’t wait for the water to warm up. Since my left eye was the worst and now 20/10, I’m interested to see if it helps to pick up the 2-4 side quicker????

[RichardDoane]

+1 on the Bombers, it rains in Seattle and having glasses makes it ski-able

[blagrata]

I have found that some contacts are more resistant to getting splashed. I use a particular brand of daily disposable contacts for skiing and rarely have a problem. I have different contacts that I wear for everything else that get fogged up when skiing. Some contacts are more hydrophilic than others. Alcon dailies toric are the skiing contacts. Added bonus is that I throw them away after skiing and don't put potential bacteria back in my eye. Have your eye doctor get you some samples.

[jpwhit]

Like @blagrata, one of my daughters talked to her eye doctor about the issue she was having with her contact getting washed out or knock out of place while skiing. I don't know the details but they suggested and helped her get a special version that's suppose to resist being washed out. She's had very good luck with them and hardly ever has an issue anymore.

[swbca]

THANKS EVERYBODY FOR ALL THE HELP !! BOS is a great resource for everything slalom.

[slow]

Wear contacts. Only occasionally an issue then getting up.

[Vernon Reeve]

I used to use Spex for contacts (I had eye surgery so don't need them anymore) , but still use them for sun glare when necessary . Worked great.

[cruznski]

So for me, I was nearsighted. I wore contacts and well I guess 20 years ago- they would get displaced and so on while skiing. The best thing I have done from a sports perspective was laser eye surgery. I did that around two decades ago. That resulted in 20/30 vision in my right (most decrepit) eye, ie I could see detail more than in my life heretofore. I went back to the Dr who did that last year and I still have that. If you are a candidate do the eye surgery.

[BG1]

@swbca In your original commit you said your glasses were plain with a +2.0 for reading. You won’t be doing any reading while skiing. What is your distant vision? 20/20?

[KRoundy]

I wear contacts skiing and have for years. I have never lost a contact skiing. But I sometimes do have issues and am going to try the bombers this year.

[swbca]

@BG1 My distance prescription is the same as 2.0 reading glasses. So if I need glasses that fit under my snow ski goggles I can get them at Walgreens for $10.00. In my original post, I said "Plain 2.0" meaning no astigmatism.

[ReallyGottaSki]

Worn contacts for 37 years..have lost perhaps two or three while skiing, and thats including Back Deeps long line.

[TomH]

I never had issues with contacts while skiing, but my particular brand (think they were Accuvue Oasis) would blur out with a drop of water on them, but would blink out in ~10 seconds. The only time I ever would wash any out would be occasionally on barefoot deeps. Like others though, Lasik was a game changer, and am sorry I didn't do it 10+ years ago.

[UCFskier]

If you cant see... you cant ski

I have used contacts skiing since the 9th grade. only time it was ever a concern was if it was raining out.

 

if the spray bothers you a bit get some cheap safety glasses with rain-X on them. works great!

[DW]

Gas perm contact wearer, for all sports including skiing and barefooting. For me the water spray issue is not as troublesome as dust or hard debris in the eyes.

[swbca]

The question about spray on the lenses was answered accidentally. Two days ago I forgot to take off my everyday progressive lens glasses that cost around $550 with the wire frame. I didn't realized I had skied with the glasses on until I got back to the dock and couldn't find them. Then I noticed only one droplet on a lens even after going head under water during the deep water landing.

 

I bought qty 10 bulk order of 2.0 reading glasses, which are the same as my normal distance prescription. I am fairly sure I wouldn't lose more that 2 or 3 per season even without flotation or strap. $6.00 per season.