Sailing Sunglasses/Goggles?

Why throw money overboard <img src="<>/wink.gif" alt="wink" title="wink" height="15" width="15" /> I have always made do with regular polarized sunglasses. The best ones I had to date was the cheap

Solarshield

ones ment to go on top of other prescription glasses. They really shielded your eyes from sun and water and had really eccentric looks <img src="<>/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin" height="15" width="15" />
To keep the water off there are third party products help with that. I have never used them, but perhaps I should?

When I buy expensive sunglasses, they are either stolen or otherwise lost <img src="<>/frown.gif" alt="frown" title="frown" height="15" width="15" /> The cheap ones, like the Solarshield, lasted for several years, until my four year old grabbed at them for support while on a monohull.. Curse of the monos I guess.

They dont sell solarshields here in Norway, so now I am browsing through e-bay to find the right model from somebody who ships to Norway.

Yeah, lots of sunglasses experiences. You have two options:

- Buy a really cheap pair. Replace with another cheap pair as you lose them.

- Buy a really nice polarized, anti-glare, water-repellant, scratch resistant, double gradient sunglasses for a small fortune. Mine were Vuarnet Nautilux lenses in a Vuarnet 033 nylon frame: best sunglasses I ever had. Scream and replace with a cheap pair when you lose them in the surf in Santa Cruz <img src="<>/frown.gif" alt="frown" title="frown" height="15" width="15" />

After many years of cheap glasses I then bought another pair of Vuarnet, with slightly cheaper Unilynx lenses that I use for skying and sailing when there is a lot of sun out. I still use the cheap glasses on overcast days.

While I'm at it I must say that Vuarnet customer service in the state is *awesome*. I lost a screw for one of the branch of my Nautilus sunglasses, leading to the loss of the branch overboard. I called the Vuarnet distributor in California and I had a parcel with a couple of screws and a new branch on my porch two days later. Free of charge.

Also, if you need it, Vuarnet can make prescription lenses for all their range.

I have a pair of SeaSpecs and have been happy with them, they are cheap(ish) and stay on your head, I've used them out in the surf in the ocean goofing around and they have not come off yet. I think they are still running the buy two get one free special as well.

www.seaspecs.com

Barz are without a doubt the BEST in sailing eyewear.

We wear them every year for Tybee - and we could not live without them. This year we had a couple of new guys on the team who weren't familiar with them and kind gave us a look when we handed them out on the beach.

They were ALL singing its praises after the first day. There's simply nothing better on the market that keeps the spray out of your eyes while not fogging up.

https://store.catsailor.com/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=7379

Hmm, the Barz unit looked nice. Too bad about the 25%VAT I have to add on the unit and shipping.

Anyway, I learnt something useful while reading about the goggles. They recommend adding a drop of Johnson Baby shampo and wipe the inside of the glasses with that to help with fogging. On the outside, a thin layer of wax and some buffing to take hand of spray. Got to test those two tips.

Barz also had polarized photochromic lenses as an option. Now that almost have me sold on buying a set. Anybody with experience on the photochromic lenses? For us who can get migraine from too much light that sounds like a dream.

Yes we had them this year. They are great. I wouldn't have to take my goggles off until the sun was basically behind the horizon because the lenses would lighten and darken on their own.

The best I have found are Bayz and Ocean Waves for keeping your eyes from damage. I had bad luck with Bayz holding up under sailing conditions, however. They were a bit delicate for that, so I just use them while driving.
Ocean Waves are much more durable.
And Gill has a great bunch of sunglasses that are VERY durable and really great looking.

Take a look at the various glasses available on this site:
https://store.catsailor.com/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=636

How fast would the photochromic lenses adjust themself? If a heavy cloud passed, would they react fast to that? I had photochromatic regular glasses for a while and they were rather slow. Coming into a room from the outside made you virtually blind (not that I intend to sail into a building).

Others with the same experience as Rick on the durability?

Rolf:

To be honest, I couldn't notice. I had plenty of other stuff I was paying attention to at the time <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" /> It was worked well enough so that I didn't notice it changing. I donno if thats good or bad.

As for Barz durability... during the launch at Fernandina, I took the boom to the face, knocked a chip in my tooth, made me bleed all over the deck, but the barz were unharmed.

I second the Barz! We wore them the whole Tybee as well... The photocromic lenses definitely helped on mine. I was able to wear them, like Tad said, basically until the sun went down. My crew opted not to spend the extra money on that option as he already had to pay for the prescription lenses and he could not wear his as long as I could wear mine.
My crew is blind as a bat and was psyched for his first pair of prescription sailing goggles. He was amazed with the quality of the lenses and how well Murrays did fitting his prescription.
Leaving Jupiter, it was very overcast and nasty out. I was thankful for the photochromic option as I was able to leave them on during the screaming jib reach.

I'd like to put in a plug for Maui Jim (www.mauijim.com). They've been very supportive of the Commodore's Regatta at Huntington lake. Last year they gave out 12 pairs of >$200 glasses as prizes. This year only 5, but times are tough all around.

Anyway, it's a great product and they support our sport.

Do the Barz do a good job keeping sweat out of your eyes too?

Has anyone tried Rain-X to keep water spots under control?

I use Rainx on my Barz

and I wear a hat to keep the sweat *and sun* at bay.

I've used Barz goggles with prescription lenses for 4 years - they are excellent at keeping the spray out of your eyes. Sunglasses just don't cut it on a screaming reach in big waves. I have 2 pairs - one with grey polarized lenses that I use most of the time. The polarized lens lets you see puffs more clearly and also helps with spotting weed/wildlife early enough to avoid it hitting the boards. My second pair have light yellow lenses for low light or night sailing.

I don't know if you can get the photocromatic lens with polarized. If so then this could be a sweet option. I sometimes put rainex on the outside of the barz to keep them really clear - but they do OK without. Fogging has only been an issue for me in light air. My solution - pull them down over your mouth and give the inside a good lick. Gross, but effective (Divers sometimes spit into their masks for the same reason).

Chris.

I don't know if the Barz changed their design or not (apparently so) but they used to make me feel like someone was trying to pry my eyesockets apart.Also the old lenses would melt if you put rainx on them.
I like Kaenon sunglasses. I've had Lasic and am a little more light sensitive than I used to be. I have Natives, Ocean Waves, Costa del mars and Kaenons. I like the Kaenons and the Costas the best. Kaenons usually stay on the best,except for when you break a trapline. If you've got cheap eyes buy cheap glasses.
Todd

Yes, you can get polarized photochromatic. Ours were this model.

I find the Barz goggles to be too small.

I used to love my Bolle goggles (basically, ski goggles for water sports), but I didn't take very good care of the lenses (now all scratched up), and the elastic band is shot. Unfortunately, they don't make these anymore, and I haven't been able to find an equal replacement (they had huge lenses).

Anyone know of something similar?

Mike

Yep,
Those were excellent. I've still got 2 pair. The elastic went in one set, I need to make a new band.Shame they stopped making them

I have used a pair of these for years. Dirty Dogs They are comfortable and I have never came close to loosing them even on wild monohull racing, scammering from side to side. Rolf if there is a Walmart in Norway, you can find the over eyeglass sunglasses there in the eyewear department.

Doug

I picked up my solarshields on a whim in a WalMart the last time I was in the USA. No WalMarts in Norway. Now I am almost sold on a Barz set.. Photochromatic and polarized *can not resist that*

Wow, i thought they were every 3 miles, on every road, every town, every country....

I'll echo the sentiments about the Barz Goggles and Sunglasses. I've had great experiences with their goggles during all my Tybee experiences (5).

A new set of Barz also comes with different nose pieces so that you get the custom fit the you want.

Rolf: when you order them, be sure to ask for the clear seals as opposed to the black seals. They'll fit much better, allow for better air circulation, and will also keep the air between your eye and the lens cooler, which makes them much more comfortable.

Me too. I spent the middle 3rd of my first tybee 500 without the ability to see past the bow and I was so disappointing that I didn't get to see the shuttle on the pad (when we could go inside the 3mile zone to the 1 mile barrier. I tried the vented cups and the non-vented cups...tried changing the strap tension and the nose pieces around...tried rainex, cat crap, spit...but I never could get them comfortable or keep them from fogging up.

I now have some Rudy Project prescription glasses that I like but they do let some water in when it gets hairy. I have a nice set of Costa Del Mars that have little eye cups and they work awesome but still aren't quite perfect with that spray coming up from your feet. When it's really crazy, I've got these foam border googles ... sorta like skiing googles ... that I bought from New England Catamarans a few years ago. They work great when it's nukin' and it's a small price to pay for the reduction in my detail vision.

Todd,
I found that problem with the Barz with the rubber gaskets without holes in them. I switched to the gaskets with holes in them and it was no longer an issue.
I also found it's important not to overtighten the strap on the barz. They will still stay on... I ended up paddling through the surf two days at tybee and bashing the lenses against the hull and they didn't go anywhere or scratch.

I use the Kaenon Jetties with grey lenses and like them very much. Eileen uses Barz, though they do tend to get scratches on them. I think the Kaenon use rather hard Polycarbonite lenses.

Jake and others who had isses with the Barz goggles, what do you think the reason was? Head size to large for the goggles? <img src="<>/wink.gif" alt="wink" title="wink" height="15" width="15" />

Tony, have you decided on what you are getting yet?

What the heck is skying? Skydiving with skis?

Yes I have.

it's a typo for Skiing. Sorry.