Ski Goggle Test Results

Steamboat Springs, CO (PRWeb) February 13, 2007 -- ADS Sports Eyewear recently tested ski goggles from several top manufacturers and came away with some surprising results. A few non-traditional ski goggles emerged as the overwhelming favorites.

Ski goggles selected for testing by ADS Sports Eyewear employees represented a diverse collection of goggle designs. Each model was tested for optical clarity and contrast, anti-fogging effectiveness, value and comfort. The test group also had the opportunity to try out several new lens philosophies in a week of ever changing weather conditions.

Two goggles quickly became the obvious favorites: the Smith Phenom Turbo Fan model and the Adidas a136 Elevation ClimaCool. The Smith Phenom was almost impossible to fog. When it finally did fog up in the most extreme conditions of the week, the goggle had a tiny fan that completely cleared the lens in a few seconds. The fan was virtually invisible and very quiet. The Phenom ski goggle is the smallest of the Smith Turbo Series goggles, but it fit full size adults comfortably.

The Adidas a136 Elevation ClimaCool was the biggest surprise. These glasses are not marketed as ski goggles, so expectations were fairly low. The a136 has a well-ventilated foam eye seal behind the Adidas LST lens (Light Stabilizing Technology). Because this is not a dual lens, and the air volume behind the lens is much less than a traditional goggle, we expected the lens to fog up quickly. In reality the lens almost never fogged up, and it required minimal effort to clear the lens when it did. The glasses were lightweight, comfortable and the optical clarity was awesome.

The Panoptx ski goggles evolved from their popular line of motorcycle glasses. Panoptx devised a dual lens system that is integrated into the removable foam eye seal. These glasses were comfortable, they look great and the dual lens was an effective fog barrier. The Panoptx Dawn to Dusk photochromic lens has a medium copper tint that provided exceptional contrast in low light conditions. In bright light the lens turns a dark grey. Grey does little to improve contrast on a ski slope, but in bright light contrast is generally not an issue. When prescription lens patients order this lens we suggest using a Transitions Brown lens under the copper tint instead of Transitions Grey.

A link to the complete test results will be posted on the ADS Sports Eyewear home page. www.ADSEyewear.com

###