Snow goggle is essential ski gear to protect your face and adjust vision in the snowy landscape. In addition to using contact lenses, wearing prescription ski goggles are excellent for poor eyesight people. Here’s a complete guide to prescription ski goggles.
Table of Contents
Contact lenses VS. Prescription Ski Goggle
I used to wear prescription contacts to ski or snowboarding. It works well and is convenient. But sometimes my eyes dry or not well, can’t wear contacts. I wear prescription ski goggles in those days.
Skiing with Contact Lenses
The benefits of wearing contacts with ski goggles:
- Wear any goggles you like. There is no need for possibly expensive and limited prescription lenses or goggles
- Wear any sunglasses you like
- No need to put on glasses when I take off goggles for lunch at a mountain cafe
- Avoid eyeglasses steaming up
Contact lenses would be an excellent choice for skiing and snowboarding if you got shortsighted (aka nearsighted in the US). It’s also the cheapest way to prescription ski goggles.
Tip: keep rewetting drops with you when you wear contact lenses. Use the rewetting drops throughout the day, so your eyes stay moist. You are in heated buildings after skiing or snowboarding. Moistening your eyes with rewetting drops often will help.
Skiing with Prescription Ski Goggles
Some people have eye issues with contact lenses, such as glaucoma, dry eyes, Astigmatism, Conjunctivitis, or Keratoconus. In this case, prescription ski goggles will provide clear vision and comfort, giving you a better experience.
I use a combination of contact lenses and get prescription goggles back up when the contacts become a pain in the backside.
Prescription Ski Goggle Options
There’re three types of prescription ski goggles. Let’s see how does it work.
Prescription Ski Goggles without Insert: These have prescription lenses mounted directly into the goggle shield. It’s functional and works well, but not many style choices.
OTG (over the glass) Goggles: There’s a notch cut out of the ski goggle’s frame. So that it won’t push your glasses structure into your face when wearing ski goggles. E.g. Oakley Line Miners.
Inserts goggles: These prescription inserts fit inside of the goggle. It’s trendy because it can deal with many vision issues and different goggles.
Prescription ski goggles without inserts are the ski goggle lenses with prescription integrated. It’s convenient at some points but not much choice in the field, making it unpopular in prescription ski goggles.
Prescription Ski OTG Goggles VS. Inserts Goggles
People who no longer wear contact lenses have two popular options:
- Over the Glasses (OTG) goggles
- A prescription insert into your existing or favourite goggles
From these pros and cons, you may find out which one suit you better.
Prescription OTG Ski Goggles
Prescription OTG ski goggles are put OTG ski goggles on your daily eyeglasses, which the frame will mount into the notch of OTG goggles. It’s suspended OTG goggles lenses a little further from your eyes, and the form of OTG goggles is often slightly thicker, padding on the edges to create a seal around the arms of eyeglasses without crushing them. That means OTG goggles frames are roomier than regular goggles.
It’s super convenient to wear OTG ski goggles. Once you find the OTG ski goggles that fit your eyeglasses well, you can wear your goggle on and off anytime without sacrificing vision.
Wear prescription OTG ski goggles need to consider the compatibility with your regular glasses. Whether large or small, bold or thin eyeglasses, you get to find the ski goggles fit well. It takes time, and you need to consider the compatibility whenever changing your regular glasses.
On the downside, prescription OTG ski glasses can get bent up, and you may get pressure and hurt when wearing them. Also, you probably messed up or wrecked your nice everyday eyeglass.
Prescription Inserts Ski Goggles
Prescription Inserts Ski Goggles puts a prescription insert in your favourite ski goggles. You only need to change lenses on the insert when your prescription changes. Many inserts options that each specific insert correspond to particular brands and provide better anti-fog and comfort.
Unlike the eyeglasses, the insert sits farther away from your face, closer to the goggle’s shield where the all venting is. On the other hand, getting the glasses even slightly farther away makes a big difference as fogging goes. That’s why prescription inserts ski goggles offer better anti-fog.
The downside is you got to know your ski goggle brand and type first. Then you can order the specific insert with prescription fit your ski goggle. It may not include many brands in one insert. If you got many different ski goggles, you might need to order many prescription ski goggle inserts.
Moreover, different brands have different anti-fog coating qualities. Choose the inserts brand that provides a better anti-fog coating.
Spare A Thought
I’m very biased in this section. I didn’t break my eyeglasses while wearing OTG ski goggles. Honestly said that I bought both OTG and inserts. And I love both, but few OTG ski goggles I can’t use because my new eyeglasses don’t fit. However, I heard about the tragedy. Here is a quick thought that may help you make a decision.
If you take a spill with glasses on, you lose or break your glasses and get hurt on the slope. Your vacation will probably not end very well with missing or broken glasses.
On the other hand, it’s not a great day if you lose or break prescription ski goggles. But at least you got your eyeglasses with you.
For people in a situation where you’re as blind as a bat without some form of corrective lenses, I highly recommend prescription inserts ski goggles. P.s. put your eyeglasses in a rugged case while skiing or snowboarding, please. So you won’t get a chance to break your eyeglasses on the slope.
Nonetheless, there’s no current answer. You make the best choice for yourself. Here’s some thought with my experience.
Best Lens Colour for Ski Goggles
There’s movement in ski goggle lens technology, known as VLT (visible light transmission). VLT is the amount of light that reaches your eyes through the lens. Different lens colours with VLT percentages:
- Mirrored silver, green, blue lenses: 15-25% VLT range
- Red, pink, rose, champagne lenses: 25-40% VLT range
- Yellow, orange, pale pink lenses: 40-60% VLT range
Generally, dark lens tints have a lower VLT because less light passes through the lens.
A VLT of 25-40% is the best option if you want to own just one pair of lenses for all conditions. Look at 5-20% VLT for bright, sunny days. VLT of 40-60% makes good choices on cloudy, snowing, foggy these low light days.
Get Prescription Ski Goggles without Insert
This option suits people who can’t wear contacts and prefer prescription ski goggles without the insert. These ski goggles have prescription lenses mounted directly into the shield, exempt from falling apart through the integral formation.
The downside to inserts is that they look not fashionable, and you have to bring your regular glasses in a case. So that every time you take your goggles off, you can wear the eyeglasses.
Tip: You must put your eyeglasses in a rugged case. Otherwise, your eyeglasses can break easily.
Prescription ski goggles without insert price starting at $260 from SportRx.
SportRx prescription ski goggles without insert, aka XPF ski goggles, only one style, but you can customize prescription lenses from RX types, lenses feature, lenses colour, and lenses coating.
Buy Prescription XPF Ski Goggles>>
Get Prescription OTG Ski Goggles
OTG goggles are the most common solution for people looking for prescription ski goggles. You need to consider two important things when buying OTG ski goggles.
First, OTG goggles should fit well with your eyeglasses and interface well with your face and ski helmet.
Second, OTG goggles need to vent well to keep fog away. The OTG goggles lens are generally anti-fog, but OTG goggles require an excellent vent system to prevent your eyeglass from fogging up. Nowadays, most OTG goggle manufacturers solve this problem. Some OTG goggles have built-in ventilation and a small battery pack if you consistently run into fog issues. It adds a little bit of weight to goggles and needs to recharge the battery.
Prescription OTG ski goggles cost from $65 to $270, depending on the brands and quality, such as anti-fog skill and sunray protection. The price is very similar to regular ski goggles.
Best OTG Goggles for Small Heads>>
Get Prescription Inserts Ski Goggles
Prescription inserts for ski goggles are a game-changer. You can have a prescription insert that easily clicks in your favourite ski goggles.
Universal Prescription Ski Goggle Inserts
SportRX, based in California, is the leader of prescription ski goggle inserts. They have a good selection of inserts that fits best.
The inserts have an apparent field of vision with no distortion, fit goggles perfectly and are anti-fog.
These prescription ski goggle inserts cost starting at $90. They’re many lenses types and materials for prescription inserts you can choose. Some better lenses have an extra cost but are worth it.
While the price is not budget-friendly, it does make skiing much more enjoyable—an excellent investment for sure.
Buy Prescription Ski Goggles Inserts>>
Prescription Ski Goggle with Inserts
If you haven’t gotten ski goggles or are thinking of getting new ones, you can check at Rxsport UK. There are many popular ski goggle models and brands with matched prescription inserts. They provide many lens options. Even if you want a specific lens type or coating, contact them. They may offer it to you.
These prescription ski goggle packages cost from $84 to $210, close to OTG ski goggles, making prescription ski goggles affordable.
Buy Prescription Ski Goggle with Inserts>>
Cheapest Prescription Ski Goggles
The cheapest way for skiers and snowboarders who have poor vision is using contacts.
If you can’t do with contacts but already have your existing or favourite ski goggles, prescription ski goggle inserts are the cheap option.
OTG ski goggles and prescription ski goggle packages are budget-friendly for people who haven’t got a ski goggle or plan to buy a new one.
FAQs
Here’re some common questions related to prescription ski goggles.
