Goggles

I use the same Swedish goggles I've used in the pool for years. In several open water swims over the last several years, I've learned that the most important thing is comfort over the long haul, and the Swedish goggles fit that bill for me. Second is being able to sight the buoys. So while I often use orange goggles in pool, I switch to blue for open water. Orange buoys tend to wash the color of the buoys out making them difficult to find. On particularly bright days, I use smoked or mirrored goggles in open water.

I actually bought a pair of open-water specific goggle last year. While I think they're fine, I still prefer my clear vanquisher goggles over them or anything else I've tried. The open-water specific goggles have a wider field of view, but for me, when underwater, they create some sort of weird double vision or overlap that bothers me. And I don't like tint or coloring on goggles because I prefer to see things as naturally as possible. If it's very sunny and the sun is low on the horizon, I might consider some tinted goggles, but normally I'll just opt for the clear ones and squint :)

The main difference is that they shouldn't fog. In open water the further you can see for sighting, the better. Not uncommon for the people around you to be going one way when the turn buoy is another. I've been on both sides of that situation the good and the bad.

Every time I swim, I put a dab of baby shampoo into each lens, rub it around, then rinse. Since i heard of that technique, I haven't had any problems with fogging. Super easy/cheap. You can get a travel-sized bottle and it'll last for most of hte year.

I personally prefer a mask type “google”, due to great field of vision and ease of putting back on, if hey happen to leak. Regular goggles always seem to too tight around my eyes. The softer silicon seals just fine. My vanity also enters into play- with regular goggles I feel like a raccoon for hours afterwards! Also, if a leak occurs- I find it easier and faster to rectify. Of course I’m not in all this for any speed record!

Thank you for all of the thoughts. This is some good advice and tips to ponder on before I buy anything. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Historically, I just used my Vanquisher mirrored goggles (and I use the baby shampoo method to keep them fog-free like FlyQueen said) because I'm racing in bright sun virtually all of the time. However, last fall, I tried the FINIS Surge Polarized goggles (www.finisinc.com/.../surge-polarized-goggle.html) at the La Jolla Rough Water swim (the OW race I most consistently do and train for racing) and I found they really helped me sight the buoys and finish line much, much better than my 'pool' goggles. These seem to be a good mix between the really big 'mask' like goggles and pool goggles. I'd recommend checking them out if you'll be racing in venues with a lot of sunshine,

Historically, I just used my Vanquisher mirrored goggles Same here, but I also recently bought a pair of OW goggles. The ones I got are the Blue Seventy Hydra-Vision. Haven't had a chance to try them out yet, but I'm curious to see how they compare to Vanquishers.

Several years ago, I switched to open water goggles for everything, pool and open water, after I was starting to get weird bumps on my eyelids from traditional goggles. Or, as my husband said "You're turning into a Klingon!" I was told by my doctor that unless I wanted plastic surgery later, I needed to switch to something with a wider profile that didn't rest in my eye sockets. Seems to have solved the issue and now I find it hard to go back on those rare occasions when I forget my goggles and need to borrow a pair. I stick with Aquaspheres. More comfortable, no real fogging issues, and while I look like a dork, I don't look like a Klingon.

When I used to wear hard/gas perm contacts, I used baby shampoo to clean them. Really cheap & it works great. Now with soft contacts I use it for anti fog like many others.