Gear above treeline

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Jasonst

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Ok, so I have been hiking in the winter for several years now, and one of the things I have not yet figured out is how to travel above treeline - where full face protection is necessary - and not have my glasses / goggles fog up, rendering me blind. Now, I know that I am not the only one on this board that wears glasses while hiking, so for those of us who do - what combination of goggles / face protection works for you? I was thinking creatively on my hike last week and wondered if a breathing tube might work - or something to redirect the moisture from my breath.

Who has the obvious solution that I haven't thought of yet??? :eek:
 
2 years ago I got contact lenses and my winter outdoor life changed instantly for the much, much better. That would only fix part of your problem though. When goggles are necessary and you are exerting enough effort they will likely fog up. Maybe a set of goggles like I still have for wearing over glasses would be better because the lens is further from your face. Also, you can strip away the spongy material around the border of the goggles and that would let a bit of the breeze in.
 
If you search for something like "glasses" and "fog" you should find plenty of threads that have dealt with this question in the past.

The quick answer is contacts, surgery or tolerance of limited vision. :eek:
 
Are you sure you're breathing on the goggles, or are you just sweating in them?

The former shouldn't happen if your facemask has breathing holes and your jacket collar / scarf isn't covering your mouth.

The latter can be minimized with better goggles (larger, more vents, double-lens design), slowing your pace, or adjusting your clothing. It may also mean you don't really need to wear the goggles at that moment.

In a ski shop I once saw a mask that had breath-diverter tubes built in, it was supposed to keep your cheeks warmer. Never tried it though.
 
you have to get contacts!

i'm a life long glasses wearer. i've tried everything from sunglasses with prescriptive inserts to ski goggles that fit over glasses. just recently i took the plunge into wearing contacts. it's the best thing i've ever done. i specifically wear them only for biking, skiing and hiking. i still love the convenience of glasses for everyday life.

i don't have any of the problems (fog, icing up and discomfort) i had with glasses and all of the various combinations with glasses. it's not too late to get contacts. i waited 38 years and wished i had done it sooner.

p.s. a glasses wearer doesn't look that intimidating on a racing bike unless you're laurent fignon.
 
I can not tolerate frozen fog, tunnel, where-the-hail-ich-da-trail vision so I broke down and ordered these. They come with clear and tinted lenses, a case, tear-offs, everything you need. I have not used mine yet, but a winter hiking buddy swears by his 1st generation Smith Turbo Fans.. I'm hoping mine work as well.

These goggles and a Turtle Fur neck gaiter (recommended to me here by Kevin Rooney) or something like this OR Balaclava should do the trick.
 
Thanks guys - I had a bad experience with contacts about 5 years ago, but I think I am willing to give it another shot when I go to the eye doctor this month. I normally do not have sensitive eyes and hate sunglasses but with the contacts in I could hardly stand the sun.

Wouldn't the turbofan tend to dry out your eyes?
 
cat crap

I bought a product called Cat Crap a few months ago but keep forgetting to try it. It is marked as a lens cleaner and anti-fogger. Anyone actually use this stuff and care to comment?
-vegematic
 
I'm also a glasses wearer, and after lots of experimentation, have found the best solution is to start with a quality pair of goggles - they're heavily discounted. Consider getting a pair with clear lenses so that you can wear them above treeline at night, in case you want to do night hikes - you probably have sunglasses you can wear under them. Then, go to a ski shop and buy a couple of fleece neck gaitors - the ones labeled Turtle Fur are the best. THey run about $10, and are a double thickness. The fleece tends to disburse your breath better than anything I've found, although it helps to develop a discipline of pursing your lips and breathing downward. A big advantage of the neck gaitor is that anything over your mouth will get wet from the moisture in your breath, so about once an hour or so rotate the gaitor a quarter turn and it will be dry by the time the first spot gets to your mouth again. I have several Balaclavas, one of which is the top-end OR Gorilla, but not work as well as a simple neck gaitor.

Make sure the gaitor is tucked up under your goggles, so that it barely touches the frame on your glasses.

As for the goggles - things like Cat Crap, Vision-X (auto parts store) will help a bit, but aren't foolproof. Don't put the goggles on until you actually need them. Sometime you see people trekking up the hill with them over the top of their head - nearly a certainty that so much moisture will have accumulated (and frozen) on the lenses before they use them that they're already frosted up.

Good luck - all goggles ice up in some conditions, so it's sometimes a matter of minimizing it rather than eliminating it.
 
vegematic said:
I bought a product called Cat Crap a few months ago but keep forgetting to try it. It is marked as a lens cleaner and anti-fogger. Anyone actually use this stuff and care to comment?
-vegematic

I have a friend who tried cat crap and everything else he could get for his eyeglasses, he had trouble with fogging even in the fall. Nothing worked for him as far as eye glasses went and he finally decided to have surgery. He's very happy with the results. I tried Cat Crap on my goggles and it didn't work very good for me
 
Wow, Chip had the same idea as me. I actually made my paintball goggles anti-fog with a small pc fan that I epoxied in the top-center of the frame and powered with 2 AA batteries. A small toggle switch mounted on the side turned them on and off.
They worked great until a direct hit shorted out the battery pack. The fan still cranks, though.
I would imagine that they would be great in the winter time, basically just need more fresh airflow behind the goggles/glasses to carry away the moisture laden air from your skin/eyes/nose/mouth.
 
Basicly, your skin is emitting moisture which can condense on anything colder than body temp. As others have noted, venting reduces this moisture. (Also make sure that none of your exhaled breath gets under or on your goggles--that will just make the problem worse.) Since warmer surfaces are less likely to have the moisture condense, so double pane goggles are less prone to fogging because the inside surface will be warmer.

Glasses wearers have a worse problem--4 surfaces to fog/ice instead of 2.

There is a start-up problem--goggle and glasses surfaces may be cold when you first put the goggles on, which encourages an initial fogging. One way to reduce this is to pre-heat your glasses and goggles (with body heat) before putting them on.

Coatings, work by making the condensed moisture wet the surface to form a smooth film rather than bead up into tiny droplets.

A simple (and cheap) coating is to rub a bit of dishsoap on the surfaces (use a damp tissue). I recall a NASA formula from ~30 yrs ago (spacesuit goggle fogging is a "bit" more critical than snow goggle fogging) which used glycerine and dishsoap, but I lost the formula and have been unable to find it again. (Google doesn't know everything... :( )

Doug
 
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If you do decide to give the contact lenses another try, I highly recommend daily disposable lenses. They're around $1.40 a pair now - much cheaper than all those fancy goggles. :) Mine are toric to correct for astigmatism. Lenses have improved significantly in the past five years.
 
it's true what fen says. i have an astigmatism as well and when i initially went to get contacts years ago, they couldn't correct my vision 100% and they were uncomfortable. i guess that's why i kept putting it off. my new ones are great and got used to them instantly.
 
As a lifelong glasses wearer (contacts iritate one of my eyes), I have tried a lot of "solutions", but still have one to go.

I tried the Cat-Crap and don't care for it. It only lasts abour 3 to 4 hours before it starts fogging again.

I switched to Sea Drops, which is a liquid, and much better than Cat-Crap, but it still doesn't last all day.

A lot of the ice climbers I know recommend a product called Sal-Clear, but it's only available online and I have not picked any up yet. They claim it lasts all day and won't fog at all.

Keep in mind any moisture that gets on the lenses can still freeze in place, creating an ice layer. It's why I wait until the last possible moment to put on my goggles.
 
Lawn Sale said:
It's why I wait until the last possible moment to put on my goggles.
As another life-long glasses wearer...

I find that my glasses give my eyes a good bit of protection from the wind and cold and I can go without goggles in conditions where many non-glasses wearers use them.

But then again, I saw a cyclist wearing a facemask at 50 deg yesterday...

Doug
 
Try Glacier Glasses...?

As someone who uses glasses for long-distance vision only I often have to choose between risking fogging or no fogging but a blurry vision of the view I just spent 4 hours climbing to get! I use some Smith OGG (Over Glasses Goggles?) which do actually work pretty well combined with the patented Rooney neck gaiter method. For relatively warm but sunny days above treeline, I have some glacier glasses with prescription lenses which cost about $200 from these guys:http://www.opticus.com. Not cheap but they really cut the wind out with no fogging issues so they were worth going without lunch for two months. Obviously, the glacier glasses do not provide the frostbite protection of goggles but for spring (and summer!) they can come in handy.
 
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