KIT ZONE BUYER’S GUIDE OPEN-WATER GOGGLES When you’re diving into the murky, choppy waters of a tri swim, you need goggles with good visibility and a strong seal. Jack Sexty tests nine pairs… agle-eyed viewers of the Rio 2016 Olympic JARGON with is far more important than wearing the latest triathlon would have noticed that New high-tech, hydrodynamic goggles. That said, being one Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt didn’t wear goggles BUSTER of the cheaper items of tri kit, you may want to have a for the opening swim. Her reasoning for this SILICONE couple of options in your bag to deal with different E The material used was sound: not wearing goggles meant she wouldn’t for most gaskets light condition, keeping a pair of mirrored/polarised have to worry about them being knocked off, fogging up and straps. goggles and some clear/tinted ones ready to go. or leaking. The trouble for those of us without the same ANTI-FOG All nine goggles tested here have open-water surf life-saving background as Hewitt is that we’re not A coating applied credentials, such as bigger lenses for more peripheral accustomed to swimming in open-water without eye to the lenses vision. We took them to Lanzarote to try them out in that reduces the protection. In other words, goggles are a necessity for chances of them Club La Santa’s lagoon and 50m outdoor pool. We swam most triathletes. But with so many to choose from, steaming up. a minimum of 2km in open water and did shorter pool finding your perfect pair shouldn’t be a problem. tests in each pair. We also dived in from a racing block POLARISED At a typical race start you’ll see all sorts of eyewear, Lenses that cut to check each goggles’ seal integrity – useful for the from ultra slim-profile racers to goggles that resemble glare to increase lucky few triathletes who start racing from a pontoon. snorkelling masks. Such a wide range just goes to show clarity and reduce Finally, we sought a second opinion on fit from other eye strain. that having something you’re comfortable and familiar 220 testers, to account for differing face shapes.

Strap Sits around the back of your to hold SWANS OPEN the goggles in place WATER SEVEN POLARISED

£29.50 These polarised goggles get their name because they have seven ‘faces’, which are supposed to increase peripheral vision without distortion. In our experience this is far from true, as the extra angles at the sides and particularly at the bottom tend to distract you from what’s in front, Gasket leading to confusion on our open-water A soft piece of test. The split strap is easily adjusted via silicone or rubber clamps on the side and although they’re that forms a seal on easy to use, they’d benefit from some loops your face and stops or clips to hold down the excess strap and water leaking in. stop it flapping around at the sides. On the plus side we experienced very little fogging and the 3D gaskets are soft and comfortable – they did need a bit of adjustment after our dive tests though, which would suggest the seal could be better. www.swansuk.co.uk Lens Made from polycarbonate, open- VERDICT UNUSUAL SHAPE water lenses come in a range of 68 OBSTRUCTS VISION AND MAKES IT HARD tints and mirrored or polarised % TO GET AN OPTIMAL FIT

finishes for various light conditions. THESECRETSTUDIO.NET

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BEST VALUE AQUA SPHERE ZONE3 LOMO KAMELEON VAPOUR VORTEX

£10.99 The Kameleons have a slimmer profile £29.50 Zone3 tell us their Vapours ‘certainly £11.00 For the same price as Aqua Sphere’s and smaller lenses than Aqua Sphere’s look the part’. However in our experience Kameleon you can buy Lomo’s Vortex and much-celebrated Kayenne goggle, which this was open to interpretation, as the get a goggle that comes with anti-fog and gives them a more hydrodynamic bright gold Elvis-style lenses proved UV protection. That’s all well and good but appearance. They’re also at least half the divisive among our testers. We were the trouble we had with these goggles isn’t price of most goggles on test here. Their expecting the heavy tint in the polarised lens clarity or glare but the gaskets. soft rubber gaskets are very comfortable lenses to restrict the Vapours to bright and They’re so large that they’d start digging around the eyes, and although one of our sunny days only, but they’re remarkably into our cheekbones as soon as we put them testers found them a bit too close-fitting good in overcast conditions and pools too. on. They do provide a good seal, despite the the other didn’t have the same issue with They have a split strap that you adjust by discomfort, and during dives and them. Unlike any of the other goggles in pulling through the frames, and once you swimming in rough seas there was no this test it uses two straps that feed into a get the perfect fit there’s a grip button on movement from the goggles at all. Their buckle at the back and then loop back on each side to secure it. The chunky frames split strap is complemented by a simple themselves to create tension. It works well may be an issue for swimmers with a adjustment system inspired by diving enough and we had no issue getting a narrow pull – we occasionally knocked masks that just requires you to pull the tail- decent fit but it left us with a lot of excess them at the start of the pull phase. For that ends of the strap straight through. Two strap, which could prove annoying for reason they wouldn’t be our goggle of extra nosepieces and free earplugs are also some. The narrow gaskets may take some choice, but the Vapours are a flash, well- included in the case, so the Vortex goggles getting used to, but the Kameleons are fitting pair that provide very good would just edge it on value if they were great value if you get on with them. peripheral vision for all light conditions. better able to fit your face. www.aquasphereswim.com/uk www.racezone3.com www.ewetsuits.com

VERDICT TRY BEFORE YOU BUY, VERDICT DIVISIVE LOOKS VERDICT AMAZING VALUE, 81 BUT IF THEY FIT YOUR FACE YOU 79 AND VERY WIDE, BUT COMFORTABLE 77 BUT THE GASKETS ARE JUST % CAN’T ARGUE WITH THE PRICE % AND VERSATILE % TOO BULKY FOR US

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CUTTING EDGE VORGEE ORCA HUUB VORTECH KILLA VISION ACUTE

£17.99 Despite being categorised in Vorgee’s £15.00 The Killa Vision is Orca’s medium-fit £29.99 The Huub Acute are the only goggles ‘Extreme Fitness’ range, the Vortech goggle, sandwiched between the Killa 180° here to have size options. With no real goggles are touted as an ultra light model. with larger, mirrored lenses and the reference to go on, we opted for the M/L They have a split strap with a button slimmed down Killa Speed for maximum size, which happened to fit us perfectly. adjustment system and non-mirrored hydrodynamics. Our test pair had a very The test pair had lenses with a very strong lenses with a slight tint that are suitable for slight blue tint in the lens, which, yellow tint, but they’re also available in overcast to fairly sunny conditions. The UV combined with the lack of polarisation, clear and smoke. The yellow took some protection is adequate but we found meant they didn’t perform particularly well getting used to, but in silty water provided sighting buoys slightly problematic in the in bright sunlight. The glare problem was really good visibility, as well as 100% UVA midday sun. We had a few issues with most noticeable when we were swimming and UVB protection. The strap adjustment fogging on our initial swims and they directly into the sun. The goggles’ anti-fog system uses clasps either side of the frames required a rinse in between our open-water coating held up well throughout the – you lift the tabs then pull the straps and pool testing as they reacted to changes numerous open-water and pool swims, and through to the desired length – and there in temperature quite severely. The lenses wasn’t fazed by the temperature are loops to hold the ends down. While the are said to provide up to 140° of peripheral differential in between tests. A simple split frames are tough the gaskets are soft vision, which is less than the 180 ° offered strap holds them in place securely but we enough to remain comfortable throughout by some of the other goggles here, but weren’t blown away by the 3D fit gaskets – lengthy open-water and outdoor pool didn’t feel restrictive at all. Overall these the Killa Visions were one of two goggles swims. The Acute is a robust goggle that’s are fairly basic but well-priced goggles that here that needed adjusting to stop them clearly built to last – definitely good value are fine for the pool or open water. slipping off after a dive. for the £30 price tag. vorgee.com www.orca.com www.huubdesign.com

VERDICT SLIGHT ISSUES WITH VERDICT NOT THE BEST IN BRIGHT VERDICT UNUSUAL TINT MAY SEEM 77 FOGGING, BUT PERFORM WELL IN 74 CONDITIONS AND WE STRUGGLED 86 ODD, BUT A GOOD QUALITY GOGGLE % ALL LIGHT CONDITIONS % WITH THE FIT % WITH A SOLID SEAL

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FINAL VERDICT

The standard was high in this year’s open-water goggles showdown. Our dive tests to check their seals saw no complete disasters, with only the Swans Seven and Orca Killa Visions requiring adjustment after a second dive.

It’s imperative that fogging is minimal, and with the lens technology available today there’s no excuse for it. Although none of the goggles suffered from fogging enough to be rendered useless, the Vorgee Vortech and Futura Biofuse were the worst culprits for it.

When it comes to value for money, both the Aqua Sphere and Lomo goggles punch BEST ON well above their weight. It’s a difficult TEST decision as to which pair comes out on top, but we think that due to the bulk of Lomo’s Vortex, the Aqua Sphere Kameleons will be suitable for a wider range of swimmers.

ZOGGS SPEEDO Huub’s Acute goggles take second place, with just the unusual lens colour our only PREDATOR FUTURA gripe in what is otherwise a well-crafted piece of kit that will easily endure a season MIRROR BIOFUSE of racing. Zone3’s Vapour goggles performed impressively in the glaring sun, £26.00 The Predator goggles have been given £27.00 Despite the similar name, Speedo’s but, like the Lomo Vortex goggles, were just gaskets with new Ultra Fit technology for Futura Biofuse are quite unlike the Futura a bit too bulky to be our preferred choice. 2017, resulting in them being 15% lighter Biofuse Pro that, due to an inadequate seal, than the previous version. They have a we didn’t get on with last year. It’s a Our overall winner is the Predator ‘barely there’ feel, despite the large frames, different story this time around, as we Mirror. They’re not without their critics, and give you all the benefits of 180° vision found the seal to be one of the best on test. and we’ve had issues with frame breakages without the extra weight you often get with Two of our fellow testers agreed, after in a previous versions of these goggles, but bulkier open-water goggles. The straps are finding that a good fit was easy to achieve based on the evidence of this test we can’t quite thin and can be uncomfortable out of and that there were no leakages at all. We fault them. We found ourselves reaching the water, but the minimal excess strap at did have problems with the anti-fog, for the Predators repeatedly once the the back and ease of adjustment makes up however, and found ourselves having to goggle testing had finished and the for this. The mirrored lenses were the best repeatedly rinse and clean the lenses in testing began (see next issue for men’s in direct sunlight out of all the goggles between uses. The polarisation was fine in on test and the June issue for on test and also performed well in low- bright sunlight and the slight tint also women’s wetsuits) and can confidently say light conditions and murky water. All in all made them suitable for low light. A good we’ll be wearing these as we line up for our we’d recommend the Predators to any nose piece and easy strap adjustment work first races of 2017. swimmer as a light and versatile open- in the Futura Biofuse’s favour, but you’ll water goggle for all weather conditions. have to invest in some anti-fog treatment. thanks to… www.zoggs.com www.speedo.com In addition to UK pool testing, we were lucky enough to test this season’s goggles VERDICT VERY COMFORTABLE AND VERDICT ANTI-FOG NOT GREAT, at Club La Santa in Lanzarote to judge how 90 FANTASTIC UV PROTECTION; A GREAT 80 BUT THE SEAL AND FIT WILL SUIT they perform in bright sunlight and in warm % ALL-ROUNDER % MOST SWIMMERS weather and water (www.clublasanta.co.uk).

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