How to Choose the Right Swim Goggles
The selection of swim goggles offered by retailers can be just as overwhelming as picking a swimsuit. Rather than assaulting you with all the different brands and types of goggles, perhaps looking at your water activity as a starting point will be better suited in this shopping endeavor.
Goggle Guide By Activity
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Casual Adult Lap Swimming: You want something comfortable, reliable, and basic. Not many moving parts, a simple goggle you can depend on and get a long life out of. Avoid ‘buttons’ that make straps adjustable. Look for straps that are made of silicone or bungee cord to get the most longevity.
Maximum Comfort: Kiefer Softseal Swim Goggle and Kiefer Raptor Swim Goggle. These goggles have the softest gaskets to form a good fit over your eyes. The Softseal is made of foam while the Raptor is silicone. Most mainstream swim companies will offer equivalents to these designs. If your primary concern is comfort, looking into similar options might be the best route for you. Best Fit: Kiefer Express Swim Goggle and Kiefer Vivid Bungee Swim Goggle. These goggles have the soft seal gaskets made of silicone, so they are high on the comfort scale and durability scale with silicone straps as well. The straps are fully adjustable and the nosepieces are interchangeable to make a pair of goggles customized to fit your face. Compare these to Speedo’s Vanquisher. Bare Bones: Kiefer Swedish Racer Swim Goggles. Don’t let the name fool you, they aren’t just for racing. These are sockets only, no padding, no gaskets. These are ‘I came to swim’ goggles and nothing more. They do not come with silicone/bungee straps, but those can be subbed in easily to make these the never break pair of goggles. You can customize the nose fit with a bit string and a tube that is included. I’ve worn these for years. Team Training: You still want something reliable and comfortable, but durable runs to the forefront. If you or your swimmers are in the water once or twice a day selecting a goggle that will put up with the rigors of the swim lifestyle is your number one goal. Look for goggles that have bungee cord straps or silicone as a backup. If they have a favorite already, you can purchase a bungee strap to substitute in. I highly recommend it. All Around Best Bet: Kiefer Express Mirror Swim Goggle and Kiefer Vivid Bungee Swim Goggle. These goggles can be used for training AND racing. Their simple design and silicone gaskets make this a comfortable, efficient, and attractive goggle. Kiefer offers a mirrored variety to block the sun for outdoor training or competition to boot. They come with a silicone strap and nosepieces to create a custom fit for the wearer. Compare to Speedo’s Vanquisher. Best Bargain: Kiefer Swedish Racer Swim Goggles. If you or your swimmer has a habit of leaving goggles behind the Swedish Racers are the best value for product out there. These are classic and have been around for years. They are low profile and durable. Perfect for training or racing. You can use bungee cording straps to improve their longevity as well. You can also find them mirrored to protect your eyes. Racing Fit should be the highest on your priority list. Good suction and reliable. Keep your racing goggles separate from your training gear. Leave them in your meet bag and take care of them. Personally, I recommend getting a bungee strap for your meet goggles. They won’t snap behind the blocks during last minute adjustments. Simple is still best. Extra moving parts like strap adjusters are destined to break at inopportune moments. Best Value/All Around:
- Kiefer Vivid Bungee Swim Goggle
- Kiefer Elite Swim Goggle | Kiefer Elite Junior Swim Goggle
- Kiefer Express Swim Goggle | Kiefer Junior Express Swim Goggle
These goggles have a consistent fit, silicone gaskets, and low profile lenses. They aren’t exclusives or pro-athlete branded but they are quality and perform well. Open Water/Triathlons If you are looking for something more like a mask and less like a goggle I have a few suggestions for you. If you still prefer goggles that have two separate sockets, go back up to Team Training or Racing. Best of Both Worlds: AquaSphere Kaiman Swim Goggle might be best for you, or the Speedo MDR 2.4 Swim Goggle. These are as close to a mask as you can get without actually being one. With excellent fit, low profile, superb visibility and an anti-slip buckle make these a winner for sure. Aquatic Fitness Fancy isn’t in your vocabulary yet, and racing specs don’t matter to you. However you want to keep water out of your eyes and be comfortable. There is something out there for you too! If you swim outside at the ocean or in a lake these are a few good pairs to try. All Around: Speedo Bullet Goggle is a new to the fitness line Speedo is pushing. These goggles rest comfortably within the eye orbital for less pressure. They have excellent suction and leaking shouldn’t be an issue. Fails Safe: Kiefer Ultimate Swim Goggle, Kiefer Junior Ultimate Swim Goggle, Kiefer Raptor Swim Goggle. To me these epitomize comfort; function and value bundled up nicely with pretty colors. Kids As a parent, my first concerns are value and quality. I want goggles that can easily and affordably be replaced because kids lose goggles. I want them to be quality, kids are rough on their things and are generally pretty vocal if something is uncomfortable or dysfunctional (mom they are leaking!). These are goggles that are good for the splash park, beach, lake or swim lessons/team. Safest Bets: Kiefer Raptor Junior Swim Goggles and Speedo Hydrospex Junior Swim Goggles. There is a large price discrepancy between the two, but they are both sturdy and quality. I buy and use Raptors for my learn to swim classes. They fit all kinds of faces and are soft. The silicone construction and bright colors make them a friendly choice for those new to wearing goggles. Best starter pair out there. Hydrospex’s are the next step up, the stage where your kids wear goggles without a fuss. They are similarly constructed with soft silicone and vibrant color options. My six-year-old prefers these for swim team. All For Fun: TYR Character Goggles. They come in shark, fish, and happy whale. These are classic styles with added flair. They are cute and functional with silicone gaskets and an adjustable nosepiece. These are step two goggles, for those who have worn them successfully before. I recommend Raptor’s as your kids first pair of goggles.
Understanding the Components of Your Swim Goggles
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Frames
Single Piece: These frames are similar to masks for snorkeling or scuba diving, just much more compact. Single piece frames are easy to use, there is no adjustment for the nose and are built to fit most faces comfortably. Generally, they are made with a hard plastic outer shell to hold the lenses in place and fit to your face with silicone for comfort. Single piece frames are ideal for most moderate pool activities and are more commonly found in open water swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving. The benefit of goggles with a single piece frame is ease of use and longevity. Fewer pieces generally mean longer lasting. A consumer would want this type of goggle if they don’t want to mess with all the bells and whistles. Two Piece: This type of frame is going to get you the most variety in colors, shapes, customizable fit, and more. Two piece frames are going to have some kind of connection over your nose; this will make it easier to get a custom fit. Two-piece frames are suitable for all types of pool activity. From casual lap swimming to competitive racing, they are the most commonly found type of goggle found in water. The benefit of two piece goggles is making a pair that really fits your face just right. You won’t have to deal with your nose being pinched and those red indentations that seem to linger for hours after you swim. These are the most widely sold and purchased type of goggle in the industry. Consumers would lean towards this type of frame if they are invested in their water time; prefer comfort over simplicity, and like options.
Sockets/Gaskets
Foam: Foam sockets are the classics. Before we had things like injection molding foam padding was glued to the plastic rim of goggles to keep them from gouging out your eyes. Foam sockets are useable in all types of water activity from pools to lakes, to oceans. They are soft and comfortable. The benefit to foam sockets is soft pressure around your eye socket, they don’t have a hard suction that pops when you pull them off your face. They are gentler and greater for those with sensitive skin. Consumers will appreciate their lower cost. Silicone Injection molded and flexible to the touch silicone is soft, comfortable and provides a superb amount of suction. There isn’t a water activity that isn’t appropriate for this type of gasket. They last; they fit to faces well, and are made in a variety of styles to meet individual needs. The benefits of silicone are a longer life than foam counterparts, a virtually leak proof fit from excellent suction, and a wide variety of colors and styles. They really are ideal for consumers because they offer the most value from their long life, high quality, and endless variety. None Swedish goggles offer no padding in any form. They are bare bones and often used by the most hard core of swimmers. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t for you. Their no frills approach is minimalist to be sure. They come unassembled and the consumer builds them. Each packet includes two hard plastic sockets, a rubber strap, a bit of string, and a tiny piece of plastic tubing. Consumers string them. These goggles are not as intimidating or uncomfortable as they sound. The sockets are smaller than normal goggles and don’t sit on the bone surrounding your eyes. They sit on the soft fleshy part and while they do take some getting used to they are virtually unbreakable. Benefits of Swedish style goggles are primarily cost effectiveness. You buy one pair and unless you lose them, they will last a lifetime. I recommend investing in a bungee strap because the rubber one will not last that long.
Lenses
Clear Clear lenses are comparable to wearing glasses because you like the way you look, they won’t affect your vision. You can find optical ones that are not dissimilar to reading glasses with diopters. Clear lenses are best suited for indoor water activities because they offer no protection from the sun. The benefit of clear lenses is unobstructed vision. They will give users the clearest view of their surroundings potentially making things like judging walls for turns easier. Colored Lenses come in just about every color of the rainbow and then some. They are mostly for fashion or personal taste. These goggles are primarily for indoor use, but some darker shades like blue, grey or black certainly help cut down on the sun’s glare. These can be fun for kids as they can pick their favorite color. The benefit of these goggles is similar to the clear variety. Colored tints don’t interrupt vision, so colored lenses will still give you optimal viewing of your surroundings. Mirrored/Polarized These lenses have a reflective metallic coating to protect your eyes from the sun. You can find them in silver, multi colored, and gold. Mirrored and polarized lenses are used primarily outdoors and generally by avid swimmers. That doesn’t mean they aren’t great for a day at the beach though. These lenses can be found on Swedish style goggles as well as those with silicone gaskets. Benefits are being able to wear a pair of sunglasses in the water without the fear of losing them and being able to see underwater too. If you are an outside water enthusiast you know it’s worth protecting your eyes.
Straps
Silicone Silicone straps are more or less the industry norm these days. They are stretchy, colorful and last much longer than rubber. You can use silicone straps on nearly all goggle types so they are really perfect for all water activities. Primary benefits are longevity and color choices. You can find something to fit just about any pair to make them your go to goggles. Bungee Cord Bungee cord straps aren’t really a new thing, most often you would buy them separately and switch them with whatever your goggles came with. Now you can find goggles that come with bungee cord straps. They are stretchy, colorful, and adjust with a plastic toggle spring. Seeing as their original purpose was to be substituted in for existing straps it would be fair to say bungee cords would be applicable to all water activities. The only exception being if you swim without a cap and have long hair, they aren’t as friendly as silicone straps. These are your best bet for goggles. The benefit to buying bungee cords is that you will not likely need to buy another one unless you lose it. Rubber Rubber goggle straps might be in the past, but you can still find them on starter goggles from brick and mortar stores. Most large aquatic companies don’t have many styles left that sport these relics but they are still around. In the past this was the only choice for goggles, that being said they will work in any situation. You can use them for lap swimming, racing, open water, play, aerobics, anything! Kiefer doesn’t carry much these days in the form of rubber straps and there is a reason for it. They just can’t compare or compete with silicone. If you are in a pinch and you grab a pair from a local drugstore they will fill your needs just fine for the time being. Once that strap snaps you can always replace it with a bungee cord or silicone.
Nose Pieces
Bridges Bridges are small pieces of plastic that come in varying lengths; they have notched grooves that snap into the goggle main body. These nose pieces are found on the majority of swim training and/or racing goggles. They generally come in three sizes to fit the widest range of consumers. The primary benefit of investing in goggles with nose bridges is the custom fit you can get. String/Rubber/Silicone These are small bits of material that can be pulled through a hole on the goggle much like threading a needle. Most goggles will adapt to something like this, so they can be used in any aquatic situation. For instance say you lost your plastic nose bridge, snip off a piece of silicone excess from your strap and thread it through the holes. The best part about goggles like this, is that with just a small stretchy part of material you can get the best fit over your nose for you. There are no standard sizes to mess with; you can make that bridge as short or as long as you need it. Notched These are plastic bridges with grooves on each side, you pull them through and they lock into place creating a fairly customizable fit. You can’t retro-fit these bridges, so whichever pair of goggle they come with is what they stay with. These are generally found on children’s goggles and are excellent for playtime, learn to swim, or pre-competitive scenarios. The benefit of notched nose pieces is once again the ability to fit them in a more custom manner than a single piece goggle body with no adjustable nose piece.
Adjusters
Buttons Buttons are push releases that will loosen the grip the adjuster has on the goggle strap. They are more commonly found on single frame goggles. The benefits of button adjusters are ease of use. Push the button, adjust, push button to lock. You don’t have to worry about threading the goggle straps through slots each time you need to tighten or loosen your straps. Sliders These are the most common type of goggle adjusters. They are slotted pieces of plastic that hold tight to your straps. To tighten you will need to pull out the straps and re-thread them through the slots once you reach your desired fit. They are a little more time consuming but the good news is they don’t break. Less moving parts make for a longer lasting product. Toggle Toggle adjusters are spring loaded clamps with a button to release. You will find these on bungee straps. These are by far the easiest type of adjuster. The plastic is sturdy and lasts, and the spring is enclosed within it. Ease of use coupled with durability makes the benefits of this adjust quite clear. Side vs Back Adjusters can sometimes be found on the sides of goggles attached to the main frame, buttons generally fall into this category and occasionally sliders. Back adjusters are typically attached to one of the two straps tail ends. This is where you will pull and thread silicone straps into a slider or pull bungee cords through a toggle.
