Goggle Lens issues

[WGalinski]

I’ve had multiple goggles from Zeal and this is the first time anything like this has happened to me. Sending the goggles back to them for inspection but I’m curious if anyone here has had mirrored lens finishes fade out like this. Part of me thinks it might have been finished improperly or a material defect because the lens itself probably has -20 days of use and I feel like I did everything right for taking care of them. Being air dried when necessary, properly stored and never used chemicals for cleaning them up. Does anyone know of things you really should stay away from for keeping goggles in good condition? I’m even curious if the mink oil in my gloves could wreck such thing. The goggles are still functional, not many visible scratches but the change of color/contrast certainly makes these a bummer to use now. Any solid tips for goggle care or input would be awesome.

 

[KilaTsunami]

Sucks when you go so far out of your way to take good care of a product and it still shits the bed on ya. I can’t think of anything that you didn’t already mention. My guess would be bad production on their end if you really take as good care as you say.

 

[Headache]

I had this happen to me, it was from wiping off the lens too forcefully. Apparently u gotta be real gentle with some goggles

 

[Session]

I had this happen to me, it was from wiping off the lens too forcefully. Apparently u gotta be real gentle with some goggles

thats generally the case with coated optics.

 

[kalle.]

old oakley iridium lenses are/were really prone to wearing out like that if cleaned too rough or incorrectly. and i think my friends old spy goggles also did a similar thing.

 

[IsaacNW82]

Exact thing happened to a pair of zeal goggles for me, happened when wiping them down on a rainy Vermont ski day. I used the bag they came in to wipe them down too, I mean I wasn't being particularly gentle, but not rough either. Got them warrantied, new pair, same thing a few months later, wipe them down when they were covered in rain, ruined again.

Didn't bother to try a warranty again, instead I bought a comparable pair of Smith Squad XL's with chromapop, use them the exact same way, lenses are still reasonably clear, even after 4 winters. One small scratch were a ski edge wacked it, can't be mad about that. I even bought a smith squad mtb version, which gets mud, rocks, dust and dirt wiped from it regularly, and it still survived 2 summers of DH use before being noticeably scratched.

So my experience with zeal is that it needs to be babied, be real careful with them if you ski in the rain, but I only have good things to say about Smith.

 

[mattytru]

Exact thing happened to a pair of zeal goggles for me, happened when wiping them down on a rainy Vermont ski day. I used the bag they came in to wipe them down too, I mean I wasn't being particularly gentle, but not rough either. Got them warrantied, new pair, same thing a few months later, wipe them down when they were covered in rain, ruined again.

Didn't bother to try a warranty again, instead I bought a comparable pair of Smith Squad XL's with chromapop, use them the exact same way, lenses are still reasonably clear, even after 4 winters. One small scratch were a ski edge wacked it, can't be mad about that. I even bought a smith squad mtb version, which gets mud, rocks, dust and dirt wiped from it regularly, and it still survived 2 summers of DH use before being noticeably scratched.

So my experience with zeal is that it needs to be babied, be real careful with them if you ski in the rain, but I only have good things to say about Smith.

The Squad XLs are excellent budget-ish goggles. I've had nothing but good experiences with them. Pretty clean looking as well

 

[albinoboy]

old oakley iridium lenses are/were really prone to wearing out like that if cleaned too rough or incorrectly. and i think my friends old spy goggles also did a similar thing.

yup my old spys were terrible with this. Mistakenly wipe your goggle with your glove on a wet day and it would leave the coating on your gloves. My gloves looked pretty cool after a few nasty wet days but it totally ruined the lens. Didnt think it would happen on a zeal though, probably a defect on their end.

 

[jimbobs]

Another vote for the Squad XL's here. I run the clear lenses for mtb and chromapops for skiing. You can run the ski lenses in the mtb frame and vice versa. Same goggle except the ski version has fabric over the vents, mtb is open vents.

Pretty similar to oakley prism goggles, which have been good to me as well.

 

[WGalinski]

I appreciate everyone’s feedback/experience with goggles.

I believe the damage happened during a wet heavy snowfall and didn’t notice any difference until I got a chance to look at them the following day. Really disheartening to know that snow goggles can fall apart from a little abrasion and moisture. After all I only use these on snowdays or really cold days, so I’m not demanding much.

The ironic thing is that the only other brands of goggles I have owned before were Smith and Oakley, they both lasted so long and held up so well that I sold them after a few seasons. Sounds like I’ll have to switch back once the snow starts flying again.

 

[kalle.]

I appreciate everyone’s feedback/experience with goggles.

I believe the damage happened during a wet heavy snowfall and didn’t notice any difference until I got a chance to look at them the following day. Really disheartening to know that snow goggles can fall apart from a little abrasion and moisture. After all I only use these on snowdays or really cold days, so I’m not demanding much.

The ironic thing is that the only other brands of goggles I have owned before were Smith and Oakley, they both lasted so long and held up so well that I sold them after a few seasons. Sounds like I’ll have to switch back once the snow starts flying again.

the new oakley lenses are so durable, i only use oakley and never had an issue with them. plus the prizm hi-pink is the most baller lens at least for my sensitive eyes in low light conditions.

wish there were more goggle demos in mountains!