Having just passed yet another Summer during which both Celtling and I vascillate between the joy of swimming with goggles on and the relief of taking them off when they are way too tight and still only just sort of working on the one side, I have determined to find out once and for all: Is there really such a thing as swim goggles that actually work and truly keep the water out without being so tight that they leave you with red rings around your eyes and raccoon bruises the next morning?*
*And does all that count as only one sentence? and if so, is it the longest one ever written on the Dope?
ETA: ARE. Are there any . . .
Yes. Your goggles should not need to be that tight, they only need be tight enough to press the eyepiece gaskets against your face. You probably - forgive me - have a big head or a small head, and you’re trying to wear goggles with a mis-sized nose spacer thingy; the description of only one side of your goggles working points to this. What you need to buy are goggles that come with a pack of differently-sized nose spacer thingies and find the one that fits you. Most serious swimmers’ goggles will have these - they look like a small ziploc bag filled with little plastic doohickeys. Sorry for all the technical jargon here.
My last pair was Speedo. My current pair are these which have a much much bigger lens than the little sport Speedos. Got great reviews on Amazon, tho. They actually are uncomfortable on my chubby cheeks, so I am going to switch to these sport Speedos when I get a chance.
I ended up buying several pairs this Summer and trying them, including yours. The ones I really like are the Aqua Sphere Vista. They’re bigger and have a wider contact area with the face. No raccoon eyes. Amazon has them, so if you hate them, return them for poor fit.
I also like that they come in different tints - helps massively with glare.
Same company makes an even bigger version called Seal. I have a big head (true enough) and Vista works for me, but if you like other things about Aqua Sphere I’d suggest trying a few other models.
Something like this is a quality pair of goggles, and the last time I bought a pair, it came with three sizes’ worth of nose bridges. You can just pop the bridge out and put in a new size to fit your face.
That should pretty easily clear up your goggle issues!
Thanks all! Its very true that we both have neanderthal-sized heads and wide nose bridges. One of the sets we tried did have adjustable nose bridge, but they were fairly cheap and had thin gaskets.
We’ll try it out! Goggles are even more important in Winter as the local indoor pools are all public and insanely chlorinated.
You need to find a sports shop that will let you try them on. This is probably not Target. My local sports shop has a box full of sample goggles.
The best method I’ve found for testing them without water is to press them into place until some air gets squished out (without using the strap), then look down. If they fall off immediately, they don’t fit your face. If the suction holds them in place for a few seconds, they probably fit pretty well. Try this with some of the ones you’ve bought and see if they fail the test. If so, I’m a genius. If not, my face is funny.
How tight goggles are has nothing to do with how well they keep the water out. Actually having them too tight will make them leak more.
The best thing to do is try a bunch of different pairs, what you want to do is first put them on without using the straps. Yes you read that correctly, without the straps, just put the eye pieces over your eyes and if they will be the proper fit then they will stick to your eyes for a few seconds, or better yet longer. If the goggles don’t stay in place by themselves then the strap still isn’t going to help.
I use Swedish Goggles, ones you have to put together yourself. They have no seal what so ever, just plastic eye pieces, a string for a nose piece and a head strap.
I’ve been swimming for a long time and it took me awhile to try out a pair, and haven’t looked back since.
If you’re literally getting raccoon bruises, you should be aware that swim goggles are for surface swimming only. If you are routinely swimming deep in the pool and staying there, you may be suffering from Mask Squeeze. If you’re going deep enough that your ears pop, you’re probably deep enough that the pressure on your goggles needs to be equalized. That’s why skin/scuba divers wear masks which include the nose - so they can add air to the mask at depth.
