So it’s been on my mind in the past.

Eye protection/sunnies should ya wear it, could the eyewear break and cut your eye up even worse than if you did not wear any?

I have always believed that standard sunnies were a nono because of this, but safely glasses or the kite surfing goggles, like seaspecs, I was not sure.

Well its finally happened to me mate, but i still don’t really have an answer, He was wearing safety glasses, the kind ya get for working on building sites, "good quality" (he's a self-employed builder).

He was doing a water start, over cooked it, went over the board (not a biggie) and somehow managed to get the bar to smash into his eye wear, which then broke and cut his eye lid and cheek.

He is ok, but not without a pretty scary wait for the doc's to confirm his eye will be fine.

The doc believes that the eye wear saved him from losing his eye.

I am not so sure, I wonder if the glasses needed to be more impact resistant.

Anyways i have done some google'ing, but I’m not really any closer to a conclusion.

I personally have some seaspec's, but i hardly wear them, I get fed-up with the spray on them and i just don’t like wearing sunnies anyway.

At the moment IKO do not state that eye protection should be worn in the sea, and actually state that sunglasses can be worn while learning onshore.

So what’s your opinion? Do ya have any personnel experience with this?

Please don't start a flame about why did he fall over the board, he should have had lessons (which he has had) blah blah. We have all done it, either from water starts when we were 1st learning or from more advanced stuff, like landing jumps/tricks wrong. I saw him do it and it was not a biggie, i have done and seen much much worse, just luckily not had the bar smack me in the eye.

Hey Pete - just sounds like bad luck!

I wear a pair of 'Choppers' (non-polarised), with an inside buffer which sits flat against the forehead (about $10). The lenses have a gap at the side which aids air and water flow. I haven't had any dramas so far.

Oakley do a special (Seabreeze style) hydrophobic coated set which are very expensive, but the Seabreeze ones are great too (I've tried these also and they work really well).
Gill do a pair similar to the Seabreeze ones called 'Sail Racing' or similar and they are great for about $80.

Bolle do some great safety glasses that look quite good too and have the impact resistance properties.

I hope this helps and I hope your mate heals up quickly so he can get back out there!

Meant to add - just smear some dishwashing liquid inside and outside the lens and rinse. This really does help to shed the water. Make sure you don't get sunscreen on the lenses as this can really ruin your day!

Get some Seabreeze or Blueye - squid sunnies etc etc.

Very good sunnies, with shaterproof lenses, UV protection and cushed nose/bridge area.

At around $80 you get a hell of a lot of protection for ya dosh.

helmet + oakely xmetals + rubber strap held to back of head, sunglasses are not going anywhere unless my helmet manages to destroy my head and in that case who gives a ****

if they broke into pieces and cut him then they weren't polycarb safety lenses ....
polycarb lenses to the safety standard (as1067) are very impact resistant ...if something hit you hard enough to break the lenses your eyes would be the least of your problems ...you probably wouldn't have any head left..
most of the cheaper sunnie companies use a poly carb laminate that wont break either but will flex and pop out of the sunnie .
.most of the breakages i deal with ,the frame had injured the wearer and it is usually a metal frame (be wary of the metals slicer dicer)
seabreeze ones are fine
wack some clean (a tiny bit)surfboard wax on a clean lens cloth smear lightly around the lens
buff clean with a seperate lens cloth ...instant anti-fog(sort of)
polarized (better filtration of visible light but uv protection is no better then normal tints) can be a pain for depth perception in the waves/surf

Sorry for your mate, never good to have any sort of injury, especially to the face.

Some days, I can't stand to use sunnies, and other days my eyes are feeling fried I wear em. After 2/3pm when the sun is strong and in you face, sunnies are great .. midday, not much glare, can go without.

Biggest drama is the dreaded fogging, which is got around via using washing up detergent, mr sheen, rainex, any number of rain-repellent coatings. They need to be re-applied now & again.

The biggest change I've made is wiping the sunscreen out of my eyebrows! Took me a while to figure out, but I was going out with the ol eyebrows loaded up with sunscreen, and as soon as my first hit into the water, it would wash it all over the lenses and vision was wrecked!

To get around this, wipe your eyebrow with your finger first, and dive in or splash you face with water to get rid of any excess sunscreen waiting around to ruin you vision.

Enjoy

p.s. I've taken to the Seabreeze lenses with a hammer, and they did not break/shatter.

p.p.s. Beware of some safety glass styles - those ones with a little rubber nose mount, but have exposed edges of lenses. These aren't made for face impacts! I tried them out many years ago, and soon realised (after a faceplant), that the edges will quickly slice your face/gouge your eyeballs out.

Thanks for ya input, One thing is for sure, I will be wearing me seaspecs more often, and I will be speaking up when I see people wearing standard sunnies while kiteing.

I talked to me mate last night, he has been given the all clear now, but he was saying that at the time while on the way to the specialist, he really was thinking he had lost his eye, not a happy thing to be thinking!

Ya just carn’t be messing about when it comes to eyes!
Cheer’s! chaps

The Blue eye Squids have drilled holes at the top of the lenses which is meant to reduce fogging.

I thought it was a bit of a d!cky gimmick, but it actually does work and I get virtually zero fogging.

Works for me.





EDIT:
I forgot to add that (as recomended) I put 2 discrete spots of supaglue on the L+R edge of the lenses to hold them into the frame - for wipeout protection. Have had no dramas in 3 yrs.
The squids have a non-elastic band that can be done up as tight as you like, so possibly less likely to get ripped orf ya noggin too. I wear a helmet (Protec) so not much chance of losing em for me anyway.

I user MSA Arctic safety glasses. Pretty common at most minesites and industrial workplaces.
Also avail for $13.50 from your local hardware store. They are uv rated, one piece polycarb and shatter proof. Good shape too so you get good coverage(most sunnies i can see underneath).
Have holes in the arms, add some string or a shoelace and you have yourself the cheapest effective sunnies for kiting around.

Used dirty dog's ones that are made for surfing etc as well as some others and tend to blow out lenses when taking a hard hit while unhooking.

Just lost my 3rd pair of seabreeze sunnies out at sea, turning into an expensive habit. Each one have had the standard strap plus an added lanyard around the neck into the wetsuit. Seems the lanyard comes loose from the wetsuit, few wipeouts later, usually when being shot down wind feet first without the board, sunnies gone.

any tips/advice on how to fix the dam things to your body without loosing them. i'm pushing myself pretty hard doing some big stacks but can't really do without them over here you'll burn your eyes out.

Thinking i'll just buy an el-cheapo pair next, seriously are they that much worse or is it just a confidence trick to get you to fork out for expensive sunnies??

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mickeeH said...


any tips/advice on how to fix the dam things to your body without loosing them. i'm pushing myself pretty hard doing some big stacks but can't really do without them over here you'll burn your eyes out.

Helmet strap goes around glasses, high quality strap and high quality sunglasses. Note mine below the one with the straps on it are serial number 1024 they are over 10 years old.. the 2nd pair I got this year so I can send my old pair to be rebuilt. I do not lose sunglasses...

Note those sunglasses are near 400$ each and I am willing to kite with one pair ;-)

late last year had sun burnt eye balls, 3 days inside with blinds pulled couldn't watch tv or look at computer to blury to read constantly sore doc said was like a really bad welding flash and not to let it happen again, worth wearing.stiched old bridle loop to rashie other end loops over strap so far so good. before this lost 2 seabreeze and 2 cheap pairs of sunnies

Anyone got suggestions for alternatives to Oakley's overpriced hydrophobic solution?

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Prawnhead said...

wack some clean (a tiny bit)surfboard wax on a clean lens cloth smear lightly around the lens
buff clean with a seperate lens cloth ...instant anti-fog(sort of)

This works. Doesn't sound like it will but it does.

MickeeH i put a fair long piece of small rope on them , after tieing them on i put some heat shrink (any dick smith or electrical shop) over the knots and heat it up with a flame they can never undo again . Make it long enough so you put ya arm through it then put on ya head never lost any yet .

sunnies are a must as anoying as they can be. eyes are so easily damaged...then you get those big white/red growths across your eyes. if you ever feel like you have sore eyes after kiting thats why

Wear a hat. They carnt go anywhere.

To stop fogging you can cut up a raw potato and rub it on your lenses, then rinse it off - something to do with the starch apparently changes the surface tension of the water and it runs straight off... Seems to work pretty well for me - I do it about once a month.

Hey All,
With regards to sunnies - if you read Kite Mags i'm sure you've heard of Triggernault. ATM these are not av. in australia, however very shortly they will be available.
These sunnies are made in Germany and are specifically made for all outdoor sports including water sports and snow ect.

The UV protection is very high, glasses are flexible and shatter proof, and lenses don't fog. They come with all sorts of accessories to improve experience in water ect.

Check out there website triggernault.com

They will be av in OZ very soon :)