Snow Sunglasses, Ski Goggles and Snowboard Goggles
October 24th, 2010 | 
Author: When there is the onset of the winter season, many people would love to spend their days outside and enjoy a number of winter sports activities such as skiing, snowboarding, ice climbing, skating and sledding. But what to consider for eye protection? At the end of the day when you go home, there could be some serious stress to your eyes due to the glare coming off from the snow. You also need to protect your eyes from cold air and dust particles.
Which sunglasses to go for when it comes to winter sports? Two things should always be considered while deciding this.
The first key point is how to assist you see your surroundings. In the winter season when you are out, you encounter two basic colors namely white and gray, of which white is more reflective. In your childhood, your mother must have told you not to look at the sun intensely. But when you are out on a snow, you really don’t have an alternative since sunlight is present everywhere because of the reflection effect.
The ideal situation is to wear sunglasses which have the ability to absorb maximum glare, and polarized sunglasses are the best from this point of view. Appropriately polarized sunglasses eliminate strain from your eyes and provide extremely clear vision by removing reflected sunlight as well as diffused sunlight coming directly from the sun. As a result of this, your outdoor activity would bring you pleasure and joy.
Polarized sunglasses function by filtering out the light waves at an angle perpendicular to the glare. This enables a lot of light in to see your surroundings and at the same time, the bright spots vanish. You can check whether you possess or not true polarized lenses by turning them circularly. If the glare comes back and vanishes again, the sunglasses are polarized.
You can also perform an interesting activity in this regard, taking two sets of polarized glasses in your hand. Now see through both of them simultaneously, holding one pair at an angle of 90 degrees to the other, you would be almost completely blinded. The first pair would allow the wavelengths pass through one angle and second set would remove those waves.
The design of the sunglasses is the second most important aspect to be considered when purchasing sunglasses for the snow. The best known design for snow is the wraparound lenses which give maximum protection from the cold. The problem with conventional sunglasses is that they are flat in shape and permit unwanted particles to get inside from the upper end and sides. Larger lenses do not mean that the sunglasses are heavier in weight; majority of sunglasses manufactured for sports are light in weight.
For extreme sports, the strength of the frame of the sunglasses is also very significant and so the material used in the manufacturing of frames becomes another important element to be considered. The benefit of aluminum frames is that they are light in weight but 
still strong enough but as aluminum is a metal, it can turn colder under the extreme conditions.
Acetate frames are manufactured using a very long lasting plastic, which is also used for racing helmets. The advantage of such frames is that plastic is an insulator and does not allow the temperature of the frames to alter and therefore, these sunglasses are quite comfortable to wear.
In short, the ideal sunglasses for the snow would have polarized lenses, a wraparound lens deign and frames made from either acetate or aluminum. Depending on how active you are and how the sport is you are involved in, a regular pair of sunglasses may not work. That’s when you would need something like ski snowboard goggles.
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