Does anybody have any experience with "fluid goggles"? I want to get a pair, but before I do I want some other people's opinions about them. Are they worth the money (because they are quite expensive)?
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Fluid goggles
- Thread starterKekipi Mano
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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I think that they must be wort the money.
Yasemin Dalkilic use them & David Lee in his Unassisted world record 2002 (He have borrow Yasemins fluid goggles)
Eric Fattah will be soon answer to you.
Search the forum and you will find some information.
lambis
Yasemin Dalkilic use them & David Lee in his Unassisted world record 2002 (He have borrow Yasemins fluid goggles)
Eric Fattah will be soon answer to you.
Search the forum and you will find some information.
lambis
There are many people on the forum who have used the goggles and could give a 1st hand testimonial. The latest record set with fluid goggles was Mandy Cruickshank's 41m no-fins record. Carlos Coste & Stig also have fluid goggles but I'm not sure if they used them on their latest records.
Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
i've been using Eric's goggles for over a year now, and i can wholeheartedly recommend them. they are a fantastic piece of kit and my goggles are basically my prized freediving posession! 
they don't come cheap, but, for me, they are easily worth it because they allow me to dive the way i want to dive. when you buy a pair, make sure you learn how to use them properly (using Eric's manual) so you get the most out of them.
they don't come cheap, but, for me, they are easily worth it because they allow me to dive the way i want to dive. when you buy a pair, make sure you learn how to use them properly (using Eric's manual) so you get the most out of them.
they are fine in cold water.
here the temperature drops to around 5C in winter. last winter i used them down to 9C, but this winter i intend to keep using them throughout the winter. the only reason why i switched to a mask last winter was because i found it difficult to adjust them with thick gloves.
right now, we have temps of 12-13C and that is nothing in terms of discomfort on the eyes. the trick for really cold water is to flood the goggles with your eyes closed. then wait for a minute or so before opening them - your eyes will warm up the water slightly - or maybe the water cools your eyes - both i guess! either way, it reduces the shock and discomfort when you open your eyes.
it just another thing to adapt to. it will feel wierd and uncomfortable to begin with, but that will pass. sometimes i dive with bare eyes in freshwater which is 4-5C at depth. no big deal - because my eyes have become used to it.
bottom line.... don't let cold water put you off buying a pair.
HTH
here the temperature drops to around 5C in winter. last winter i used them down to 9C, but this winter i intend to keep using them throughout the winter. the only reason why i switched to a mask last winter was because i found it difficult to adjust them with thick gloves.
right now, we have temps of 12-13C and that is nothing in terms of discomfort on the eyes. the trick for really cold water is to flood the goggles with your eyes closed. then wait for a minute or so before opening them - your eyes will warm up the water slightly - or maybe the water cools your eyes - both i guess! either way, it reduces the shock and discomfort when you open your eyes.
it just another thing to adapt to. it will feel wierd and uncomfortable to begin with, but that will pass. sometimes i dive with bare eyes in freshwater which is 4-5C at depth. no big deal - because my eyes have become used to it.
bottom line.... don't let cold water put you off buying a pair.
HTH
The goggles come with a money back guarantee. The current version of the goggles has been on sale since early 2002, and since then only one person ever returned their goggles for a refund -- it was a scuba diver who expected the goggles to work exactly like a mask. He never read the manual (refused to), simply put them on without any knowledge of how to use them, and found his vision wasn't the same as a mask, and then he returned them without even requesting a return authorization.
I refunded his money including shipping and handling, no questions asked.
Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
I refunded his money including shipping and handling, no questions asked.
Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
Would also like to buy a pair but have the following questions. First i heard that they work better for some people than for others. Granted one has good eye sight on land is there a chance they would not work for them ? Also from what i gather you flood them with a special liquid. Can they just be flooded with sea water or not ? Otherwise if the product works as it says, i see no reason (other than angle of vision) why anyone would freedive using anything else than these gogles.Thanks for the help. Delphic regards, Noa
I have a pair of fluid goggles and they are GREAT. I can't say enough good things about them really. Like Alun they have become an integral part of my kit now. I don't know about others but for me they work well (but you do need to follow the directions off Eric's website, good tips there). They take some adjustment as they are definitely not like a typical scuba mask, but all new kit that differs from the old requires that.
While you can use seawater to fill the goggles I wouldn't recommend it. If you wear contacts it's a definite no-no as all the critters will take up permanent residence on your soft contact lenses. Even if I had perfect vision I don't think I would flood them with seawater.
I just use regular saline solution I get from the grocery store for something like $2.50 per big bottle. Yes, it's just salt water I know, but it is clean and easy on the eyeballs. I have to think that imersing your eyes in seawater for an extended period of time is asking for an infection of some sort.
As for reasons why not to use them, I think that because the lenses are put in after the original manufacturing they are disallowed by some governing bodies. Eric could probably let you know more info if you wanted to use them for competition as I am strictly amateur class. Other than the competition thing there really is no reason why not to use them.
Hope this helps ya!
While you can use seawater to fill the goggles I wouldn't recommend it. If you wear contacts it's a definite no-no as all the critters will take up permanent residence on your soft contact lenses. Even if I had perfect vision I don't think I would flood them with seawater.
I just use regular saline solution I get from the grocery store for something like $2.50 per big bottle. Yes, it's just salt water I know, but it is clean and easy on the eyeballs. I have to think that imersing your eyes in seawater for an extended period of time is asking for an infection of some sort.
As for reasons why not to use them, I think that because the lenses are put in after the original manufacturing they are disallowed by some governing bodies. Eric could probably let you know more info if you wanted to use them for competition as I am strictly amateur class. Other than the competition thing there really is no reason why not to use them.
Hope this helps ya!
Hello Scot, yeah that does help, thanks a lot. was wondering, you could then also flood them with normal drinking water also. it would probably work prety well. what do you think. as far as an eye infection if exposed to sea water for too long, i didn't know that. i often dive without anything, it stings a bit at times but thats all. i love the freedom of it. delphicly, Noa
Noa - I don't think opening your eyes underwater and swimming causes any great risk of infection, but keeping them completely immersed for possibly multiple hours in your fluid goggles just might. While there are natural antimicrobials in your tears and eye ducts I think that a could portion would be diluted.
As far as drinking water goes, I suppose you could just fill your goggles with it instead. Your eye is a semipermiable membrane however and I wonder if you would lose salt through osmosis through your cornea. You may experience dryness or redness after using em.
Eric F as you are the fluidgoggle uberengineer do you know what the effects of flooding the goggles with freshwater (tap) is?
Thanks in advance!!
As far as drinking water goes, I suppose you could just fill your goggles with it instead. Your eye is a semipermiable membrane however and I wonder if you would lose salt through osmosis through your cornea. You may experience dryness or redness after using em.
Eric F as you are the fluidgoggle uberengineer do you know what the effects of flooding the goggles with freshwater (tap) is?
Thanks in advance!!
A small percentage of the population, maybe 5-10%, don't see as well with the goggles because the length of their eyeball is different from the average person. Eyeglasses prescription has no effect on whether the goggles will work for you. Even those 5-10% of people with the 'wrong length' eyeball, still see very well, but might have difficulty reading their depth gauge or something like that. Some people with astigmatism can see better with fluid goggles than they can see on land with glasses, because corneal defects have no effect underwater.
So, what other disadvantages are there?
1. If the water is very cold, you tend to get cold faster because you lose heat through your entire face & eyes
2. Personally I like to take off my mask once in a while and expose my face to the air. Taking the goggles on and off (repeatedly) is not practical unless you are filling them with sea water.
3. Walking over precarious rocks to get down to the water is difficult and more dangerous when wearing the goggles because they slightly magnify on land, and because you lose a bit of peripheral vision -- peripheral vision is used by your brain to balance your body when walking.
If you fill the goggles with tap water, the chlorine will burn your eyes. If you fill the goggles with distilled or purified water, your eyes will still burn because the water is not the correct pH (incorrect salinity).
Filling them with seawater (if you don't wear contact lenses), can be either very comfortable, or not, depending on which ocean you dive in. Here near Vancouver, the water is not salty at all--similar to your own tears. In the med or in Florida, the water is very salty and will burn your eyes.
Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
So, what other disadvantages are there?
1. If the water is very cold, you tend to get cold faster because you lose heat through your entire face & eyes
2. Personally I like to take off my mask once in a while and expose my face to the air. Taking the goggles on and off (repeatedly) is not practical unless you are filling them with sea water.
3. Walking over precarious rocks to get down to the water is difficult and more dangerous when wearing the goggles because they slightly magnify on land, and because you lose a bit of peripheral vision -- peripheral vision is used by your brain to balance your body when walking.
If you fill the goggles with tap water, the chlorine will burn your eyes. If you fill the goggles with distilled or purified water, your eyes will still burn because the water is not the correct pH (incorrect salinity).
Filling them with seawater (if you don't wear contact lenses), can be either very comfortable, or not, depending on which ocean you dive in. Here near Vancouver, the water is not salty at all--similar to your own tears. In the med or in Florida, the water is very salty and will burn your eyes.
Eric Fattah
BC, Canada