AndyBrad
21-02-12, 12:39 PM
Ok then folks I know some people on here ride with glassesand so I thought you may find this useful. I was in the market for some newglasses so after shopping around a bit I discovered something called OPTIFOG. Mostplaces don’t advertise this and its very new. However it is possible to get ifyou ask. So several hundred pounds later ive got my glasses (transitions, ohwhy oh why did I make that mistake again) and with the optifog coating. Now thenthe coating worked out at an additional 50 quid on top of everything else. Thiswas the cheapest I could find with quotes going up to 140 quid for theadditional coating to the lenses (you can see this getting expensive I’m sure)
So What’s it like and how does it work? Basically if you’ve usedglasses and used an antifog spray you will be aware that any coating on yourglasses (if you can get cheap plastic lenses with no antiscratch etc there isno issue) will prevent an anti fog coating from working effectively. I wasexpecting that the lenses themselves would have some form of anti fog propertiesbut this is not the case. Instead you have to use an “activator” or basicallysome antifog stuff as well. So the initial idea of not having to wipe yourglasses with anything goes right out of the window. As far as I can tell theonly thing this optifog coating does is hold the anti fog liquid on the lensand help it spread evenly and help in dispersing any misting that occurs, whichit does effectivly.
So how does it fair? Initial tests when I got them were good(holding face over boiling water, walking into warm pubs that sort of thing) itseemed to work well. However we all know that this isn’t a real test. So overthe last week ive been taking the bike to work and having a warm drink beforesetting off so I was guaranteed to have a foggy visor. Moving from an anti fogspray to this I must say it does work. Stopping at junctions however they stillfog up but not in a way that completely blinds you. Its basically like yourdrunk. Or looking through water. Your vision is obscured but your not completelyblind. So this gets a thumbs up from me. However there are two significantissues. The first is its durability. Yes in normal conditions one applicationwould last the week but if your on the bike it only lasts a few days. Secondly youhave to keep it clean. Get it mucky and it is not as effective. The other issueis that once its wet you can wash off the antifog coating very easily. Lastlyand this is the biggest issue for me is rain. If riding and you have your visoropen in the rain. With a decent coating the droplets would simply roll off theglasses and bead up. With this it feels like it gets absorbed into the lens andseriously effects vision! So much so that I cant ride with the visor up in therain.
I hope that helps people if your considering this on yourglasses. Would I have it again? Yes. Although I now hate the glasses because I choosethe bloody transition lenses. Grrr!
So What’s it like and how does it work? Basically if you’ve usedglasses and used an antifog spray you will be aware that any coating on yourglasses (if you can get cheap plastic lenses with no antiscratch etc there isno issue) will prevent an anti fog coating from working effectively. I wasexpecting that the lenses themselves would have some form of anti fog propertiesbut this is not the case. Instead you have to use an “activator” or basicallysome antifog stuff as well. So the initial idea of not having to wipe yourglasses with anything goes right out of the window. As far as I can tell theonly thing this optifog coating does is hold the anti fog liquid on the lensand help it spread evenly and help in dispersing any misting that occurs, whichit does effectivly.
So how does it fair? Initial tests when I got them were good(holding face over boiling water, walking into warm pubs that sort of thing) itseemed to work well. However we all know that this isn’t a real test. So overthe last week ive been taking the bike to work and having a warm drink beforesetting off so I was guaranteed to have a foggy visor. Moving from an anti fogspray to this I must say it does work. Stopping at junctions however they stillfog up but not in a way that completely blinds you. Its basically like yourdrunk. Or looking through water. Your vision is obscured but your not completelyblind. So this gets a thumbs up from me. However there are two significantissues. The first is its durability. Yes in normal conditions one applicationwould last the week but if your on the bike it only lasts a few days. Secondly youhave to keep it clean. Get it mucky and it is not as effective. The other issueis that once its wet you can wash off the antifog coating very easily. Lastlyand this is the biggest issue for me is rain. If riding and you have your visoropen in the rain. With a decent coating the droplets would simply roll off theglasses and bead up. With this it feels like it gets absorbed into the lens andseriously effects vision! So much so that I cant ride with the visor up in therain.
I hope that helps people if your considering this on yourglasses. Would I have it again? Yes. Although I now hate the glasses because I choosethe bloody transition lenses. Grrr!