I have very small facial features, so I’m looking at the F1. It seems the
dark amber is the best tint for early morning bright light. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks.
Maybe try an Arena Cobra or Cobra Ultra with one of the smaller nose pieces. The ones with the silver mirror coating are pretty decent in direct sun, by that I mean I found them decent swimming backstroke outdoors.
Seriously look at what top caliber backstrokers use if you are concerned about bright conditions…
Would you be using these to sight in open water?
Yes. I picked up the Roka F1 dark amber. I had a coupon and
my Tyr Nest Pro Nano’s have been leaking on me a lot. I have Ohio 70.3
coming up so I thought I’d give them a try.
Would you be using these to sight in open water?
I can’t remember what you call the tint… mine are the mirror sort of greenish ones, forget what they call that.
They’re awesome in sunlight except if the sun is directly in line… I don’t know that any goggle can combat that. That said they make buoys really pop… red, yellow and orange really stand out. I use the R1s but I think their tints are similar across models.
I think you have the Jade lens. I believe those ones were supposed to be
really good for ocean swims.
I can’t remember what you call the tint… mine are the mirror sort of greenish ones, forget what they call that.
They’re awesome in sunlight except if the sun is directly in line… I don’t know that any goggle can combat that. That said they make buoys really pop… red, yellow and orange really stand out. I use the R1s but I think their tints are similar across models.
And the answer as always:
.
still have a bizzilion pairs … they do feel a bit chunky off the blocks compared to some of the newer goggles, still the most Olympic medals ever by any goggle in history.
Have you used the ones with the tinted mirror front and clear sides? They came in the “speedo” branded 2 packs. Moulds still have the Malmsten logos on the sides.
A few months back I picked up a pair of TYR socket rockets in the “eclipse” tint. Now that the lakes are finally getting warm enough I’ll be able to try them out. Indoors they’re completely useless, way too dark…
Gold metallic has been my only outdoor goggle since 1992, I don’t think i’m changing now, haha. I try not to stray from Malmsten either, though there was a period where I was Nike sponsored(ish) so used theirs.
I agree completely: Swedish goggles are the way to go. I used a pair of blue metalized Malmsten just today, mid afternoon under bright sun.
The questions that keep coming up:
- why don’t more people take heed from the long-term swimmers? Those of us in our 40’s practically grew up in these goggles as we logged millions of meters. They worked for us, and still do (indoors, outdoors, sun, overcast, OWS). Stands to reason these goggles would also work for almost everyone else.
- why spend more? Swedish goggles cost $4.50-15. Those have been established to work great: why spend more on inferior products?
- why does Roka sell an imitation Swedish goggles for More than the original?
Just do it. Buy some Swedish goggles and expect the revelation.
To answer your actual question: I’ve had great experiences with the dark amber mirror tinted Roka goggles in direct sunlight.