I had this buried in another thread but it is worth a life of its own:
Thank you to Andrew Kennedy for turning me on to Aquasphere Kaiman goggles. They are very nice- best I ever tried. I was using the old school Barracudas with the round lens and the foam stuff. People in Curacao were making fun of me and taking pictures of my goggles and my big ass (I hope to God none of those wind up on the Internet).
I tried a Seal mask, which is super nice, but I wouldn;t race in it- its too big. I also tried the Tyr mask which is nice too. My favorite though are the Kaimans. Have you guys tried these? they rule. Thanks andrew. And yes, we will be selling them!
I totally agree, they are the best goggles I’ve ever used. I just bought a pair for $17, wish I knew about the Wall Mart sale. Then again, I think I’d choose to pay more to avoid going into Wallmart.
All right Tom, on your recommendation I went to my lovely local WalMart and bought 2 pair. I have been using foam for years… so this is a big change for me.
Thanks for giving this subject another life. And thanks to the rest of you who have sang the praises of Aquaspere Kaimen goggles. I have long been dissatisfied with every pair of swim goggles I have ever purchased. They either leaked or caused varying degrees of discomfort as a result of having to strap them on so tight to try to prevent leaks. On the recommendations of all of you who have been singing the praises of these goggles, I too went to Wal-Mart in my quest for the ultimate goggle. Alas, my Wal-Mart didn’t have any, but Sports Authority did! They were pricey, $16.99, but as others have said about other products, price isn’t that much of an issue for a product that really works well.
You people are absolutely correct! These things really fit well and work well too! So comfortable!!! And leakproof too!! Thanks for your recommendations here. And here is the satisfaction of helping another poor soul up the learning curve. Wish I’d gotten here earlier, but glad I am here now, none the less.
Aquasphere Kaimans are not available from the manufacturer with corrective lenses. IMHO, this is perfectly reasonable – most people need a different amount of correction for each eye, and the number of possible combinations is too high to make it worthwhile to manufacture them all.
The run/swim/bike stores that carry Aquasphere probably will not know that they can get an adhesive material made by 3M that adds optical correction to any goggle lens. Aquasphere has a distributor who has created patches that fit the Kaimans and the Sealmask. If you are an aquasphere dealer, ask your rep for the info sheet about how to order them. If you’re an aquasphere customer, ask your retailer to ask their dealer. We just found out about this option last week so I haven’t used it myself and don’t have any customers using it yet, but I bet we’ll have at least one within the month. I’ll let everyone know what we find out.
FYI, Aquasphere is coming out with a smaller (lower profile) version of the sealmask that’s designed to address the “it’s too big and bulky” complaint that many of us have with the sealmask. I’ve seen a sample but haven’t tried it on yet in the pool so I can’t say much about it. I was never a big sealmask fan myself but I love my Kaimans.
Best goggles I ever tried by far. Too bad the secret’s out and the only store that carries it in my hometown runs out almost as soon as they get there.
The mask is okay, but it’a bit too wide to race in it although it’s awesome for recreational open water swimming.
The only weird thing is that even if Aquasphere is an Italian brand, it seems that it’s easier to get Kaimans from US based strores than from your local Swim/Scuba Diving store here in Italy.
3/5 stars for durability… mine, too, ripped at the nose piece after only 15 or so open water swims. i stored them out of the light and let them dry thoroughly.
heard good things about the new barracuda ultimates. anybody tried both???
The nose strap on my Kaimans ripped too. Nonetheless, they’re the only goggles that fit my giant face (huge bridge of the nose) without leaking. Even the Seal Mask doesn’t work, because my big nose makes it ride too high. But goggles are like saddles–you just have to try them out and see what works for your particular face or butt.
I have never used anything but Swedish goggles. I mean at $3.00 a pair you can’t beat them. I tried the Kaimans and the TYRs, but I always go back to the Swedish goggles. What other kind of goggles can you fix with duct tape and string?
Actually several manufacturers make such goggles and most people just get them to match their best eye, so that they get decent correction in one eye. View (or is it vue) sells the straps and one can order the eye pieces separately.
Another vote for the Swedes here. Beautifully shaped, very flexible, no unecessary bulk, like to be tied on tight. I have two or three I can choose from.