I always thought that Swedes were the most comfortable goggles ever made. they are infinitely adjustable, seal well, require minimal strap tension, and you can barely feel them on your face. Cheap as hell, so you can have multiple colours in your bag for all conditions, and if you lose a pair, no big deal.
I remember trying on the original Barracuda’s and absolutely hated how big and thick the gasket was. I’ve never been kicked in the face while swimming, so that might play a factor as well.
I was a very long time swedes user, and actually liked them better than the socket rockets or any other iteration of that lens/goggle. Then I tried the arena swedix and for me it changed everything. They have this split-lens (allowing you to look forward and down) which I didn’t initially like, but after a week or so I couldn’t go back to swedes I loved the swedix so much. The forward view was amazing, you could see the walls coming from further out, and for me I was able to better set up my turns. As an experienced swimmer yourself and a swedes user, you should definitely try them out. They take the original swedes design (malmsten), not the knock-off designs.
I actually gave Rapp a pair and he converted as well.
I actually saw those on SwimOutlet.com and wanted to try out a pair, but unfortunately no shipping to Canuckistan for any Arena products (or Speedo, for that matter).
Is there anything else different then the split lens? I’ve worn swedes off and on for a long time so I just looked up swedix. I was suprised they were a bit more then swedes.
I always thought that Swedes were the most comfortable goggles ever made. they are infinitely adjustable, seal well, require minimal strap tension, and you can barely feel them on your face. Cheap as hell, so you can have multiple colours in your bag for all conditions, and if you lose a pair, no big deal.
I remember trying on the original Barracuda’s and absolutely hated how big and thick the gasket was. I’ve never been kicked in the face while swimming, so that might play a factor as well.
Is that just me?
2X on the love for swedes. I just started wearing them this year, and I find them to be the most comfortable goggles I’ve tried. I just bought a bunch of swedes. As a pair wears out, I just string together another fresh pair, and I’m good to go.
I’m sort of a stickler for details, so I carefully inspected both and what I found were…
(1) The lens on the swedix is better quality polycarbonate than on normal swedes.
(2) The antifog coating on the swedix is better than the speedo version swedes. Both however will wear off.
(3) There is a tiny bit better peripheral vision with the swedix, as that weld bar does not go all the way up as normal swedes.
(4) The rubber gasket is very good quality and comfortable. Heavy use for the last year hasn’t corroded the rubber one bit (it is just a grayish color rather than black now).
I tried the swedes and didn’t like them, so I went to several “gourmet” goggles, including the Kayenne goggles, and ended up with the TYR socket rockets - basically swedes with a thin silicone gasket. I also use the rubber nose strap instead of the string, which I think made the biggest difference. Since doing that, I’d never try anything else. They’re comfy, cheap, never come off my face, etc. Love em.
I used to use the socket rockets, switched back to swedes. I like both, but the swedes have a slightly better shape for my eye.
There is a trick to tying the string “just so” when assembling swedes. I leave the knot a little loose and the string a little bit too tight for my face, and then fit the eyesockets to my eyes (before fitting the strap) which will pull the string to exactly the right length. then tighten the knot all the way by pulling on just the loose ends of the string, not the loop.
Sweeds look like they would be the most uncomfortable goggle ever made, like maybe you might be bleeding from the eye sockets after a swim session, but I was surprised.
And you can’t get much cheaper. How do they even make money?
I always thought that Swedes were the most comfortable goggles ever made. they are infinitely adjustable, seal well, require minimal strap tension, and you can barely feel them on your face. Cheap as hell, so you can have multiple colours in your bag for all conditions, and if you lose a pair, no big deal.
I remember trying on the original Barracuda’s and absolutely hated how big and thick the gasket was. I’ve never been kicked in the face while swimming, so that might play a factor as well.
Is that just me?
2X on the love for swedes. I just started wearing them this year, and I find them to be the most comfortable goggles I’ve tried. I just bought a bunch of swedes. As a pair wears out, I just string together another fresh pair, and I’m good to go.
I’m not sure the goggles themselves ever wear out. I’ve been wearing same pair for about 6 yrs and just replaced the string and strap this year, but the goggles seem indestructible:)
Goggle fit is highly individual. If swedes work for you, great (they are super inexpensive and look “pro”). For me swedes hurt like heck and often leaked. I’m much more comfortable in silicone-frame goggles (aquasphere kaiman).
I agree, the original Barracuda goggles looked like the swim equivalent of orthopedic shoes (they also never sealed well for me…again it’s individual). The Bliss is an OK goggle, kinda their version of aquasphere.
did you use my super duper nose bridge adjustment method? That’s the trick there.
Agree that goggle fit is highly individual, but I see very few people for whom swedes (or some variant thereof) don’t work if they understand how to get them set up.
If they don’t work, then they may leak, but they should never hurt. They are designed so that the goggle strap should barely have any tension on it.
I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to make them work (didn’t make sense when I have goggles that feel comfortable, don’t leak, and last years).
For fishes, I suspect people have to figure out how to make them work. People try multiple brands, sand the “gasket” with a nail file, experiment between the string and the elastic for the nose bridge, etc.
They don’t come with an instruction manual for setup, unfortunately.
It’s been a long time since I’ve really worn anything else, except for a brief stint when I got back into swimming seriously in February. I couldn’t find my swedes or socket rockets, so I picked up a pair of Nike Remoras and a pair of Speedo Vanquishers. I thought those were comfortable too, until my swedes arrived in the mail. Now they feel like torture devices in comparison.
Properly set up, swedes don’t feel like you are wearing anything at all.
They don’t come with an instruction manual for setup, unfortunately.
It’s been a long time since I’ve really worn anything else, except for a brief stint when I got back into swimming seriously in February. I couldn’t find my swedes or socket rockets, so I picked up a pair of Nike Remoras and a pair of Speedo Vanquishers. I thought those were comfortable too, until my swedes arrived in the mail. Now they feel like torture devices in comparison.
Properly set up, swedes don’t feel like you are wearing anything at all.
Okay, you guys have convinced me to give the Swedix a shot. Like TitanFLXR, I’m using Kaiman, but you all make it seem like there’s comfort nirvana with Swedes. If there is, and they don’t leak, cool!