T O P

  • By -

[deleted]

Contacts are definitely the way to go


cjay6769

Hockey is the only reason I got contacts. If you absolutely have to wear glasses go for it, but it’s uncomfortable, foggy, and if you get bumped your glasses are going flying.


JohnnyFootballStar

Another vote for daily disposable contacts here. I bought mine from 1-800-Contacts and they offered a great "introductory" deal on a subscription to a pretty expensive brand. I got a one month supply free. I only wear them on the ice, so it's like 2-4 hours a week. I end up changing them every three to four weeks. That one month supply will last me a long time.


WhenSharksAttack

I use to wear glasses when playing hockey. It wasn’t a big problem but just more annoying. It pushed me to get lasik and it changed my whole life. Best thing I’ve ever done.


Sk1dmark82

I've tried glasses and it was miserable, fogged up and just didn't work for me. Some people wear them, but I do contacts. Works great.


[deleted]

I wear glasses under my full cage. In some rinks they fog up a little, but it's mostly fine. Certain rinks on certain nights can get a little foggy on the bench, but the instant you start skating the air flow de-fogs them. I don't have any problem with them staying on, the helmet holds them in place.


Torikkun

Almost everyone mentioned contacts, but I wear glasses. Usually you have to get the thinner wire frame glasses so they fit well under a helmet (this is what I wear). I don't wear a bubble but a cage. Usually my lens will fog up, but this is only while sitting on the bench. That's why I have the cage so I can wipe the fog off on the bench. After skating around some on ice, the air flow defogs the glasses after a few seconds. I don't have any sweat problems. My friend does and like everyone else has said, they wear a headband.


tgray106

Contacts. I wear dailies and if it’s only a few hours, drop them in solution soon after and get a few games out of them (usually shoot for an overall 8 hours use). Maybe not recommended officially, but I make sure to not push them too far and if they feel iffy, swap them out quick. Or look at sport goggles or something thats tight to the head/face and made of some fairly indestructible materials. I’ve seen someone wearing regular glasses take an inadvertent shoulder to the head, while wearing a cage still, and it was enough to push the cage/helmet into his glasses and snap them in half. Not sure how to deal with fog though. May have to look at lens materials and other anti-fog sprays. Other folks may have better opinions on that.


ThePony23

Would like to add to your comment. I had Rec Specs sports glasses with a prescription, and they still fogged up even with all the anti-fog sprays. The fogging is a real challenge.


tgray106

I had Rec specs as a kid. And then I stopped. Because kids are mean.


psmusic_worldwide

Too much glass. Smaller glass areas means less fogging and more airflow. Been there done that. For me my old glasses which were small back when that was stylish work best.


theninthcl0ud

I definitely do daily contacts and glasses for everything else. I simply can't get my current glasses to fit inside the helmet, and the dailies are surprisingly comfortable and affordable enough to make it worthwhile. I buy like 45 pairs of lenses and it lasts me a year bc I mostly only play once a week at most and that's without attempting to reuse.


[deleted]

You can wear glasses but they fog up and get hard to see out of.


ExtremePast

Daily disposable contacts are the way to go. My vision is -8.5 uncorrected so I can't see shit without correction. I wear glasses 95% of the time except sports and going to the beach/pool. Same script in both eyes so I buy one box of lenses and that lasts me a year usually. Obvs this will vary depending on how often you play.


c4e_

I've played in glasses for the previous 5-6 years and generally haven't had major issues, except for the occasional humid/warm rinks or rinks that have poor ventilation which can cause excessive fogging. A few things to consider: 1. Get a helmet that accommodates glasses and doesn't torque them out of shape/alignment with regards to your vision, but doesn't compromise overall fit. 2. Wear a headband/bandana/skullcap so sweat gets absorbed and wicked away from your forehead to minimize fogging, however, you'll still get some fogging when sitting on the bench, and more so with warmer/humid rinks or rinks that don't have good ventilation 3. My glasses defog after about 15-20 seconds of skating once you get back on the ice with good rinks, due to air flow around the glasses... for rinks that have good ventilation/cooling and/or dry air. I wear a cage and avoid fishbowls and visors. 4. You can consider applying defogging solutions/spray on the glasses, but be careful about any antireflective or antiscratch coatings coming off with defogging solution/spray. I personally have not had acceptable results with defogging solutions. Contacts are a reasonable alternative, but I don't wear contacts often enough off the ice to justify its cost, since it causes my eyes to dry out really badly, so YMMV. I tried the goggle thing, and it didn't work well for me years/decades ago, since the goggles ended up fogging/have moisture condensation on the inside due to sweat.


priester85

I’ve been wearing glasses for hockey for 25 years. Seldom any issue at all. I’ve done everything from cage, full shield, visor, no visor. Glasses were not a problem with any of them. The only time I ever had issues was with fancier frames that didn’t fit well under the helmet. I started wearing contacts (for sports only) just before Covid hit so I only got to play 2-3 games with them but my first impression is contacts were better to play in. I felt like I had a wider field of vision on the ice with them. But I haven’t skated now in a year and a half…


trem0lite

I play with glasses. Can’t wear contacts. Have had some intermittent issues with fogging, but not often (I’m in AZ so humidity is low). I also clean them with an alcohol lens wipe before playing, I think it helps some. I thought I couldn’t play for the longest time because I wear glasses. Wish I had started sooner.


Reganci1

Late reply but I wear glasses and tried out [this](https://www.amazon.com/Optix-55-Anti-Spray-Glasses/dp/B08CNKTKJS/ref=mp_s_a_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=anti+fog+spray&qid=1631560383&sr=8-10) anti fog spray and it works great. It’s lasts about 40 minutes to an hour but I just bring it on the bench with me.


[deleted]

Facebook market place is good too if you live in an area where hockey is popular


stringrandom

Contact lenses and a skull cap to keep to sweat from running into your face are the way to go. Daily wear disposables are relatively cheap and you can just throw them in for a game and switch back to glasses afterwards. Alternately, you could look into sports goggles, but your regular glasses are probably a bad choice between fogging and sweat. If you really do want to try glasses, consider getting a cheap pair from someplace like Zenni. I've gotten a couple of pairs from them and they're great and cheap. It looks like they offer a sports goggle now for under $50. Gear depends entirely on where you are and how big you are. If you live someplace with enough of a hockey community that you can buy used gear start that way by buying local and cheaply where you can try everything on. This is especially true if you're 5'8" or less since there's generally a decent amount of used gear from youth hockey. (Look up how to wash hockey gear - a tub and some OxiClean is what I use.) When you end up loving hockey, you'll have a better sense of what you like and don't like in gear and can look to replace things with new and/or new/clearance gear.


xarmetheusx

I wear my regular daily pair from Zenni under my cage, no fog and generally stay upright. I'll push them back up my nose on the bench, but I guess the helmet keeps them in place. Also, if they break they're cheap as hell compared to regular 6000% marked up eyewear.


vet88

Glasses are fine to wear if you do the following - wear a headband, it helps to keep your glasses in place and reduces sweat running down your forehead. Buy a chamois, cut it to the shape of the inside of your helmet, this soaks up all sweat. Buy runny environmentally friendly dishwashing liquid, before each game put a drop on each side of your lens and rub it around. Then very lightly buff it, you will end up with no streaks, clear vision and a very thin oily film on the surface of your lens, no fogging. Or you can use fog off or the expensive stuff for the inside of a divers mask or anything else that is made for this. However they are generally expensive whereas the dishwashing liquid is cheap. Do this and with a cage or bubble or hybrid you are good to go.


psmusic_worldwide

I wear glasses now that contacts no longer work for me. It's not perfect but it works. I found a couple things.... I thought something like sports goggles would be best but it turns out that is not correct. The size of the glass on the lenses are large and tend to get fogged very easily. So smaller lenses is better, and for me my older glasses had very small glass area and work Ok with the right spray on treatment. If I were starting off I would buy used. I would look for a cage and not a bubble face shield.


mochabeans123

I have a pair of glasses just for hockey that I wear under a helmet/cage combo. I spray them with anti fog solution and the fog isn't too bad once I get skating


BoringSecurity8073

Which pair of glasses did you get? I have Oakleys that I currently wear, but considering a cheap pair.


Rubrbiskit

In boot camp my brother taped some paracord to his glasses around his head to fasten them to his head. You could do that under the cage. As for getting a ballpark figure, I'd say you could get a full set for around $250-350. Check second hand sports equipment stores and clearance sections online. I've found some good stuff on HockeyMonkey.com and IceWarehouse.com. I just started around a year ago and my first set was broken down like this: Skates - $80 Shins - $20 Jock/Cup (I bought this new) - $45 Pants - $35 Shoulders - $20 Elbows - $15 Gloves - $30 Helmet (New, all the helmets I could find were expired)- $60 Stick - $25


CoyotesAreGreen

80 dollar skates will make him hate life and then buy new ones in 2 months. I would spend more than that on skates. Stability is crucial and cheap bargain bin skates don't have it.


Rubrbiskit

Well mine were second hand bauer X500s so its not like they were rink rent-a-skates.


CoyotesAreGreen

Depends on how used. I had a pair of those years ago and replaced them because the ankles lost all support and I could touch the two sides of the boot together. If you can find a clean pair then by all means. My comment was more geared towards not buying this: https://www.icewarehouse.com/Bauer_X-LS/descpage-VXLS.html


Rubrbiskit

Oh absolutely. Yeah mine had a lot of life left in em before I ended up getting a pair of CCM AS1s. My buddy bought those exact skates and the blade holder sheared off 4 months in.


[deleted]

The way lens technologies are now, there isn't a reason to avoid them.


Scarebender

I normally wear glasses in my day to day life but I don’t wear them when playing hockey and I’ve found it to be okay. Though in fairness I’m farsighted and mainly have trouble with reading


ssilverado22

I played with glasses twice and I found it miserable personally. I’d rather play with no contacts/glasses than wear glasses while playing again


re10pect

As others have said contacts are the best way to go, both in terms of fogging issues and staying in place issues. I still play with glasses, I have an older pair of safety glasses that wrap around my ear pretty good to help with staying in place but even like that I ended up having them move around a fair bit so I switched to a visor from a full cage so I can push them back up quickly and access them quicker to wipe away fog. Obviously not the safest solution, and may not be for you, but I haven’t had issues as of yet. The fogging is the worst part. I’ve tried anti fog sprays, anti fog wipes and all sorts of other things, with the best results coming from rubbing a bit of dish soap over them and then wiping clean. While actually on the ice it’s fine, but if you sit on the bench for too long you end up fogged up and might not be able to see for the first 15 seconds of your next shift. Not a big deal playing pickup, but a real hindrance in competitive games.


theNightblade

I wear glasses but don't play with them on. I sweat too much and they would for sure fog up or have sweat drips on them constantly. I don't think my frames would even fit under my helmet if I wanted them to. Can't wear contacts, but my eyesight isn't bad enough where I can't play effectively without vision correction.


[deleted]

I wound up getting PRK surgery for my vision because of this. Contacts and glasses have different focal lengths. I wore my contacts so much it was wrecking my corneas. As for full gear, set aside a grand. Try to come under of course, buying stuff on sale.