Barz antifog goggles

Wearing Barz helps my eye comfort a lot, and my eyes look good to my ophthalmologist. My activities are no longer limited by my Sjogren's Syndrome eye dryness. I can comfortably bicycle, take airplanes, sit under ceiling fans, drive with the defroster on. I can relax outside on windy days. I can take the laundry out of the dryer without flinching.

The manufacturing process for the antifog coating is still somewhat experimental, and there are some difference from batch to batch. I actually wound up having to use the perforated gaskets to get fog free results with some January 1999 vintage lenses. With later lenses, I have gotten two months' good antifog results.

One drawback is that in very cold weather the lenses will ice up and become opaque. It has to be well below freezing, or else very windy, for this to happen.

Details

How do they feel?

My eyes really enjoy the near-100% humidity environment provided by the goggles. They feel moister, more comfortable, and less frequently in need of artificial tears.

It only took about a week of wearing the goggles to become addicted to them. Now, going without the goggles feels masochistic; it gives me a burning feeling that I had not previously noticed. The goggles have raised my standard of eye comfort.

Fitting to the face

It took some work to get the fit of the goggles right; I had to experiment with different size nosebridges, and rotate the gaskets around to fit my face more closely. That got me to be about 95% happy with the fit.

By removing the standard nosebridge and replacing it with one that I improvised myself, I have improved the fit, and am now about 98% happy with it. The new fit gives me slightly better peripheral vision, better airtightness, and much better comfort; no more red lines from my nose being pinched. The improvised nosebridge is made from a nylon "cable tie" bought at an electronics supply house (Radio Shack). A piece of strong string or fishing line might work as well.

How do they look?

Barz on a shelf.
Crystal frames on a person.
Tortoise frames on a person.
Blue frames on a person.
Tortoise frames, side view.

Just how good is your vision with these on?

Well I don't have actual vision test results to report. Subjectively though, most of the time, vision is almost completely unimpaired. There is a slick-looking film of water on the inside of the lens that introduces minimal distortion. For example, night driving vision is not significantly impaired. The slick film is just barely visible from the outside of the lens (e.g. by somebody you're talking to, if they look closely) but from the inside you can't see it.

From time to time, and for reasons I don't yet understand, drops of moisture will form after an hour or two, toward the periphery of the lens. If these begin to distort vision, they can be cleared by wetting the lenses with distilled water, and will stay clear for an hour or two afterward.

Peripheral vision

There is a minor loss of peripheral vision while wearing Barz. I guess it could be more loss or less loss for people with differently shaped faces. The two times I notice it are in social situations, and when about to step out and cross a street. At both of those times, my neck gets a little more exercise (swiveling to look) than it would if my eyes were uncovered. The light-colored Barz (crystal and pearl) come with a translucent gasket. In good lighting conditions, you can detect light and motion through the translucent gaskets -- for example, you can tell that somebody just walked up next to you from behind, even though you can't tell who it is until you turn to look. If you prefer a dark-colored frame, you could probably arrange to get dark frames with translucent gaskets.

Fogging during sweaty exercise

Unlike other so-called antifog goggles, these goggles don't fog up during sweaty exertion. (Although I have had some fogging with older lenses, easily resolved by wetting the lenses). I have ridden a bike without fogging for 7 hours at a stretch, occasionally lifting the bottom of the goggle to allow accumulated pools of sweat to pour out from the eyecup. These lenses thrive on having near-100% humidity behind them.

Any ophthalmologically observable change in eye condition?

I visited my ophthalmologist just before donning the goggles, and again, after 11 weeks of wearing them. His comment after my 11 weeks of goggle wearing was that "your eyes look better than I've ever seen them", with a good quality tear film. While this is obviously not a conclusive trial, it is an encouraging result for me personally. It means at the very least that doing what's comfortable for my eyes has not been harming them.

Any grossly observable change in eye condition?

Nothing definitive. Subjective hints that tear film quality is better, and subjective hints that chronic blepharitis is better.

Changes in eye care routine

I now use artificial tears less frequently. Also, because evaporation is radically reduced, it makes sense that there would be less tendency for the osmolarity ("saltiness") of the tear film to climb. There is some evidence that elevated tear film osmolarity damages the epithelium of the eye over the years -- so, reducing evaporation could be promoting the longterm health of the eyes.

Prescription lenses

Within a limited range of strength, prescription lenses can be ordered with the antifog coating. There's an added cost of US$95. Note that it currently takes several weeks to first get the lenses ground, and then get them scheduled into a batch for the factory treatment with the antifog coating.

Obviously, with the prescription lenses, the durability of the antifog coating becomes more important, because it becomes more expensive to replace the lenses.

Tips on using the goggles

Tips on what not to do

Tried and True goggle cleaning and hygiene methods

These techniques have worked reasonably well for me for a period of months.

The best thing to do is not get the lenses dirty, and especially don't get them oily.

Before taking the goggles off for the night, I rinse the lenses with a couple of squirts from my distilled water bottle.

The lens coating becomes, over time, a little bit temperamental, for reasons I don't understand. This is not true of a brand new lens, but after a week's wear, the antifog coating will become less effective, and wetting the lenses will be required more often, especially first thing in the morning. There is a fix for this: I put them in a clean drinking glass and add distilled water to cover them, then let them soak overnight. After an overnight soak, the lenses behave better -- they don't need multiple wettings to get them going in the morning (after all, they've been wet all night). Two nights of the treatment is even better. Then after a month or so, they may need the overnight soak again. Or, they might have to be replaced after a month or two.

I have some concern about soaking because I know that microbes can grow happily in distilled water. Goggles on my face 18 hours a day eventually collect organic matter in the nooks and crannies, that can presumably be a growth medium for microbes. So, I don't soak for days on end. And, I don't let the water from the goggles get into my eyes!

Practically speaking, at this point I am glad to have multiple pairs of Barz, so that if a pair of lenses ceases to defog properly, I can wear the backup pair while soaking the main pair to rejuvenate them. There is of course also the option of going without the goggles, like I used to in the old days -- but that option has become quite unappealing.

Can I try these goggles?

You can order the goggles from http://www.murrays.com

Statement of Financial Interest

Nobody associated with Dry.Org has any financial interest in Barz, Murrays, or any of their suppliers. Dry.Org is however unabashedly eager to see a commercial market develop for truly fogproof sealed eyewear, so that dry-eyed people can house their eyes in near-100% humidity for comfort and longterm eye health, while living active lives.

[Dry.Org Home] [Contact Dry.Org]