Abom Anti-fog Goggles- Has anyone tried them?

[Kopi_Red]

I was curious if anyone has used these?

Are they a gimmick or a game changer?

How's the fit when compared to Smith IO/X?

https://www.abom.com

http://www.tetongravity.com/story/sn...d-abom-goggles

[2FUNKY]

Not sure why since my IO/X and now 7 don't fog.

[Kopi_Red]

I've been really happy with my IO/X's. They're my favorite goggles ever but I have had them fog up on me on occasion like when I'm hiking or skinning. I came across the Abom's the other day when a friend of a friend tried to sale me a pair and I was curious if anyone in the collective had any experience with them.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

I have had them fog up on me on occasion like when I'm hiking or skinning.

Take them off.

[Kopi_Red]

Taking the goggles off and putting sun glasses on is the SOP on longer skins and hikes. But I have forgotten my sunglasses on bluebird days and I was forced to wear my goggles on the hikes. Wearing goggles on the hikes works fine if I remember to bring my hat. My hat breathes well enough to prevent fogging. So if I wear my hat/goggle combo on the hikes I'm fine. But when I forgot my hat and glasses I resorted to wearing my goggle/helmet combo which doesn't work well on hikes and as a result I get to deal with my goggles fogging. You may ask why did I not take the helmet off? Well I did but it was frickin cold and my ears felt like they were going to freeze and fall off.

When I deal with my goggles fogging it is usually my fault due to poor planning. It's typically a non issue. And, if I'm being honest, I'm a gear whore so when a friend of a friend tried to sell me a pair of these Abom's I was curious enough to research them and ask if anyone here has any experience with them.

[NW_SKIER]

God you sound like a jong

Also, since when do you tour? I can't get you to go anywhere that requires effort

[TAFKALVS]

Stop mouth breathing?

[Kopi_Red]

NWS- With the great season we've had so far there's been very little reason to go earn our turns. The low hanging fruit has been ripe for the picking.

[Kopi_Red]

Stop breathing?

FIFY

I'm a neolithic troglodyte. Mouth breathing is what I do...

[XXX-er]

Do they not fog because of some anti-fog thing or because they vent well ?

Other than my turbo fans which now don't turbo my Oakleys and dead turbos fog just sitting there on the chair,

I can't imagine wearing a google for hiking or touring

[2FUNKY]

Do they not fog because of some anti-fog thing or because they vent well ?

Other than my turbo fans which now don't turbo my Oakleys and dead turbos fog just sitting there on the chair,

I can't imagine wearing a google for hiking or touring

Heat element like on the back window of your car.

[Kopi_Red]

From the TGR article:

"Abom's differs from other state of the art "fog free" goggles by using a new patented technology called KLAIR. Simply put, a small battery heats a conductive film that is sandwiched between the two-part lens. The company guarantees that any fog buildup will be eliminated in less than a minute once you hit the power button."

Apparently these goggles have a battery that heats up the lense when you press a button. They work like the rear defroster in you car. Press the button and it stays on for 10 minutes. Hold it down and it stays on until the battery is dead (6 hours on a full charge).

Edit: 2funky beat me to it.

[2FUNKY]

Yeah, but yours had more buzz words and an acronym.

[NW_SKIER]

RIP Kopi_Red. Died in an avalanche after using the batteries in his beacon to defog his goggles.

Do you really want to know where you are going? I kind of like the surprise.

[Kopi_Red]

Yeah, but yours had more buzz words and an acronym.

That's just because you have the innate ability to concisely communicate while I on the other hand tend to be verbose and overtly loquacious. AKA me sounding like a pompous ass.

[Kopi_Red]

Do you really want to know where you are going? I kind of like the surprise.

You're right. Being able to see is totally overated.

[whyturn]

Smith turbo fan, done

[MagnificentUnicorn]

God you sound like a jong

Also, since when do you tour? I can't get you to go anywhere that requires effort

Is he related to LWS?

[TAFKALVS]

Is he related to LWS?

We are kindred spirits.

[japanada]

Oakley makes the defroster lineminers. Plus you get the prizmsssss

[Kopi_Red]

I see what you did there.

[Ale_capone]

Bought, tested, highly approve.

I have been dreaming of this for years. Vision is the bane of my existence.

For myself, I'm going with game changer. These things are no joke. I'm also a sweaty mofo. I can make the best goggles fog with a mere glance.

Test day.. very good day for testing.
Steves pass, 34 degrees, 100% humidity, raining, and heavy wet snow up top.

First, pulled them out of the bag, and proceeded to mouth breath on the inside until they where heavily fogged. Pushed the button and watched them clear in about 45 seconds. After that, no amount of breathing could fog the lens.

Ride test.

Super easy to turn on and off with gloves on. They power light is inside the goggles, but not annoying in the slightest. Blue for burst, yellowish for all day.

Without being on, they are about average or below for fogging. One push of the burst, and you are good in 30 seconds... like magic.
I tried the all day more, but I think it was too much moisture, and I was getting some fogging. I was too warm myself at the time. But one power boost, and all was good.

During a break in between laps I put the goggles up on my helmet. The foam got soaking wet. I was also getting water dripping from my helmet to the goggles top foam. Still a mix of rain and wet snow, we did 2 more laps.

Got back to the car and was completely amazed. Not only did I have a perfectly fog free day in terrible weather.. but the foam was 100% dry!
They fucking dried on my face while riding in the rain..

I will post back with more once I get some days in. Hoping the are as durable as they are functional.

Oakley also make a goggle called the line miner. I'm sure in the future, there are going to be a lot more options.

[AweShuksan]

I can't imagine wearing a google for hiking or touring

I would have to say more than half of my fondest touring memories happened in the midst of storms in which I can't imagine taking my googles off!

[swissiphic]

Ale_capone; wow, thanx for the report. Fellow sweat hog face living on the coast here...i hear you loud and clear about the foggy goggle/bane of existence issue. I'm workin' on fog free sunglass system project as we speak. I'll pm ya with details; game changer in itself.

Perfect timing. My Smith turbofans are finally starting to creak and groan their way to the spare parts bin. They literally saved my storm day skiing as I was up to three goggle changes a day and just getting sick and tired of not being able to consistently see clearly. These babies don't owe me a thing after 8 seasons of faithful service. But, the fan noise is annoying and if this new goggle lens heating tech works, i'm all in.

Interestingly, i did a ghettoworks version of the concept back in the early 2000's during a cold snap of temps in the minus 20's in northwest british columbia. I'm a sweaty faced bastard and would always get not just fogging at cold temps but the fog would freeze into a glaze of ice due to the cold temps. Total pain in the ass cause goggles had to be heated to first melt the ice then remove the free moisture/fog.

So I went to canadian tire and found some heated socks on sale and poached the heating element and siliconed it onto the bottom of the inner lens with the theory 'heat rises'.... didn't work worth a damn. Pretty laughable in hindsight.

Went heliskiing with the project goggle and was in the bird with a chemical engineer in the group and he said 'dude, you gotta heat the air space between the double lens'... not wanting to wreck my lens at the time i failed to step up the experiment to the next level.

Maybe now is the time.

Probably pretty easy to ghettoworks a full circumference heating element into the airspace between the double lens. Seal the entry/exit holes with aqauseal or silicone. Wiring in an external battery pack would be eezee peezee as well.

Super stoked to give 'er a go!

[AweShuksan]

Perfect timing. My Smith turbofans are finally starting to creak and groan their way to the spare parts bin. They literally saved my storm day skiing as I was up to three goggle changes a day and just getting sick and tired of not being able to consistently see clearly. These babies don't owe me a thing after 8 seasons of faithful service. But, the fan noise is annoying and if this new goggle lens heating tech works, i'm all in.

New goggle heating tech?

Not really new (unless 40 years old qualifies it as "new"). Smith goggles had a thin, electrically conductive film to heat the lens via battery back in the 1970's. You can see it in this 1977 issue of Ski Magazine:

https://books.google.com/books?id=3U...page&q&f=false

See page 106.

I'm a face sweater too and the Smith Turbofan never worked very well for me. It would fog twice as fast as my other goggles and the fan would only clear them if the fogging conditions were only marginal. Plus the noise was like having a drone inside your goggles! I gave them away to an unsuspecting "friend".