I Can’t See The Puck!?

Playing. Barely. Hockey is hard enough on its own. Why make it harder by not being able to see what's going on? In this episode, we talk about all the different options out there. For those of us that are optically challenged and so today we're talking about wearing glasses. When you buy or not wearing your glasses when you play hockey or wearing some sort of alternative to glasses to play hockey. Obviously, any kind of video with me in it or any pictures of anything or you watch this video right now, you'll see I always have glasses on for everything. I never don't have latching on. So this is something I have dealt with my entire hockey playing life. I've gone through most of them and have tried the good, the bad and the utterly horrible and found pretty good solutions. What to do? First things first to start with kind of your options for if you are someone that needs glasses and you want to play hockey, what can you share? There's a pretty basic one that a lot of people choose to use as wearing contacts. That's always the one I was going to ask is why don't I wear contacts? A lot of people wear contacts just for hockey. There's people know your contacts in day to day life. Great for them. Hockey Some people just wear contacts for when they play hockey. It's not at all for anything else. I'm not making contacts comfortable. Don't like putting them in. They don't maybe need their glasses all the time. Whatever. So a lot of people have those like single use contacts that they were just for hockey. I myself, I am someone that can't wear contacts. They they're too thick for me because my eyesight so bad. So it's a big panic button. I have a lot of issues with stuff with my eyes because I have actually had my glasses broken from hockey and get get to my eyes and stuff. So I'm super paranoid about anything going towards my eyes. Thus I don't wear contacts for anything, but that's probably the easiest and most common solution people have is getting contacts. If you need to have some sort of vision enhancement while you play hockey. One thing that I will say though, is if you are some of the worst contacts and you are someone that also goes to any sort of travel, hockey, travel tournaments or anything like that, don't forget either if they're daily contacts, don't forget to have multiple pairs, probably for it, have extras and whatever kind of stuff you need for your contacts, if they're not. So any of the contact washes and things like that. I've seen people go to tournaments and completely forget that they have contacts with them because they don't normally wear them for anything else and then be kind of screwed. So that's something to keep in mind that that's an extra thing if you're not going to be at home needing to play hockey, make sure you have the stuff you need for it. Next option Just don't wear your glasses. I know a lot of people that work glasses for everyday life and just don't wear them for hockey, you know, either they see good enough or you know, they just can't see super far or you can't see at night or something like that. So there's a lot of people that do that so you can get away with that. That's great, you know, but that's kind of how bad your vision is and kind of what you do also, what kind of rinks you play at. I know there are people that, you know, they don't wear the normal don't wear the glasses to play hockey. But if they played a dimmer rink because not all rinks are lit beautifully, especially not the rinks and a lot of beer leagues get to play out, then that can make it harder to see if you played an outdoor rink. It can be different. So that's the pro, the cheapest solution and the easiest solution if that works for you. I think the next most common solution is just wearing regular glasses. A lot of people that need glasses just wear the regular glasses when they play, either wear their normal everyday pair of glasses that they wear or something. I actually used to do is every time you get a new pair of glasses, your last pair becomes your hockey pair. That's the pair you wear when you play hockey, you know, because it's kind of your spare pair of glasses. Now with that, if you are wearing just regular glasses, there's a couple of things to consider when you're playing. One, make sure that they fit under your helmet comfortably. That's the reason I stopped doing this, is the temples of the glasses with my helmet were just kind of crushing in on the side of my head, and I wouldn't always notice it. But if I played, you know, multiple games in a week or year, multiple games in a day or, you know, longer games, things like that, I would start to get headaches. And it was from that was from my helmet, which fits great. Just doesn't fit great with glasses as it would, like I said, just kind of crushed down on the on the temples there. There are solutions you can do like you can start cutting out foam from your helmet to try and make them fair. And that's that's an awful idea. Don't do that. Don't cut out foam from your helmet ever for anything. Not worth it. So if you are just going regular glasses, wear your old pair of glasses. You can buy an extra pair of glasses. This is a really good use of buying glasses online, you know, getting an online pair of prescription glasses that you can usually find for super cheap. And having those be designated for hockey. And, you know, if they get beat up, they get beat up. That's another concern you have to have is your glasses that you wear can get scratched up and beat up. You know how while you're taking care of them, keeping them like in a hard case or if you're just kind of putting them in your hockey bag, you know, they can get scratched up and everything. If you're not if you don't wear a cage or a bubble or any kind of a visor or anything like that, they're going to get occasionally a little bit beat up. You're going to wind up with scratches that you wonder how they happen and everything. So that's something else to consider. That's why you shouldn't really wear your regular glasses. I don't think. At least wear an older pair of glasses. That's again why I like the idea of going into regular glasses. Go online, get a really cheap pair of either like wireframes or the super thin plastic frames, or even those wire ones that, like you can bend them all up into weird shapes and they go back to their right shape. I like that that that can wear to any of those can be a good alternative and pretty cheap to do honestly to get because you can actually find that pair of glasses like that for for quite cheap And if they're for hockey you don't have to worry about things like blue light filtering, getting that on your glasses or getting extra thin or anything like that because you're just playing hockey in them. So who cares? All you have to worry about is if they're going to get messed up or not. One downside with that, though, is fogging. Fogging with regular glasses can be a big issue. After I talk about everything, I'll talk into some of the ways to correct fogging, but that can definitely be a problem with just regular glasses. Another option that you have, this is the my preferred option for glasses alternatives I'll call them is goggles. Things like goggles, sports goggles. The big name everybody always knows is Rex Backs. I think everybody thinks of like those eighties kind of clear goggles when you say rex backs and that's that is Rex backs but that's not really what they look like anymore they look a lot more like just regular glasses and you see a lot of kids wearing them and stuff like that. For sports, they they look a lot better than they used to. They're great. So that's what I wear. There have ones that are made to fit under helmets. They're made for helmet sports, so they're super thin. Usually they're like a rubbery material around the glasses and on the temples and everything, and they're super comfortable to wear under your helmet. You don't mess up your helmet. They stay in place, which is a big thing. I have a video that I'll link in the show notes up on YouTube where I'm trying out a bunch of different pairs of different types of sports goggles. I try on like the regular glasses style. There's like kind of the wraparound sunglasses style. That's the traditional goggles that have that like a band that holds it in. And then there's it's kind of like a hybrid where it's the wrap around and the goggles like you can swap and do both. And I have a video that's me trying on all these different pairs and then putting my helmet on. And you can see like the difference that there is some of them work great. When I put the helmet on this is I move my head around, they kind of get caught in the helmet and that's not good. You know, some of them are not super comfortable because they're too tight under the helmet because they're made to go under a helmet, but maybe not a hockey helmet. So it's something worth trying on. I actually got mine from a place called Optics Outfitters Online. They're the wreck spec brands, but from optics outfitter and they actually do a tri on program where you can get pick your goggles. I think it's like up to four pairs of goggles they send it to you and then you can try them on at home. They don't have the right lenses in them or anything like that. They can try them on and make sure that they fit under your helmet. And that's actually what I do in the video. It's amazing. It is so great. And I'm so glad that somebody does this because up until I bought this pair, it was always a crapshoot of was like what I was getting would fit properly under my helmet. And I was hope, hope that it would. But it's great that you can try it out. So I highly recommend that along with like sport goggles, fogging can be an issue still depending on kind of how they're they're set up to go against your face. There's the ones that like hug your face and have like a seal on them. Those are less prone to fog, but they're also a lot worse. If they move around because they move around it all, then they'll fog up really bad. And then there's the ones that are made to kind of sit like glasses almost a little bit off your face. Those are more prone to fogging. But a lot of times these sport goggles have some kind of fog coating on them, which does help. They're not perfect, but definitely is better than not having anything there. Also, if you're someone who doesn't wear visor cage, which you should be, but if you're not, sport goggles are way safer of an option than just regular pair of glasses or contacts or anything because they're not falling out, possibly like contacts might. And they're also going to add some level of protection for your eyes. So that's it's a way safer option and a much, much better option if you're not wearing any any of that type of protection for your face, at least protect your eyes. I similar sport goggles is something I have used the past as kind of an oddball choice is motorcycle goggles very similar to the style of sport goggles, kind of the same options that they have, but they are made to go under a motorcycle helmet. So all those are made to be under helmets, which is really good. So they fit really well. I actually usually handle fog a little bit better. They the motorcycle goggles that I've used in the past have like little vents and stuff around the eyes that actually work really great for handling fog, obviously. But you get like the safety of them that they're usually probably safer than sport goggles but kind of the two big downsides for them is, one, they're hard to find being online. They're usually not as bad to find, but they're hard to find. They're also definitely pricier than sport goggles, Definitely pricier than sport goggles. But if you're someone that rides a motorcycle, too, and you weren't wearing your glasses and you decide, hey, I'd like to be able to see while I'm riding a motorcycle, you can kind of get a two for one on it. So those those are I think the two go to option like sport goggles, some kind of like rex backs thing or motorcycle goggles if you want like an alternative, you know, that maybe looks a little bit more I don't know they have a different look to them. I usually sport goggles kind of have some bright colors and stuff. Motorcycle goggles are usually just black. So if that's something you care about, that might be an option and a little bit better for you. You're either wearing your glasses, you got your goggles, something, but they keep fogging up. It's an issue. It's definitely an issue. It's an issue people have if you have visors, an issue people have if you wear a bubble or hybrid mask, stuff fogs up, how do you stop the fog? You have You're kind of old school, kind of homemade remedy ideas of, you know, a little bit spit and rubbing it into the to everything there that doesn't work. It gets the fog out like right then, but doesn't work. There's baby shampoo and dish soap, which those work decently. Baby shampoo and dish soap. You know, it's you take it, you put it on, you know, your goggles, your glasses, whatever. Rub it in really good. Let it sit for, you know, 20 seconds, 30 seconds up like that to dry a little bit and then wipe it away. Those work decently to prevent fog. Not great, but they do work pretty well. And you probably have one of those around the house anyways, So super easy to get and obviously super affordable. Another option that I've tried is divers mask anti-fog. So it's what divers put on their masks to stop it from fogging underwater. And it works the same way of it's like a gel or a little bit more of a gel than like the dish soap or the baby shampoo that goes on, you know, on the inside, the goggles wipe it on and you kind of rub it in. And there's a set amount of time on that. I've tried to do two different kinds, and there's usually like 30 seconds or min and a half or something like that, that you sit and let it kind of sit and harden up and everything on on the glasses there and then wipe it off. Works pretty well. I, I'd say it works better than the baby shampoo dish soap stuff but not a ton better. And it's the way pricier, it's a way pricier option than those, but it works slightly better. You also have the like the anti-fog sprays that they sell for visors, they have that stuff. Those usually work really well. Actually, that's what I normally use for games. They usually have some of that stuff. Those are same kind of thing you sprayed on Wipe it off and it provides like a anti-fog coating on your glasses or your goggles. Those usually work very, very well. It's also something you get just keep in your hockey bag, which is what I do, and put it on before every game, as you should. All of these for it. That's I think that's the option, best option to go with. There's a lot of different brands out there to use. All the visor manufacturers have their own brands. They all work about the same. The one thing I have noticed is the thicker ones work better. They're all sprays, but some of the sprays are very watery, like a window cleaner and some of them are thicker that are almost the consistency of like a dish soap. Those do seem to work better, so I recommend those thicker ones than the thinner ones. The current one that I've been using is one that Bower has out there that seems to be working pretty good. I've only used it for a couple of games though, but that that one seems to work pretty good for the stuff that's out there. None of these, though, work good when you have a super humid rink. We all have been to the rink, you know, on those those nights where it's just super humid in there. You know, if you've ever had fog at a rink or anything like that, none of these options are going to keep the fog off of your your glasses, your goggles, your visor, any of that. It's always going to fog up. So if you're trying something new and it's a game like that just now, not going to work, great. Also, if you're someone that comes back to the bench and you're huffing and puffing and wheezing after every shift, that's going to fog up everything way more. If you cannot do that, it really helps stuff to not fog up. I have trouble not doing that. I'm usually over on the bench, doubled over wheezing for air after every shift and that fog stuff up. One of the things that really amazingly helped my goggles not fog up after games was right after the COVID season. Like right after we came back from COVID, everybody had to wear masks. And the mask I had was just the CM mask that, like most people wear, were wearing that kind of molded around your nose that really kept all the, you know, breath and everything away from my goggles. And they did not fog up. It was amazing. So that obviously is the thing that makes them fog up a lot more. So I don't know if it's worth wearing a mask for it or anything like that, but it does definitely it proved that. Try to breathe your nose and everything and breathing down makes a big difference. Also, if you wear a full bubble and not a cage or a hybrid, it is going to fog up a lot more just because you are trapping in all that breath that you have. I mean, they are vented on the bottom and around the sides and stuff, but you are keeping all that stuff in right there on your face. A lot of moisture, a lot of humidity. It's going to make everything fog up a lot more. So if you're a big bubble person and you're going to have goggles or glasses or something like that, you're going to have more issues than someone that's not for myself to kind of combat this. I always bring extra spray and then some kind of glasses cloth, cause that's what you're supposed to take stuff off with. I like the cleaning cloth to the bench always. I have a little bag that I bring to the bench with like my phone and stuff in it to just I don't leave in locker room and stuff in there and some games. I don't need it at all. Some games I have two periods, kind of do a quick sprain wipe. I have had games though, where it is superhuman out and I'm doing that, but like during every period I'm doing that. So some of you might want to think about bringing to the bench just to have that with you in case you need it. And at least if you are going to be someone that has any kind of surface that you're looking through. So if it is glasses, if it is goggles, if it is those with a visor, those with a bubble or a hybrid or even just a visor or a bubble mask, something like that, bring at least like a towel or something to the bench because nothing is worse than having something in front of your field of view. And then even if you just get, you know, like some snow's you on it or something like that and it just gets where it's just hard to see through. So if you have anything like that, bring it out of the bench. You know, you get on those little towels that you get for free at sporting events or something like that as under anything fancy. I just bring that with you. I have found also too, and I'm playing outdoors and playing outdoor games, fogging not an issue. I don't play outdoors when it's warm out. So that's I'm sure. Why? Because it's always cold, but not an issue when I'm outdoors, which is great because I wouldn't want to be dealing with that stuff outdoors. So I've played a lot of outdoor hockey, a lot of pod hockey fogging is probably going to be much less of an issue for you than it is for anybody else. All right. So I hope that kind of gave you some ideas for options for things to have, you know, contacts. Great. Don't wear glasses. I guess if you don't really need them for stuff, you can wear regular glasses, but don't screw around with your helmet just to be able to do that. And I wouldn't wear your regular everyday glasses, especially if you need them to drive home. Don't worry about her glasses for playing hockey if you need them to drive home. Because if something happens and your glasses get all scratched up or you fall or you get tripped or whatever and they break and then you can't drive home, just not, not worth it. I got the options of motorcycle goggles, sport goggles, all those things. Do something to keep down the fog. Everybody has issues with that. These things fogging up. So do something. If you want to be thrifty about the baby shampoo dish soap works, baby shampoo versus regular shampoo, because if anything goes out, the baby shampoo, it's right by your eyes. And baby shampoo is pretty much always no tears. And that's way better than having some like prowler or something get in your eyes that you have. And also if you do one of those, if you can get the option of dish soap or baby shampoo that is not strongly scented, I definitely recommend not having something strongly scented right there in your face the whole game. It's not going to be that much fun. So those are your your kind of thrifty options. But then you also have the anti-fog sprays that you can get all the sporting goods store, sell them any place you buy your hockey stuff. They'll have them. They work. They work to varying degrees, depending what kind you get. But that's kind of your your probably most common option there to give those a try. So I hope this helps you guys out. But he's out there looking, wondering what they do because they want to wear their glasses but they can't and they don't think it's good idea for hockey. There you go. Like I said, check out the YouTube video where I go over some of the different types of goggles and show them and show me trying them on. And my very complex how much of me swinging my head around like an idiot and seeing what works and what doesn't work for any other show ideas drop me a line and let me know. Thanks a lot, everybody. See in the next one.