Eye Guards in the Comfort Zone
"Vow never to step onto a court without your eye protection"
Eye guards are the most important, yet most overlooked piece of squash equipment. No matter how low the odds of an eye injury from the ball, you cannot minimize the danger of the racket; and most clubs, and all tournaments require eye guards. So take the pledge and vow never to step on the court without eye protection. Here are some tips to help find the perfect eye guards you will be sure to wear.
The first thing to look for when buying eye guards is comfort. If they’re not comfortable, you probably won’t wear them, or worse yet, your ten year old future squash pro will conveniently forget to wear them. You may have to invest a few dollars to get light weight comfortable eye guards. Relatively inexpensive eye guards are usually not comfortable. Along with light weight, you want padded nose pieces like conventional glasses and tight fitting temple pieces. Find a pair that you know you will wear.
Next, you want to see well; as closely to not wearing eye guards as possible. Most premium guards will have polycarbonate lens with anti-fog treatment, offering undistorted vision. If you keep them in the case and clean them with the cloth provided, they will remind clear and scratch free for years.
Lastly, there’s fogging. You want to get a pair that provides adequate air flow around the lenses. If air flow is restricted, the lenses will tend to fog. You want to look for small vent holes in the tops of the lenses. You also don’t want a pair that fit snug against the eye brows; this restricts airflow adding to the possibility of fogging.
Be sure any eye guards you purchase meet or exceed ASTM F803-03 Ball Impact Standards and also any standards required by tournaments you may be playing in. Here are some good brands that meet the above standards and are also comfortable:
- · Gear Box, designed by a racquetball company, these eye guards are light weight and comfortable. They come with quality lens and a hard case for around $25.00 on-line www.gearboxrb.com
- · Head Rave, very comfortable, excellent vision around $25.00
- · Ektelon Strobe, fashionable and inexpensive around $13.00
- · Leader Phoenix II, great comfort and resistance to fogging, around $20.00
- · Wilson nVue, made with NCODE NANOTECHNOLOGY (whatever that is) Comes with interchangeable lens. Light weight and comfortable, top of the line. Great for biking and outdoor activities with pop on shaded outdoor lens. Definitely a fashion stated at around $49.00
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