Smith Knowledge OTG Turbo Fan Series Goggles - 2007 BCS

I have an older version of this - 2 battery motor. I replaced it with the new 1-battery version shown here in 2011. Deep powder season, lots of moisture in the air. I ran the fan constantly and could NOT keep my glasses defogged, even with no-fog sprayed on the lenses . It got so bad I took off my glasses and skied my first trip "blind". It was kinda fun. My next trip, the ol' 2-battery version, duct tape and all, came along and it was all good again. Talked to a guy on the Northwoods lift at Vail who had the new 1 battery version and he had the same bad experience.

These goggles worked fairly well. I still had some fogging on the glasses I wear but not on the goggles themselves. The battery lasted a long time considering I used it on 2 days where the temp started at minus 9. The lens are good when overcast, but way too clear for any sun like conditions. However, when I used my prescription sun glasses it worked perfect. Allows me to switch back and forth easily on partly cloudy days.

I Purchased the Smith Knowledge OTG Turbo Fan Series Goggle, they are snug but my glasses fit. I open the scrap and put them on that way, its easy than pulling them over the head. I like them, I'm male 64 years old. The fan works well, I skied in them Jan. 2012.
Pat

I have gone through 3 pair of these goggles in the past year. The first pair got fog between the lenses. Very hard to clear out by the way. Sent these back and got a new pair. Worked very well until I tried to replace the battery. The wire feeding the fan broke. Very weak link. Sent them back and again received a pair that leaked between the lenses. Ever tried skiing with fog between the lenses. Not too cool. The good news is that Back Country replaced them without question. I don't know if the sub zero temperature at Alta made the lense leak, but each time they leaked it was below zero.
Thank goodness they have a lifetime warranty.

They fit my small head relatively well. On cold, high humidity mornings I have experienced only minor fogging on my glasses. It clears up quickly enough that I have yet to use the high speed setting. They offer much greater visibility down in close, than previous OTG goggles.
The Rc36 lens works well in flat light. It may not be dark enough for spring skiing.
Have not had them long enough to speak to battery life. Certainly is not chewing through batteries. Have not changed them.

I have been skiing for decades but only got back in to it seriously in the last 6 - 8 years. I have owned a lot of fairly high-end goggles (Oakley, multiple Carreras, Bolle, etc.) but never anything from the deep end of the pool and only one other pair of OTG goggles (Carrera). The Carrera OTG pair that I had previously did not work well, was really uncomfortable (pinching) and fogged up really easy so I went to wearing contacts just to try and limit the fogging (which the Carreras did without glasses too). Thing is that I, like many infrequent contact wearers, can have good and bad days with my contacts with the "okay" days in between not being much more enjoyable than "I don't feel like peeling my cornea out today.". Something needed to be done.

After mucho research on the 'net I came across the Smith Knowledge OTG Turbo Fan Series Goggles. A fan in a pair of goggles? Yeah...I have had a skiing career as diverse and accomplished as Chris Davenport (Dav - I shamelessly take free heli-skiing runs in the Chugash range in return for the plug!). Despite my reservations about the micro-fan and whether or not these goggles would be better than my other pair of OTGs I read/researched on and decided that at worst I would try them and have to resign myself to wearing my contacts with them but at least I would have what I hoped would be a kick-azz pair of goggles.

Was I in for a pleasant surprise!

I have had these goggles for a couple of weeks and you can colour me impressed. I have had them out in the butt-numbing cold of Western Quebec at -20C with a windchilll around -30+ C. I have had them out at around 0 C (about 32 F) and in between (about -10 C). Some times it was snowing other times it was sunny (not quite bluebird though) and one of those (-10 C) was at night. These goggles have failed to disappoint me in all situations.

Putting the goggles on in the chalet or putting them on at the top of the hill the fan is adept at clearing fog away in a jiffy. Just put the fan on max and give it a couple minutes (at most). To help clear fog I have pulled the goggles away from my cheeks (the bottom) and that seems to expedite the process. After the fog is lifted I can leave the fan on the low mode and my prayers are answered. I have eaten it a couple of times and managed to snowjob myself fogging the goggles up in the process but a quick flick of the switch and voila - fog be gone!

I wear these goggles over my Boeri helmet (don't ask me the model - it is a few years old and I can't remember but it is a short-shell design meant for large heads like mine) and they fit nicely. They vent well and don't pinch. My glasses fit perfectly within the goggles and I have a nice range of vision considering I have so many lens going on.

The pair I bought came with the Ignitor lense and while I have ordered a clear for night-skiing it has yet to show up so I have used the Ignitor in all the situations I mentioned before and it has worked quite well. I only found it a little lacking during night-skiing in the shadows but when I say "shadows" I am talking about skiing in blobs of blackness on a run that was kinda open and seemed to have only half its lights on. I imagine that any lense would have had a problem with that situation all things considered.

Looking forward to running the gauntlet with these goggles when I go for some big-mountain (for an Easterner) skiing in a couple of weeks.

While a bit on the spendy side, these things are the best if you ever find yourself hiking in a storm, especially on the leeward side of the ridge. I've had these on with the foam soggy with sweat, and the lens stays clear. The trick is to turn it on before you start hiking. The batteries last forever, I've even left them on overnight, and they're still blowing, so you just use the fan as much as is necessary without worrying if they'll die on you. If the low setting is barely noticeable then it's time to replace it. I was so glad to have these last week patrolling, with 90" of snow in 4 days, and warm temps, these were the ticket to clear vision through lots of slogging.

The lining of the Graphite and Black RC/36 are different. The one with Graphite is about 0.6 cm while the Black one is about 1.1 cm. As such, someone who has a smaller face cannot use the Graphite but can use the Black RC/36. Smith already knew this after I sent them the photos.

p.s. The fan is really good for those wearing glasses. A must for everyone using glasses!!!
p.p.s. Note that current version may not fit the Smith D2 helmet, depending the size of your face. It fits myself (XXL) but not my younger son who is 8.

They actually work , i have skied several snowy days and could actually see for the first time !
HOWEVER....the wireing to the battery /switch box is far too delicate for actual use. makes me wonder if Smith ever tested these for more than a day.
I had to work up a new box ,with a glove friendly switch and more standby power.
The fanblade itself was unbalanced as well and was noisy.

I bought these as Over The Glasses goggles for my wife, who has a fairly small head and glasses that are fairly small as well. She has not yet skied in them, but the clearance between the glasses and the frame of the goggles is very tight. The goggles actually do fit the glasses inside, but there is simply not a bit of extra clearance around the glasses. The goggle straps are also not large enough to accommodate a ski helmet... I will be purchasing an extension strap in order to use these goggles (We never ski without a helmet anymore...). The turbo fan is supposed to eliminate fog buildup (which is why I bought the goggles in the first place...). Time will tell on these goggles, but my first impression prior to actual use is that they are simply not large enough to be classified as OTG.

I've tried many different types of goggles to prevent fogging while I'm wearing my glasses. These are the best I've been able to find and they work in most cases.

My first tip is to never let your glasses get cold. I find that if I put my goggles on immediately and keep them on I don't have a problem. If I put the goggles up on my helmet while riding the lift, my glasses get cold and then when I put the goggles back down the fog immediately. Flipping the fan to high will clear them but it still takes the fan a little while to clear out the fog. The battery seems to last forever, I turn the fan on when I start and don't turn them off until the end of the day. I've been skiing all season and I'm still on the original battery. All in all, they beat any non-powered OTG goggles that I've tried.

I have the rc36 tint and I find it to be a good all around tint. My eyes are fairly sensitive to bright light, yet I've don't have any trouble wearing these under a blue bird sky. I've even worn them night-skiing and I still have pretty good vision.

I love these goggles - the fan actually works at keeping fog away, and they fit very well over my glasses.

I have a number of different lenses for different conditions - which is nice. I particularly like the Sensor mirror.

Only downside is that they are very big and look a little goofy, even with a helmet.

The OTG goggles are very good. I have used them for the last 3 days in varying conditions and they work excelently. Only 2 areas I would suggest for improvement. First, the power on/off switch is almost impossible to operate with gloves on. Second, while they go over the glasses, I have to push my glasses into the goggles. If I put the goggles on over the glasses they push the glasses back against my eye lids.

I've used these bad boys 3 times thus far and they perform well--at night, and in partly cloudy and cloudy conditions. I have not used them on a sunny day yet.

But, with my current helmet, they push down on my big nose and affect my breathing. If I can't get the right helmet combo, I'll need to return these puppies to BC.com.

Note - If these goggles did indeed fit over my glasses, I'd give them a five-star rating. I've had the not-OTG (Over The Glasses) TurboCams for years with the lens-holder jobbie they sell which has consistently worked very well for me. But I needed to change to my new lens prescription, so I tried the OTG version to save a few bucks overall. Didn't work. I'm not sure if the nose-contact area of the goggles or just the goggle lens hit my glasses, but at least one of them did. So I bought new lenses for the insert and am back in business. Glad I can return the OTG's to backcountry.com.

The fan is wonderful just a slide of the switch wait a couple of seconds and the fog is gone! Glad I spent a little extra for this option, well worth it!

GunnyE

I have tried an number of OTG configurations, and all quickly fog. These, too, will get fogged in heavy exertion situations, but at least offers the possibilty of clearing with the fan on high. Fit and work well. The amber rose tint seems to be about right for high to flat light situations, but does become too dim as light fades. Seem well made and durable. I also wear them doing some cold weather bicycling, and they seem to keep up with the moisture load. Not too noisy, and comfortable fit. Recommended.

Bought from backcountry.com the Smith Knowledge OTG Turbo Fan Series Goggles and also the black Google case to carry them in. I hiked up Mayflower Hill in Colorado and the Goggle Case kept my Smith goggles dry until I needed them. Thanks.

It fits comfortably over my glasses, when I keep it over my eyes moving down the mountain it rarely fogs, or I can put it to normal. If I stop, or leave it on during chairlifts, just lift it to turbo and it'll often keep up with that serious foggage.

Good deal, it was worth it, and the volume is only noticeable on turbo. Getting a helmet with headphones fixes even that :)

...I can wear goggles while skiing.

I have to disagree with what eri2807363 mentioned in his review. I have a pretty large head and wide glasses. I also tend to overheat very quickly resulting in never having been able to wear goggles while skiing before. My previous OTG goggles were pretty worthless to me (and smaller than these). I've been night skiing four times so far with these goggles and they've worked almost 100% of the time. There was only one instance where I actually had to take them off when I made the mistake of trying to ski slightly uphill and they just wouldn't unfog.

I will say that the headstrap is definitely too small to fit over a helmet (which I currently don't own--though I have a larger than average head). Also, after the first time I used it, I mistakenly left the fan switch to "on" so the batteries obviously died when I next needed to use them. So that's certainly something to keep in mind.

Overall, these goggles have been great. After never having been able to wear goggles before, these were a lifesaver.

I bought these for my husband who tried them out last Sunday... he loved them. He was able to see well and with his glasses on all the time under the goggles they did not fog up... What a plus!!! he really likes them and will conitnue with these great goggles he highly recommends them

I don't think I have excessively large glasses-- I have some older OTG goggles that fit my old and new glasses, but both pair hit the lens on these with enough pressure to make them uncomfortable (and would damage the lens.) I had to return them, which was not a problem.