100% took its time-tested lens design and eyewear engineering information and utilized it to a contemporary line of ski and snowboard goggles. And it’s popping out of the snowsports gate on fireplace.
December could be a crap shoot for ski climate within the West. It could be a heat, bluebird day, with brilliant sunshine and no wind in any respect. It might be overcast, with flat gentle, and sleety snow. Or it may be freezing chilly out, with heavy gusts of wind whipping the air and limiting visibility to yards and even toes.
This yr we’d gotten a superb early-season snow base. I’d already been snowboarding each within the backcountry and within the resort, in Utah and in Colorado. And thus far, I’d seen plenty of that variable climate.
Which was good for testing out the brand new 100% Norg snow goggles. The model, first recognized for its motocross eyewear, broke into the snowboarding and boarding scene this yr with a lineup of a number of totally different goggles: the Snowcraft, the Okan, and the Norg.
The Norg is the model’s flagship snow goggle — and it’s probably the most hyped from the lineup. By the time I began testing these goggles out, they’d already received a 2022 ISPO Award for design and innovation. They’d additionally already been included in quite a few roundups of 2022’s “Best Snow Goggles,” promising sharper distinction, peak coloration consciousness, and higher imaginative and prescient.
We’d see about all that.
In quick: Over the course of two months, I examined the 100% Norg snow goggles in a wide range of environments and climate circumstances. Despite some private holdups over dimension and form, they lived as much as the hype. They had been snug, they saved my face heat, they by no means as soon as fogged up on me, and most significantly, the visible readability of those 100% lenses was astonishingly sharp.
100% Norg Snow Goggle Review
100% has been a family title in motocross eyewear for the reason that ’80s. In the many years since, it’s branched out, making goggles and sun shades for mountain biking, biking, working, baseball, and, most lately, snowsports.
It’s taken its high-performance lens and body applied sciences and utilized these to each new line of eyewear it’s created. Its snow goggles now stand on prime of all that innovation and engineering.
“With our brand’s first snow goggle collection, we are authoring a new chapter for 100%,” stated Gwen van Lingen, the model’s vp of world advertising and gross sales. “We saw an opportunity to really innovate and jumped at it.”
The Norg Goggle
Lenses
100% used its proprietary 3DPlane Molded Lens Technology within the Norg. According to the model, this tech supplies “unparalleled structural integrity to the lens, while keeping the frame soft and comfortable.”
Structural integrity and adaptability are vital options of any goggle. But when it comes proper right down to it, the primary most vital factor of any eyewear is its lens readability. I’ve used some goggles that distort colours and others that make particulars fuzzy at a distance. That could be a legal responsibility while you’re charging down a mountain.
But the visible readability of the Norgs truly made my jaw drop after I put them on. I regarded round. I took them off and put them again on once more, doing a double take. Indeed, the world truly appeared extra HD than regular via the Norgs. Colors popped and particulars had been sharp. I felt as if they virtually improved my imaginative and prescient like a pair of prescription glasses.
That’s largely due to the model’s HiPER tints. According to 100%, HiPER mirror tints filter out sure gentle wavelengths, making the visible distinction of their lenses distinct and maximizing the readability.
As I skied, each characteristic of the mountain was completely clear to me. As I rode the carry, I purposefully stared onerous into the space, paying shut consideration to the main points of the mountain ridges and snow-covered woods. Visually, I couldn’t ask for extra from a pair of ski goggles. 100% has their lenses dialed.
Lens Swapping
On prime of all this, the 100% Gravit8 magnetic system makes swapping low-light lenses for high-light lenses fairly idiot-proof. When climate rolled in on me, and the blue sky was changed with a flat ceiling of clouds, I pulled the magnetic lens off and swapped it, with out eradicating the goggles from my helmet and with out even taking my gloves off.
It was really easy, in reality, I had to wonder if or not the lens would keep put in a yard sale crash. I’m no stranger to consuming it on the mountain now and again, and an enormous biff may knock the lens off its magnetic connection. Luckily, I didn’t get an opportunity to check that individual facet of the goggles.
100% Norg Performance
Ok, so the lenses are nice. But how does the remainder of the goggle carry out?
Over the course of my take a look at, I used the Norg goggles in snow flurries, on chilly bluebird days, and on humid overcast days. The variability in temperature and lighting was fairly in depth.
One of the issues that rapidly caught out was the antifog capabilities of the 100% design. This was one thing that Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, the gold medal Olympic snowboarder from New Zealand, talked about too. Sadowski-Synnott was one of many first snow athletes 100% signed, and in speaking along with her concerning the goggles she was most impressed by the truth that they by no means fogged up on her.
They haven’t fogged up on me, both. Not on the humid days, or the bluebird days after I was working up a sweat within the moguls. The goggles use a dual-pane lens system that’s noticeably beefier than comparable dual-lens goggles. The sealed house between the 2 panes helps regulate the lens’ temperature, stopping fog from forming.
These goggles are additionally snug and heat. The face foam is made with moisture-wicking microfleece that stays dry and feels good and comfortable in opposition to your cheeks. It additionally insulates effectively, stopping chilly air from getting in underneath the body.
100% Style
Every pair of sun shades and goggles that 100% makes has a glance. That’s to be anticipated from any model, however particularly one which’s been an icon of motocross Americana for many years.
The goggles from 100% are not any totally different. They’re huge. They have a distinctly 100% look, with a extremely mirrored lens tint and stylized body shapes. Specifically for the Norg, the nostril bridge juts out barely virtually like a motocross or snowmobile goggle.
Personally, the type was the one characteristic of those goggles I wasn’t completely offered on. That’s to not say they don’t look fly, or that skiers and riders received’t like the best way they give the impression of being in them. Lots of people will love these goggles particularly for his or her type. It simply wasn’t for me.
And whereas we’re being essential, the scale of the Norg is value a point out too. Most individuals like their goggles huge, however the Norgs are distinctly giant — even for ski goggles. If you’ve bought a smaller face, the Norg is likely to be too huge for you.
The Norgs are available in seven totally different colours, and every pair comes with two coloured lenses — one for low-light circumstances and one for high-light circumstances.
Conclusion
When it involves the aesthetics of a pair of snow goggles, everybody goes to have a distinct desire. Just like garments, the colour, form, and match of the eyewear is a subjective selection for every particular person to make.
When it involves the efficiency and high quality of a pair of goggles, although, that’s a way more quantitative factor to measure. And performance-wise, the 100% Norg snow goggles met or exceeded my expectations. The visible readability was out of this world. The antifog properties had been spectacular. And altering the lens was quicker and simpler than I’ve ever skilled.
As far as snow goggles go, 100% got here out of the gate robust with the Norg. I’m excited to see extra from their snowsports line of eyewear.
