Navigation tips for glasses wearer

[rollindoughnut]

I'm just back from a brilliant trip. Rode from Kent to Wales using the NDW, King Alfred's Way and Kennet and Avon canal. Spent 3 days in the Brecon Beacons then retraced my path home.

On the outbound leg it was during that weekend of storms and I had real difficulty navigating.
Here's the issue:
When I wore my varifocals which are great in dry weather, they steamed up and got rain on them. That coupled with rain on the Garmin screen made seeing the route frustratingly hard.
Switched to contact lenses but I have no near vision with them so couldn't see the screen either.

Do you have any suggestions? I even tried just wearing one contact in my dominant eye but that made me feel sick!

[Dean]

Are your glasses just your regular spectacles? When I got a pair of prescription cycling glasses almost all of my steaming issues went away. Could have been the wraparound shape allowing more air movement to carry moisture away, vents in the lenses ditto, the glasses being raised further away from the nose or the lenses not being made of glass.

I am only shortsighted, so I do not know what options you would have for varifocal sports glasses.

[Lazarus]

rain x can be used to make the water run off glasses better [noticeable change but dont expect miracles and pricey IME] or a cycling cap to stop the rain getting on them.

[rollindoughnut]

Yes my glasses are just normal specs.
I use a cap and that does keep most of the rain off but exaserbates the fogging issue due to reduced airflow.

[lune ranger]

rain x can be used to make the water run off glasses better [noticeable change but dont expect miracles and pricey IME] or a cycling cap to stop the rain getting on them.

For me Rain X definitely helps extend the period before things get too foggy. I agree with Lazarus - it’s no miracle cure, more what that annoying tw@t David Brailsford would call a marginal gain. At £7 for a bottle that lasts a couple of years it won’t break the bank to try. I put some on my glasses and my Garmin.
I also use a helmet peak or cycling cap to keep a (tiny) bit of the rain off.
The most useful thing I use though is a nice soft hanky for regularly cleaning my glasses - kept in a plastic zip bag in my TT bag.

[Bearbonesnorm]

This is a random suggestion because I've really no idea but here goes ... do cycling glasses 'vent' better than normal glasses? If so, would prescription cycling glasses help?

[sean_iow]

There are 2 types of Rain-X

Rain-x Rain repellent - this goes on the outside of your glasses
Rain-X Anti Fog - this goes on the inside of your glasses

I used to use them on the windscreen of the racing car, made a big difference. Based on the amount I used on the car (3 seasons racing and never finished a bottle) I'd say that used on glasses a bottle will last a minimum of 100 years

Muc-Off also make a dedicated anti-fog for googles but I've not tried it.

[ledburner]

There are 2 types of Rain-X

Rain-x Rain repellent - this goes on the outside of your glasses
Rain-X Anti Fog - this goes on the inside of your glasses

I used to use them on the windscreen of the racing car, made a big difference. Based on the amount I used on the car (3 seasons racing and never finished a bottle) I'd say that used on glasses a bottle will last a minimum of 100 years

Muc-Off also make a dedicated anti-fog for googles but I've not tried it.

As a MYOG I add an old'distance' rimless pair of specs to cycling glasses. they work & look OK, but now I also need readers, but can still see enough to look under them to navigate...
Have you thought of Stick on 'bi focal' reading film adhesive lenses on cycling glass? (Someone in the cycling club swears by them! - not in a DaveBarter way!).
Those Worn with contact lenses the Rainex treatment?
...or.or move In as PistonBrokes neighbour in dry sunny Spain.

[Dean]

This is a random suggestion because I've really no idea but here goes ... do cycling glasses 'vent' better than normal glasses? If so, would prescription cycling glasses help?

I have two pairs of prescription glasses, exactly the same materials, which I have been wearing with my facemask the last year. One is a standard frame with flat lens and steams up constantly. The other is vented wraparounds and I can wear with a mask for 10 hours with no steaming issues, even if it does steams up entering a warm building it clears itself.