MAY MEDIA TRACKING

It surprises me that many skiers and riders continue to opt for wearing soft hats rather than the added protective layer that is a helmet. In current times, especially when so many manufacturers are mak-ing helmets that are actually just as, if not more comfortable than a hat once you get used to wear-ing one, it boggles my mind why someone wouldn’t wear one. Truth be told wearing a hat is nice and light, especially on the up, but of all the companies out there Smith continues to be the leader in mak-ing functional, stylish, bomber helmets that are light, packable, and warm. The Smith Vantage model, seen above, is the one that I’ve grown ac-custom to and trust. After several incidents in the past few years where a backcountry skier took a fall, and would’ve been okay if s/he had been wear-ing a helmet, only to walk away with a life-altering head injury, or even the worst case scenario-not walking away at all, my view is wearing a helmet, especially in Alaska, is just as important as the rest of your avalanche safety tools.

Smith Pivlock V2

The V2 is the latest version of Smith's popular Pivlock line of interchangeable-lens sunglasses. The V2 adds new frame colors, slide-on temple ends, and a three-position adjustable nosepiece for a comfortable fit. This sport-driven spec is a favorite of cyclists, runners, and triathletes. The frame-less design keeps your field of vision completely clear and makes the Pivlock ultra lightweight. The V2 is also available in a Max option for more coverage or athletes with larger faces. (Related: 6 Best Sunglasses for Runners)

Product Review: Smith Optics PivLock V2Sunglasses for me are a more of an necessity than an acces-sory. I don’t leave the house without a pair of sunglasses on. So, I was very happy to get a pair of Smith Optics PivLock V2 sunglasses at Outdoor Retailer for review.The first thing you notice about the PivLock V2’s is that there is no frame. All you have is a single lens piece with a nose-piece, and temples attached.

Once you put them on, they practically disappear. The earpieces are high up enough that they aren’t even visible in your peripheral vision, and the nosepiece is minimal enough that you hardly notice it. It always seems like my bike computer is situated just where the lower frame of my glasses sits, so I normally can’t just shift my eyes downward to check speed, etc… or shift my eyes up to glance further down the road because of the upper frame. The nosepiece, which is made out of hydrophilic Megol ( along with the replaceable temple pads), have a 3-position adjustment so you can comfortably fit them to your face.

One of the big features in cycling-specific glasses is replaceable lenses, and changing lenses in the PivLock V2 is about as simple as it gets. You simply grab one side of the nosepiece, and push it in and down to release it from the lens, and then grab the temple and rotate it upwards 45 degrees to unlock it – in fact, that is where the PivLock gets its name. They come with 3 lens options: Platinum (15% vlt), Ignitor (32%vlt) and clear.

Yes, it really is that simple. How do they work? Like I mentioned above, with no frame, and the temples located high and back, they disappear. There are no blind spots any-where on these glasses. The adjustable nosepiece makes it easy to comfortably fit even a funny-shaped nose like mine, and the Megol compound on the temple pads and nosepiece insures that they will stay put.

Need more proof that these glasses are worthy? They (and the PivLock V90) are the official sunglasses of VanderKitten-Fo-cus Women’s Pro Cycling Team.

The Smith Optics PivLock V2 has a msrp of $159, and is avail-able in 4 frame (temple) colors: white, orange, blue, and black. More information is available at http://www.smithoptics.com/.

Protective eyewear dates back to prehistoric times when Inuit people created snow goggles out of flattened walrus ivory. The accessory, before it was an acces-sory, also made its way through the ancient Roman and Chinese cultures as unique visual tools. It wasn’t until the early-1900s when tinted eyewear stepped unto the style scene, thanks in part to early movie stars and one

gentleman named Sam Foster who set-up shop in 1929 on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ. Queue the gratuitous Snookie and Situation ‘sunglasses at night’ visual as they protect themselves from the strobe lights.

The next two major eyewear booms came as a result of WWII and can be attributed to aviator sunglasses developed for U.S. pilots as well as high-altitude goggles worn by the 10th Mountain Division in Italy. In 1936, the Army Air Corps ap-proached optical experts Bausch + Lomb to cre-ate highly protective spectacles to shield pilots from the dangers of high altitude glare. They de-veloped a dark-green tint to absorb yellow light, built a brand around this sun-banning technology dubbed “Ray-Ban’, and then coated the oversized teardrop-shaped lenses with a polarized film cre-ated by Edwin H. Land — who would go on to found Polaroid as well as launch the 3D movie “Golden Age” of the 50s. Aviators were made available to the public in 1937, and this optical progression, turned accompanying fashion statement, hasn’t looked back since.

After the war, soldiers from the 10th brought their mountain expertise and specialized gear back to the states. They developed ski resorts, designed ski lifts, wrote and published ski magazines, became ski patrollers and racers, and improved upon the equipment they used in battle — like goggles. It’s no secret that their goggles were flawed. They were prone to fogging, and soon one orthodontist in Idaho set out to fix that.

IT’S NO SECRET THAT THEIR GOGGLES WERE FLAWED. THEY WERE PRONE TO FOGGING, AND SOON ONE ORTHODONTIST IN IDAHO SET OUT TO FIX THAT.Bob Smith created the first double-lens, breathable ski goggle while sitting around his kitchen table using his dental tools, foam and glue. He and his friends would trade these first-generation Smith goggles for lift tickets until inking a manufacturing deal. Smith quickly became the skier’s eyewear brand, pushing innovation around goggle ventilation, interchangeability and polarization. From 1989 to 1998, Smith Optics de-veloped exclusive polarized lens technologies, in addition to numerous international patents, — including the V3, an all-time bestseller with the first wrap-around-lens, and Warp, the first ski goggle designed to be worn with a helmet.

More than seventy-five years after introducing the first anti-glare eyewear, Ray-Ban continues to progress the category with innovative materials and techniques through its Ray-Ban Tech line of sunglasses and frames. Based in the mountain town of Ketchum, Idaho, Smith Optics has also led the active eyewear category for fifty years thanks to its goggle-focused technologies and advances in active sunglasses.

Smith Op tics: See ing the World A Lit tle Clear er

The Tru lyNet team is not afraid of the el e ments! We are hap py to be out on our bikes even in rain, shine, heat, or snow. For me, liv ing in Brook lyn, it can of ten take me half the time to get some where on my bike ver sus us ing the sub way. So, even if it were less than ide-al weath er, I would rather rough it and save the time. It is al so an added bonus that I get a work out.

While none of us here are avid rac ing cy clers, we can still ap pre ci ate the pro tec tion the Smith Op tics Pivlock V2 Max of fers us while dart ing around the city or bik ing for plea sure. For starters, it tends to be about 20% lighter than the stan dard lens es, be cause Smith Op tics has found a way to min i mize lens thick ness. They have 100% UVA/UVB pro tec tion, which is fair ly stan dard but still should be a re quire ment for you as you con sid er sun pro tec tion. As a cy clist who is will ing to bike in the rain and has a bad habit of touch ing my glass es, I was hap py to learn that the lens and mir ror coat ing are pro tect ed by a per ma nent hy droleo pho bic coat ing, which re pels wa ter, dirt, fin ger prints, and grease. The wa ter will ac tu al ly bead up and dis perse with out streak ing. Fi-nal ly, all lens es are al so im pact and scratch re sis tant. And even if you do some how find a way to mess up your glass es, they have a life time war ran ty (on ly a year war ran ty if they are pre scrip tion though).

Smith Op tics has de vel oped a very so phis ti cat ed tech nol o gy to in sure that you have the best vis i bil i ty while rid ing. They have found a way to ta per the lens es so that there is no light wave dis tor tion even at the most ex treme edges of the lens. En sur ing that what you see is what is ac tu al ly out there. On their po lar ized lens es they have aligned the po lar ized lay er in side of the lens es to tru ly oblit er ate glare, re duc ing 99.9% of the “vi su al stat ic.”

We here at Tru lyNet al so try to be eco-con scious; so, it pleas es us great ly that all the Smith Op tics sun glass es frames are 53% bio-based. Made from eas i ly re new able, non-ge net i cal ly mod i fied cas tor plants, the Ril san® Clear ma te ri al makes the frames lightweight, durable, and ful ly trans par ent. Even the FSC cer ti fied pack ag ing and co conut fiber stor age bag is green friend ly.

The re al ly neat part about the Pivlock glass es is that they have in ter change able lens es. The Pivlock V2 Max comes with the plat inum, Ig n i tor, and clear lens es. These lens es are ide al for dif fer ent lev els of bright ness, from very bright to not at all re spec tive ly.

It is very easy to switch out the lens es. You just twist out the tem ple pieces and squeeze the nose piece to re-move it. The Pivlock V2 Max is great be cause its nose piece is al so size ad justable. This is ide al for peo ple like me who have a very small face. That be ing said, I still look like a bit like a bug when I wear these glass es.

Speak ing of aes thet ics, the Pivlock V2 Max comes in 7 sleek col ors: or ange, white, mat te graphite, caldera red, blue, black (this is the one we have), and acid yel low. While the glass es come with three in ter change able shields (the plat inum, ig n i tor, and clear lens es), you can pur chase a num ber of ad di tion al lens es if you are look ing for dif fer ent col ors or at tributes.