FitEgg.com Multisport Reviews
Initial Impressions of Hydrobat.
Look and Feel
The Hydrobat is a new line of racing goggles by Barracuda USA. They feature an interesting ‘batwing’ design that is supposed to cover the eye socket, thereby smoothing the area to reduce drag. The lenses are polished and anti-fog treated. The goggles feature a dual strap head band and the nose bridge is adjustable, a great feature for swimmers with smaller faces. The actual goggles are pretty small, consistent with most other racing goggles. Again, great news for racers or for casual swimmers with smaller faces.
We tried these goggles this morning during our regular swim. The head band adjustment is very sturdy and therefore, impossible to adjust once on your head. Make sure you try these on before you hit the water. Remember also that the Hydrobat has an adjustable nose bridge and make sure you get that sorted out too. Much easier at home versus in the water at 0630.
Fit and Comfort:
Our initial impressions are that these goggles are pretty comfortable. After our standard morning swim, we didn’t notice any discomfort or red circles under our eyes. A bit of a caveat, we did have a little headache this morning, not related to the goggles, so we’ll have to leave the verdict about suction until a later time. That said, the goggles clearly didn’t utilize the suction you normally find in goggles to stay attached to the face.
Visibility:
If you’ve worn race goggles before, you know the trade-offs. Standard goggles give you quite a large field of view, but the downside is the large eyecups. Race goggles have smaller eyecups, but you lose a bit of visibility in return. These goggles are no different. Since there’s a smaller eyecup, you’ll see a bit more distortion where the lens slopes back to the goggle frame. As with any first use of new goggles, the changes take you a bit aback, but by the end of our morning swim, we were growing accustomed to the new field of view.
The smaller field of view didn’t impact our swim, it was just a change from our standard goggles. The anti-fog treatment worked wonderfully, even after leaving the goggles on our head for a few minutes while stretching.
Overall:
Our initial impressions of the Hydrobat goggles by Barracuda USA are good. The goggles certainly fit well, look good, and seem to be well made. The real test will be after weeks and months of use in the harsh chlorine environment of our YMCA pool. For a race goggle, the Hydrobat goggle is reasonably priced. You can pick up a pair for $15, the lowest price of any standard goggles from Barracuda USA. We’re looking forward to testing these in salt and chlorine water, in direct sun, and for the long term to see how the softer parts of the goggles hold up.
