Ditto
Now you guys got me thinking
Which brand of fit-over, polarized sunglassess do you recommend?
No brand is recommended
for clip-ons. Get one that you’re comfortable with and one that will fit your particular pair of glasses. It’s all about fit and comfort.
Thanks Everyone
Your replies have convinced me that the extra money spent for good polarized glasses is worth it. What prompted my initial question was a C-I trip I took yesterday. Paddling into the low afternoon sun while wearing my el cheapos, I was all but blinded by the glare off of the water. I couldn’t see many of the rocks until I was almost on top of them (literally). I also received a private email suggesting that brown or grey color lenses are best. That has made me think about buying glasses with interchangeable lenses.
Thanks again for your responses. Happy paddling.
Jeff
Also remember that different
color lens work in different light situation.
native
for polarized glasses i would check out Native eyewear. super good quality, and they have a really sweet lifetime warranty. if you break them , you can send them back in and if it was not a warranty issue you could essentially geta new pair for like 20 bucks
i used to wear polarized but i found myself getting a bit sea sick when i was being splashed a lot. as soon as i took my glasses off i felt instantly better
the salt water left a film on the glasses and was distort the polarization and throwing me off
i have switched to non-polarized smiths and have not had the same problem since.
more on native
The replacement is now $35 with the original receipt.
Also, don’t go for the Natives that have interchangeable lenses. Only one set of lenses is polarized, the other are just plastic. I also find the polarization and glare reducing coating better on Costa Del Mar sunglasses.
try
campmor or sierra trading post for good prices.
Native again…
Nice optics and crash cushioned… I Know.
I use the gray lenses… under $100 on EBay…
They make some for watersports use
One day I realized that my eyes were always a bit dry, tired, and achy after being on the water. I sprang for the black Iridium lenses (nonpolarized) and found that my eyes felt much better afterward.
Later, after hearing a friend rave about polarized lenses, I bit the bullet and bought a pair with both the polarization and the black Iridium lenses. Can’t remember the name of these but they are wraparounds with vent holes top and bottom, and they come with an integral head strap and neck cord. (Some other company makes a cheaper knockoff, so beware of imitations.)
In this ultrasunny environment, they are worth the high price. I find the nonpolarized black lenses good enough for general wear but prefer the polarized for kayaking.
Now all I have to do is go back to manatee country and look for underwater critters.
“Black” is beautiful
These are an extremely dark grey made by Oakley. If you check their brochures, they provide a detailed table of tints and light filtration info. The black Iridium blocks the most light.
I don’t need them but my eye doctor said it is possible to get prescription Oakleys. But you can forget about the $100 limit even for nonprescription “blacks.”
I have same lenses…
… on my land specs (also had regular which are great and upgraded to the polarized which are markedly better).
Don’t really like those big crazy Water Jacket frames (and most of their heavier plastic frames don’t quite feel right on me)
Hey, since you have a pair of Water Jackets (those polarized are $$$ - ouch!), you should have the hydrophobic solution they come with too. Does it work? Worth bothering with?
I may opt for something more sedate and rig my own strap. Maybe a pair of Bottlecaps. They fit just right in the store (right meaning “like they’re not there”), and the open frame is less restricting for downward vision, but I will need to order custom to get black iridium polarized and boring matte black frames.
Call me old school, or just old, but I’m just not into rootbeer, tortoise, glossy, or crystal frames - and like my black iridiums too much to experiment on other lens colors. Sun’s pretty bright here most of the time so the darker lenses are best.
Custom order gets pricey fast though, so I may be sticking with cheapos a while longer…
UVEX melanin
Great clarity, pretty cheap at discounters like campmor.
not trying to be a smart&#$ but
If you’re hitting submerged rocks “especially in riffles and rapids”, you’re better off learning to read the water than relying on polarized glasses. Any rock in a riffle or rapid that’s close enough to the surface to bottom out on is going to leave a telltale surface feature.
Now rocks in flatwater are a different story - I was really glad to have my polarized lenses on a low water Chattooga trip. Made it much easier to find the channels in the many shallow, slackwater sections. Good polarized glasses are worth the money.
Hydrophobic solution
Yes, the Water Jackets came with a small bottle of hydrophobic solution to put on the lenses. I have not used them because I always wash my sunglasses after every use and figured it would be a waste.
I should try it, though. Despite the vent holes, if I’m overheating my sunglasses fog up. Maybe it would help prevent that. Then again, washing the lenses with gel toothpaste (NO abrasives!) does, too–for a short while.
I have a pair of Natives and like them.
I didn’t know about the warranty. I’ll have to look into that as I’ve worn right through the screw mounts on the temples.
Defense
The issue posed was one where you are looking downstream directly into a low hanging, winter sun. The glare off the water is almost blinding and it is difficult to read the water sometimes, even to accomplished river readers. Others in this thread have obviously had the same experience thus the interest shown. And if you have to buy yourself a nice Christmas present…
Reading Water
The problem was that the low sun angle and lots of glare made it impossible to see where I was going. The cheap glasses I did zip to reduce glare. As for reading moving water…I’ve been paddling for over 30 years & pretty much have it figured out as long as I can see where I’m going.
These
glasses from Hydro Optix are fantastic, especially around salt water.
http://h3opolarized.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?