BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

What are the best sunglasses for boating?<br />Is amber or gray a better color for daylight visibility? I need prescription glasses and need new lenses.<br />Michael

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

Hi there. Spent most of my life on boats, personally and professionally. I have amber/yellow, cuts through fog and haze better than any other. Gotta be a good pair though, b/c you also need to cut glare and UV.

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

depends on your prescription. try a couple pair of the clip ons, in amber, gray or another color. must be polarized for best visibility though.

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

I carry a couple of different pairs with me. I like to see the bottom when I fish so depending on what type of day it is I use different ones. Darker ones for bright days and lighter ones for overcast days. Should always have a couple of pairs and quess what you don't need those expensive ones. The inexpensive ones work just fine and if you sit on them no big deal. Yes, I work for Foster Grant. Whose behind those Foster Grants?

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

Amber for gray or foggy days, neutral gray for bright days.<br /><br />Optically neutral, UVA and UVB blocking polarized in both cases.<br /><br />Forget designers, go for quality optics.

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

Polarized, Polarized, Polarized. as JB says.<br /><br />Helps you see into the water also.<br /><br />Quite expensive if you have it built into your glasss, I use the flip ups myself.<br /><br />Now here is another way to look at it, If you have polarization built into your glasss with an auto tint feature, You will have the clearest vision you can imagine at night when it rains, the polarization will cut right through the road glare like you never imagined posable.

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

Sometimes, the glasses aren't labeled as "polarized" - quick check in the store, is to look at a reflection (like light on the floor), and spin the glasses (as if you were tilting your head). If the reflection disappears, they're polarized.<br /><br />Another check is to look through 2 sets of polarized glasses. As you spin one, the 2 will filter out ALL light. Pilots who used to flight night missions for the military, had special glasses that used this feature - they'd move a lever every so often until they're eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

Polarized are great on the water. I use them for flying as well. However, flying one day and looking at the GPS LCD screen I wondered why it was black while the power was on. Tilted my head and could see the read out. <br /><br />I must have looked real dumb tilting my head every so often to see the screen.

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

Originally posted by Baldguy:<br /> I must have looked real dumb tilting my head every so often to see the screen.

Click to expand...

Same thing with fish finders, anything with an LCD<br /> screen.

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

Ahhh, I knew this would come up sooner or later<br /><br />I know I'm a little late in on this post but feel as though I have something to offer since I sell and make eyewear and sunwear all day long.<br /><br />As some other posters have indicated, there is NOT one pair of sunwear that will effectively meet all your prevailing optical demands. Suggesting one pair of sunglasses would be like suggesting one fishing rod for all species of fish.<br /><br />The most popular colors you will find are Grey and Brown as they offer two distinct benefits and have two distinct disadvantages:<br /><br />GREY- Is probably the most popular since it provides true color definition. Grey also diminishes the greatest light transmission which contributes to good overall comfort and good optical performance in the late morning into the middle of the afternoon. However, In early morning and late afternoon you may not be able to recognize the benefit which other lens color alternatives can afford.<br /><br />Brown (also referred to as Amber by some manufacturers) provides the greatest contrast sensitivity in lower light conditions. Therefore it is a popular sunwear choice for overcast days, early morning, and late afternoon.<br />However, Most brown lenses cause color abberation which means red cars may appear pink or orange and green trees may appear lime or yellowish. Since Brown lenses provide greater light transmission, they may be less comfortable to wear in the middle of the day as the sun is directly overhead.<br /><br />As far as polarization, NOT ALL POLARIZED LENSES ARE CREATED EQUAL:<br /><br />Ophthalmic quality sunwear is manufactured to the same standards as prescription eyewear and utilize a suspension molded polarized filter which is sandwiched between the front and back surface of the lenses. Since the filter is protected on both sides, scratched lenses do not compromise the optical properties of the lens and performance of the polarized filter.<br /><br />Laminated polarized lenses are the kind of sunwear you can usually locate in a blister pack on the shelf of your favorite sporting goods store (sometimes endorsed by a well known fishing celebrity). These mass produced sunwear have the polarized filter stretched across and bonded to the base lens which is usually pressed out of a large sheet of plastic. Once the polarized filter is scratched, the performance of the polarized filter and optics are compromized. <br /><br />The weird things you folks are referring to with polarized lenses. Polarized filters utilize crystal ions stretched on the filter to create a linear polarizing axis. This is what blocks glare reflected from 45 degree surfaces. Many Liquid Crystal Displays also utilize circular polarization. As the polarizing axisis conflict with each other, you recognize the chromatic abberation as some posters previously explained<br /><br />There are indeed many other factors in choosing sunwear but I don't want to bore folks with too many details. I've been selling Costa Del Mar sunwear in my shop for about 5 years with very positive results. The frames are very well made and backed by a LIFETIME WARRANTY. Providing you don't loose your quality sunwear, it should last you a long time. Most of the frame styles are also ophthalmic quality which means you can have your prescription put in them. The new WAVE 500 lens afford all the benefits of a low density brown lens without the color abberations recognized in other brands of sunwear.<br /><br />Hope this helps.<br />Kevin

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

I'm partial to Maui Jim's sunglasses. They are the best sunglasses that I've ever owned. Mine are polarized of course and they will cost you over $100.00 but if you're like me and take care of them you won't be disappointed. Many people I talk to say they lose or break sunglasses too often to purchase a quality pair but I guess I'm just over cautious. Everytime someone tries on my sunglasses I have to fight to get them back. I believe I paid around $160.00 for mine and have had them going on 1 1/2 years. One of my better purchases. You could probably go to walmart and get a cheap pair of polarized sunglasses and not be let down though.

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

Ditto on the Maui Jims!!!!! They are the absolute best that I have ever owned bar none.I had always loved my Ray Bans but there is no comparison when it comes to looking into the sun reflecting waters while navigating.I liked them so much I bought a second pair.The ones I just got have titamium frames and arms.You can sit on them and guess what????They go right back to shape.Charlie

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

before I had to get perscription eyeglasses, I used many different brand name sunglasses over my 17 years as a yacht captain in the caribbean. Costa Del Mars were the best ones I used. you sell good stuff, PAKev. Age has caught up with me, and now I use polarized magnetic clip ons over my perscription...its easier than switching glasses, although I get a lot of periferal light.

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

Crazy Charlie, I have a pair of Maui's also, excellent vision but go through a pair every six months, salt water gets to the frame... How do you protect them.. ?

Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING

I won't deny Maui Jim makes a good pair of sunglasses which we also sell but when they break (and someday they will) you will be without your prized sunwear for at least two weeks as you need to send them to Maui Jims stateside headquarters in Peoria Illinois for repair. In addition to your shipping costs you will also get a bill for the repairs made if you are outside the parameters of their standard one year warranty. Although I also sell Maui Jim sunwear and am a certified optician, I can technically void the Maui Jim warranty by making a legitimate adjustment or repair using stock optical supplies such as replacement nosepads or eyewire screws. Coming from an ophthalmology practice our patients have expectations of eyecare professionals to meet their specific optical demands. These frustrations are very difficult to convey to a customer who paid sometimes as much as $299 for a pair of sunglasses and has the same expectations of us to fix the problem as they would with their ophthalmic prescription eyewear. I have shared these frustrations with my Maui Jim rep but they evidently don't see a need to change their current MO. <br /><br />On the other hand.... As an authorized Costa Del Mar dealer someone can bring in a broken pair of sunwear they purchased from us 3 years ago. We replace their frame with a new frame from our inventory and they walk out of our shop with a functional pair of sunwear. No skin off our back since we are able to then send their broken frame back to Costa Del Mar to receive the appropriate credit while exceeding the expectations of our patients.<br /><br />Sundog...........<br />Clip (over RX ) sunwear has become very popular but is not an alternative to quality prescription sunwear. <br />Heres why: <br />All optical mediums (glass, plastic, polycarbonate, acrylic, etc.) have what is known as an index of refraction. This means how fast light penetrates through a specific medium compared to light passing through air; the higher the index, the more energy passing through the lens material. On average light passes through lenses half the speed it passes through air (CR 39 Plastic = 1:49, Glass = 1:52, Polycarbonate = 1:56 etc) High index lenses do not necessarily produce positive results but are popular with higher prescription lenses since they result in less lens thickness for more cosmetically appealing eyewear. The higher the index, the denser the lens material which also causes resistance for light to penetrate the lens material causing a host of other problems. With this in mind, 95% of the time the sun clip material (usually an acryllic laminate polarization as discussed in my previous post) will be a different index than the ophthalmic quality prescription lens of plastic, polycarbonate, or glass material. Therefore light is passing through two different lenses at different speeds. The higher the prescription, the more evident this distortion becomes. Folks wearing lower prescriptions can tolerate this distortion but will appreciate the superior optics recognized from a dedicated pair of quality prescription sunwear.<br /><br />Kevin