Dave, what are your thoughts on polarizing lenses?
Do not wear any tinted lenses at night. Period. It is simply not safe, even if it does make you feel better. It makes the headlights more comfortable, but hurts your ability to see anything else that isn't lit. Just don't do it.
As for sunglasses the rest of the time... Yellow lenses are fine for the gray days as Al mentioned. I did some research on the effect of yellow lenses when I was in grad school and they don't help you see better on the gray days. Whether you test visual acuity or contrast sensitivity, there is no evidence they help. OTOH, pilots invariably prefer them and when I flew I wore an amber photochromic lens simply because I liked it despite the research which said it didn't help. The preference is simply psychological, which is fine by me.
For general wear, your best bet is a neutral gray lens. It won't distort color vision and provides the protection that is helpful. Above all, buy lenses that are 100% UV absorptive in both the A and B UV bands and wear them when in the sun. UV exposure hastens cataract formation and increases the risk of macular degeneration. I always tell my patients to protect their eyes from the sun as they do their skin. So wear sunglasses and a hat.
Sunglasses that provide that UV protection don't have to be expensive. It is cheap to make 100% UV lenses and unless you are buying them at a Podunk gas station somewhere, in the US if they are labeled as 100% UV absorptive they likely are.
It is not cheap to make non-prescription (plano) sunglass lenses that are free of optical distortion. This is where often the inexpensive sunglasses fall down. Take the lenses and look at a grid pattern at reading distance while holding the lenses about 8 inches away from your face. Slowly pass the lenses back and forth over the grid and look for any distortion in the grid lines. Most often you may find it near the edges of the lens. High quality lenses will tend to be uniformly good in this respect. Cheap ones will be hit and miss. So if you can examine a few, you should be able to find a pair that are pretty good.
I don't know much, but this is one area that I actually know what I'm talking about for a change.
Dark prescription bifocal sunglasses from Walmart. Works well for me; around $120 a pair.
Ted
Thanks for the advice,good coming from someone not selling me new sunnies.Polarizing lenses are great...There are downsides however. Liquid crystal displays also polarize light. At some angles the sunglasses will blank out the LCD displays of some electronics...
Thanks for the advice,good coming from someone not selling me new sunnies.
One day the indicator board at the train station had no display, removed the polaroid sunnies, board was working fine .
I have a set of Smiths glasses for cycling, frames with 3 interchangeable sets of lenses,clear, dark, yellow.Yellow make a seriously overcast day a nice one.
On boats we tend to wear our sunglasses for extended periods, comfortable frames not trying to cut your ears off is a joy.
What glasses & color lens do you use when boating. Did a search and no help.
Steve,
I do basically the same thing.
My photo-grey lens are so good the only time they don't cut it is heading into the sun over water. I have several of those thin wrap around fit behind the regular glasses things that cure the glare problem easily. Just keep them on the boat.
My vision is going south so I need regular glasses soon.
Costa Del Mar's Fathom sunglasses with blue mirror polarized glass (580) lenses.
https://www.costadelmar.com/us/en/men/sunglasses/view-all/fathom/FA+11+OBMGLP.html?iseasypick=false
Best sunglasses for wearing while on the ocean on a sunny day. With these glasses you can see below the surface of the water past the glare. These type pr polarized sunglasses are what 95% of the fishermen wear here in Mexico. I've personally been wearing them for almost two decades and love them. Not cheap but well worth the price IMHO.
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Amen...I was kinda shocked that Costas did not come up until now!!!! Someone mentioned Oakley and I have no problem with them other than they do not make glass lenses. There are VERY few retail manufacturers that provide glass lenses in sunglasses. Costa del Mar is one of them and I own a pair of glass lenses. Anyway, excellent shades!!!
PS...cannot wear polarized when flying so I do where Oakley non polarized glasses when flying. I am a big Oakley fan....but Costas are better!!!
Is glass lenses better than plastic?????
Is glass lenses better than plastic?????
Nice thing about the photochromic lenses is they are 100% UV absorptive. I wear them myself and find they are really well.
Modern scratch coatings on plastic lenses are actually as hard, or harder, than glass.