Polarized Sunglasses

[hazmat]

Looking to get a pair, but don't want to pay an arm and a leg. Actually, I'd like to keep it under $50 if at all possible. Is that realistic in terms of quality? I don't know much about these past their effectiveness for seeing into the water/cutting glare. What I'm wondering specifically, is there a certain point on the cheaper end where saving bucks is giving up performance? Is there a mid-range at which you get what you paid for? Any links to reviews? And what tints are suggested? Thanks!!!

Matt

[mdram]

since i lose mine or berak em so often i just get the cheap ones from walmart fishing section. can be had for @ 15-20
works for me

[hazmat]

since i lose mine or berak em so often i just get the cheap ones from walmart fishing section. can be had for @ 15-20
works for me

That's really what I have in mind. Even $50 seems way too much for something that, as you say, I know I'm going to break or lose at some point. My history with sunglasses of any type isn't a shining one. Just wondering how much of a "you get what you pay for" proposition buying a pair of polarized shades is.

[Bamboozle]

Haz:

IF you wear a baseball style cap and want a cool flip-up option that is light weight and work GREAT; take a look at Brimz:

http://www.brimz.net/

I use the brown polarized and they even work great even over glasses if you need them. At $30 a pair they are priced right too. Because I often fish in places where sunglasses can make things too dark; I have always liked the flip-up option. The Brimz are great because IF you don't want them you just flip them up and out of the way.

Oh yea, you can't lose them unless you lose your hat!

[hazmat]

Haz:

IF you wear a baseball style cap and want a cool flip-up option that is light weight and work GREAT; take a look at Brimz:

http://www.brimz.net/

I use the brown polarized and they even work great even over glasses if you need them. At $30 a pair they are priced right too. Because I often fish in places where sunglasses can make things too dark; I have always liked the flip-up option. The Brimz are great because IF you don't want them you just flip them up and out of the way.

Oh yea, you can't lose them unless you lose your hat!

Nice! Wonder if I can find them locally? That would be ideal.. I wear a baseball cap and generally just throw my shades up on top of the brim when I don't want them. I've lost 3 pair that way because I'll take the hat off and forget they're there...

[Micropteris]

I was just pondering this question myself. I don't mind paying a price for one pair, but I think of the pair that is sitting on the bottom of the ocean with my hat and another pair that is sitting on the bottom of a lake, and another pair that is somewhere in a New Jersey arboretum. Countless others that have been broken. I am sure you get my drift.

[Bamboozle]

I doubt you will find them in a store except possibly a store that sells softball equipment since they're very popular with softball teams.

I just order them directly off the Brimz website. I can't rave about them enough. The only thing you may want to do if you get them is wrap a bandanna around the lenses when you stash your hat just so you don't accidentally scratch the lenses because they are plastic.

[mdram]

Haz:

IF you wear a baseball style cap and want a cool flip-up option that is light weight and work GREAT; take a look at Brimz:

http://www.brimz.net/

I use the brown polarized and they even work great even over glasses if you need them. At $30 a pair they are priced right too. Because I often fish in places where sunglasses can make things too dark; I have always liked the flip-up option. The Brimz are great because IF you don't want them you just flip them up and out of the way.

Oh yea, you can't lose them unless you lose your hat!

Nice! Wonder if I can find them locally? That would be ideal.. I wear a baseball cap and generally just throw my shades up on top of the brim when I don't want them. I've lost 3 pair that way because I'll take the hat off and forget they're there...

used to do that, now i have one of those string things on em. you can eve get ones that float

[Capt. Ahab]

I lose my fishing shades at least once or twice during a season. I ended up buying a few pairs of the same brand from wally for about 12 bucks. I think they were called "Strike Kings", and they aren't half bad. I stash one in my vest, so if I forget them, I still have them. I try to keep the other in my car so I have a pair around if I get into a fix. They do their job thats for sure. Granted they cannot compare to other polarizers that cost over 100 bucks, but they work just fine. And when I sit on them, I'm not too upset. I wore a friends glasses that price out for $150, and I'll admit, I was awestruck. They remove a lot larger area of glare than my cheap shades. I keep thinking that I might buy some one day, but only when I have money to burn. I just know I'll destroy them eventually.

[SilverMallard]

How much do you pay for all your other fishing gear? Waders, boots, rods, reels, lines, and all that jazz? Cuz if you can't see, you're pretty much done fly-fishing. Food for thought.

With that said, I have found the Strike King glasses sold all over the place in fishing sections to be a good mix of quality and economy at about $30-45. They come with one of those soft neck straps that floats. But I got a pair of Maui Jim's for my birthday from my wife in gold iridium lenses and ultra-light frames that are just incredible! They are about $150. They look stylish enough to wear anywhere with anything, AND they are far and away the best fishing glasses I've ever had. And that includes some more expensive RayBans and Oakleys and such. The Maui Jim's are also unbreakable/bendable. And the gold iridium actually improves contrast in low light situations as well as eliminating glare.

You don't get high quality optical grade lenses until you are pushing $100. Below that, you're getting "cheap sunglasses." That means you're dealing with a certain amount of image distortion, less flexibility across the light spectrum, etc. You can get polarization and good UV blocking without terrible distortion starting at about $30. But you can forget photo-sensitive shading, contrast enhancement, and near-zero edge distortion.

I only have one pair of eyes. So I'm all for good glasses. And I have also found that I still own a couple of pairs of the $200+ sunglasses I bought in the 1980s. But I lose and/or tear up cheap sunglasses after a month or two. You tend to take better care of stuff you pay a king's ransom for...or at least I do.