sailing sunglasses

Bosun Higgs

Bosun Higgs

N/A
Joined
26 Nov 2009
Messages
13,406
Location
everywhere
Visit site
hitherto I've always bought the el cheepo from the local market but for a variety of reasons I need to buy some decent ones which will give a fair degree of wind protection.

any recommendation? preferable at sensible non-brand-name-junky prices
 
I read a survey years ago which suggested the cheaper brands afforded the most protection.

Companies such as boots stock a good range, the rest is down to personal preference after that.

I prefer to wear prescription glasses treated with a polarising finish. I find these work better than sunglasses for long periods of wear because they reduce glare without darkening the image to much.

I got mine two years ago and wear them constantly. Specsavers provided mine but other opticians will also be able to advice..
 
I've always found it's better to shell out on decent quality sunglasses as they have proper lenses and a better degree of UV protection etc.
I've just been given a pair of Oakley OO Polorised Straight Jacket glasses that have a very good degree of wind protection from both the front and sides ............ not cheap though !
see here
 
It always amuses me that anyone even considers cheap sunglasses. After all during the course of our sailing lifestyle ours eyes are subjected to relentless UV, even when its not sunny. Why would you want to trust your eyes to cheap sun glasses with nothing more than a bit of coloured plastic?

I know you cant believe everything you read on the label, but there are goods description laws in this country. I bought a pair (two actually, as I have dropped a pair over the side) Muai Jim (spelling?), they are multi layer, ultra UV etc etc. They cost me around £100 a pair, but when we spend thousands on our boats, often thousands more on sails, electronics etc, £100 is small money by comparison. After all, you only get one pair of eyes, dont you?
 
I have a pair of Gill Sunnies for sailing. Good wind protection and polarised. Cheap enough (circa £35 I think) that I don't care too much about them.

However, the polarisation started to annoy me, as it can make LCD instruments unreadable if your head was at the wrong angle, and the wrong angle happened to be the natural angle when helming upwind on port tack!

So I've reverted to wearing my Oakleys on the boat, a use they seem suited to. Which has the added benefit that I don't have to remember to swap them over before I walk into the trendiest of racer hangouts....
 
Bosun Higgs said:
hitherto I've always bought the el cheepo from the local market but for a variety of reasons I need to buy some decent ones which will give a fair degree of wind protection.

any recommendation? preferable at sensible non-brand-name-junky prices
Click to expand...

I buy cheapo ones as I tend to break or drop them over the side. I have a glass eye which gets sore with too much salt water. For protection in rain and spray I use ski goggles from Aldi or Lidl. They are about £6 a pair and I have a dark pair and a yellow pair which are OK for low light.
Allan
 
Last edited:
activesail said:
I prefer to wear prescription glasses treated with a polarising finish. I find these work better than sunglasses for long periods of wear because they reduce glare without darkening the image to much.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to get prescription glasses with light-reactive lenses ? If so then a pair of those in a wrap-around frame would do the trick.

I realised at the w/end that I need to do something like that - swapping from sunglasses to my reading glasses at the chart table was a real pita on my DS practical and I'm going to get some bifocals in a sunglasses frame asap. Any pointers gratefully received...

Boo2
 
If possible, go to Decathlon(I'm not sure whether they have shops in UK).
They have a large amount of good sunglasses(not just plastic in a colour, but real UV-protection) of their own brand, at very reasonable prices. I've had several of those, none of them coasting over €25. Only reason why I already bought several of them is that I tend to lose my sunglasses.
 
Last edited:
Boots do some polarising sunnies at about £40 which are rather good. Especially if you can pick them up half price in the summer sale that they have regularly.
 
Argos fishing section, about 12 quid. Polarised, stout frames, look ok. Wrap around style so keeps the wind at bay. They last well - till you drop them in the oggin.
 
ChrisE said:
Regarding UV protection, any sunglasses that have glass rather than plastic lenses will protect you.
Click to expand...

No no no no no.....

Glass does not automatically block UV.

All plastics materials used in spectacle lenses do block UV to some extent. All sunspecs sold in UK however are legally required to block UV adequately.

Glass as a lens material is far more dangerous than plastics - imagine what happens when a piece of glass shatters just in front of your eye. I used to demonstrate this by placing a glass lens under a plastics one and hitting them both with a (small) hammer: the glass one shatters and the plastics one remains intact 99% of the time.

If you need sunspecs to prescription go to your optician - that's our job. Otherwise buy what ever suits best, protects from the wind and doesn't have sticky out bits to catch on the rigging! Polarised lenses are great for some purposes (driving down a wet road towards the sun in an evening is the prime example) but do make LCD displays a bit tricky.

I would agree Maui Jim are excellent.
 
galadriel said:
I bought a pair (two actually, as I have dropped a pair over the side) Muai Jim (spelling?), they are multi layer, ultra UV etc etc.
Click to expand...


If you dropped them in Paimpol Harbour they may be next to my pair of Mauri Jims (unfortunately cost me £150)

In fact they could be mating and there are loads of baby Mauri Jims sunglasses in Paimpol Harbour.

Friend dropped a pair of Oakleys overboard at Cowes. Went to local shop and remarked that he might dive down to retrieve them. Shop replied many have done that - at Cowes you can find up to six pairs of sunglasses but never the pair they lost!!
 
riojasailer said:
No no no no no.....

Glass does not automatically block UV.

All plastics materials used in spectacle lenses do block UV to some extent. All sunspecs sold in UK however are legally required to block UV adequately.

Glass as a lens material is far more dangerous than plastics - imagine what happens when a piece of glass shatters just in front of your eye. I used to demonstrate this by placing a glass lens under a plastics one and hitting them both with a (small) hammer: the glass one shatters and the plastics one remains intact 99% of the time.

If you need sunspecs to prescription go to your optician - that's our job. Otherwise buy what ever suits best, protects from the wind and doesn't have sticky out bits to catch on the rigging! Polarised lenses are great for some purposes (driving down a wet road towards the sun in an evening is the prime example) but do make LCD displays a bit tricky.

I would agree Maui Jim are excellent.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to question you but where do you get your information? As far as I'm aware UV is converted into infra red when it passes through glass, that's how green houses work, innit. You won't get a tan, that's the UV bit, sitting behind glass

Your point about all sunpsecs being legally required to block UV is well made and answers all of the questions about safety, after that it is all about fashion.
 
I had a pair of polarised sun glasses before they went for a swim, but as Flaming says, they are no good for reading instruments if you are not in line with them.

The pair I have now are by far the best I have ever had. Not polarised Bloc X301 Cat 3 that offer good wind protection all round but are the most comortable pair of glasses I have worn.

Wonder how long they will stay with me before they too want to go for a swim?
 
ChrisE said:
I'm sorry to question you but where do you get your information? As far as I'm aware UV is converted into infra red when it passes through glass, that's how green houses work, innit.
Click to expand...

Feel free to question anything I say - I don't get upset easily. I'm an Optometrist and I work with spectacle lens materials and transmission factors relative to the absorption of visible and non visible radiation on a regular basis.
 
riojasailer said:
Feel free to question anything I say - I don't get upset easily. I'm an Optometrist and I work with spectacle lens materials and transmission factors relative to the absorption of visible and non visible radiation on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

Bet you don't do a pair with windscreen washers and wipers. Thats what sailors really want you know...:D:D (goes back into cave;))

Tim
 
We recently started wearing Rapala brand sunglasses. A friend of ours recommended them and we bought them in the Algarve for about 25 Euros a pair. They are polarised and are specifically designed for fishermen. Very comfortable and light to wear. Brilliant! and cheap enough to carry a spare pair.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top