Polaroid Sunglasses Recommendation

[HawkesburyParadise]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking on investing in some polaroids for the next season. I'd like to keep it below $100 if possible Any recommendations?

 

Cheers

HP

[JustJames]

I bought some cheapies from the 'bay because I like not having to give a stuff about how I treat them.  They are comfortable on my face, which is the only real consideration.

 

Sunnies are all about the marketing.  Polaroid is a brand name, but there are other polarising sunglasses where you aren't paying for the name.  Almost all sunnies use polycarbonate for their lenses, and polycarbonate cuts out UV, so no brand will cut more or less UV than any other.

 

That said, if anybody wants to spend bigly on sunnies, go for your life, you'll get no arguments from me.

[XD351]

I got away from poly lenses years ago as they scratched to easily .

[big Neil]

22 minutes ago, JustJames said:

I bought some cheapies from the 'bay because I like not having to give a stuff about how I treat them.  They are comfortable on my face, which is the only real consideration.

 

Sunnies are all about the marketing.  Polaroid is a brand name, but there are other polarising sunglasses where you aren't paying for the name.  Almost all sunnies use polycarbonate for their lenses, and polycarbonate cuts out UV, so no brand will cut more or less UV than any other.

 

That said, if anybody wants to spend bigly on sunnies, go for your life, you'll get no arguments from me.

You appear to be answering the question with some authority JustJames. So is one to assume that the $30 pair of plastic lens sunnies is as effective at blocking out UV as the $300 pair?

bn

[JustJames]

8 minutes ago, big Neil said:

You appear to be answering the question with some authority JustJames. So is one to assume that the $30 pair of plastic lens sunnies is as effective at blocking out UV as the $300 pair?

bn

That is my understanding - happy to be proved wrong if I have gotten it wrong through.

[XD351]

You don’t get the clarity or optically correct lenses with poly . Sure , to get you by until you can save up for a decent pair they are fine bit once you put on a decent quality pair of polaroid glasses you won’t want to go back . Also you have more choice in frame styles , lense colour and coating. I got a set of tonic glasses when the Deckee shop had them on special , pretty sure they were under $200 so take a look there to see what is available - now wish i had bought two pairs ! My tonic and makos are glass lenses so not all use polycarbonate for the lenses , you can get these brands in poly but why bother . It is not strictly about UV  it is about glare on the water and you need a polarising lense to cut the glare and allow you to see into the water better , even $10 safety glasses will cut UV but they wont cut the glare off the water because they are generally not a polarised lenses.

Edited August 4, 2023 by XD351

[big Neil]

9 minutes ago, XD351 said:

You don’t get the clarity or optically correct lenses with poly . Sure , to get you by until you can save up for a decent pair they are fine bit once you put on a decent quality pair of polaroid glasses you won’t want to go back . Also you have more choice in frame styles , lense colour and coating. I got a set of tonic glasses when the Deckee shop had them on special , pretty sure they were under $200 so take a look there to see what is available - now wish i had bought two pairs ! 

That's a very good price for that particular brand XD351.   bn

[XD351]

That is why i jumped at them ! Just like the Rapala filleting knife sets i got from the Deckee store  ( knife, glove and a lure) $12 each iirc and they are great .

[XD351]

Had a look on the Deckee store and a pair of tonics are selling at around $250 , down from $299 which is from what i can see the going rate without club membership at “other  places” , one thing i have found with these “other places”is they offer these club discounts but never seem to have any stock ! I have bought heaps of gear  from the Deckee store and the store they are partnered with and have had nothing short of superb service from them both so they are worthy of your patronage.

[Green Hornet]

I too have gone with the more expensive, glass polarized lenses on the two pairs of sunglasses I own for fishing. One set with grey lenses and another with copper to suit different conditions and environments.

In my opinion plastic lenses are good for a cheap, first pair, but the better quality, durability and vision glass lenses offer makes them a must have eventually. In the long run, if you look after them the glass lenses are economical as well, as I’ve been using the same 2 pairs of sunnies for close to 20 years.

As far as the quality of lenses and frames go, I don’t think there’s a lot of difference between similar priced glasses. What’s more important is to find a brand or style that fit your face and feel comfortable as you’ll be wearing them for hours at a time and don’t want them slipping down your nose, especially when you’re slopped up with sunscreen.

My understanding of the UV debate between different lenses is that all glasses sold in this country must meet Australian Standards, including everything from the most expensive down to the cheap, tinted safety glasses.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Green Hornet

[XD351]

6 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

 

My understanding of the UV debate between different lenses is that all glasses sold in this country must meet Australian Standards, including everything from the most expensive down to the cheap, tinted safety glasses.

Correct and that is why if you are not worried about the polaroid thing you’re better off buying a heap of cheap tinted safety glasses as they will protect your eyes from UV perfectly well.

[Rebel]

I asked my eye Doctor years ago what to buy.

He is a keen fishing guy.

Buy Tonic  for fishing. Make sure the lenses are glass.

My day to day Sunnies are also glass. Had to have them done specially.

Cheers.

[noelm]

It’s kind of funny, but, with good Polarised glasses, when you look through a car windscreen, it’s all “spotty” no idea why or what goes on. I personally prefer cheaper ones and just buy another pair when they get scratched/broken/lost. I have lots at home, my son comes over and leaves them here, finders keeps in my house…..

[Rebel]

As my eye Doctor told me. You have one set of eyes look after them.

In other words do not wear CRAP Sunglasses.

Cheers.

[zmk1962]

Polarised and UV protection are two different things and give you different benefits - and you can have Polarised and UV protection on the same lens - polycarb or glass.

UV protection - sunlight is a spectrum of light rays at different frequencies. The Ultra Violet (UV) frequency is the most harmful to our eyes and long term exposure will lead to cataracts etc. So a UV filter applied to a lens is designed to block that harmful UV spectrum of light.

Polarisation - in a nutshell is a filter that only allows the light spectrum aligned with the filter to pass through. So imagine you are looking through a set of vertical parallel bars - you can only see between the bars and the bars block some of the vision. With polarised lenses the filter bars are so close together to work on light waves, and to keep it simple imagine they  only allow the light waves that are vertical to pass through... that means the light waves that are travelling at any other angle are blocked. So when light reflects, that light is bouncing off a surface (object or the water) at many different angles ... a polarised lens cuts out any light that is not aligned with the filter, so it reduces much of that glare ... letting you see more ... hence a useful but different purpose to UV protection.

An interesting fact, if you take two polarised lenses and lay them on each other, you can see through (both lenses are letting the vertical light through),  if you rotate one 90deg - they go black - as the vertical light shining through the first is now blocked out by the second lens (lying at 90deg) - they have effectively blocked all light waves. @noelm you are describing a similar effect with your "spotty" windscreen comment. The windscreen is a laminate, as light shines through the layers, some of the lightwaves come through at a different angle and hence those areas of the windscreen appear darker as some of the light is blocked. If you rotate your glasses side to side while looking at the screen you'll see those spots darken and lighten and others appear and disappear.

To me whether you go polycarb lense or glass lense is all about durability and clarity - glass will always be clearer, and last longer (unless dropped!).

Hope that sheds some light !

Cheers Zoran

Edited August 4, 2023 by zmk1962

[XD351]

Back when  i was into target shooting there were all sorts of theories out there regarding glasses , some say that people with blue or green eyes were more sensitive to blue light and should use a lense that filtered it out , others like me never worried about it and ran with clear lenses .Funny thing with polarised lenses is they can make reading a sounder or phone screen difficult . I won’t drive a car in polarised glasses , i just use cheap uv sunnies for that . 

[zmk1962]

1 hour ago, XD351 said:

Back when  i was into target shooting there were all sorts of theories out there regarding glasses , some say that people with blue or green eyes were more sensitive to blue light and should use a lense that filtered it out , others like me never worried about it and ran with clear lenses .Funny thing with polarised lenses is they can make reading a sounder or phone screen difficult . I won’t drive a car in polarised glasses , i just use cheap uv sunnies for that . 

That's a weird conclusion .. the colour of your iris has nothing to do with the light passing through the cornea / pupil / lens to the retina and macula at the back of the eye ... if anything, some people are colour blind or partially colour blind - red and green in particular - for those people maybe using a coloured lens helped eliminate or enhance some of the problem colours allowing them to see better definition. Many people don't know they are colour blind. My nephew didn't know it all thru school and was often told he was a poor listener or lazy in learning colour names and using the correct colours .. he found he was colour blind when he tried to join the army ! 

And yes, sounder screens and smartphone screens are problematic ... because the combination of LCD screen and LED backlights create a light which is largely "polarised" (ie waves are in one direction) ... and so polarized sunglasses will filter that light out when its not aligned with their filter ... rotate the glasses and you will see the screen becoming brighter and darker etc ... a real PITA because I like to use Polarised and UV treated glasses on the boat ... great for navigating through harbour traffic by cutting glare and providing protection but sh*t when I try to look at the nav !!!

Cheers Zoran
 

 

[XD351]

Yeah i dunno either , i just remember reading it and a few talking about it , seemed like garbage to me so never worried about it . I typically stick with a grey lense ,never liked amber or yellow lenses ( some swore by them for shooting ) but everyone is different i guess .

[nutsaboutfishing]

On 8/4/2023 at 1:56 PM, big Neil said:

On 8/4/2023 at 1:28 PM, JustJames said:

I bought some cheapies from the 'bay because I like not having to give a stuff about how I treat them.  They are comfortable on my face, which is the only real consideration.

 

Sunnies are all about the marketing.  Polaroid is a brand name, but there are other polarising sunglasses where you aren't paying for the name.  Almost all sunnies use polycarbonate for their lenses, and polycarbonate cuts out UV, so no brand will cut more or less UV than any other.

 

That said, if anybody wants to spend bigly on sunnies, go for your life, you'll get no arguments from me.

Expand  

You appear to be answering the question with some authority JustJames. So is one to assume that the $30 pair of plastic lens sunnies is as effective at blocking out UV as the $300 pair?

bn

When buying sunnies just make sure they are catergory 3, should say on the tag. This is the Australian standard which ensures they cut adequate UV etc.

 

https://www.productsafety.gov.au/product-safety-laws/safety-standards-bans/mandatory-standards/sunglasses-fashion-spectacles

Edited August 5, 2023 by nutsaboutfishing

[mrsswordfisherman]

10 minutes ago, nutsaboutfishing said:

When buying sunnies just make sure they are catergory 3. This is the Australian standard which ensures they cut adequate UV etc.

 

https://www.productsafety.gov.au/product-safety-laws/safety-standards-bans/mandatory-standards/sunglasses-fashion-spectacles

Thanks @nutsaboutfishing .
Members this raider is an optometrist and is perfectly placed to answer the questions for you 

I will post the link here to your pinned post @nutsaboutfishing from 2015 

 

[big Neil]

19 minutes ago, nutsaboutfishing said:

When buying sunnies just make sure they are catergory 3. This is the Australian standard which ensures they cut adequate UV etc.

 

https://www.productsafety.gov.au/product-safety-laws/safety-standards-bans/mandatory-standards/sunglasses-fashion-spectacles

Thanks very much for sharing that information, it has helped clear things up for me. Your post and zmk1962 post amplify the fact that there are a lot of misnomers out there regarding eye/ sun protection. I hope that everyone reads this and makes their judgments based on the sound facts presented. Cheers, bn

[Hoods]

There's Fishraider for you again.

Ask and ye shall receive - seek and ye shall find.

Sunglasses are sunscreen for your eyes