What do you really know anything about sunglasses; should you buy plastic or glass, what is polarization and how does it work and which color is the best for your needs? These are common questions and below are the answers to those and several others to help you determine your best direction when purchasing new sunglasses.
First you need to look at your vision and see if you have any special needs before you start looking for sunglasses. If you wear prescription glasses or have trouble seeing small objects you have a couple of options that can help you. Prescription sunglasses are available from many of the major sunglasses manufactures, you provide them you prescription and they make you a pair of prescription sunglasses, these glasses generally cost several hundred dollars. Another option is to buy a pair of sunglasses that fit over or connect and flip up on your regular eye wear, it means keeping up with two pairs of glasses but is a much more affordable option than having a pair of prescription sunglasses, Cocoons Sunglasses sponsors several Professional Anglers (Ish Monroe and Michael Iaconelli) and is one of the manufactures of these style of eye wear and prices ranger from $30 - $70. If you just have trouble doing small tasks like tying knots, you might only require a pair of cheaters or sunglasses with cheaters built into them. I wear a pair of Costa Del Mar C-Mates that have these bifocal style cheaters built in, I couldn't spend a day on the water with out them. This style of sunglasses cost around $200 but you also get better optics for better vision. For those with special vision need, these options will serve you well.
When you go to the grocery store, it's paper or plastic, at the sunglasses store it is Plastic or Glass. There are several issues to look at when you make this decision; comfort, care and price. Both are offered in a larger array of styles, lenses colors and offer great protection from the UV and flying objects. Glass lenses have the best optics available which means they have the least distortion, are also the heaviest so comfort is an issue on long fishing days for some and they are generally the most expensive. Glass lenses hold up the best and resist scratching but can crack if you drop them. When fishing in saltwater, glass lenses are a must, every time you wipe off the sea spray, you will scratch your plastic lenses. Plastic lenses (most are made of polycarbonate) are generally lighter and less expensive. They offer good optics, great styling and are generally valued priced compared to the comparable glass lenses. They are a great choice for freshwater anglers.
Outdoors man must make sure that any sunglasses that they pick are polarized. Polarization is a process of filtering the different wave of light in the atmosphere. These waves are constantly changing and affects your vision. Polarized sunglasses cut down the glare, weather you are on the road or on the water. This is very important to anglers and boaters so they have better vision for navigation and sight fishing. Have you ever changed direction in your boat and could not see as well even though you are wearing polarized sunglasses? The angle of the light wave has changed making your polarized sun- glasses less effective. Here is a tip that will help you under these conditions, slowly angle your head toward your right or left shoulders, there is a location that the glare will be greatly reduced. You have changed your angle to offset the wave angle, try it, it really works.
Lenses color is also very important when picking out your sunglasses, different color lenses allow anglers to see down into the water under different water and light conditions. The color of the lenses filter colors in the outdoors to sharpen contrasts. If I am fishing water that has a green tint, I wear moss green or amber lenses, but out on the ocean I wear grey or blue tinted lenses, and yellow lenses with low light condition at dawn or dusk. People generally boat and fish on their home waters, making an decision of lenses color easier, just pick the color lenses right for your local conditions.
You can buy the most expensive pair of sunglasses on the market today, if they don't fit correctly or hurt the bridge of your nose after an hour of fishing you would have just wasted a bunch of money, I stress that you try on as many pairs of sunglasses as you can, try a buddies glasses on while boating or fishing to see how his pair feels. After you have answered the question above, make sure that they are comfortable and fit well so they don't let in light, which affects your vision, choose the right style, color lenses and material for your needs. You will then find that the right polarized sunglasses really make the life of an outdoors man more enjoyable and they will most likely improve your fishing. In closing, I hope that this article helped clear up your vision on selecting a new pair of sunglasses. Thanks for reading the MARE BASSIN Blog and we hope to see you back soon.
Sincerely,
Brian
E-Mail: brian@mareinc.com
Phone: MARE Inc.: 301-898-3717
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