what kind of sunglasses do you prefer?

[Cliffnopus]

SWMBO and I love our titanium Silhouette's, we've had them for several years before CSI Miami made them more popular. You can bend 'em, sit on 'em and you can't ruin them. http://www.silhouette.com/ I also have the titanium Maui Jim Kapalua's that are almost as nice.

Cliff

 

[benchmade_boy]

i personaly dont like polarized glasses they make me feel like i am a foot taller and they cost an arm and a leg. my first real set of sunglasses i got were oakley strait jackets they were the replica models i got from the local gun show and i had them for about 4 years before they broke and got lost. i hope my new set last as long i chose the xlj over the regular ones cuz i feel like they fit my face and protect my eyes better.

 

[Biker Bear]

I've read in the past that it's important to make sure the lenses block UV rays as well as visible light. When wearing sunglasses, your pupils open a bit wider, potentially exposing your retinas to UV damage. Check the label on the glasses when you buy them and avoid using super-cheap sunglasses. YMMV.

And not just UV - you want something that blocks infrared too, or you can cook your retinas for just the same reason.

I've been told the two best lenses - in terms of actually protecting your eyes - are Maui Jim and REVO. I had a pair of Maui Jim's for years, then managed to break the frame. I've got a pair of wraparound REVOs now and they're fantastic.

Cheap sunglasses can harm your eyes - and you only get one pair in this life. Make sure whatever you get blocks UV and IR!

 

[RAF_Groundcrew]

RAY-BAN Aviators. I have a few pairs, a pair of driving lenses in my car, a couple of pairs of 'shooters'. I like the thinner optical glass lenses, they distort less.

Added bonus, they keep coming back into fashion every few years, so they will be trendy some of the time!

I have a couple of pairs of Oakleys, a pair of E wires, and a pair of something else I can't remember, but they're frameless lenses.

I don't like wearing the framelss Oakleys for driving, as the distortion at the edge of the plastic lens is too much for my liking (looking at the edge of the lens when worn, objects tend to move suddenly when moving from within the lens area to outside, due to the refractive properties of the plastic lenses).

 

[cave dave]

Oakly has a military discount program. Check into it if you are in the military. There is a minimum order so you need several from your unit to go in together. I have the XLJ's and would never pay full price for them. I use my no-name, bought at REI for less than $20 sunglasses way more often and like them better.

 

[rgp4544]

Randolph Engineering Aviators with bayonet temples and 55 mm Grey-3 lenses which do not distort colors. The military designation for these is HGU-4P or something like that. They tend to fit nicely underneath a headset but if in extremely bright areas like parts of the southern hemisphere a darker lens would be better.

Here's a link for them: http://www.marvgolden.com/sunglasses/randolph-main.htm

Richard

 

[wquiles]

Maui Jim Titanium

Will

 

[lampare]

Maui Jim

 

[wmpwi]

Revo H2O in amber. Best lens I've ever owned. Now that I wear glasses, I like Sax clip-ons. Wish Revo made some.

And not just UV - you want something that blocks infrared too, or you can cook your retinas for just the same reason.

I've been told the two best lenses - in terms of actually protecting your eyes - are Maui Jim and REVO. I had a pair of Maui Jim's for years, then managed to break the frame. I've got a pair of wraparound REVOs now and they're fantastic.

Cheap sunglasses can harm your eyes - and you only get one pair in this life. Make sure whatever you get blocks UV and IR!

 

[RA40]

I've been using Oakley since they came on the market ~'82 and still have a pair of the Pilot's hanging about. The plastic frames don't last long even though I'm not rough with them...so now I buy the metal framed versions. I get a new pair almost every 14-18 months.

Rayban I also like and switch between these and some Oakley Whiskers when cycling.

Polo Sport polarized for driving.

Had I been smart and not so penny pinchy, I'd have polarized all around. Much nicer lens characteristics, I can't think of an application a polarized lens wouldn't be nice. My recco there.

Maui Jim's are nice and Costco has them at good prices. Revo is another I like. Oakley does what I ask and my optometrist has :twothumbs for them even though he isn't a dealer of them.

Oakley HQ is a 30 minute drive for me so warranty or fix-it is another reason why I like their products.

 

[gvmelbrty]

Maui Jims :rock:

 

[nelstomlinson]

I currently wear Oakley's big square wire frames, with prescription lenses. Since I have transitions lenses, I wear them indoors and out.

See them here: http://oakley.com/o/o1247d

I got these because they were big enough to really cover my eyes. They wrap around enough that I have peripheral vision, and they sit close enough to my eyes that I can look down without tilting my head down. My eyes are near-sighted enough that I don't want to not be looking through the lenses, no matter which way I turn my eyes.

The quality seems ok so far (had them about 5 months). They are much heavier than the smaller, rounder titanium frames I used to wear, but the wrap-around feature makes up for that.

 

[Telkin]

Oakley Romeo's (VR28 Lens) and Oakley Square Wire 2.0's (Iridium Lenses). One is good on clouldy days and the other for really sunny days respectively. Worth every petty, solid and comfortable, can wear them all day.

 

[wacbzz]

To get the sunglasses that I love and wear everyday, this is what I spent:

Costa del Mar Wave Killers @ $160+tax
Maui Jim Typhoons @ $200+tax
Oakley Monster Dogs @ 160+tax

I love the Oakleys. Here's why...I fell in love with polarized lenses after trying on a friends pair of Maui Jims. I immediately went and bought the Typhoons because of the clarity of vision they provided. After wearing the sunglasses for awhile, however, I noticed that the arms would dig into the area behind my ears. Very annoying to wear them for an extended period of time. I also grew to find the grey tint very unexcitable and dull.

I then went back to the sunglasses shop and asked for the "next best thing" (since I was told it didn't get any better than MJ's by the salesperson), and got the Costa del Mars. I got the green mirrored polarized version, which is really amber glass behind the green mirror. Loved the brightness the amber tint brought, but grew to hate the size of the actual glasses and the way they fit on my face.

I finally went to the Oakley store after somebody told me you could customize the "new" (at the time) Monster Dogs. I tried them on, loved how they fit my face and loved the fact that I could get the bronze polarized lens to go into the frame that didn't firmly grasp the area behind my ears.

Now I'm not sure if I buy all of Oakley's propaganda or not, but I know for me, the $520+ that I spent to find the right sunglasses was well worth it.

 

[spacetroll]

Classic aviators by American Optical, those and my suspenders make me the quintecential "Get off my LAWN!" old man.

http://www.uswings.com/sunglasses.asp

 

[guntotin_fool]

old school. RayBan Wayfarers G15 lense

more modern Vaurnet Px3000,

 

[NoFair]

Used to be Oakley, but now I prefer Bollè. I mostly use their polarized ones, but I have some older ones with exchangeable lenses for shooting and cycling.
The lenses on my Bollès have held up better and the frames (polymer) have survived more than my Oakleys did.

The switch was made after Oakley altered their replacement policy and our basketball team no longer got them cheaply after switching sponsors.

 

[beautifully-stupid]

Smith, Threshold

Polarized
Interchangeable
great warranty (smith replaces their sunglasses for life)

If you can buy from REI, then do so. My smiths lasted me 2 years, and they were replaced with no problems.

 

[EngrPaul]

RAYBAN ALL THE WAY

 

[Owen]

Oakley M-frames for me. Wore my first pair for ~7 years, and after shopping around, trying different glasses, and deciding price was no object for something I wore every day(at the time, in addition to every second spent outdoors in daylight, I was even wearing them as safety glasses at work, since my work area was brightly lit), I bought a new, but identical pair of M-frames.
They do get scratched up, and I had replaced the lens on my old ones, but I can't find anything that I like better.