Fishing

What are the best polarized sunglasses for the money? I know there are some real nice and pricey glasses. Are they worth the money? I have been wearing Natives for the last couple years. I really like them, but I am looking at other too. Let's hear it.

Maui Jims, Smiths, Oakley's, & Costa del Mars...

Repeatedly Spending 8 to 10 hours in the sun will really fry your eyes, especially when the rays are reflecting off the water.

Spending a little bit of cash on a good quality pair of glasses will save your eyes.

+1 on Maui Jims. They are supposed to rule in optics and clarity in the sportfishing world.
Just one more brookie........

My father bought a very expensive pair with interchangeable lenses (different colors, etc). He had neglected to attach the retaining cord he had bought for them. He looked over the edge of the boat into the water and watched his glasses fall off his head and sink to the bottom of the lake. Before that happened, we tested those against the pairs I had previously purchased from Walmart for $10. They worked just as well and you didn't feel too bad if they got scratched or lost. For those of you that don't fish with any glasses, I highly recommend buying some. They really make a difference for seeing fish in streams. They have also saved me on a few occasions from a lure taking out my eye. It is now a habit of mine to always wear mine while fishing, regardless of having overcast skies.

I think it is all in whay feels good to you. The list given is a good one. Smiths being made up north, they are fantastic customer service.
I have cheap glasses and very expensive ones. The thing to look for is make sure they don't distort. This can cause headaches.
However, fishing I wear "glass" sunglasses. no distortion, well balanced and as clear as they can get. Plus the POLORIZE factor is so much better. My choice is Orvis, but Steep and Cheap runs sunglasses at great prices.

The older you get, the glasses will matter making the price not an issue.

Your eyes.




Some things are better left alone, Even though, some feel they know better.
http://www.utahflydrifters.com/guides/profiles.htm

Habervision, from Golden, Colorado. Great prices, the best I've ever worn. PM me if you need specifics.
Jim
http://jims-wanderings.blogspot.com/
http://LakerSaver.com

Been wearing Oakley Polarized for years...love em.


There is no human condition that cannot be made worse by the presence of a Cop!

My filter is broken....sorry.

I agree Oakley are great glasses, I use them to drive, and either Smith or Coyote for fishing I like the Coyote BP6 about as well as any, big reason, they come with bifocals,which is a big plus for the old guys. I wear them probably more than any of the others .

Suncloud- They make a wide variety of styles and hard to beat the $50 dollar price tag for stylish polarized glasses.

I wear Maui Jim's, even if I don't catch any fish, I look good doing it !!!

I had a pair of prescription sunglasses that I wore for a couple of years ($150) and never had any complaints. Now that I wear contact lenes I switched to a pair of $10 sunglasses from walmart....and I have no complaints about them. In fact I do not have to feel so bad if I scratch, bend, break or loose them! Do yourself a favor and get a pair that covers your whole eye...your eyes will thank you for that.


"Think like a fish.....no matter how crazy it gets!"

I got prescription polarized glasses from costco. Even if you dont need correction getting a transition bifocal put in for tieing knots is very helpful. Even good eyes dont focus up close very well when they get older. I have also found the tan tint works better than the gray tint. They were right on with the lenses and the glasses look good for quite a bit less than any of the high end sunglasses.
I love fishing.........

 This probably doesn't help, but I think it's a personality thing, too. I crush, lose, scratch, tread on, and lose almost anything nice. If I don't my kids will, so I buy cheap ones.

But I buy the best cheap ones I can afford.

Funny, cause I never lose or damage my knives, wallet, keys, or work badge. Everything else better look out...

Whatever you can find at WalMart. I have been using polarized lenses from there for years. Never had any problems. Anyone who spends more than $25 on a pair of polarized sunglasses is paying for the frames and the brand name at that point. Polarized = polarized as far as I can tell.

The plus side to getting them at Walmart for cheap, is if you lose them, you're out $10 instead of $150.

Just my opinion though.

I work for Pugsgear and that might appear to make me biased, although some days, it would make me biased the other way.

Knowing how I love to fish, the company keeps me supplied with some polarized and they've been great. The red ones and blue ones are both nice, but I've been most pleased with the yellowish color.

They're cheap and you won't feel like banging your head against the wall when you lose them, which I do frequently.

More expensive brands just make you feel better about yourself, if that kind of thing matters to you (says the guy that wears a ridiculously ugly fishing hat, shabby clothes, and drives a dirty vehicle)...until you lose them, that is.

It's a preference thing, but I haven't had any heartburn or headaches due to my cheap-o shades that you can score for $15 at any gas station.

http://utahwaterlog.blogspot.com/

Lots of great choices offered but you never know until you put them on...

I am blessed with a rather tall eye or socket whatever they call it?? I say lack of sleep and stress eyes! lol

I find that most glasses are narrow. The wider taller glasses tend to have full frames all around the lense which adds weight, not what I want to wear all day. I go with the cheap as many others have said but would love to find something light weight with half rims that actually cover my eyes.

Wallmart has them for $4,98 but they go fast. I really never liked waring sun glass's personaly, never have cared for them. Only when I absolutely have too. Having said that. I had a pair of Sun clouds 25 years ago that almost had me hook on Sun glass's. I do miss those.

Sunclouds here, no complaints ($ 50 @ Sportsmans.... and warrantied I believe). But like was said before, personal preference.

I can't go outside without putting sunglasses on and I only wear polarized. They are attached to me like a necklace with "chums" at all times. Don't know if my eyes are sensitive naturally or if I have trained them to be so.

Having said that I have tried multiple brands, styles, and quality. Maui Jim's and Bolle' are good, so are Coyote if you get the glass lens. However, my favorite are Smith's; they seem to hold-up longer.

In my opinion you get what you pay for (most of the time) and if you have invested some cash you seem to innately take better care and keep better track of them. I have had my current pair of Smith's for more than two years (getting close to needing replacement) and spent somewhere around $50.00 for a glasses that normally go for $100 plus. Watch the weekly ads for Big 5 and wait for a pair you like to go on sale. Great deals every week and generally you won't find better.

Good glass lens' make a big difference. The clarity, uv blocking and polarization that glass gives, for me, are well worth the extra bucks. The cheap ones are ok, but you spend 8 to 10 hours on the water, your eyes can tell the difference. Glass doesn't scratch like plastic or polycarbonate, good glass doesn't distort like plastic either. The advantages to plastic or poly is the reduced weight, less bucks spent and if you're careless and you break them, you're not out a whole lot of money.
I also think with a good pair of sunglasses, you get better lens colors or shades that enhance your fishing experience.

Almost forgot- you buy $150 glasses, $5 for Chums is cheap insurance.

+1 on Loah's Pugs Gear polarized. They are available at a lot of gas stations, cost $20 or so, and polarized is polarized IMO.

BUT, the key is to get either an amber or yellow tint lense. A couple years ago we were steelhead fishing in ID, and I kept spotting fish while my brother would only see about half the ones I kept seeing. We switched glasses and with his grey lense I lost track of fish I had JUST seen. Once he had the amber lenses on, he could see the ones I had been seeing.

I am now totally sold on the amber lenses.

I've had a pair of Maui Jim's for the past three years and absolutely love them! I wore glasses before them, but never kept them on long because I couldn't find comfortable frames. These are so light I hardly know I'm wearing them, the glass hasn't scratched which is amazing seeing as all my previous one's were nothing but scratches and I love that they're polarized. I think you get what you pay for. In all the cheapy's you buy and toss because they're scratched you could invest in one nice pair and have them forever. I also could never keep track of my old one's but I think having put more cash into a pair makes you want to keep track of them.

True that!!! I had a pair of polarized Oakleys fall off my head into willard last fall... It was early in the A.M. so I wasn't wearing them yet. I leaned over when I was setting a line and plop. I instictively dove in and got them when I saw them slowly sinking. Fortunately I saved the glasses but I drowned the $200 cell phone in my pocket and realized that .8 mph is hard to swim in boots, jeans, and a hoodie to catch the boat that is still trolling.

Moral of the story is
1. Use a strap on your sunglasses in the boat.
2. make sure your fishing partner knows how to shut off the trolling motor. (he had never used my i-pilot remote)

Agree totally. Had one pair of Maui's that are on the bottom at Washington lake in the Uinta's (dang bee)
I have had Oakleys wish I literally wore out. Then Gargoyals (still ahve them) and lastly Orvis HVO and the Tri Spectrum (unbelieveable difference) The Polorizing is enhansed for fishing.
By the way, GRAY is for very bright, white sand, ocean, that kind of thing. Here where we go from sun to rain at a blink of an eye, Bronze is the best, Yellow is great specially for now sun days, and Rose colored.

My sunglasses are glass, but very well balanced so really don't notice them.

However, as far as scratching, very hard to do it to glass, but can be done. They fell in the mud inwhich I then stepped on them. Kinda tweeked the frame which is fixable, but two scratches right in the line of sight...DANG!




Some things are better left alone, Even though, some feel they know better.
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best glasses ive had in a long time were some 19.00 dollar strike kings i picked up at wallmart,sportsmans also carries them.they fit great are polerized and you don,t have to worry about loosing them,they also feel and look as good as my expensive ones.