Glasses recommendations please :-)

[andyxedos]

Hiya everyone!

I'm thinking of investing in some glasses for use whilst out walking and would like some recommendations.
I have bought several cheapo ebay specials but find they all break quite quickly-normally just through change in temperatures as the plastics so thin :-(

Preferably i would like some with changeable lenses ie the clear,blue,yellow,tinted type as i have found these to be really useful in different light conditions...but ultimately they need to last..

Cheers!


Andy

[ged]

... thinking of investing in some glasses for use whilst out walking and would like some recommendations. ...

Do you mean sunglasses or something like reading glasses?

SWMBO has had a couple of cheap sets from Aldi and/or Lidl, can't remember which. She uses them mostly for cycling and seems to get on all right with them. Which is surprising, as she's very fussy.

[BareThrills]

Ive had the aldi cycling glasses in the past and they are ok. I have Oakleys and they are without doubt the best ive used ever. the lens quality is second to none. I also find that as they cost the earth, i look after them better. I tend to lose cheap sets!

[Urban X]

Another for Oakleys


Si

[northumbrian]

i bought some bobster sport and street convertibles from heinnie haynes the other month when the sun last shone.lol for £25.95.they come with clear, smoked and amber changable lenses and also they come with a strap so you can remove the glasses arms and make em into bike or running goggles. p.s they come in a pouch with a secure clip too, so you can clip the case to your belt loops or rucksack.

cheers andrew. i have no connection to heinnies just a satisfied customer.

[Savagewolfrm]

i am also of the Oakleys club I have a pair of Gun metal Juliet that have interchangebale lenses. have had these for 4 years now and still look the part. have been camping, hunting and holidaying with them and are great in most lights. a little expensive but if they break send them to a dealer etc and will get repaired.

hope this helps

Rick

[andyxedos]

Cheers everyone! I have been looking at oakleys but to be honest would be paranoid about losing/breaking them after spending £100. I've been looking at the issued ESS glasses..any opinions on these? maybe a bit too tactical but surely bomb proof? (no pun intended)
andy

[Hammock Hamster]

Oakleys here too, I have a pair of Juliettes (present from swmbo) as well as two pairs of half jackets which you can pick up fairly cheap on fleabay and have interchangeable lenses.
I'm always a bit paranoid about breaking them but nearly 4 years of use and abuse wearing them, throwing them in bags etc... And theyre still going strong.

Hamster

[bronskimac]

Friend of mine swears by Bolle safety glassses:
http://www.tooled-up.com/ManSubCateg...ID=25&SCID=458

At the price you could get three pairs, yellow, clear and sunglasses.

I use polarised sunglasses which cost £4.00 at Lidl or Aldi, can't remember which. I also Cary a pair of yellow ones for poor light or night riding.

As I am mostly on my motorbike, I just leave one pair in a case in my top box. I use an open face helmet without a visor so I always wear one pair or the other.

I have often been tempted to go for more robust and more expensive but I am such a klutz no pair lasts long, dropped, sat on, crushed, scratched. The cheep polarised are great and I bought three pairs for all the inevitable destruction by me.

[Dogoak]

The ESS are good but are really goggles.

I too am a fan of Oakley's, had several pairs over the years but now I am mainly using my Wiley-X's. I can't remember what model they are as I've had them for quite a few years now, they are a bit of a cross-over between shades and goggles as they have a small rubber gasket that helps keep wind and dust out, I think several of their models have this feature and interchangeable lenses.

As others have intimated, if you buy more expensive you tend to be a bit more careful!

[ged]

... I use polarised sunglasses which cost £4.00 at Lidl or Aldi, can't remember which. ... As I am mostly on my motorbike ... I use an open face helmet without a visor ...

My eyes are worth a bit more than four quid to me. A small rock which hits you in the face at a relative speed of 70mph can ruin your whole life.

You'll find that any motorcycling visor or other eye protection has gone through some pretty stringent impact tests.

Don't the Aldi/Lidl ones say "not to be used for driving" or something like that?

They probably thought nobody would be crazy enough to use them for eye protection on a motorbike so they probably don't tell you not to do that...

[gbjim03m]

I have oakley radar's and you can lens swap with them quite quick!

[rik_uk3]

Ray-Ban, lenses are impact resistant, will last a lifetime.

[Dave]

I wear a glasses a lot, to see into freestone rivers. I have a good pair of Serengeti's [Bushnell Optics.] £175.
But the original Polaroids can be found in places like TK Maxx, for as little as £12.They dont have the 'cool' factor of Bolle, Oakley etc
But they are very good glasses.
http://www.polaroidsunglasses.co.uk/...echnology.html

[bronskimac]

My eyes are worth a bit more than four quid to me. A small rock which hits you in the face at a relative speed of 70mph can ruin your whole life.


You'll find that any motorcycling visor or other eye protection has gone through some pretty stringent impact tests.

Don't the Aldi/Lidl ones say "not to be used for driving" or something like that?

They probably thought nobody would be crazy enough to use them for eye protection on a motorbike so they probably don't tell you not to do that...

Been using all sorts of cheep eye-ware for 32 years, I'm happy with my choices. The safety glasses option is likely to be safer. But everyone needs to make their own risk assessment and buy accordingly.

[para106]

Ray - Ban's are the dogs danglies. I've recently scored a very good pair of polarized Oakleys for £35 off the bay - worth a shufty. Or there's a discount sunglasses site on the net that I can't remember the name of - someone will though..........

[Laurentius]

Second world war gas mask spectacles, it does for me, Seventy years old and more durable than anything you will find on the market nowadays. High Tech bah!!!

[lucan]

Arco do some decent high impact safety glasses and most don't cost the earth.

[andyxedos]

Cheers everyone! Oakleys it seems to be are the ones worth getting!-as always thanks for all the advice and different views-just roll on payday now :-)

[Bighund]

Thumbs up from me also with Oakleys, I have tried other brands and I get a git of a headache, but for some reason with my Oaks I feel fine

[Lasse]

Ray-Ban, lenses are impact resistant, will last a lifetime.

Most Ray-Ban lenses are plastic, which will be scratched if a tiny bit of sand finds its way into the box, I discovered in Congo...
My next pair will be much cheaper, as they are just as UV resistant as the 10x more expensive ones...

[Suffolksteve]

have tried other brands and I get a git of a headache, but for some reason with my Oaks I feel fine

That's because Oakleys have optically perfect lenses which mean the light doesn't refract at all as it passes through the lense like it does on every other pair. Generally this refraction is minor and not noticeable but can cause people to get headaches.

I have also seen Oakley lenses take a javelin dropped on it from 3m and a 12 bore shotgun blast from 10 feet without breaking, these were promo vids though from when I was responsible for ordering and selling Oakley Sunglasses for a shop about 10 years ago.

I would also point out all my info is from 10 years ago but I love Oakley sunglasses and would strongly recommend them. They are expensive though but as with most things you get what you paid for, my vision is important to me so I want the best, saying that though cheaper sunglasses are and can be good and good enough for most situations.

[Dave]

I have also seen Oakley lenses take a javelin dropped on it from 3m and a 12 bore shotgun blast from 10 feet without breaking, these were promo vids though from when I was responsible for ordering and selling Oakley Sunglasses for a shop about 10 years ago.

I've broken about 4 pairs of Oakley Eye Jackets. I didnt find them to be particularly well made at all.
A couple from falling over on a snowboard, and crushing them in my pack. They broke in half at the bridge.
And a couple of pairs had plastic pegs on the frames which broke after a while as well.
Mind you, also broke my Serengetis, as the small screw just fell out on its own accord and the lens fell out.

[Suffolksteve]

Sorry, should have been clearer, that was the lens taking the brunt without smashing, splintering of breaking. The frames and lenses were stuffed afterwards but they hadn't shattered or splinterred. I think the point was to demonstrate if you get hit in the face by something hard or sharp then these glasses aren't going to make it worse by showering your eyes with shards of glass or plastic.

[chutes]

If you're looking for bush glasses, then IMO you can't go past Wiley-X for the price and utility. Their "SG1" model was US military issue and can be found dirt cheap. Comes with sunglass and clear lenses as well as elastic strap headband or normal arms, all in a softcase. Basically they're convertible dust goggles/sunglasses.


I personally wear Oakley Inmates for urban use because chicks dig them, but out bush I use a pair of Wiley X XL-1 Advanced since they are cheap, rugged and bulletproof.

[andyxedos]

Just like to say thankyou to everyone for their recommendations! I ended up getting a set of these by ESS- i reckon if they're tough enough for the forces hopefully i won't break them too quickly!! :

http://www.heinnie.com/Eyewear/ESS-E...-427-479-3372/

I have only used them twice (due to the rubbish weather which is typical!!) but they seem perfect-very tough, good optics and seem built to last. Only criticism i have up to now is changing the lenses is quite hard (as the plastics new) and they only come with a soft case so not sure how much protection that'll offer??

Going to have a look around for a hard case and apparently ESS have just released new "copper" lenses which are supposed to be excellant in low light :-)

Thanks again!!

[lostplanet]

If anyone is looking for a cheap pair of virtually indestructible sunglasses just to use when out and about, check these out.

http://www.globaleyewearstore.co.uk/html/hurcules.html

I got a pair and although they are not the most stylish or mega UV resistant or whatever, they really are very tough, which suits me as I don't want to be worrying about busting expensive specs.

see here: "good as new!!" lol



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Global-Visio.../dp/B000NL5S76

HTH

[hobbes]

I wear sunglasses a lot. This may sound a bit strange, but I really want to be able to see well when I'm hanging out in beautiful places. Half the reason I'm there is to be able to look at things. Doing what I do it's unlikely I'll get hit in the face by a stone... Here's what I factor in:

(1) Optical quality. Here you do get what you pay for, even if you're also paying for fashion. I've had a pair of Ray-Bans just once: awesome to look through! I'd have another pair instantly, if I could afford them. Many have mentioned Oakleys, also nice.

(2) Tint. For me, it has to be neutral density (grey); this doesn't change the colour of what you're looking at, just makes it darker. In the winter, a gentle amber tint (the old 'smoked' lenses) can warm things up a bit, but I have no idea how people can go around looking through yellow and pink and blue. It makes me feel disconnected from what I'm looking at, like it's on a screen.

(3) Polarisation. The world just looks SO much better through polarising lenses. The sky, water, foliage, everything. Quality polarisers make things fizz.

Currently I have a pair of 'Dirty Dawg' polarisers. Picked them up going through Newquay on the Coast Path last summer, after losing my previous pair. Plenty of sunglasses to choose from in Newquay! And all terribly trendy of course. I spent as much as I had. At £60 they were cheaper than the Oakleys but still seemed as nice to look through. Still very happy with them, and they're holding up fine, although some of the 'paint' has peeled on the arms where DEET's got on them.

[rik_uk3]

Most Ray-Ban lenses are plastic, which will be scratched if a tiny bit of sand finds its way into the box, I discovered in Congo...
My next pair will be much cheaper, as they are just as UV resistant as the 10x more expensive ones...

I didn't know they were now plastic, the Wayfarer and Aviator I have are glass I'm sure, but are perhaps fifty years old. When did they switch to plastic?

[hobbes]

I didn't know they were now plastic, the Wayfarer and Aviator I have are glass I'm sure, but are perhaps fifty years old. When did they switch to plastic?

They haven't, there are multiple lens options now. Mine were crystal, but there are plastic options too. Optical plastics have improved significantly in recent years, and so presumably Ray-Ban want to offer their advantages - weight for one.