Like so many of today’s active population, I like to participate in many different sports. When playing outdoor sport is there a one size fits all approach to the sunglass you wear? Or should you wear a sport specific sunglass? There are so many variables in each and every sport and everyday life that having the one sunglass may not be enough. We will look at a few different sports and discuss the best options to maximise your visual experience and perform at your best.
For me personally, I have always liked a standard dark grey polarised lens for my sunglasses. I use these for driving and everyday use. Grey is the darkest and most recommended lens colour for driving to cut through glare. The polarising is perfect for eliminating reflected glare from the road surface. While awesome for driving and walking I find this can be limiting with other sports such as running or golf. A grey coloured lens can be a bit dark and lacks contrast making little imperfections in the trail or golf course hard to spot. So what’s the best option for different sports?
RUNNING: I have had many a slip, trip or stumble while running with my grey polarised lenses. I decided to change from a grey to a rose coloured lens and have never looked back. I found this helped me to see the trail better and avoid any stumbles. I wear the Maui Jim Maui Rose Polarised lens https://www.mauijim.com/AU/en_GB/lenspage which is available in all their sunglass models. The Maui Jim HO’OKIPA is a favourite model for runners due to it’s lightweight feel and wrap around style https://www.mauijim.com/AU/en_GB/shop/sunglasses/rimless/ho-okipa?variantCode=B407-11
Oakley also offer their own trail option with the Oakley Prizm Trail lens, available in a variety of sunglass models suitable for trail running and mountain biking. A few popular models are the Oakley RADAR EV Path, a sports wrap around model and the FLAK 2.0 XL, a dual lens wrap around model.
GOLF: For golf it is a similar story. A standard grey lens is great as it’s dark to cut through glare but doesn’t offer enough contrast on the golf course. A brown or rose coloured lens will add much needed contrast meaning you can see the transition between fairway, fringe and rough. Maui Jim have 2 great options for golf in their Maui HT and Maui HCL Bronze lenses. The Maui HT is a HIGH Transmission lens, green in colour, and great for low light or overcast conditions where extra contrast is needed. The Maui HCL Bronze is a warmer coloured lens suitable for when it’s brighter on the course and great for contrast.
Oakley offer their own Golf specific option in the Prizm GOLF or Prizm DARK GOLF lenses. The lens has a slight ruby look to it and is available in a range of sport wrap sunglasses in the Oakley range.
FISHING: For a lens option specific to fishing the main thing I advise is you must have a quality POLARISED lens option with back surface non reflective coating. When fishing you get a high level of reflected glare form the waters surface. A high quality polarised lens will cut through this glare and the back surface non reflective coating ensures you don’t get reflected glare hitting the back of the lens. If you want to go that little bit extra you can look for a lens with a front surface mirror coatings to reduce glare and reflections further. Maui Jim, Oakley and Bolle offer great options in this category in both sports and standard wrap around sunglass models.
CYCLING: When on the road I find that Oakley and Bolle offer the best options in both frame and lens choices. The Oakley Jawbreaker https://www.oakley.com/en-au/product/W0OO9290?variant=888392243645 is a classic style awesome for cycling due to it’s large lens and comfortable fit. This is available in the Prizm Road lens option, suited specifically for cycling so you can see the subtle changes in the road surface to quickly spot potential hazards ahead when travelling at high speeds.
Bolle have some great cycling specific options including the Bolle B-Rock Pro http://Pro https://www.bolle.com.au/collections/bike-sunglasses/products/b-rock-pro-matte-white-1 and the Bolle Chronoshield https://www.bolle.com.au/collections/bike-sunglasses/products/chronoshield-black-matte-3
Bolle offers the Phantom lens range with their cycling sunglass option. These lenses recommended for cycling as they are a high contrast lens and suitable for varying light conditions. They also offer Photochromic lens options (lenses that darken when in full sun and lighten when in overcast conditions) to cater for varying conditions.
As you can see there there are lots of options when it comes to sports eyewear and most are available in prescription lenses. If you love sport and want to maximise the experience come and chat to one of the team about available options to suit your needs.
