Many, many years ago I had a pair of RayBan Wayfarers, bought tax free from sunnier climes. I think they went with the ex.
In a previous job I had the opportunity to buy some decent Serengeti photo chromatics at trade price but failed to do so, sand now use a 'free' crabby pair I found out walking last summer. I think photo chromatics are my best bet, and they will remain in the car so no chance of losing them.
Any recommendations please?
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>> I think photo chromatics are my best bet, and they will remain in the car so no chance of losing them.
>>
I have had photo chromatics varifocals for some years and have experienced one problem with them. About 10years I was driving in New Zealand and went into the ,then unlit, Homer tunnel. The result was black out and mild panic. What I should of done was take em off or put em on top of my head.This would have been OK with my prescrition lenses but might be a problem for some especially as your sight may be getting worse with age.
In the UK I suspect all / most of our tunnels are lit
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I tried photochromic lenses, but found that they reacted to ultraviolet light, not the brightness. It meant that they went dark when I was outside at any time, even in the depth of winter. They didn't work inside a car because the windscreen filters out the ultraviolet light. I tried two different makes and they both reacted the same. I now have conventional sunglasses.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 21 Jun 13 at 06:31
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Polarizing lenses are the thing for driving. They don't just reduce the light uniformly, they cut out reflections from surfaces like wet roads. They can even improve your view in heavy rain by reducing light scatter from the drops, although use that effect with care.
Photochromics are a bit naff. Humph will know what I mean: there's a certain kind of man who has them in his regular glasses and wears them indoors. Not a good look.
};---)
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I second the use of ordinary polarizing sunglasses.
With both my eyes now being "plastic" I always take the precaution of wearing sunglasses even in reasonably bright, but not necessarily sunlight, conditions,
I like the sort with wide arms, to cut out as much light from the sides as possible.
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I have several pairs of cheapish (£10-£15) sunglasses and the fairly tight polarizing wrap rounds** I bought for boating were my overall favourites for driving... until I bought the Alfa.
With polarizing sunglasses the dashtop computer and warning info display turns black and is unreadable.... odd.
**My "John Travoltas" Mrs F says... but after some of the recent accusations about his activities I'd rather she didn't.
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With polarizing sunglasses the [Alfa's] dashtop computer and warning info display turns black and is unreadable.
Something similar happens with my Volvo's audio unit, which I think has a vacuum fluorescent display. The further towards 90 degrees from normal I tilt my head, the more of the display reappears, so I deduce that the light from the display is already polarized in a plane perpendicular to the filter in my sunglasses.
Curiously, the similar-looking green displays for the odometer and message panel don't do this, whether because they're a different type or just polarized in a different plane I've not tried to find out.
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>> I second the use of ordinary polarizing sunglasses.
Me too...... Ive got plastic eyes like Roger. I have had ' floaters ' for years. Nothing desperate but looking at bright Sun feels like you've got net curtains. The polarizors kill the sensation completely and give a crisp vision at all times.
I always wear them when driving.......even in dull weather. I don't drive much at night nowadays.
Ted
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>> I tried photochromic lenses, but found that they reacted to ultraviolet light, not the brightness.
>> It meant that they went dark when I was outside at any time, even in
>> the depth of winter. They didn't work inside a car because the windscreen filters out
>> the ultraviolet light. I tried two different makes and they both reacted the same. I
>> now have conventional sunglasses.
>>
I second all of that that. I have a pair of clear bifocals, and a pair with the same prescription made up as sunglasses. If you need new specs anyway, you might stumble across a bogof, or at least a reduction if you two pairs made up at the same time.
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I always presume someone who wears tinted/reactolite specs on a dull damp overcast day as suffering from some malady.
+1 for polarized sunglasses.
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>> I always presume someone who wears tinted/reactolite specs on a dull damp overcast day as
>> suffering from some malady.
My malady means I need prescription bifocal glasses, and I thought it would be a good idea to have photochromic lenses so that I didn't need to have a separate pair of bifocal sunglasses.
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As you say L'es "It meant that they went dark when I was outside at any time, even in the depth of winter. They didn't work inside a car because the windscreen filters out the ultraviolet light. I tried two different makes and they both reacted the same"
I wonder if gb.transitions.com/ are any better?
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>> As you say L'es "It meant that they went dark when I was outside at
>> any time, even in the depth of winter. They didn't work inside a car because
>> the windscreen filters out the ultraviolet light. I tried two different makes and they both
>> reacted the same"
>>
>> I wonder if gb.transitions.com/ are any better?
No. They don't darken in the car, unless I have the roof down of course.
I take the point about tinted lenses indoors, but I still have the transitions lenses in my normal specs. They don't tint indoors though; and I don't think a grey tint is as naff as the brown!
As far as I know I have no malady, but I have always worn sunglasses to drive in daylight - all that sky tires my eyes regardless of whether it's sunny.
I'm struggling a bit at the moment because my sunglasses are single vision, and I can't accommodate very well to read the sat nav, so I might have to get varifocal sunglasses too. Age is a vile thing.
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>> so I might have to get
>> varifocal sunglasses too.
Well, good luck with that! I tried varifocals with two different transitions between distance and reading and couldn't get on with either.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 21 Jun 13 at 09:43
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>>all that sky tires my eyes regardless of whether it's sunny.
An optician said to me decades ago that grey overcast days are more tiring for the eyes than bright Sunni days.
My German homoeopathic g/f used to say it's better for the eyes to try and do without sunglasses when driving ...
in the same way as my nutritionist said it's better to only use a walking stick when you really need to, in reply to my mentioning of the fact I used to use one when hiking.
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>> I wonder if gb.transitions.com/ are any better?
>>
One pair of the photochromic lenses was in fact "Transitions". The other pair was "Reactions" from Specsavers. There was no noticeable difference between the two.
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Another pair of Ray-Bans. Thousands of pilots cannot be wrong.
I keep a pair of RB3176 (Predator Flight Pande) in the car. Best things for driving in bar none are those "bog" Ray-Ban lenses.
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The last time I saw my pilot friend (exec jet) he had just got new Serengetis. I suppose pilots have fads like everybody else.
The best bog standard sunglasses I've had are Rayban 15% neutral grey lenses. I take them when I get specs to try and match the (non) shade as closely as possible. The neutral grey confers no tint at all, the colours remain true, it's just not as bright. Anything with an actual colour tint I find tiring eventually.
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I can't even remember where I got them now, but I have a pair of "driving" sunglasses which look yellow, and apparently filter out the blue content of the light. ??
Anyway, they're very comfortable on my eyes - I find them particualrly beneficial in overcast, but still bright, conditions.
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My German homoeopathic g/f...
Was she even there, Dog? Or did you just convince yourself she must be having an effect?
};---)
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>>Was she even there, Dog? Or did you just convince yourself she must be having an effect?
She was there alright Mr Beest!
;-))
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>> >>Was she even there, Dog? Or did you just convince yourself she must be having
>> an effect?
>>
>>
>> She was there alright Mr Beest!
>>
>> ;-))
But better in small doses.
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Have a look in your friendly neighbourhood builders merchants.
They have good quality safety glasses of various tints for around a fiver and they have to be made to a certain standard to comply with the regs.
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>> The best bog standard sunglasses I've had are Rayban 15% neutral grey lenses.
>>
Personally I prefer the old skool G15 lens, the classic Ray-Ban "greenish" sort. Oddly, despite being quite green to look at, they also don't seem to muck about with colour noticeably in actual use.
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>> >> The best bog standard sunglasses I've had are Rayban 15% neutral grey lenses.
>> >>
>>
>> Personally I prefer the old skool G15 lens, the classic Ray-Ban "greenish" sort. Oddly, despite
>> being quite green to look at, they also don't seem to muck about with colour
>> noticeably in actual use.
That's the one - G15. The description seems to have changed, they were called neutral grey, now RB appear to refer to them as neutral green. They do look slightly green held up to the light, but certainly do not cut red noticeably as a "green" lens does.
www.ray-ban.com/uk/science/lenses#-classic
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Is there a difference between polarizED, and polarizING?
If so, what is the difference, and which is better for driving and why?
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Yes: the lenses are polarizing, and the light that has passed through them is polarized.
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I have two pairs of Serengeti sunglasses and they are fantastic. One pair has the 555 lens which is the darkest and is polarised so great for driving on the three days we need them in the UK. :)
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I'm particularly fond of my Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses, although to be honest they're more useful at work than on the road.
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Can you get them on Amazon, or are they only for qualified pilots? I see no reason why they wouldn't work for driving.
"The Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses have been designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. They work by turning completely dark at the first sign of danger, thus preventing you from seeing anything that might alarm you."
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Duncan, you were teasing. I only clicked to which branch of Wetherspoon's you were recommending :(
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>> Duncan, you were teasing. I only clicked to which branch of Wetherspoon's you were recommending
>> :(
>>
I do hope Zero clicked on it as well!
;-)
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>> Link to Amazon
>>
>> tinyurl.com/oalpeao
Yep, you can't beat a bit of sophistication. They'll go well with Wildebeests' Loakes.
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Well, I suppose there are, or at least might be, some alternatives to RayBans available, but none which anyone with any sense of propriety would want to seen wearing. Mildly taken aback that you had to ask LL. Perhaps you're tired?
:-)
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...They'll go well with [WDB's] Loakes.
Happily, my shoes and glasses are far enough apart for coordination not to be a major concern.
}8---)
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For true aristocratic elegance, US Highway Patrol steel-framed mirror shades are the thing.
I had a cheapo imitation pair in Africa for a short time. But a naughty girl from Marsabit - tall, skinny, pale skinned, bad teeth, could be mistaken for a Somali - said she wanted them while I was buying grass from some charming hooligans outside a nightclub in Nairobi, and feeling sentimental I let her have them.
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I have a pair of Oakleys (polarised) for driving, but I bought them specifically for running, and for that purpose they are superb. Wrap around design keeps the wind and insects out, and the lenses are very good. Prescription too, so expensive. If you like Raybans though I doubt you'll be impressed with these.
I also have an old pair of prescription Arnettes for work. The lenses in these are so tough, with hardly a scratch on them. Why can't they put this type of lens in standard glasses - it drives me up the wall constantly cleaning them. The coated lenses attract the dust, and it's very hard to remove any grease unless you use a dab of washing up liquid. I can clean the sunglasses with just about anything that's lying around and they come up sparkling.
Serengeti are always highly recommended on car forums, if you have the dough.
Good luck LL, as there is a huge choice out there, and in the end it's down to personal taste.
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Another tick in the box for Oakley, I've had a pair of polarised for a few years in the car, best £80 I think I've spent. Very good at blocking out glares and the such like, I use them all the time in hot countries and think they work well, I take them everywhere with me.
The £80 price was with a trade discount, so they would have been £110 although that was a few years ago.
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Many thanks for all your replies.
I did post after being 'taken unexpectedly' with chums in my local, and enjoying a few scoops too many of Chinook, a wonderful hoppy ale.
Normal service is now resumed.
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>> Another tick in the box for Oakley, I've had a pair of polarised for a
>> few years in the car, best £80 I think I've spent.
Specsavers only charge £60 for polarising lenses. www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/lens-options
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My eyesight is fine so no need for specsavers, and well there's the look as well...
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I have fulfilled orders for several hundred pairs of Serengeti Firenze for the pilots of a certain airforce in the Middle East having given them several options to consider
For driving I prefer wearing my prescription Polaroids. I still have them on having just driven back from the beach in Crete...( around 30 degrees here) ....
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>>Crete...( around 30 degrees here) ....
You didn't really have to tell us that, did you retpocileh.
:}
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Why not Dog...its true.....I hear its raining in England .......It must be Wimbledon time again :0).
Its actually colder here today....just 29 degrees, just returned from the beach and a lunch of Soussoudakia ( lamb meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce) , calamari ( squid) and a Cretan salad made with soft Misythra cheese... washed down with fresh squeezed orange juice ....
Did I mention the full body massage from the lovely Sara in her cabin on the beach.......
Last edited by: helicopter on Mon 24 Jun 13 at 15:34
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>>Did I mention the full body massage from the lovely Sara in her cabin on the beach.......
I have those-sort of dreams too retpocileh, usually about 5am in the morning.
:o}
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Good, cheap, safety glasses in Screwfix.
Link:-
tinyurl.com/kn3pn3v
Or Machine Mart:-
tinyurl.com/m5pfv7n
Last edited by: Duncan on Mon 24 Jun 13 at 15:41
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Duncan, you're obsessed. It's possible, I expect, to clad oneself head to toe from the Screwfix catalogue, but that doesn't mean that one should.
};---)
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>> Duncan, you're obsessed. It's possible, I expect, to clad oneself head to toe from the
>> Screwfix catalogue, but that doesn't mean that one should.
>> };---)
>>
No. No. It's under control.
Weellll, almost!
;-0
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Driving sunglasses - henry k
