Sunglasses - Polarized or un polarized

[Bally]

Does anyone know the difference between polarized and unpolarized lenses for sunglasses.

Since I lose ( I mean donate to a worthy cause) about a pair each month, I often have to get by with a cheap pair from 7-11 until I can get to Costco. I refuse to pay $250 at the Sunglass Hutt when the same pair is at Samsclub or Costco for $80.

Anyway, what is the big deal flying with polorzed lenses?

 

[Counselair]

I purchased a pair of polarized lenses from Ray Ban. I am/was on the MD 80 and something screwy with the windscreen occurs. The best I can guess is that as the light passes through the polarization on the windows and then hits the filtering on the glasses the light distorts. All you see is a waves of colored light on the windows, and no it wasn't the crew meal. Bottom line, I can't fly with them.

Counselair

 

[Goose17]

They look cool

Chicks dig polarized lenses.

Goose17

 

[taloft]

I wouldn't suggest polarized lenses for seaplane flying either. Sometimes glare is good.. like when you need to know your height above water.

 

[AKAAB]

Skip the polarized for the Airbus. I bought a pair last year - prescription no less. I discovered that from my seat in the cockpit the frequency displays on the RMP appear black due to the polarization of the glasses and the polarization of the display. If I turned my head a little, the display became visible again.

Does anyone remember the polarized passenger windows on the KingAir? It basically had two polarized panes that you could rotate to get the desired amount of sun blocking. To see what I mean, go to the sunglass store and pick up two sets of polarized glasses. Put a pair on and hold the other pair up so you can look through it. Now, rotate the pair you are holding 90 degrees and see what happens.

Cheers,


AKAAB

 

[tredding@swa]

polarized

The colors that you see while wearing polrized shades with multi-layered glass or plexi windscreens is a frequency problem. Light is refracted inside, between the layers, of the windscreens. The lenses polarization properties allow you to see this. Very distracting in my opinion.

Revo & Maui Jim make very high end polarized lenses, great for boating or driving, or flying a single layer windscreen aircraft. YOu can get them in a non-polarized lens, probably not at a Costco or discount store.

While on the topic.... wearing cheap sunglasses is not a very good idea. Optical quality GLASS lenses are simply better for your eyes - less distortion - little or none in high quality lenses. Cheap, plastic or glass lensed shades are not optic quality, they can mess with your vision and distort what you see.

Also, make sure that the lenses provide UVA & UVB protection... the closer to 100% the better for your eyes. UV is what causes presbyopia, aka, hardning of the lens/near sightedness. This normally occurs in everyone when they are in their 40s..... however, regular wearing of high quality, UV filtering, sunglasses can delay the onset by several years!

As far as the cost of glasses & types. I would stick with Maui Jim, Revo or Serengetti. My opinion, Ray Bans are pooly constructed. And those "aviator" style glasses make you look like a dweeb. I have been deducting the cost of all my sunglasses for years, they qualify as "professional equipment".

In case you are wondering, my wife was a multi-store manager for a major sunglass retailer for a couple of years.... she learned me well about shades.

Tred

 

[Hooch]

Skip the polarized

Tried a set of polarized last year only to discover that as I turned my head, the EFIs would disapear!

We were getting these glasses for use flying in and out of the Arctic with constant severe reflection off the snow. Wound up using Serrengetti. Pricey...but IMHO worth every penny. The graduation on the lens allowed us to use them even during undercast conditions. Like Tred says great UV protection as well.

Good Luck
Hooch

 

[Airpiraterob]

polarized a no go squawk

i bought a pair of raybans. always wanted a pair but getting glasses at 5th grade dosent help. so when i could afford it i went to go get a real pair of shades. i needed prescription lenses. so i had some made. i chose polarized. Polarized lenses are simply a piece of polarizd film between two pieces of plastic. sandwich. You cannot get the green tint or any other shade. You get polarized and thats what you get. one tint. one shade. no variances. works just like the filter on a camera lens. rotate your head clockwise or counter and you see the clouds pop out and the sky darken.

Go with UV lenses. theres no loss of visual with GPS screens or other data components of the airplane vanishing. if you need prescrips call up the sunglass manufacturer and they can make up a pair of lenses that still have the fancy ray-ban logo or green tint or whatever else you need.

 

[CODs4ever]

I had the same problem. First pair of polarized sunglasses and I got all kinds of color distortion looking through the windshield of the King Air with the W/S heat on. Also couldn't read anything with a liquid crystal display (i.e. watch, cell-phone display, gas-pump displays, etc) It really got annoying so I traded them out for just straight UV protection. In a nutshell, polarized are great for skiing, bad news for flying.

 

[MAK]

>>>"In a nutshell, polarized are great for skiing, bad news for flying."<<<

They're great for fishing too!!! "Here, bassy, bassy, bassy."

 

[Goose17]

The Tuna dig em!

Goose17

 

[CRJ puppy]

I've used prescription sunglasses that have been polarized for years. Have also used non-polarized. Have gotten polarized lenses with various colors tinting (green, grey, brown) no problem. I prefer my polarized lenses, but yes when turning your head certain directions, in certain light, with certain windscreens, etc you can get awesome "special effects". Move your head 1 cm and they go away. With good quality lenses you can't tell that they are polarized by just looking at them as someone is wearing them.

Sunglasses are driven by personal preferences. But above all, as had been said before, go with QUALITY. You have but one set of eyes...pry open that pocketbook and get the best quality at the lowest price you can find.



-a satisfied eyeglass wearer of 32 years.

 

[HPaul3]

Dead horse alert....

A pilot wearing cheap sunglasses is like a surgeon using razor blades from Ace Hardware. Your life depends on your eyes. Treat them nicely.

Wear polarized sunglasses if you don't want to see through your windscreen or read your instruments.

(I posted the following Ode to Serengeti a few months ago....)
Serengeti Drivers

I have been using the Serengeti Drivers for over 15 years, and I would have a hard time switching to anything else. I have the small Aviator frames, and they look pretty General MacArthur (looked great on him, not on me), but they are very effective. Here's why:

1) The brown lenses enhance contrast, especially in gray shades. They are fantastic in the clouds, and they help with picking out traffic.

2) They are coated with an anti-glare coating on the inside which is great on bright days.

3) They are darker at the top than the bottom. Perfect for bright windscreen, darker cockpit. (I know this is true with the Aviator style...not sure about other frames.)

4) The brown lenses also work fantastic with the electronic displays and colors in glass cockpits.

5) They are photochromatic....they get darker in bright light, but you can wear them through sunset to dusk.

6) They are pretty cheap for good sunglasses. $70.00 is a good Internet target price. $135.00 will get you a very nice pair from the full-retail Sunglass Hut.

Maui Jim makes awesome glasses too, so does Nikon. Both of them are very expensive, like $250.00 plus. Ray Ban has gone way downhill. Their customer service and quality are highly suspect.

Do not wear cheap sunglasses. Your eyes are too valuable. Again, polarized glasses DO NOT work with aircraft because of the coating on the windscreen. You might want to take any new glasses to a competent FAA-knowledgeable eye doc just to make sure they'll work OK.

Cheers!
HP

 

[stillaboo]

Polarized isn't FAR legal?

I thought I read somewhere that polarized lenses are not allowed by the FAR's. Either way, what pilot concerened with safety would wear lenses that could prevent him from seeing out the windscreen or his instruments?! That's what we call flying blind, kids!

Serengeti's are da' bomb! Pricey, but worth every penny. Deduct them off your taxes!

-Boo!

 

[flyingwildfires]

I LOVE my Seregetis

Have to chime in here for the Seregetis.... tried RayBans years ago, and the Serengetis are much better in poor light, even low light conditions. They won me over for good in thick smoke/poor vis. I carry a spare pair because I wouldn't even want to takeoff without them. They are also excellent for midday blinding sun and glare. I sure haven't found anything nicer. Plus, I broke them (the frame right at the nosepiece -- these are maybe 12 years old now?) last summer and they were repaired within hours at a fine jeweler's shop --- can't do that with anything plastic. I would ABSOLUTELY recommend them........

 

[flyingwildfires]

Typical pilot......

Well, too bad I can't *&$#ing SPELL.... but I do LOVE those spiffy glasses anyway... you get my drift.

 

[Darby]

I found that sunglass hut and Costco were too expensive. Go to sunglass hut, find the pair you like then go to eyesave.com or ultimateshades.com and save a bundle. They have just about every pair. I priced the serengetis I have at sunglass hut. They were $129 there. I got them for $87 at eyesave.com. It was well worth the 6 day wait to get them via UPS.

 

[Bambam]

How are the Sarengeti's on a bright clear day at altitude? I talked to an optometrist today and he said that the photo changing mechanism for the Serengeti driver lenses was UV and that UV radiation was filtered out by the cockpit windows so they would not get appreciably darker when inside the cockpit.

I dont have any experience with Serengeti's so am asking anyone with driver lenses if they are OK in bright light and do they change to darker when in the cockpit?

I also saw a lens from Serengeti on their web site that looked darker but in a green/grey tint called the 555nm lens. They are still photocromic but look darker to start out with. Has anyone tried a pair of these and how did you like them?

Thanks,

Bambam

 

[flyingwildfires]

Serengeti Drivers.....

I always found the Serengetis to be great at high altitudes and in brilliant blue skies. They are just excellent everywhere -- bright glare to poor light. They do get darker when outdoors in bright sun, but it's not as noticeable as Transitions prescription glasses (I wear contacts and also have Transitions -- I don't like them near as well as the Serengetis and never would want to wear them flying.) I never noticed them seeming darker once inside the plane -- which would be explained by your eye doctor's reasoning. The colors always stay true, too -- something a lot of sunglasses do pretty badly on. We are supposed to be able to pick out some strange color combinations on the ground, both through smoke and also on bright days, and these are just the best glasses I have found. Took off today into a pretty dark rain cloud and could see better with them ON than off.

Don't know anything about the grey/green lenses...... sorry. I do know the 62 mm lens is the "large" size... I like it just for its good coverage. Good luck!