Best sunglasses for driving?

Testament1

Anyone got any recommendations for a good pair of sunnies that reduce glare? Have bought a few pairs of cheapo polarised sunnies before but found that they darkened everything too much and visibility wasn't sharp enough. Don't mind spending on a pair of quality lenses.

h3000

I can't recommend a particular brand of glasses as such but I've a pair of prescription polarised sunglasses from specasvers for driving and they are brilliant. Even in early morning late evening lowish light they work very well.

raybans for me,
All the premo brands come out of the same factory (luxottica ) so its just down to style.

oh

and polarised always .

Del2005

Testament1 wrote: »

Anyone got any recommendations for a good pair of sunnies that reduce glare? Have bought a few pairs of cheapo polarised sunnies before but found that they darkened everything too much and visibility wasn't sharp enough. Don't mind spending on a pair of quality lenses.

I got a few polarised pairs from Aldi and Dunnes before which are great. None cost more than a fiver. The last ones from Aldi I've used driving in cloud as I put them on when sunny and never noticed it had gone in, took them off for a few minutes but put them back on as it was easier to see.

I bought some slightly more expensive ones from a stall at a festival and they were crap couldn't see anything if driving into a tunnel.

whippet

i swear by my RayBan Cockpits for driving .. not as big as the aviators but have enough of a tear drop to stop any glare from below the glass.

CorkMan_

h3000 wrote: »

I can't recommend a particular brand of glasses as such but I've a pair of prescription polarised sunglasses from specasvers for driving and they are brilliant. Even in early morning late evening lowish light they work very well.

This applies to me too. Best decision I made, proper polarised sunglasses are worth their weight in gold. I wear them all the time when driving.

bricky06

I have a pair of polarised Raybans too, they're great for driving. Think they're the 'justin' model or something similar

NIMAN

h3000 wrote: »

I can't recommend a particular brand of glasses as such but I've a pair of prescription polarised sunglasses from specasvers for driving and they are brilliant. Even in early morning late evening lowish light they work very well.

I used to have a pair of these many moons ago, but they were commonly referred to around these parts as 'paedo glasses'.:eek:

Not very flattering. Stopped wearing them!

NIMAN

NIMAN wrote: »

I used to have a pair of these many moons ago, but they were commonly referred to around these parts as 'paedo glasses'.:eek:

Not very flattering. Stopped wearing them!

Ha,
The specsavers "designer" raybans knock offs and the reactive lenses are 100% pedo glasses .

h3000

NIMAN wrote: »

I used to have a pair of these many moons ago, but they were commonly referred to around these parts as 'paedo glasses'.:eek:

Not very flattering. Stopped wearing them!

BrownFinger wrote: »

Ha,
The specsavers "designer" raybans knock offs and the reactive lenses are 100% pedo glasses .

Ah they are not that bad plus I can see where I'm going glare free which is great...

These with polarised lenses

F34

I've a pair of Serengeti with drivers lenses in them and find them brilliant.

JoeA3

I've a pair of prescription polarized Oakley "crosshairs" for a few years and I find them great, wouldn't be without them. Wear them all the time, even when not sunny :pac:

FreshCoffee

RayBans

Mint Sauce

Raybans, or my Bloc Running/Cycling sunglasses.

MAJJ

Oakley I find great, had a pair for years and lost them and got same again.

bertie4evr

There's a few posts in the Bargain Alerts forum about these glasses on Aliexpress. Nice, stylish and polarised for a tenner.

I have a couple of pairs and don't see myself going back to spending €80+ for something I always break/lose!

HeidiHeidi

Maui Jims, which cost a bomb and I have amazingly managed not to lose or break in the five or so years I've owned them!

However I will also attest to the brilliance of the Aldi/Lidl ones - there are some very questionable styles but if you can find ones to suit you their lenses are great - and I've used them out sailing as well where the glare can be crippling. Trouble is they only appear once or twice a year - but well worth keeping an eye out for.

McG

try a bronze polarized lens, might not be as dark as some others.

I have Oakley Whisker Bronze Polarized and love them but you don't need to spend nearly that much to get good sunglasses. I got some ZeroUV from Amazon last year with similar lenses for around ?15

Oafley Jones

McG wrote: »

try a bronze polarized lens, might not be as dark as some others.

I have Oakley Whisker Bronze Polarized and love them but you don't need to spend nearly that much to get good sunglasses. I got some ZeroUV from Amazon last year with similar lenses for around ?15

This is the thing. It's the type of lens you need to be thinking off. Saying a ray ban or Oakley design means nothing as to what type of situation they'll be effective for, otherwise you're literally talking about fashion. E.g I've a pair of whisker with dark iridium polarised lenses that you'd want to be in the Florida or the Sahara given how much light they block out. I've another pair with Bronze polarised and I find excellent for this country.

Ubbquittious

I can recommend Costa Del Mar but they're hard to source here. Not impossible though, there are some sellers on ebay in EU selling new ones

Miike

bertie4evr wrote: »

There's a few posts in the Bargain Alerts forum about these glasses on Aliexpress. Nice, stylish and polarised for a tenner.

I have a couple of pairs and don't see myself going back to spending €80+ for something I always break/lose!

This is the best advice on the thread. Ordered one pair to give them a lash... fell in love with them and then sat on them (Like I have done with every single pair of glasses I've ever owned) went back and ordered another few pairs of them. For a tenner you can't go wrong.

georgefalls

Deffo Raybans. Had so called 'decent' kinds in the past, but you can wear Raybans all day long, and no discomfort or eyestrain.

Go for the Aviator type. Timeless classics

RiseToMe

My work is assessment of eyewear, mostly sunglasses, performance. You'd be surprised, I've tested everything from 1 quid sunglasses up to 300 quid and they have performed equally - up to standard and full protection etc.

That said, I have 1000s of sunglasses at my disposal and I still got a pair of Maui Jim's for long drives in the main car. But that said, I have many other pairs for general use and other cars.

As said, giving a brand name isn't really a worthwhile exercise, but if you want high performance and best optics, get polarised, get glass rather than organic plastic lenses, get them with a powered mirror coating and if possible a back surface anti reflection coating. If you can't tick them all in your budget, take them in order of performance importance in the order I listed.

grogi

RiseToMe wrote: »

My work is assessment of eyewear, mostly sunglasses, performance. You'd be surprised, I've tested everything from 1 quid sunglasses up to 300 quid and they have performed equally - up to standard and full protection etc.

Are you saying that the UV protection is the same in all of them? I know it is not that important in a car, when the glass filters UVB out, but UVA still gets through AFAIK.

What about the quality of polarising filters? Scratch resistance, halo effects and flares? Not a sarcams, genuine question...

RiseToMe

grogi wrote: »

Are you saying that the UV protection is the same in all of them? I know it is not that important in a car, when the glass filters UVB out, but UVA still gets through AFAIK.

What about the quality of polarising filters? Scratch resistance, halo effects and flares? Not a sarcams, genuine question...

Yup, in order to reach ISO standard they have to fully protect from UV (well 99% as claims of 100% aren't scientific).

Polarising filters also have to meet minimum requirements which are quite tight.

Halo effects and flares come under Haze and scatter testing and again, all filters are subject to tight margins.

Distortion of images is also checked on all filters to tolerances that again, are tight. As is distortion of colours etc.

Durability of lenses in terms of breakage is tested, and if they claim any scratch proofing etc this needs to be tested so they can prove it. The lenses themselves are tested for breakage and inspected for any inherent faults in manufacturing

In all of this, do some preform better? Yes but the margins are tight anyway. In terms of breakage, they either pass or don't there isn't a sliding scale.

I say polarised and glass as optically glass always outperforms plastics hence why camera lenses etc are glass. It's just optically better but plastic are safer hence being used for most lenses.

magentis

Polarised ray ban predators

grogi

Miike wrote: »

This is the best advice on the thread. Ordered one pair to give them a lash... fell in love with them and then sat on them (Like I have done with every single pair of glasses I've ever owned) went back and ordered another few pairs of them. For a tenner you can't go wrong.

How wide are they? Could you measure them Lens edge to lens edge please?

Alun

Another vote for the Serengeti Drivers Glasses.

Tilikum

The last pair that I lost are these. They're €189 in brown Thomas

https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B002Q1P12S/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A3JWKAKR8XB7XF&psc=1

dogmatix

My specsavers prescription sunglasses which I got at the same time as me normal prescription lenses. After the "Paedo" references earlier, i'm now a bit worried. Are the other posters refering to "mirrored" lenses or something. I'm still going to wear them though and to hell with what my neighbours think (unless they are ex "news of the world" readers).

davycc

Best pair I ever used where Shimano polarized fishing glasses cost me 30e in Argos, great for driving and when I was fishing they cut down the glare on top of the water so I could see miles down in perfect condition

JohnK

Serengeti Drivers here as well, best I've ever had.

HeidiHeidi

dogmatix wrote: »

My specsavers prescription sunglasses which I got at the same time as me normal prescription lenses. After the "Paedo" references earlier, i'm now a bit worried. Are the other posters refering to "mirrored" lenses or something. I'm still going to wear them though and to hell with what my neighbours think (unless they are ex "news of the world" readers).

Haha, I literally only the other day had a conversation with a pal about sunglasses and the "dirty old man ones" - I meant the ones that change tint with the light (photochromatic? I think they're called) - there's something just wrong with sunglasses indoors (they never seem to fully go clear unless it's dark).

I'd imagine they'd be fierce useful, but could never bring myself to actually wear them

Dord

I use a pair of Serengeti with polarised lenses for driving. The frames are ****e though. But definitely get a pair of glasses with polarised lenses. Makes a great difference on visibility, and I also found that I was less tired after driving on a long trip with them vs without.

Sleeper12

Anything polarised is great

Subacio

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Maui Jims, which cost a bomb and I have amazingly managed not to lose or break in the five or so years I've owned them!

However I will also attest to the brilliance of the Aldi/Lidl ones - there are some very questionable styles but if you can find ones to suit you their lenses are great - and I've used them out sailing as well where the glare can be crippling. Trouble is they only appear once or twice a year - but well worth keeping an eye out for.

+ 1 on the Maui Jim. Got a pair over 10 years ago and still have them. I'll even wear them on a dull day driving. They cost a bomb but have depreciated gently over time.