Best sunglasses to cut glare on water?

[Rich Lambert]

Out on the boat the other day and the glare on the water from the setting sun was totally blinding. I have 3 pair of sunglasses and none of them does anything to diminish the glare.

Last year a rower was run over and killed on our lake...the boat driver said he never saw him due to the glare. It was a really sad case of 2 people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I really do not want to hit anybody, anything, or run through a milfoil jungle.

Someone has to have solved this...any suggstions? Polarized? Those giant wrap-around sunglasses that old people in motorhomes wear?

[Dottore]

Vuarnet.

Best for snow and water IMO.

[PorscheGAL]

Any glasses with polarized lenses are good but one of the best for water: Maui Jim. They are expensive but they have anti-glare on both sides of the lenses. This prevents the sun from reflecting on the inside of the lens into your eyes.

[azasadny]

I have found that my polarized prescriptipn sunglasses cut glate to almost zero...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Oakley A-Wire polarized. Gold. They're fantastic. My wife has Revo polarized which are also very, very good.

I personally felt the Oakleys were just slightly better than the Maui Jims, but YMMV. It was pretty close but I love those A-wires. You can be out on the water on a bright sunny day with the sun low on the horizon looking right into it and still make out every individual wave.

[VINMAN]

Costa Del Mars

[id10t]

Anything polarized will be better, of course higher quality glass, etc.

I use cheap $20 polarized glasses and a hat w/ large brim and have no glare issues fishing on local ponds...

[Monza_dh]

Maui Jim hands down

Maui Jim Sunglasses - Official Website

[craig356]

Another vote for Costa Del Mar

I first thought these were just trendy, but the polarized lens are excellent!! I have Persol, Ray-Ban, Maui Jim, Oakley and others and by far my favorite pair is my Costa Del Mar Blackfin...Excellent for lake or ocean wear!

[craigster59]

Cheap polarized from REI for all around and Ono's w/ readers when fishing (so I can thread the line thru those #18 flies). Simms also makes good fishing glasses along with Cabela's.

[Zeke]

I wear snow glasses out on the water.

[syncroid]

Arnette with polarized lenses. I believe they are owned by Oakley.

[vash]

any great fitting polorized glasses will work. i like them to wrap around alittle bit to block side-lighting.

[red-beard]

Maui Jim.

Except I wouldn't wear mine on a boat...

I also use wrap around brown glass, polarized safety glasses for around $30. I use these for bicycling.

[Z-man]

Polarized is the way to go -- HOWEVER: Make sure you get the right type of polarized glasses. I believe the goal on the water is to eliminate the horizontal rays which bounce off the water and causes glare vs. the vertical glare caused by rays bouncing off mirror and window clad skycrapers in big cities.

At least that's what I remember being told years ago -- not sure of the following though:
a. how true the above statement is.
b. why in the world I remember that essentally useless bit of information.

-Z-man.

[JeremyD]

OK - here you go -

I'm on the water just about every weekend in the summer.

I have light color eyes - so I'm pretty susceptible to glare.

My current flavor are Serengeti Cetera Sunglasses with Polarized Lenses. Very good for cutting down the glare on the water - good filteration and optics

I also have a pair of Bolle Flip Polarized Wrap Sunglasses - that I use when fishing - they are much more reasonable - and I've lost a pair of these before overboard.

Probably the best bang for the buck is the Smith Undertow Polarized Sunglasses. Great optics - I had a pair of those that my son ended up losing.

Kaenon are good - Costa Del Mar and Maui Jim and great - but I wouldn't buy a pair that were not on sale.

I have probably 5-6 different pairs in a basket that we let guests borrow.

I do buy every so often at Camping Gear & Outdoor Gear - Outerwear & Outdoor Clothing from Campmor.com

They seem to have some pretty good prices.

[island911]

Originally Posted by Z-man

Polarized is the way to go -- HOWEVER: Make sure you get the right type of polarized glasses. I believe the goal on the water is to eliminate the horizontal rays which bounce off the water and causes glare vs. the vertical glare caused by rays bouncing off mirror and window clad skycrapers in big cities.

At least that's what I remember being told years ago -- not sure of the following though:
a. how true the above statement is.
b. why in the world I remember that essentally useless bit of information.

-Z-man.

Pretty good.

Perfect polarized glasses would have lenses that could rotate to optimize against the angle of the glare. (polarized reflections)

[enzo1]

JeremyD: "I have light color eyes - so I'm pretty susceptible to glare"....... does that make a difference, never thought about it....

[ledhedsymbols]

I use a pair of Serengeti Cascade wrap-around style with glass lenses for fishing. They are great for cutting the glare off the water, and as a bonus are awesome driving glasses. As stated over and over again, polarized is a huge difference. Maybe try some polarized cheapo glasses and if you are happy with them, then find a good pair you like.

Micah

[glewis80SC]

+1 Maui Jims expensive but worth it.