Boating Sunglasses

I generally prefer bronze/brown colored lenses. They give good depth perception. I find that grey lenses make things look flat.

I usually boat with a pair of Harken polarized sailing sunglasses. Wrap frames eliminate glare from the side and are super light weight. Hydrophobic coating eliminates spray drops.

My driving glasses are brown photocromatic polarized Serengetis.
 
I much prefer Maui Jims with their new poly lenses. I owned a pair of Shorelines for a month and had to take them back because of the excessive weight. Awesome shades but they were just not confortable for hours on end. My new Paradise are unmatched in feel. Thin titanium frames and polycarbonate lenses that you can barely feel are on. The girlfriend has some MJ's too and has commented on the weight after hours of use but hers aren't as bad because of the plastic frames as opposed to my Shorelines which had metal frames.

For boating my favorite sunglasses are my Bolle Pirajas. They've got nice, large, wraparound polycarbonate lenses and super light weight plastic frames. I can turn my head around at 60mph and they don't even budge. I've tried many pairs of Costas on and none of them seem to fit my face right.
 
I have currently about 5 pairs of Maui Jim's between car, boat and at home. Had at least twenty or so in my family over the past 10 years. No matter how old they were Mau Jim always fixed free of charge. Several years ago they started to charge $9 something for shipping for the repairs. But I never paid for repairs or replacement. Best glasses IMHO.
 
Fisherman Eyewear 16FLY in Deepwater Gray. (Unless your priority is lookin' cute & rich to the yachtclub boys- whoo-hoo!). Dark, UV protected, low distortion, polarized. Polarized makes huge difference on the water. If you have problems reading the older LCD instruments, just tilt your head a bit. You don't need to cancel polarization with a full 90 degree tilt to get a readable LCD. A slight nod to one side will do.
 
My Maui Jim Kahunas are in need of an upgrade - think they're a bit outdated. So, I'm looking at new styles - haven't decided which yet. My wife has two pairs of Maui North Shore, in different frame colors - slave to fashion I suppose. I don't think I would ever settle for anything less than MJ - sunglasses are replaceable, eyes aren't.

A note to SLW - Maui Jims have heavy glass lenses - therefore, the frame screws need to be tightened regularly as routine maintenance. If you did not do this - then there's no wonder your frames fell apart. If you are unable to do this simple task - bring them into your original MJ dealer - they will adjust them free - for life.

I've had my last pair for six years - the logo's worn off the arms and lense, but they're still like new.
 
I just sent my 5+ yr old Costa's back (gray plastic lense) because one of the rubber nose pieces fell off and went between the dock. As they no longer make the model I had they gave me a new pair for cost. It was less then half vs the store. They were my boating/fishing sunglasses and I was amazed at how well the lenses held up, no scratches.

I got a pair of Maui Jim Sports last year (gray plastic lense) as a gift. Wore them once, fell off a counter and the lenses were scratched. Sent them back and for $60ish they replaced the lenses. We'll see if they scratch easy this year, if so, they're heading for Davy Jone's Locker. I'm hoping it was a wierd fall that scratched them.

Car pair is Revo's with blue mirrored glass lense - great glasses, but I like lighter plastic on the boat.
 
Maui Jims are the best - bar none, and the only kind I wear.
Ray Bans have the best warranty though.
this is a true story: I was pulling my airplane out of the hangar with my brand new Ray Ban avaitors on the top of my head, and they fell off just in time for the nose wheel to run over them, turning them into dust.
My flying buddy saw what happened (laughed like hell) and told me to sweep up the debris, drop it in an envelope, and send it in to Ray Ban with an honest note explaining what happened.
They sent me a new pair, no questions asked, and no charge.
Now that's a warranty!
 
MJ's are very good, lost a few pairs to Neptune. I presently have a pair of Ocean Waves; Boston, grey lense with my script. Nice, can't wait for the scenario I lose or ruin this pair, always interesting.

T
 
At first I thought I wanted the Costa's with the blue-mirror glass lenses. I tried on every pair they had at the store and finally found one that fit "okay." Wore them home and by the time I got there, I was ready to toss them ... way too heavy for my liking. Thankfully, the store took them back.

I have dropped my MJs several times and haven't experienced any scratching yet. The lenses seem much more durable than the Oakley M-Frame iridiums I had worn for years. And they are super easy to clean.
 
MJ's are the best you can buy.

Fragile but the best for you eyes.

Jonathan
 
I have Maui Jim's , Costa Del Mars and Revo and I use the Revo’s the most because they're lighter and more comfortable when I wear them for long periods. Oakley's are very good also I used to be an Oakley diehard. I didn't choose the Revo's the most beautiful young lady in sunglass hut picked them out for me. My wife bought versace while I was drooling on myself with the sales girl. I told my wife when we left the store that the sales girl could have sold me a piece of dirt for a thousand bucks. 17 years of marriage and going strong too... imagine that.

I know some guys that buy the 7 dollar Gandhi mart specials specials :)

Mark
 
Cheapest I can find, usually at the dollar store. I loose them too often to spend good money on sunglasses.
 
Anything with UV protection costing less than $20. Other than a pair of Ray Bans that actually made it through two summers before I sat on them, anything expensive gets quickly damaged, lost, or stolen (like my pair of Oakley's in Mexico). If it's cheap, I usually get a good 3 years out of them.
 
Prescription polarized in Flexon frames. Work just fine for me. And they don't break when ya sit on em.
 
Agree with comments about Maui Jim. Good service too. I have also had good luck with Wiley-X. In particular, the bronze lenses are good in fog/haze conditions.
 
Surprised nobody mentioned Ocean Waves. Several of my friends have them but I have no personal experience with them.

Yesterday I ordered glasses at a Naval Air Station and they mentioned the pilots do not get polarized lenses, apparently conflict with the aircraft windshields. I notice with my WalMart polarized sunglasses, I see "bubbles" in the SeaRay's windshield. Probably SR's fault somehow, but curved windshield brand is Taylor Made.

I think I'll go Dark Gray, UV, Scratch Coated Poly but not polarized.

Had a demonstration of Transitions at the optician yesterday and didn't feel they go dark enough to be true boating glasses.
 
Oakley with brown polarized lenses. I've had MJ's, Costa's and a couple others, I always go back to Oakley. The brown polarized works the best in any light to see into the water.
Personally, I have Monsterdogs, Canteens, square wire, Gascans and a few I've thrown out due to wear. The black(grey)polarized lens just doesn't work as well IMO. The VR28 lens is a close second.
 
j-d,
reaad my last post "slowly" and I like mine, just know I will lose them during this coming summer.

Tom
 
Maui Jim's here with a croakie holding then to neck and head.

I agree they stink for seeing LCD displays and I even have a hard time spotting red and green buoys with them on
 
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