What are Polarized Lenses in Sunglasses?
By
Nick Ruiz
Chances are, every serious fisher-person south of Canada either
owns or has heard of these miracle shades that let you see tens
of feet into the fish's watery world. They are known as "polarized"
sunglasses and have become more of a phenomenon than just a
way to block out the sun. For those of you who do own polarized
sunglasses, you know what a valuable resource they can be, and
for those of you who don't, you are missing out on a great tool to catch fish.
First off, the idea of polarizing lenses is not a new concept.
It has been around since the 1980s. For a while,
it was only applied to high end rifle scopes, binoculars, and camera optics. This due primarily to the fact that up until
recently, the process of polarizing a lens was very costly and
time consuming. Though with advances in the fields of optics,
it has become practical and worthwhile to apply |
Polarization by definition means that the glass is treated by aligning the molecules in the glass in one direction, which eliminates the refraction of light and drastically reduces visible
glare. It's in this reduction of glare that produces the effect
of "seeing through the water". By removing the surface glare,
the wearer gets a clearer picture and a wider field of vision on and under the water. Of course, the lighting conditions on
any given day will determine exactly how effective the glasses
are. The sun directly overhead, provides the wearer with the best possible results with these glasses, most of the light
is directed upwards and not on an angle where it would shine
directly at the lens, such as during sunrise or sunset.
Like any other product, quality comes at a price. The cost
of these polarized sunglasses can run anywhere from ten to fifteen
dollars for Wal-Mart discount rack types, upwards of three hundred
dollars for premium optics and designer names. |
