Polarized Lenses in Sunglasses - Polarized sunglasses are great! Love them for skiing and outdoor sports. But at night, you need our pizzazz!

I like to designate them into four categories: Low End, Lower Mid Price, Upper Mid Price, and High End. Each of these categories have their pros and cons.

Low End: Lower end polarized glasses can usually be found on either discount racks at Wal-Mart type stores or in the discount section of outdoor catalogs such as Bass Pro Shops. Whilst the packaging may say polarized, chances are that for ten to fifteen dollars they aren't. Rather, they are regular lenses with an anti reflecting or anti glare layer of cellophane. This gives the illusion of being polarized and in many cases does offer some of the features of having polarized lenses. However, there are two major pit falls of units in this price range. Number one, there are usually limited styles. Number two, The cellophane coating on the lens has a nasty habit of peeling up or bubbling after a few months of use. Use in heat can speed up this peeling and bubbling as well.

Lower Mid Price: Units in this category usually fall somewhere between twenty to forty dollars and offer several significant improvements over their low end competitors. First major improvement and possibly the most important is that in most cases the lenses are actually polarized. There is no cellophane or film on the lens, rather it is treated when the lens is formed. The next major improvement lies in the fact that there is far more styles in this category. Quite possibly the best deal in this category comes in the "store brand" glasses that Cabellas or Bass Pro Shops offers. They are well made, have polarized glass, and in many cases offer attractive styling. Another nice deal in this category is the Remington/Stren Fisherman sunglasses. They offer a wrap around design, as well as interchangeable lenses. The set comes with two different lenses one smoke colored and the other in an amber color. This allows the user to select the proper tint for the lighting conditions on any given day. I have owned these before and I will attest that for the price, you will receive a very unique and functional product.

High End: The glasses in this category normally range upwards of a hundred dollars and usually are from a designer name. There is very little I could justify for paying more than a hundred dollars for a pair of sunglasses, when the upper mid price units offer all you could ever need and more. Runway designers such as Calvin Kline or Versache do produce several lines of sun protective eye wear that are polarized and are considered for "sport use".

These designers could run upwards of three hundred dollars. A bitter irony is that many of the upper mid priced models are specifically designed for fishing and water sports, and come with a better polarization treatment than do the designer sport glasses which are usually designed for "general outdoor use".

There are however some high end glasses produced specifically for fishing, that are retailing above the three figure range. One of these is Ocean Wave sunglasses which are a similar design to Coasta Del Mar, but feature an exclusive "mirror blue" feature which is said to cut nearly 100% of surface glare. Also, it should be mentioned that on certain upper mid priced models that added features could drive up the price, like mirrored lenses. For instance, a pair of Costa Del Mar glasses with smoke finish might retail for $99.99 but add mirrored or specialty lenses, and you're looking at $149.99. It should be noted that mirroring a lens does tend to cut a little more glare away, but is usually more for cosmetic and appearance than anything else.

A good way to attempt purchasing your eye wear, is to evaluate your needs and then go on looking from there. Unless you know exactly what you want, I would stay away from mail order catalogs and stick with eye wear retailers or sporting goods stores, where you have the chance to touch and try. Also, be sure of your retailers return policy, in case you wish to return your purchase after you give them a shot on the water. It's not uncommon to have to try two or three pairs to finally settle on one pair you are truly comfortable with. Remember, it's best to consider your sunglasses another piece of fishing tackle, and not something that's to be taken lightly. Oddly, a fisher-person who is willing to spend two hundred dollars on a reel, gives you a look of utter disgust when you suggest to them to spend half that on something that will protect their eyes from harmful UV light, act as eye protection at high speeds in a boat, as well as help them to see structure and fish they would otherwise have missed. With that in mind, perhaps it's time to evaluate your sun protective eye wear, and consider it's many functions.

Fishermen and drivers seem to derive the most benefit from polarized lenses because they deal with mostly horizontal surfaces. A fishermen wearing polarized sunglasses can see below the surface of the water to search for schools of fish or hidden obstacles. Drivers are no longer affected by a constant reflection of light from their hoods or the road ahead. There are some limitations to the use of polarized lenses, however. Because the vertical polarizing stripes reduce the amount of light entering the eye, polarized lenses cannot be used for regular eyewear with clear lenses. Prescription sunglasses can be tinted a very light gray to acccomodate the polarized laminate, but most contact lenses cannot. Some drivers discover that polarized lenses can cause distortions in liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Onboard clocks and other instrument displays may be temporarily unreadable. Both horizontally and vertically-polarized lenses are used to view three-dimensional movies. Some of the light reflected from the movie screen is vertically polarized, which means only a lens with a similar vertical laminate will receive it. The other lens only receives horizontal lightwaves. Your brain takes both of these images and combines them to create a realistic sense of depth.

Upper Mid Priced: Those units falling under this category usually range from fifty to one hundred dollars. Undoubtedly most of the good deals on this type of product fall somewhere in here. Here is where one will usually find the best product for the money. In this category all the glass is always polarized as it is formed, and will sometimes offer a non scratch coating. Also in this category look for metal components such as hinges. Sometimes, glasses in the price range might offer extras like a cleaning kit or a "croakie". Another bonus to this category is that nearly all the current styles will be offered and in many cases can double as "off the water" sunglasses as well. A great producer of glasses in this category is Coasta-Del-Mar. They offer great styles as well as a truly incredible lens, that in many cases puts high end models to shame. As of now, I own the Coasta-Del-Mar Ex-Frame model, and needless to say, I am absouloutly thrilled with them. I also wouldn't trade them for any other brand. They are extremely comfortable and in driving situations, actually cut the glare from shinny pavement surfaces as well, which is a nice feature when driving into blinding sun. As far as on the water performance, they offer everything a buyer could want in a pair of fishing sunglasses as well as serve as eye protection when running up or down lake at full speed.

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polarized lenses Lenses that block light reflected from horizontal surfaces such as water, to reduce glare. Polarized Lenses - Polarized lenses allow light to pass through a lens at only one angle, cutting the scattered or diffused light associated with glare. Polarized lenses are used in sunglasses to reduce glare from reflective surfaces such as the surface of a lake or the hood of a car. They accomplish this feat through a process called polarization, much like a venetian blind controls sunlight through a window. Sunlight itself is not polarized - light from the sun will either be absorbed or reflected horizontally, diagonally or vertically. The problem this causes for fishermen and drivers lies in the horizontal reflectivity. Sunlight bouncing off a horizontal surface will strike the viewer's eyes at a similar angle. This means the glare from the surface of the water or the road or the car hood will be strong. Polarized lenses have a laminated surface containing vertical stripes. These stripes only allow vertically-polarized light to enter the wearer's eyes. Glare is eliminated because the horizontally-polarized lightwaves cannot bypass the polarized filter. Polarized lenses do not provide universal protection from glare, however. If the wearer tilts his head past 45 degrees or so, some of the horizontal light can enter and cause some bright spots. Some wearers who use polarized lenses in snowy areas may find that they lose some contrast between snow and shadows.