Sunglasses

[BryanP]

Count me in as another who always gets a headache when wearing cheap sunglasses.  I can't say if expensive ones fix the problem as I've never tried. I can't bring myself to spend that much on a pair of sunglasses I will inevitably break or lose.

[Blakenzy]

You really want to get good lenses that actually filter out UV and don't just make things look dark-er. Cheap tinted plastic just doesn't cut it once you have tried the real deal. Quality sunglasses should give a nitid, artifact free view with improved contrast.

[230RN]

I like the way brown-tinged ones enhance colors and contrasts.  Look at a cloud pattern someday with and without brown lenses. It's just like a Wratten 3A filter with panchromatic film.  Really brings out the clouds and colors of foliage.

3A?  I wonder if I got that filter number right.  Been a while.

[charby]

You really want to get good lenses that actually filter out UV and don't just make things look dark-er. Cheap tinted plastic just doesn't cut it once you have tried the real deal. Quality sunglasses should give a nitid, artifact free view with improved contrast.

My eyes can be light sensative at times so I wear quality sunglasses, more so in the winter time than in the summer. My current set is a pair of Vaurnet I got 6 years ago and I'm about due for another pair. I've been thinking about a pair of Raybans.

I love polarized and it makes the image clear in my eye.

Cheap sunglasses to me always scratch, make things blurry and break easily. I would probably spent $200 a year on cheap sunglasses until I finally broke down and got the Vaurnet glasses. I also have a pair of Suncoast sunglasses that were pretty good until the coating started to peel from insect repellant overspray. They have a lifetime warranty but I haven't the heart to use it since it was my own fault.

[Chuck Dye]

Prescription polarized.  Polycarbonate has proven worth the cost, resisting scratching well enough that my primary cause for replacement is prescription failure, not the beach glass effect.

[RoadKingLarry]

As soon as I finished the next day follow up appointment for my Lasik surgery, I stopped at Bass Pro Shops and got some polarized fishing glasses, Sea Shark or something like that for about $20 or $30.  They work great IMO and fit decent enough though the polarization makes it hard to read the in-dash navigation sometimes.  

Having worn glasses for years, I find I really hate the idea of wearing sunglasses that look or fit like regular glasses and I find I really like them to wrap around the sides a bit.

Not the deciding factor but one of the reasons I had LASIK done was so I could wear the "cool" shades.

I have several pair of the higher end wrap around safety glasses in different tints with polycarbonate lenses. Good for riding the bike and shooting. And of course they look cool.

[220_SWIFT]

I wear polarized Oakley Flak Jacket XLJ's, every single day.  Hands down the best sunglasses I have ever owned.  I used to buy the cheap $20 polarized sunglasses, and these blow them out of the water.  Eye fatigue is non-existent, and they are incredibly comfortable for all day wear in any activity I do.  I used to average 5 pairs of the cheap ones per year.  They either broke, or got scratched up.  These are now 3 years old, and are still like new.  So, as of right now, I am money ahead.  My wife has had her regular Flak Jackets for just as long, and hers are like new as well.  I did have to replace the ear socks for her, but that was still cheaper than a cheap pair of sunglasses.  I'll never go back.   

[Monkeyleg]

The cheapest sunglasses I ever had were ones I bought in 1969. They were so cheap they starting getting soft on my dashboard from the sun and heat.