Polarized Sunglasses

[ReelLife]

Great Service

by mcrae294 ,Sep 01 '06

Pros: Great glasses and great customer service. They took customer service to the max.

Cons: None

I love Maui Jim sunglasses. They are so light and they cut down the glare immensely. I would have never paid $150 for a pair of glasses until I tried on a pair of Maui Jims. My dog gnawed my first pair, so I bought another. My dog gnawed my second pair, so I bought another. My dog gnawed my third pair, so I decided that I was not meant to own expensive sunglasses.

 

As a lark,I mailed the glasses into Maui Jim to see if any could be repaired. I just received three pair of "what appears to be" new glasses and dog biscuits. Is that not the sweetest?

 

Muai Jim has a loyal fan forever. Thanks guys.

 

(I am not this person nor do I own these sunglasses. Just found it an interesting comment about Maui Jim-Reel Life)

[kungfool]

I would have never paid $150 for a pair of glasses until I tried on a pair of Maui Jims. My dog gnawed my first pair, so I bought another. My dog gnawed my second pair, so I bought another. My dog gnawed my third pair, so I decided that I was not meant to own expensive sunglasses.

 

I was expecting you to finish that paragraph with "After the third pair I got a new dog". LOL

[reevesr1]

I'm typing this on my bberry looking through my presciption Maui Jim's. I may only be able to see 1\2" deeper into the water than a cheapo pair, but I can't beat the ladies off with a stick. A win in my book.

 

In all seriousness, I love them. Are they worth the money(the glasses, not the ladies)? Who knows, but I haven't noticed budget being a big motivator in the fly fishing world!

[Weedy1]

After wearing Maui's for the last few days I have noticed I am not getting headaches as I would wearing cheap glasses. Furthermore they fit well and don't slide around at all. That's worth some dollars right there. I really don't think the polarization is any better than a cheaper set of glasses though. I tested the glasses (same depth at the same angle) on Muir lake against my cheap set and found I could see to the same depth with both pairs.

[OneMoreLastCast]

I too am loving my new Maui's...

 

Not only can I see into the water better, but I am also finding less strain on my eyes which as Weedy said, has lessened the head pain after a day of fishing.

 

I also noticed that after fishing with them for 4 straight days, I developed "Racoon Eyes". I haven't had "Coon Eyes" for years, (Since my last decent pair of Sun Glasses that were Bolle's).

 

Before last week, I had been wearing a pair of $30 cheapos and was getting a nice all over tan on my face.....

 

I would say this says something about the UV protection.

 

Very Happy with them, Money well spent I'd say.

[lonefisher]

Well my smith sliders seem to have walked away on me...... nice gotta love flushing money down the toilet. Musta fallen out of my car on my way home after work or I left em at work and someone yanked em..... Cabelas seems to have pretty damn good prices on Maui jims but the more I read up on em I realize they have different features ect any specific models you guys would reccomend?

[lonefisher]

also looking at costa del mar with the 580 glass lenses...... don't really know what that means but they sound sweet and have good reviews all around

[lonefisher]

Oh and 1 more question if anyone knows whats the diference between Polarchromic and polarized?

[Weedy1]

Oh and 1 more question if anyone knows whats the diference between Polarchromic and polarized?

 

I think Polarchromic change color.

 

http://www.smithoptics.com/technology.html...gory=1&id=1

[Brownstone]

I burn through 3 pairs a year so ive learned to settle for cheapos

[lonefisher]

I have owned 3 pairs of smith sliders and they have each averaged 1.5 years....... before I lose them..... I sometimes consider going cheaper but I find that most cheap sunglasses bug my head after a couple hours...... the smiths I can wear all day and I usually have them on anytime I am outside even when I am not fishing..... I am still hoping these ones turn up but I am not holding my breath...... I like the looks and reviews for the MJ, smith, and costa del mar....... I see some nice smith fishbones on ebay..... might just order em and if the old ones turn up I guess I have a good backup pair...... My other backup pair seems to have disapeared as well LOL..... I amaze myself some days I really do......

[H2O]

The Westjet store @37th Ave N.E and Barlow Trail sells Maui Jim's. I bought a pair a few months ago and had no problems with them until a couple of weeks ago. While putting them on the frame snapped in two!

 

I took them back and was immediately told that it was a known issue and that the Maui Jim manufacturing plant had messed up the mixture of chemicals in making the frames. They simply handed me a new pair (from a new shipment) and will be sending the others back.

 

So if this happens to you do not hesitate to bring them back, even if the warranty says to mail them to the manufacturer.

[hydropsyche]

A lot of you mention losing/breaking glasses frequently.

 

I've said this before but its worth repeating.

 

Get yourself a lanyard. Those straps that the librarian wears. You can get "cool" looking ones. The only time you have to put your glasses down is when you done wearing them for the day. The rest of the time, you just slip them off and let them hang around your neck (when tying on a fly). Its hard to crush or lose your glasses when they are around your neck.

 

Since I purchased mine about 15yrs ago, I still have the original set of glasses I bought them for. Before then, I used to lose/crush/scratch them weekly.

 

Polarchromic means the lenses get darker when its sunny out and lighten when its not. Great feature.

[lonefisher]

Thanks hydro are they also polarized though? As for the lanyard idea it is a great one for when on the water but I can't wear it and them while at work so they often end up sitting on my desk...... I think that must be where they disapeared from. I will be purchasing a lanyard though as that way they don't slide off your face and into the water when fishing.

Thanks for all the help guys.

[vhawk12]

Photochromic means the lens has silver nitride in it, which react to the presence of UV rays and will darken with increasing amounts. Polarized basically consists of a series of parallel lines (vertical in the case of sunglasses) that filter out glare based on a part of the Beer-Lambert Law which basically states that light rays become somewhat polarized horizontally when hitting a reflective surface. In other words, put your hand in front of your face with your fingers extending vertically upward, now take your other hand and put it horizontal and try to pass it through your vertically extended fingers, this would represent glare. Now turn the horizontal hand vertically and pass it in between your fingers, this represents the original light minus the glare. Light vibrates in all directions at once, but by filtering out the glare, you can see the actual light. Hope this makes some sense.

[Castuserraticus]

I'm on the second Croakies "granny strap" with my action optics. Great thing about the neoprene is it floats - this has come in handy a couple of times - and the bright colour saves the question "Honey, where's my...".

[lonefisher]

Thank you I understand what polarization is I was just curious if polarchromic does both polarization and change tint depending on brightness. I think I have figured out now that this means it does both...... so now I am torn between polarchromic and regular polarized..... the polarchromic sounds pretty sweet especially when fishing into the evening. Unfortunately they (smith) does not make the green mirror lense in polarchromic only polarized....... the green polarized would I think be great for the dog days of summer in the bright sun on those cutty streams........... complicated stuff sunglasses lol. But right now they have the smith fishbones in both the polarchromic brown and the mirror green polarized for like 60 bucks on ebay..... regualr price is like 140 or something so maybe I will buy both pairs........