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Polarized vs. Non-Polarized sunglasses

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just got a pair of maui jim hookipa for the car and loved it, light weight and fits extremely well. i like their frameless aviator a lot more and it's even cheaper, but i already have a pair of aviator from rayban.
 
I have never heard of a reason NOT to get polarized.
I love my RayBan Polarized glasses.
They cut out all of the harsh brightness but still allow you to see very well in low light.
Regular sunglasses just darken everything, so in dim light, you can't see anything.
 
Polarized. I don't even see a point to non-polarized sunglasses, all they do is dim the light not filter it out 🙁
 
Going from non polarized to polarized was night and day for me. I would never get another pair of expensive sunglasses that weren't polarized.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've read that cheap/mid-priced (<!100) polarized glasses can delaminate after a while.

Whereas a good pair of sunglasses like Serengeti or Maui Jims sandwich the polarized material between two pieces of glass making them really long lasting.....
 
I assume the Oakleys I'm looking at wouldn't use a cheaper process but I guess you never know. I've not heard of delaminating Oakleys.
 
cheezmunky said:
I've had a strange checkerboard pattern looking through tint, had other car's windshields appear to have a red hue, and gotten weird rainbow effects looking at asphalt, but nothing that interfered with driving. I currently have 17.5% all the way around and had the same effects on my old car with 30%

"checkerboard": http://www.fi.muni.cz/~kas/blog/car-window-polarized.jpg

rainbow (although I've never seen this on other cars, just the road): http://www.glaringnotebook.com/zimages/rbp6.jpg
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When I first started wearing polarized lenses I noticed that stuff all the time, now I don't at all.
 
Crusty said:
When I first started wearing polarized lenses I noticed that stuff all the time, now I don't at all.
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Did your eyes get used to it and it's not "there" anymore or is the image still there but you automatically ignore it?
 
Kabob said:
Did your eyes get used to it and it's not "there" anymore or is the image still there but you automatically ignore it?
Click to expand...

It's always going to be there unless the laws of physics change, what my brain does to ignore the images is anyone's guess 😛.
 
my garmin 255 GPS will become dark if i wear polarized sunglasses, but not totally black out, might want to check yours.
 
Kabob said:
I assume the Oakleys I'm looking at wouldn't use a cheaper process but I guess you never know. I've not heard of delaminating Oakleys.
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My last pair of sunglasses were a pair of polarized Oakleys. I thought the same thing, but they would scratch ridiculously easily. They needed to be handled with kid gloves. Any time I kept them out of that microfiber bag they came with I'd regret it.

I bought a pair of Maui Jims and these have held up much better over the last couple of years. I don't do anything special to take care of them and the lenses are still in pretty good shape.

If you get the Oakleys be careful with them.
 
CrimsonWolf said:
My last pair of sunglasses were a pair of polarized Oakleys. I thought the same thing, but they would scratch ridiculously easily. They needed to be handled with kid gloves. Any time I kept them out of that microfiber bag they came with I'd regret it.

I bought a pair of Maui Jims and these have held up much better over the last couple of years. I don't do anything special to take care of them and the lenses are still in pretty good shape.

If you get the Oakleys be careful with them.
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Hrm, interesting. I've had the same pair of Oakleys for almost 14 years now that I bought in middle school and all in all they're in decent shape (although I don't wear them...pearl white frames on a pasty white guy looks ridiculous!).
 
CrimsonWolf said:
My last pair of sunglasses were a pair of polarized Oakleys. I thought the same thing, but they would scratch ridiculously easily. They needed to be handled with kid gloves. Any time I kept them out of that microfiber bag they came with I'd regret it.

I bought a pair of Maui Jims and these have held up much better over the last couple of years. I don't do anything special to take care of them and the lenses are still in pretty good shape.

If you get the Oakleys be careful with them.
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That's a REALLY GOOD point!

When I went to Sunglass Hut, the manager warned me that Oakley's are notorious for scratching extremely easy. He basically said that 2-3 year old Oakleys customers bring in look like a 10 year old pair versus other brands like Persol, Maui Jims or Revos. He also warned that the models with a mirror finish show scratches much more easily, making them look even older.

He mentioned that anything other than a microfiber cloth could wreck the finish.

On a positive note, he did say Oakley polcarb lenses are indestructible (a favorite among overseas soldiers) and engineered to be pieced back together if you step on them, etc.

Caveat emptor (buyer beware)
 
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Kabob said:
Hrm, interesting. I've had the same pair of Oakleys for almost 14 years now that I bought in middle school and all in all they're in decent shape (although I don't wear them...pearl white frames on a pasty white guy looks ridiculous!).
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Were those non-polarized? I'm guessing so since your wondering about polarized lenses. I wonder if it has anything to do with how they polarize them.

My first pair of Oakleys were like that, but they were unpolarized. They were great. I had them for several years before they broke and they lenses were still ok. The lenses looked trashed on my second pair though. I love the look of some of those Oakleys but that last pair really put me off.

dr150, lol that sucks. I guess I'm not the only one.
 
Hrm, so you think unpolarized are more durable?

Yeah, my old pair were unpolarized "Pearl White" Eye Jackets from back in the day.
 
My polarized glasses (prescription) are about 5 years old and the lenses are in great shape. Not sure what the scoop is with stories of "delaminating." I cannot imagine what the difference is though with the couple of name brands mentioned that make it worth the price they're asking. Seems like a Monster Cables are bestest! type of argument & only comparing them to really cheap, crappy glasses.
 
Kabob said:
Hrm, so you think unpolarized are more durable?

Yeah, my old pair were unpolarized "Pearl White" Eye Jackets from back in the day.
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Like with everything, it depends.

If the polarized section is sandwiched ala Serengeti, Blinde or Maui Jim, etc, the lens should last a long time. If it's laminated on the outside (i.e. cheaper sunglasses), it very likely will delaminate at some point (in my case, I've had lens coatings delaminate on $200 sunglasses).

Find out how your chosen sunglass maker maufactures it, then proceed from there....
 
My cellphone works fine with polarized cus it's an AMOLED screen but the LCD gauges in some people's cars doesn't work right.
 
cheezmunky said:
I've had LCD gauges in different cars that disappear when wearing polarized lenses. You might want to check that out before buying if you plan on driving a lot with them. Otherwise, polarized all the way.
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I love the way that windshields on all the cars turn surreal when wearing my polarized prescription sunglasses. But it does make it hard to see my cell phone, or more recently an ATM machine. 😀
 
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