The best pilot sunglasses

[scruggs]

Who is the largest UK Oakley retailer? If you can't advertise, can you PM me please.

Cheers mate

eP

[shelgason]

Originally Posted by Inverted81

As others have said, Oakley do claim (and i've seen it proven) that UVA, UVB and UVC are blocked 100%. So you all know; UVC is the "blue light" reflected of snowy surfaces. so ideal for skiing etc.

Actually, UV-C (100 to 280 nm) is totally blocked by the ozone layer. So unless you do alot of skiing on the poles, you don't need UV-C protection at all. Seems to me like it's just to make them sound better.

I recommend Skylet lenses from Carl Zeiss.

You can get them framed from Zeiss or you can buy only the lenses to be mounted in any frame you like. I have mine in a Silhouette Minimal Art. Excellent comfort while wearing a headset.

Regards,

[crewrest]

Do a search on ebay; there's loads there.
I bought and am happy with this chap



Edited to remove advertising link. BM

[captain_murray]

rayban's

Hi,

does anyboday have and info on rayban lens, I like rayban glasses and i want buy a pair, with G-15xlt lens, i have a job sailing in greece for the summer so what a pair that are good for that but with a view to using the for flying aswell. thats the dilemma, i dont want to spend a fortune on a pair of polerized for sailing that i cant use for flying! so are G15 good? i hear they are a good alrounder but waondered if any had any experience on the water and in the air?

thanks

[soggyboxers]

Oakleys - wouldn't touch them again. The lenses kept breaking in the only pair I tried to keep. After 4 pairs of lenses and 400 excuses I threw them away. Used raybans for over 30 years with no problems and currently the best I have ever had are Serengetti drivers glasses with the gradient lenses and titanium frames. I have no interest in their looks; only that they're comfortable for up to 8 hours a day, tough and do the job.

[Dani]

... yeah, this discussion is endless ...

HOWEVER:
I can't believe there's still pilots around who see advantages of changing or gradient lenses.

For an aviator there is not always earth where is the lower part of the sunglasses. Even if you don't do aerobatics, you do turns, and your eyes will be less protected on the "upper" side of the turn.

Also in quick changing brightness, which happens in the cockpit all the time, changing lenses are nonsense.

UV-C is the radiation with less than 400 nm (also called blue light) and is suspected to be reason for damages on eyes when you get old. Swiss National Healthcare Institute SUVA came to this conclusion (and invented the Suvasol lenses). It's also wrong to think that UV-C only occures in polar regions. Everyone knows that it's a question of dosis, and in the air on high FLs there is considerably more UV rays than on ground. Latest stratospherical research come to the conclusion that "ozone holes" not only happen in polar winters but everywhere on the planet.

There is another factor to be considered: The form is not only fashionable and a comfort question. Straight models (conventional pilot glasses' frame) let more rays entering your eye from the side and from the back. A "round" model ("wrap around") is not only "cool", but absolutly necessary from a medical point of view. Mountain climber knew that already before those wrap around models existed.

If you consider all these points you come to the conclusion that Oakley is the only way to go, if you like it or not. Or if you don't want a famous brand go for Suvasol or any other brown glass with UVC filter capability.

Bear in mind that until now Oakley is the only provider who has solved the problem of corrected RX prescribed wrap around lenses. It needs very complicated production steps to do so. Other lenses sometimes show abberations when you move your head, very disturbing!

Dani

[md-100]

sun-glasses and PFD & ND

For pilots flying NG planes ... I mean watching screens not analog instrument....::

What sun-glasses do you wear just to see what is going on on the screen and dont let the sun bother you?

[Daysleeper]

Argh I just broke my Rayban 2030s (about 5 years old) and now I cant find a UK stockist to replace them... any ideas chaps?
And if anyone has ordered from the US what extra taxes did you have to pay?

[wingman863]

I've a pair of raybans which are oval shaped and slightly wrap-around. They are pretty good although I recently got a pair of Oakley Hatchet glasses and these are a little bit bit better. Headsets and frames is always a problem though.

[DawnTreader]

I wouldn't touch any Transistions lenses. I have the regular prescription ones (latest generation) and they will NOT go dark in a car or cockpit.

The first gen had problems with the speed of darkening and the depth of colour. (In fact the UK Advertising Standards Authority forced them to pull their TV ads.) They have improved them since then but what's the point if the windscreen blocks enough UV and heat to stop them 'reacting'??

[GullWing]

oakleys - for ladies only?!

Hi all
Been to a couple of shops trying on various sunglasses today and finally found a pair that I really like - thin enough to go under headset, wrap-around lenses, nice and light etc etc, and thought Id come home and find them cheaper on the web...

When I looked up the style in question (Oakley Dart) all the sites I found listed these as "exclusively for women"! Yet nobody in the shops mentioned this to me. Would it be an inexcusable error for me to buy and wear a pair of "ladies" sunglasses?

GullWing (very male)

[1013dot25hPa]

I see people repeatedly refering to Serengeti Drivers Gradient lenses as transition lenses. They are NOT transition lenses. Transition lenses are also known as photochromatic lenses and AUTOMATICALY change color based upon the amount of UV available which is related to how bright it is.

The Serengeti Drivers Gradient lenses are in essence nothing more then lenses that are darker colored on the top and lighter colored on the bottom of the lens. The do NOT change automaticaly. So no problems there.

I also constantly see people refering to Oakley's as the only lenses that filter out UV-A, B and C. Also this is not true. Just have a look at the Serengeti manufacturers website. Serengeti's do in fact filter out UV C.

Then there are people that think that only Oakley's filter out UVA, B and C out for a full 100%. Again not true. You are comparing polycarbonate lenses of the Oakley's with glass lenses of the Serengeti's. If it bothers you that the Serengeti glass lenses "only" filter out 100% UV-A, 98.5% Uv B and C, and feel that the 1.5% UV B that is allowed to enter is big turn-off for you, you can get Serengeti's with Polarmax lenses. Same type of lens as the Oakley's with the same properties.

So if you want a true distortion free, color true lens go with glass and go with the awesome Serengeti Drivers or Drivers Gradient. Drawback, slightly heavier then polycarbonate and more prone to shattering.

If the lack of 1.5% UV-B filtration bothers you in a glass lens, go with polycarbonate Oakley's or Serengeti PolarMax. Drawback, not 100% distortion free.

[tiggermoth]

Strangely enough I went to buy a pair or sunglasses only today in readiness to doing flight training in the US.

I hadn't read this thread until now, but my criteria were:

• The arms of the frames should be as thin as possible so they would pass under my headset
• The arms of the frames would not stick out from my face too much so (again) would pass under my headset.
• Not polarised.
• Offer 100% UV protection

I went to an optician after going to a sunglasses-hut kind of place and being very unimpressed by their technical knowledge of what they were selling.

The opticians were great, and got a (non-prescription, ie. no correction) pair of Silhouette 8592 /55 6086. These have titanium nose bridge, and arms so you can bend them out completely and they spring back into shape again. They are frameless. Got them for £80 from a high street 'express' optician (who had a 50% offer on a range).

I've not tried them in the air yet, but I have tried them under my headset (DC 10-13.4) and the ultra-thin arms (about 500 micron) pass under perfectly.

Tiggermoth

[tiggermoth]

Originally Posted by GullWing

When I looked up the style in question (Oakley Dart) all the sites I found listed these as "exclusively for women"! Yet nobody in the shops mentioned this to me. Would it be an inexcusable error for me to buy and wear a pair of "ladies" sunglasses?

Gullwing,
If they are ideal, then don't worry about it.

(When I was at uni I used to run in a pair of pink "for ladies" trainers because they were cheaper and better than the gents ones at the time.)

As long as you have an adams apple and perhaps some indication of facial hair then don't fall into the trap of the marketing man.

Tiggermoth

[spaceman18]

Ray Ban Presciption sunglasses

Anyone out there know where I can get prescription ray ban sunglasses?
Im talking about the frames that are more curved.... ie. the ones that all the opticians seems too scared to put a prescription in!
Ive found a few web sites, just wondering if anybody had any recommendations.
Thanks in advance

[tournesol]

A while ago, I saw a Rayban pair that I fell in love with. Bought the pair, did the eye test from the same optician. At the begining they felt a bit strange, just like any other new pair, after a while you get use to them. No problem there.
P.S. the glasses are progressive and curve like you describe.

[Sagey]

I believe, and I am no optician, that to be able to have certain shaped prescription lensdepends on yours actual prescription. My eye sight is -0.25 in both eyes and therefore my lenses are very thin and I apparently can have virtually any frame. I know those with eyes in the 2-3 range who have thicker lenses and therefore have less choice when it comes to sunnies.

[snow bear]

I have been wearing straight line bi-focals for a decade now. I would strongly recommend them in lieu of "progresive lenses" while in the cock-pit. As far as sun glasses go you can get any lense you wish tinted to match Ray Ban colors. I have used G-15 exclusively and have been very happy. Be sure to get "non-polarized" lenses if you are working with EFIS as polarized lenses really play havok with the screens.

[wbryce]

hello people,

I have a set of Revo polarised sun glasses, i've used them for all my GA flying and now I have my sights set on doing an IR in the future but my chosen provider does the IR in a DA42 with Glass instruments...I fear the anti glare filters mixed with my polarised lenses will fight over what picture to give me so im looking for another nice pair of sunglasses..

I like the styling of Revo, they're comfy and never fell off when doing aeros...can anyone recommend a pair? After looking through the past 6 pages, its between Oakley and Serengeti (although I looked over Serengeti's website, I couldn't find a pair I liked)...Any opinions??

[Farrell]

When the weather is rainy and grey, I use Oakley A-Wire and remove the rubber socks at the ears to relieve the pressure points where my headset contacts with them.
Bose X don't give me as much of a pressure problem as the David Clark ANRs did though.

I also have Serengheti that I use on very sunny days or in places where there is a lot of haze. I have never used a pair of sunglasses that cut through mist and haze like the Serenghetis do.
My only problem with the ones I have is that they get a little bit heavy after a while on the bridge of my nose. I think it's the weight of the lenses as the frames are as light as the Oakleys.

If I was to part with one pair.......it would be the Oakleys as the Serenghetis are better all rounders.