Extra dark sunglasses, replacement lenses, etc. Talk about sunglasses now!

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Drizzt321

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  • #1
    So I like my WileyX Saber Advanced sunglasses. Lightweight, ballistic protection (e.g. can use them as safety glasses), etc. However, the grey tint lens just isn't dark enough for me, in some environments/times of year now. Specifically desert, very bright daytime. Anyone know of any similar general style of sunglasses that have a very dark tint/filter?

    Specifically:
    • UVA/UVB protection
    • Polarized
    • Lightweight
    • Not crazy expensive

    Don't need mirrored, although that's OK, but do want something in the general wraparound-esque style.

    EDIT: As per how this thread has been going, let's open it up to a bit more general replacement lenses, random niche sunglasses, etc. Go for it!
     
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    HiroTheProtagonist

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  • #5
    I am in no way affiliated with the brand, but I love my Pit Vipers. A lot of their designs are garish in color, but they've got some decent wraparound models that I use for biking/snowboarding/driving that fit nicely and are pretty durable. They're not super cheap, but if you wait for Black Friday/Cyber Monday they tend to do stacking discounts that bring the prices down to "just above Walmart". Plus, they make "safety" versions of most of their sunglasses.
     
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    Drizzt321

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  • #7
    continuum said:
    Which other brands have you already looked at, maybe that'll give us a start?
    Click to expand...
    No brands in particular. I do wear some Goodr for my normal, everyday pair.

    As for price, $60-80 is my general though, although I could stretch that a bit. But I don't want to spend a lot more than $100 for sunglasses that I'm going to be pretty hard on.

    Oakley...didn't even look at them because my impression is they tend to be far too expensive for me. Into "I don't want to risk them" level. Think hard desert camping and such, where they could get lost or stomped on by accident, or scratch up, or something. I can stretch a bit, but fundamentally I don't have to worry about them.

    The Pit Vipers seems reasonable, and I like they have a variety of tint levels that are labeled. Hopefully their "cat 3" is dark enough for my need.

    I do wish I knew what light transmission amount my other sunglasses are, makes it hard to compare without buying and trying on.
     
    KingKrayola

    KingKrayola

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  • #8
    Drizzt321 said:
    No brands in particular. I do wear some Goodr for my normal, everyday pair.

    As for price, $60-80 is my general though, although I could stretch that a bit. But I don't want to spend a lot more than $100 for sunglasses that I'm going to be pretty hard on.

    Oakley...didn't even look at them because my impression is they tend to be far too expensive for me. Into "I don't want to risk them" level. Think hard desert camping and such, where they could get lost or stomped on by accident, or scratch up, or something. I can stretch a bit, but fundamentally I don't have to worry about them.

    The Pit Vipers seems reasonable, and I like they have a variety of tint levels that are labeled. Hopefully their "cat 3" is dark enough for my need.

    I do wish I knew what light transmission amount my other sunglasses are, makes it hard to compare without buying and trying on.
    Click to expand...
    YMMV, but I find spending a painful amount on some of the more subtle Oakleys means I can gen 10-15 years out of a pair by being somewhat-careful-but-not-so-precious about them. If they get gritty I'm usually near enough to civilisation that I can run them under a tap. That said I either have a routine about where to put stuff (phone, sunglasses, keys) so that they're safe and I keep hold of them, or I just lose things in 5 mins.

    Sadly they don't have the same repair/refurbish for £10 programme that they did 20 years ago when Jim Jannard still owned them. That was a pretty good deal, got me an effectively new pair of Eye Jackets when an arm fatigued after a couple of years' heavy use.
     
    NervousEnergy

    NervousEnergy

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  • #9
    I've tried to get darker prescription sun glasses and have found it difficult. The darkest the places I've tried (two local places and the national eyeglasses.com) are still fairly uncomfortable in bright, mid-day Texas summer sun. That was max tint, polarized, and mirrored.

    There's probably some minimum light transmission standard to make sure you're not totally blind when walking inside or some such, but I'd much prefer my sunglasses actually deal fully with the sun. Strange I know.
     
    JimCampbell

    JimCampbell

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  • #12
    KingKrayola said:
    YMMV, but I find spending a painful amount on some of the more subtle Oakleys means I can gen 10-15 years out of a pair by being somewhat-careful-but-not-so-precious about them.
    Click to expand...
    Oakley is not the brand it used to be. The Luxottica buy-out turned them into basically a fashion brand, compared to the insanely over-engineered products they used to produce.

    (Obviously, I’m really just pissed off that they re-designed the Straight Jacket from the stone cold design classic that I’m still wearing twenty years down the line to the fugly piece of crap that now bears the name.)
     
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    Shavano

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  • #14
    Drizzt321 said:
    So I like my WileyX Saber Advanced sunglasses. Lightweight, ballistic protection (e.g. can use them as safety glasses), etc. However, the grey tint lens just isn't dark enough for me, in some environments/times of year now. Specifically desert, very bright daytime. Anyone know of any similar general style of sunglasses that have a very dark tint/filter?

    Specifically:
    • UVA/UVB protection
    • Polarized
    • Lightweight
    • Not crazy expensive

    Don't need mirrored, although that's OK, but do want something in the general wraparound-esque style.
    Click to expand...
    Might not meet all your criteria
    1722653986957.png
     
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    von Chaps

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  • #15
    JimCampbell said:
    Oakley is not the brand it used to be. The Luxottica buy-out turned them into basically a fashion brand, compared to the insanely over-engineered products they used to produce.
    Click to expand...
    IDK. I always viewed them as a fashion brand. I mean "unobtanium", really? That said, I did used to like them...

    JimCampbell said:
    (Obviously, I’m really just pissed off that they re-designed the Straight Jacket from the stone cold design classic that I’m still wearing twenty years down the line to the fugly piece of crap that now bears the name.)
    Click to expand...
    Here's my OG Jackets from, I want to say about 1998. Still used daily. I'd like to replace the lenses, but even the companies that claim to do them don't seem to support this original model.
     

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    von Chaps

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  • #23
    When the OG Jackets became unuseable, I picked up a pair of Oakley Unknown in polished black. They were great until they got trashed whilst tracking leopard in Namibia. After that, I started buying cheap (whilst still UV, of course) since I seem to break them a lot.

    Now I have the Vortex, my interest is rekindled and I realised that the Jackets may be salvageable. If I can get new lenses from Oz, I think I will respray the frames with something like Krylon and then I need to do something about the earsocks - which I can't find anywhere. My current thought is to stabilise what's left of the old ones (they are worn and sticky) and then cover with some heat-shrink tubing.
     
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    elitegimp

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  • #24
    Drizzt321 said:
    von Chaps said:
    I found a company in Oz that may have lenses for me. I'm talking to them.
    Click to expand...

    Ohhh, they have Goodr replacement lenses too!
    Click to expand...
    I won a pair of Nuclear Gnars in a raffle at a bike ride, but I can't wear them because they don't fit over my regular glasses comfortably. A little bummed that

    1. Sunglass Fix doesn't support replacements for that frame (granted the wrap-around is a very non-standard shape and size), and
    2. Sunglass Fix doesn't have an option to replace with prescription lens.

    It would be so awesome to have the option to buy (or win :p ) off-the-shelf sunglasses and then swap in prescription lenses so I could actually see through them
     
    von Chaps

    von Chaps

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  • #25
    elitegimp said:
    It would be so awesome to have the option to buy (or win :p ) off-the-shelf sunglasses and then swap in prescription lenses so I could actually see through them
    Click to expand...

    Can you even get prescription lenses for such a wrap-around frame? That seems like a complex bit of optics and quite a tall ask. Perhaps your local optician really is the best bet in that case.
     
    von Chaps

    von Chaps

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  • #26
    I've ordered a set of replacement lenses from Oz. Their customer support was very helpful and confirmed which lenses to order based on some photos I sent them. I've ordered these in polarized red/orange mirror, just for grins. Takes 1-3 weeks to get to the UK and then the fun begins. If they fit and are good, I'll start to work on the frames.
     
    steelghost

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  • #27
    I have some Oakley "Whisker" sunglasses that I bought for skiiing about 15 years ago. Unfortunately my prescription has changed such that I can't really wear contact lenses under them like I used to, and eyewear without prescription is just not an option.

    There's a place in York (UK) that offers prescription replacement lenses for them, it would be great to put them back in service. Are Oakley lenses still reasonably well regarded, even if their frames are not?
     
    von Chaps

    von Chaps

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  • #28
    Replacement lenses arrived from Aus today and.... sure enough, they fit perfectly.

    Old lenses were grey mirror, these are red/orange mirror, so I planned to spray the frames - maybe gloss black. However, I'm kind of liking the look as it is, so I may leave the frames alone and just try and fix up the rubber earsocks. What say you? Do my newly rennovated Oakleys look super cool or proper shite?20240819_115829.jpg20240819_115805.jpg20240819_115942.jpg20240819_120130.jpg
     
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    ramases

    ramases

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  • #34
    I'm a big fan of rimless Silhouette glasses: https://www.silhouette.com/en/sunglasses
    Specifically of this or similar design: https://www.silhouette.com/en/sunglasses/avior/8741/9040

    They're ... not cheap (expect to pay between 300 and 500 Euro for a polarized, rimless one), but because they're rimless there's no rim design that can go out of fashion, and there's not a rim you can break, only the attachment points to the glasses; and since the entire thing is very lightweight and flexible it is quite hard to break those.

    Haven't managed to break them yet, despite 20 years of giving it the good old try by wearing them for things like climbing.
     
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