Buying sunglasses.

saltiness

I need a good, cheap pair of polarized sunglasses. I just lost the ones I've been using for the past few years and I found those to begin with so I've never had experience shopping for glasses. The ones I had were Puma sunglasses which were probably more expensive than I want to pay. I've been searching online a bit but all of the websites I've tried list their glasses by designer, which I really don't give a shit about as long as they aren't ridiculous looking. The designer ones all seem expensive too. I want to pay less than $50. Do cheap polarized glasses exist? Should I even bother looking online?

starmanbrand

Cheap polarized exist, but they are going to be super cheap.

If you wear these glasses a lot, you might as well spring for a nice pair. If they are just for work or occasional sports activities(Wakeboarding/Snowboarding) just find a trash pair that can be broken.

As far as buying glasses online, I've had some luck buying designer knockoffs, but never tried for specifically polarized lenses.

mts

check out steepandcheap.com if you don't mind sportier type frames, they have oakley and smith glasses all the time. its like woot for gearheads

saltiness

I wear the glasses while driving and while riding my road bike almost every day so I suppose I could spend a little more but I'd like to keep it below $80 or so.

I'll keep an eye on that steepandcheap website. I followed a link on there to backcountry.com and they seem to have some nice deals on smith polarized glasses.

Deviant Hands

One thing I've learned is never skimp on a good pair of sunglasses. Pay a good 200+ dollars and you can get what you are looking for in polarized lenses.

mts

i personally prefer Native eyewear to Smith

nothingmo

I just got my new Smith Optics Sequel Slider Sunglasses for $60, it takes less a minute to change between one of three lens tints for customized vision. Like it very much.

Dark Moon

Here's a good blog for anyone looking to buy glasses online: GlassyEyes. It should help you find a reputable online dealer from which to buy your glasses.

saltiness

Whew. It's a long story but I managed to find my glasses. They were under an abandoned semi-truck trailer on Treasure Island. Thanks for the suggestions anyways. When it comes time to get new ones I'll remember these.

Bionic Monkey

saltiness wrote: »

I need a good, cheap pair of polarized sunglasses. I just lost the ones I've been using for the past few years and I found those to begin with so I've never had experience shopping for glasses. The ones I had were Puma sunglasses which were probably more expensive than I want to pay. I've been searching online a bit but all of the websites I've tried list their glasses by designer, which I really don't give a shit about as long as they aren't ridiculous looking. The designer ones all seem expensive too. I want to pay less than $50. Do cheap polarized glasses exist? Should I even bother looking online?

Okay, the deal is this: If you're paying less than $40 for sunglasses, throw them away every six months. The UV protection on cheap sunglasses is temporary at best and can wear off by cleaning the lenses, and by boiling off if you leave them on the dash in hot sunlight. Polarization on these also is a cheap layer added to the outside of the lense, and will also wear off with cleaning. And when that UV protection is gone, what you're left with are shady lenses that will do more harm than good, because your pupils are now dialated, allowing more UV in than if you weren't wearing any glasses at all.

A lot of people don't like paying much for sunglasses, because you can find $5 pairs at any mom&pop nickle and dime store across the country. But the fact is, unless they're designer pairs (Calvin Klein, Gucci, etc.), you really do get the quality that you're paying for.