Polaroid is a familiar name, and probably most folk think of the instant-print cameras that were once very popular and still crop up on US dramas now and again when they’re recording a crime scene. But the name comes from the polarized lens material that they pioneered way back, and today they’re still making top quality lenses, and right here in the UK too.
Their range will soon be seen in outdoor stores nationwide, and as a long-time user I think that’s great news. The polarised lenses stop glare dead, filter out 100% of UV and come in various outdoor-useful colours and flavours. They’re also kind to your eyes, no distortion across the curve of the lens, so they stay invisible. The frame styles have caught up with the times and mostly look either badass or glamorous.
I’ve been wearing several different pairs for everything from biking to winter walking in the past few months and they’ve been issue free. I’ll get some reviews up at some point, it’s vital and oft overlooked bit of kit.
For your free Polaroid shades there was a question…
Who is the coolest shades wearer of all time?
- Dirty Harry
- Harry Callahan
- Clint Eastwood from ’71-’76
Well, it was any or all of course. Holly’s assured me that she’ll tell me the winner after dinner…
the pictures look like some 80’s ultravox album sleeve!
It just goes to show that I should never be left unattended with electrical equipment.
Harry Callahan, obv.
Acht now see I can’t enter this competition cos I need prescription lenses!! :o(
Luckily I’ve a pair already but if I were to answer i’d say… hhmmm… Dirty Harry (of course).
Thats a tricky question – it has to be 1.
and ummmmmmm 2.
and ummmmmmm 3. !
I’ll gie them to the missus if I win – she needs a new pair as she lost her Raybans and is wearing a pair of Primark efforts at the mo.
Surely the answer’s Elwood Blues…?!! ;O)
Aye, it’s not the hardest of competitions this one…
Matt, wearing sunglasses at night doesn’t count.
boo i can’t enter either as i need perscription ones, just got some new ones too…didn’t opt for polaroid lenses as they were expensive enough lol
ps i hope u had some clothes on when u took those pics, its an image i really dont need or want in my head ;o)
Fear not, I am wearing a pair of Snickers 3214 super work pants in both shots.
I’ll tell you though, there’s not much hair on that heid of mine these days!
Dirty Harry!
Thanks for reminding me btw, I have to see one of the Dirty Harry movies soon again :)
4. Bono
… or perhaps not
There website suggests that they are also introducing ‘sun covers’, which must be their version of Cocoons (a pair of sunglasses to fit over a conventional pair of Gregs)
Decent prescription sunglasses can be pricy so I’ve been thinking about Cocoons as a ‘trashable on the hill alternative’, especially for walking in snow.
Problem is – I reckon they make the wearer look like Princess Margaret, so palaroid might be on to something if they can do it with a bit of style
Gregory peck’s eh? I tried wearing mine a few time’s in the past and ended up just wiping condensation and sweat off them all the time.
Are outdoor specific ones any better at preventing this? My “boot’s” own brand one are no good for anything where I work up a sweat.
DavidG, I have just bought a pair of cocoons for £30. I only have a small napper so got the smallest size to fit over my gigs. They are alright for driving and walking, but i don’t think the lenses (amber ones in mine anyway) would be dark enough for use on snow. They do look slightly strange but for the price of prescription lenses i am prepared to look like a fly.
The first three Dirty Harry movies are indeed classics, the music from the first one is on my iPod :o)
Bono? Good grief…
The points about glasses and shades is becoming increasingly relevant to me, I wear reading glasses and I know my eyes are getting “tired”, I print my maps in easy-to-read scale these days. I though maybe those reactive lenses might be ieal for prescription specs?
BBf’s point is in there as well, as sealing the light out properly and still allowing an air flow is where sports sunglasses come in, and getting wrap-around presciption lenses must be extortionate?
Dirty Harry, obviously.
Very arty pic’s BTW.
They made me laugh, so I had to stick them up :o)
‘getting wrap-around presciption lenses must be extortionate?’
Into three figures does indeed make you weep. Better than reactives though – they don’t work in the car.
My wrap-arounds from UK sportseyewear have a gasket round the eye socket to ‘seal you in’ and have proved great for cycling and walking. I’ll let you know how they cope with the Alps later in the year.
I too am blind.
You can get optical clips to take to your local opticians for some of Julbo’s sports range (like the Race) which would probably work out cheaper than prescription sports sunnies.
Failing that daily contacts may be an option. Especially now I can get them for my astigmatism inflicted wierdy shaped eyes.
Ah, interesting. At least you can get proper shades then, cool.
Alps, good lad!
I think contacts might be the way I go. A lifetime without glasses is making me resist wearing them now that I need them.
If anyone has been watching On thin ice recently the adidas eyewear they have been sporting looks pretty good. Some models seem to fit like a small goggle, sealing the eyes with cups. I might have a look at them and see if my optician can fit a clear lens on the inside and hey presto prescription mountain glasses for a cheaper price (in theory anyway) than £300 Oakley wants. If you work out how much you have spent on your gigs you could probably have bought a new pair of eyes a la Tom Cruise in minority report. I wish they get that laser surgery sorted then hopefully no more gigs, forever.
I was talking to a boy last week who got lasered and it hasn’t gone too well, but my mate Das who’s on here some times got great results.
It scares the shit out of me frankly.
In Nepal about 10 years ago i was on a trip with an eye surgeon who helped pioneer the treatment and he said hang fire for at least 10 years due to the longer term results being unknown. Still waiting, i know the kit has improved but i am still unsure. Wearing glasses is a real hinderance for me, but i suppose having major vision probs as a result of a botched procedure would be a hell of a lot worse. There are a few stand out places to go i.e moorfields eye hospital but its a big risk isn’t it.
Aye, it’s the “It’s been 15 years, time to get your eyes re-done” thing. The first time would traumatise me enough.
I had a really bad welding flash a few years back, I’ve had a metal shard stuck in my eye and I rode my mountain bike into a tree which meant yet another trip to the eye infirmary (why I wear shades when I’m on the bike now).
I think all that’s put up barriers for any eye adjustment.
Away to make nerve steadying tea…
Having searched for ages for a decent pair of prescription sunglasses I did opt for the Oakley’s. Weren’t cheap but they are good! The curved lense took a bit of getting used to but the clarity of vision is fantastic. Beat my RayBan’s anyday!
As for contacts… acht I so wish I could get them in but after having been and failed on 4 separate trips to the opticians I am sadly never destined to poke myself in the eye and insert a piece of plastic. I just kept flinching and she wouldn’t let me leave the shop with them.
Oh well. I’l always have the unfortunate pleasure of not being able to see on a hill in the driving rain and snow, with the contents of a nose evacuation gone wrong ending up all over the lenses!! Aye, that has happpened, there is evidence somewhere! :o)
I’ve got the Adidas Elevation Climacool glasses – nice wraparounds with interchangeable lenses, that also covert into a mini goggle. Really good extra protection when a full set of goggles would be overkill.
They take a prescription optical insert too.
Mind, so do a lot of makes now, certainly Rudy Project stuff does too.
I tried the prescription insert version of Matt’s Adidas specs, but it was too close to my eye for comfort, hence me going for the UK sportseyewear versions. These have the prescription in the main lens and suit me better. The gasket is great though isn’t it – just wish I was as fit as the ‘Thin Ice’ guys!
Coops, the Adidas plus insert is over £200 and my UK eyewear version was just over £100 – take your pick…
I breally wouldn’t even consider costs, go for the best eyeware you can afford & you’ll be glad you did in later life.
I changed to contacts 30 years ago after struggling with specs on the hill for years & have never looked back(sorry!). The rain & high winds were bad enough but losing them to a snowslide halfway up a gully pitch finally did it for me. Daily lenses are great for backpacking trips, save carrying heavy fluids & open you up to a choice of sunglasses. Don’t be squeamish about contacts, I reckon my eyeballs are now tougher than my feet!
From mates’ mixed results I didn’t go down the laser route & am now probably too old. Still, the upside of age is that I’m developing a cataract so should soon get a shiny new lens implanted for free, hopefully giving me 20/20 in one eye. That not only halves the weight/cost of daily lenses being carried but also means that, with one permanently good eye, I won’t need to carry specs just in case the tent blows away at night. That’s another 124g saved on a week trip!
This is good stuff, I’d assumed that my deteriorating eyesight would evetually mean misery of some sort, but there’s actually some cool looking options out there.
Nice.
It has definitely improved over the last few years – the choice that is. Thinkgreysky is right about getting the best you can, but as my prescription changes every year or so then I have to consider the cost (especially as contacts and I don’t get on).
PTC* you’ll be fine. Some wrap-around reading specs on a purple dyneema cord ;-)
True, More-On, I’d forgotten the amount I used to fork out on small prescription changes to the specialised lenses for my back-up specs. Not sure how old you are but the gradual deterioration normally slows down dramatically by your early 50s & mine has stayed constant for several years now (or rather, has improved very slightly from the moulding effect of the contacts..)
Anyone looking for ideas (& the true horrors of paying for prescription lenses) might like to check out http://www.Optilabs.com who I came across through flyfishing but who seem to provide specialist frames & lenses(prescription & plain) for every sport.
Bit of a way to go yet – hence my ever changing prescription and need for value for money. Optilabs look good, but they are still more than my UK sportseyewear specs (sorry, I on about money again). I do like the look of their driving lenses though.
Hi More-On which models did you get from UK sportseyewear. Their products look good, but as i mentioned i have a small napper and a lot of eyewear is just too big. I may consider getting some to try before going through the lens ordering stage etc. My prescription seems to change every 2 years, at this rate in my 50’s i’ll be like grasshopper off kung fu!
Coops, I got the Multi-funtion RX TAC-3 with polarized lenses. The lenses are right on the border of CAT 2 and 3 and so far seem great for snow as well as sunlight. The one thing to note is that as my prescrption is right on the limit and the lenses are wrap-around you can look a bit ‘bug eyed’ from certain angles. Not that I care as I no longer have to screw up my eyes in the face of sun and/or snow. They also work well on my bike. So all in all highly recommended.
Thanks for that my prescription is about -5, are we similar and do the lenses fit directly in the frames as on the site it mentions those inserts and its not very clear (like out eyes)
Forget that last post more-on as i have just seen that my prescription is too bad to fit in those frames.
Indeed, but you could try the RX-adventure model with the insert behind – it takes up to -8…
Cheers i will have a look, but i must admit i would prefer the lens directly in the frame.
If your prescription changes every few years it might be better to get inserts though.
Harry Callahan is the ‘man’!
Gosh, just catching up as I haven’t been on for weeks and here I find you talking eyewear.
Great pics by the way – going for the Beckham look were you? – he should look so hard !!!
And I could win a pair of shades (it’s not too late is it?) – the answer’s Snake Plissken by the way – I can wear shades now you know, I keep forgetting myself, I have to remember to take them with me if it’s sunny, that’s what wearing specs for 25 years does for you.
Yes, I had laser eye surgery a year past in Nov and haven’t looked back since, best 2 grand+ I ever spent – yes you can get it done cheaper, £400 per eye is always quoted, but I got both eyes done at the same time and could pretty much see the next day. That’s not the case with the cheaper option and since my eyes are not something to skimp on, I went for the all-singing, all-dancing approach.
My prescription hadn’t changed in 8 years, which is why I was a suitable candidate for surgery (though not guaranteed). I was told many years ago that my presciption was such that I could only wear contacts casually for a few hours a day, not all day every day, so I never saw the point in having contacts and glasses.
I used to go skiing and although I could find goggles to fit over the specs, the specs would steam up underneath, so I ended up with specs and prescription shades (you may recall the blue shades in my freezing whiskers photo – not the coolest, but, like Petesy’s headgear, it was other people had to look at them, not me).
All I can say is, it’s worked for me – the two bonuses which never fail to amaze me since are:
1) I can see from the moment I wake up now – previously, the first thing I would do on waking would be to reach for the specs – woe betide if I’d come in drunk and not left them in the normal place, or worse
2) I got my peripheral vision back – I can see clearly all round, not just through the lens area – I still get a kick out of that.
Ah, good lad. You’re always my example of “great results” when it comes to laser surgery.
I’ll give you Snake Plissken, Kurt Russell, what a boy, he’s coming up for 60 is he not?
The shades were won by Michael Carlyle. Nae luck people!
Here’s me the very next day – looks more painful than it was
http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?album_id=75745724&photo_id=224616024
Aye…