Oakleys tint for driving when it's sunny?

Haggisman

Haggisman

Haggisman

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Looking at getting a new pair of sunglasses (for mostly in the car, but general use as well), and struggling to decide between a few different ones. Wondered what people use/have used, and what they found were the best on the road?

Choices are between:

  • OO Red Iridium Polarized
  • Positive Red Iridium
  • Ice Iridium
  • Ruby Iridium
  • Black Iridium Polarized
  • Fire Iridium
  • Emerald Iridium Polarized

My favourites out of the list so far are the Positive Red Iridium or the Ruby Iridium, but unfortunately neither of those are polarized - does it make a huge difference?

My current lenses are non-polarized Fire Iridium, and to be honest I haven't noticed any problems with them, but they're getting a bit old and tatty now and the lens coating is starting to fail, hence needing a new pair.
 
Cant speak for Oakleys, not my style, but I recently switched to polarized sunglasses for driving and I wouldnt go back. Makes a tremendous difference on the roads
 
I got an oakley addiction and have around 10 pairs. My favourites at the moment are holbrooks with 24ct iridium lens or antix with fire iridium lens but i got purple, silver, black, yellow lens and they are all simular to look through. Bought some frog skins but not great coverage of the eyes, they let in light at the sides. Dispatch are very comfy and have massive coverage which seem to be my digger driving glasses of choice.
 
Juggy1985 said:
I got an oakley addiction and have around 10 pairs. My favourites at the moment are holbrooks with 24ct iridium lens or antix with fire iridium lens but i got purple, silver, black, yellow lens and they are all simular to look through. Bought some frog skins but not great coverage of the eyes, they let in light at the sides. Dispatch are very comfy and have massive coverage which seem to be my digger driving glasses of choice.
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Frames wise I'm looking at either the Conductor 8, Tinfoil or Tincan - liking the Ferrari Edition Tincan, but they're not polarized :(
 
Ive got the Black Iridium polarized in my Flak Jacket XLJ. Does the trick for me for driving.
 
Polarized is definitely better, as pretty much everyone has said.

OO Red Polarized looks cool, 15% light transmission

Black iridium polarized is 9% so almost double the stopping power of the tint.

Depends really if you will wear them in British winter etc. as black iridium polarized may look quite dark. Both have the grey base so will look the same though (no high contrast tint on either)
 
chanjy said:
Polarized is definitely better, as pretty much everyone has said.

Black iridium polarized is 9% so almost double the stopping power of the tint.
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Thats why i went Black Iridium, my eyes really dont like bright sunshine.
 
I've got prescription Black Iridium Polarized Tincan Carbons.

Love them. The tint doesn't really affect the colours too much which is fantastic. *unlike some that Oakley do that make people look like they're really suffering from jaundice. ;)*

Was after the Tincans originally, but couldn't find them for less than £350 anywhere really. Went for the Tinfoils instead which are pretty much the same lens. Main difference was they were £260. Was then told they weren't in stock at Oakley and was offered the Tincans instead for the same price. Well... Ok then. When they arrived, they were the Carbon armed version too. Win! :D
 
I have Violet Iridium frogskins in the car.

they make everything look yellowish in bright sun and do a great job. you easily get used to it

the lens has incredible clarity and everything looks very crisp when you have them on.

wouldn't buy another pair of cheap sunglasses ever again after buying these, perfect for the 6 days of nice weather we have had this year.
 
rjk said:
I have Violet Iridium frogskins in the car.

they make everything look yellowish in bright sun and do a great job. you easily get used to it

the lens has incredible clarity and everything looks very crisp when you have them on.

wouldn't buy another pair of cheap sunglasses ever again after buying these, perfect for the 6 days of nice weather we have had this year.
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Well, my current ones have lasted 10 years, and the ones before that 5 years (before I lost them), so they don't exactly owe me anything! And as you say, the lenses are great, there's no point spending £10-20 every year on a pair of cheap glasses that are going to break after 6 months and have rubbish lenses!
 
yeah agreed. I was very sceptical until I got them. will be grabbing a few more pairs if i see them going cheap again.

I have oakley snowboarding goggles and Ice Hockey visors too and they are superb in terms of quality and clarity.
 
Apologies if this is a thread de-rail - but do you guys also use these polarized lenses at night ?

I have big problems with oncoming headlights in night-time driving and even worse if its also raining, I find the glare awful and I've found myself following the light with my eyes instead of watching the road ! At the moment I use some cheap "night vision" over glasses (over my normal clear prescription glasses) that cuts the worst of it out, but they're horrible to look at and a pain to get them on in a comfortable way.

Advice from the optician's was that polarized are a big no-no for night time driving as they cut too much light out - but I'm not sure if he was talking about their cheap ranges or something premium like oakleys.
 
I'm not really up on the different names and types of lens. But I have a pair which are both polarised, and I think they're called G40 lenses.

They're excellent. They have some sort of high contrast property which means they actually make things clearer in low light conditions too. Cars seem to 'pop out' from the background. Because of this, they're absolutely excellent in winter, sun-on-the-horizon conditions where you need the shades because the sun is in your eyes, but the overall light level is rather dull.
 
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