Sunglasses
 

I've never been the type of guy to buy designer sunglasses or spend more money on something than I must when a product of lower quality will suffice, but I thought I'd take a minute to recommend a new product I've found. I rarely have put much thought into eye wear as it relates to aviation, but I think it's relative to models and especially to this section, as we here often fly small, fast, agile models that can get away rather quickly.

http://www.modelglasses.com/
I purchased the 'Stratus' model, comes with four sets of non polarized lenses, neck strap (woopie...) cleaning cloth and case.
Lenses are polycarbonate, frames feel quite durable. Sides of lenses wrap far enough around the sides of my head that I cannot see the edges.

I have worn Wally-world specials on my eyes for years and had a habit of replacing them three or more times a year when they either break in my bear-sized hands or become too scuffed to see my plane, but not any more. A friend at the field came out with a pair of these and showed them off, and the clarity and definition difference was amazing. I ordered mine from MS composites (one of the two US distributors, linked on the model glasses site) and they shipped them to me in three business days. I flew with them for the first time today and I couldn't be happier with them. I flew at 8:00 in the fog this morning with the yellow lenses and the rest of the day with the standard dark lenses.

Perhaps it is just a function of my color vision or slight astigmatism, but I've always had a bit of trouble loosing orientation on models against a white cloud and especially on approach to landing transitioning through the tree line, but not with these. I'll let you guys know about how long they last. I have a habit of snapping frames, but these feel pretty strong.

Anybody else use these or have a recommendation for flying sunglasses?

RE: Sunglasses
 

http://www.mscompositusa.com/cat~sun-glasses.htm

Link to MS composites where I purchased mine.

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I have extremely light sensitive eyes. I normally wear very dark prescription sunglasses, darker than anything over the counter you can get.

I wanted to try a pair of the 'new breed' of quality over the counter sunglasses and I bought a pair of the Zurich, extra dark.

Not only are they dark enough for most of my needs, they are quite good at just letting my eyes 'relax' in bright intense light. For example, my house is painted white. If I am in the backyard looking at the back of my house when the sun is bright it just about kills me. When I put on the Zurich sunglasses it totally calms the intensity. My eyes relax, and I can look around wide eyed and not feel like I need to squint.

My prescription sunglasses are just as good, but they cost over $400 bucks and the Zurich cost $60. Oh, and the Zurich I got fits over regular eyeglasses so I can wear them over my prescription sunglasses if I want to do some arc welding.... lol. ;)

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I'd heard the Zurich glasses were pretty good but I've never seen any first person.

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If they could be made with a prescription in the lens I'd be all over them!

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They can. Look at the Innovation series. Available with polarized lenses for $10 more. I've seen these too, and they aren't as quaint in real life as they are in the pictures.

http://www.mscompositusa.com/innovat...n-glasses.html

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You buy the sunglasses and have a lense maker put in lenses for your prescription.

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I'm interested too. How do they compare to a Ray Ban Chromax?

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Oakley's with Gold Iridium lens. Best glasses I have ever bought, bar none. The definition they give in cloudy days cannot be beat.
I use Half Jackets, XLJ lens. They can be ground for prescription too. A little more expensive, but I tend to take care of them better because of it, compared to cheapies...

Dan

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Sorry, I've never worn Ray Bans. Or any other big name sunglasses for that matter. [8D]

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That's good news I can stick with my Chromax without the knowledge of something better out there:eek:

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No matter the brand name or the price, what is the most important thing to know is that your eyes are at risk if you wear poorly made sunglasses or any lenses!

Cheap sunglasses, are not precision ground if ground at all. What that means is that the lens you are placing over your eyes most likely has slight distortion. That causes your eye muscles to adjust to see through them. You may not notice it at first. Some symptoms can be a slight headache after weaing your sunglasses or just plain tired eyes. In the long run, this causes your eye muscles to become permanently weakend and damaged eyesight is the result.

Cheap sunglasses, are not cheap in the long run. The price you pay, will be your good eyesight!

RE: Sunglasses
 

Being in Iraq for the last three years as a marksmanship instructor, I've learned to appreciate good quality eye wear.

For the last 8 months I've been wearing prescription Oakley with gold iridium coated lenses. Target definition is improved and they do wonders to cool off bright images during the peak of the day.

I fly over here as well (sukoi 29 lipo set up and an EDF F-5) and I've had good luck in that regards also.

It's not cheap though, I've got close to 500 bucks invested in this pair alone.

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nesikachad

Thank you for your service to our country!!!!!!

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Another use for the Zurich sunglasses:

I have always had a hard time when travelling and using hotel rooms, because the bathroom typically has a sun bright lighting system and no dimmer, and walls painted glossy white. When I would get up in the middle of the night or even early morning 'in the dark' to use the bathroom the lighting always killed me. Many times I took care of my business in the pitch black darkness as a necessity to protect my eyes.

I recently travelled and brought my Zurich sunglasses with me. Now, these glasses wrap all the way around your eyes and have a eyebrow cover as well. So I used them when I had to go into that eyeball shredding bright white lighted bathroom and WOW! I could not feel any eye pain or tension at all. I could look wide eyed at the bright walls and felt no discomfort.

I would call that a "medical benefit" use of these sunglasses and I would recommend them for just that alone!

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Polarization!!
My eyes are better than 20/20 but they are also quite light sensitive. I fly a lot of little FAST planes like the voodoo/cyclone/mongrel/etc and I learned a lesson the (almost) hard way. I was flying with polarized Maui Jim glasses. They are really good but with little, fast planes sometimes all you have is a thin line (the wing profile when pointed toward you) and if the glasses are at the wrong angle in relation to the wing you can essentially make the wing disappear.(Not cool:)
I nearly crashed the thing a couple times and mentioned it to my friend who said he did crash an F5D because he lost sight when not overly far away when wearing polarized lenses also.
So, I'm not sure if the glasses above are polarized but all I'm saying is be cautious with polarized lenses. I make a special effort to take other sunglasses for my flying the little ones.
Erik

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I just bought the exact ( I think) glasses as you. Im very light sensitive and have to play around with glasses to get the right vision. Got em today and will hopefully try em out this weekend. I bought happy harrys HD vision glasses, as seen on tv, for 9.99. Work well in bright sunlight. But wanted the options to change lenses. The main prob with our field is a forest at the end of the runway that is far out and can hide your plane on final if your not careful. Hate that. I think the set you bought will be nice. Im gonna keep em in my field box and use my standard sunglasses for driving or whatever.

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I have the same problem with the tree lines hiding my plane at the transition from a blue background to the tree line background for just a moment.

Unfortunately, I broke my sunglasses earlier this week. I was just putting them on my head and the earpiece broke right where the plastic meets the rubber boot. I plan to call the company on Monday and see if they'll send me a new earpiece or if I'm just out of luck with four sets of lenses and a broken frame.

I'll let you guys know how the customer service is.

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another vote for zurich, i have been using zurich for many many years. they have different colors and shades for all conditions. i use my super dark gray for intense most of the day flying. i switch to medium gray for sun behind you, evening, not in your face flying. on cloudy days i use a medium rose . another big plus is the ear piece side protection from glare on the inside of the lens. if you see some one using them ask maybe they will let you try them out, i will......

RE: Sunglasses
 

another vote for zurich, i have been using zurich for many many years. they have different colors and shades for all conditions. i use my super dark gray for intense most of the day flying. i switch to medium gray for sun behind you, evening, not in your face flying. on cloudy days i use a medium rose . another big plus is the ear piece side protection from glare on the inside of the lens. if you see some one using them ask maybe they will let you try them out, i will......

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Update: I didn't email MSComposites until earlier today but I have already received a response. On a Sunday evening no less!

I was told to send the sunglasses back to them with a return address and they will send me a replacement. In the email he said they want the old sunglasses to review (I suppose for quality control purposes, as this could be a defect in materials) but he did not ask for a receipt or any documentation about when I bought them. I'll update again once I see how they handle my case.

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I bought the Zurichs after seeing some fellow fliers recommend them and the information on the website looked good. I was disappointed with the overall quality feel when they arrived though - they felt like a cheap $5 pair from the local Big Lots. Cheap though they weren't. Further problems in less than a year; failure with the temples due to the design flaw on the hinges which stresses the plastic, cracks it and ultimately makes it fall apart. I had the same happen to both temples and as with most of the other comments here I was doing nothing more than regular use, once a week for about nine months. So that's not even daily use......

I emailed their customer support, sent photos of the damage and indicated that it looked like a plastic problem. They replied back that they would happily replace them once I sent them $4.95 for shipping.

What?

It's a frickkin design problem and you're trying to scam me on the postage? These things would mail for under a buck and probably cost 50 cents. I emailed back to query this policy as a first time failure but received no reply at all.

Most other companies are honest enough to put their hand in the air on a design flaw (at least on the first enquiry/failure) and do the right thing.

I've consigned these to the As Seen on TV category and found a sturdier alternative. In their present form, I can't recommend them.

Caveat Emptor.

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I would have paid the $4.95 postage for a pair of $70 sunglasses. I have worn mine extensively and not had the hinges break.

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Am sorry to hear about your Zurichs. I have picked up 3 pair over time at the IMS show and had very good experiences with them. I do agree, it's a tough pill concerning shipping costs when the defect isn't your cause.