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Sunglasses? What worked for you?

walldan

Well Known Member
Okay, started flying again. Cessna 162, working on my Sport Pilot before starting an RV-12 someday. Anyways, I am wondering what sunglasses work best for flying with digial displays and wearing a headset? Are thin wire frames the best? What color lens works best? I will be flying in Wisconsin, so summer is bright sun and winter is horrible glare from the snow.

Has anyone had good luck with any of the more affordable sunglasses?

DW
 
http://www.vedalohd.com/aviator-sunglasses/

I have a set of these, the amber gives great cloud definition. Great under the headset. I would buy them again.

http://www.dualeyewear.com/index.php/dual-g5.html

I also have these for when I need the reading glasses as well. These are fantastic and very comfortable under the headset. I would buy them again

I use both for various of reason at different times for different missions. I wear them under my Bose A20 and Telex 750. No issues with fit and comfort.

If I did not need readers I would never have bought the Dual.....
 
+1 on what James said.
Glass aviator glasses can't be beat. Glass lenses are the clearest, but cost more.
I use polycarbonate 'styled' safety glasses with bifocals that look like James' second link, but not as stylish. They let a little more noise thru the headset ear seal, but the bifocals are nice. Polycarbonate lenses naturally block harmful UV light.
I'm going to order some glass prescription bifocal lens Ray Ban classics pretty soon...
 
Prescription Sunglasses

Avoid polarized lenses! They do strange things to digital displays. I favor a medium brown tint.

My strategy is to alternate clear and tinted glasses whenever I get a new prescription.

My brother-in-law has his old glasses tinted when he gets a new prescription.
 
I couldn't find a pair available that I liked for a reasonable price so I went to a mall optician and picked out a pair of frames I liked and had them make a set of tinted nonprescription lenses for them. They can adjust the tint to any level you prefer, and you get exactly the frame/lens combo you want for less than a pair of "designer" sunglasses.
 
Ray ban --- co-pilot

Ray ban co-pilots are the best I have ever had.. And they are pritty tough.. I've sit on the 5 times and ran over them on my honda 500 and dropped them 5 times busted the lens out 3 times reacement lens on eBay are 15.00 not bad.
 
Hi James,

The reading optics in the dual lenses .. are they optical cut into the sunglass or are the 'glued' on the sunglass ?
 
http://www.vedalohd.com/aviator-sunglasses/

I have a set of these, the amber gives great cloud definition. Great under the headset. I would buy them again.
I have a pair of Vedalo Bologna glasses and although they look great and allow my headset to totally seal out noise, they are very fragile. The lenses are held in the frames with tiny metal hooks and if you try and clean the lenses, it is probable that you will pop at least one of those lenses out of the frame.
 
Mark,

We carry other styles of Vedalos and think that they are great.

If you're not happy with the ones you have, send 'em back to where ever you got 'em. Or visit their booth at Oshkosh. Vedalo is tops for customer service.
 
Mark,

We carry other styles of Vedalos and think that they are great.

If you're not happy with the ones you have, send 'em back to where ever you got 'em. Or visit their booth at Oshkosh. Vedalo is tops for customer service.
I bought them at OSH a few years ago. I didn't buy them from you. I think it was Vedalo that had the booth. I'd really love to be able to use them. Aside from the cost, they do the best job of allowing my headset to seal of any sunglasses I've had. Does Vedalo have some sort of repair warranty that would help at this point?
 
Hi James,

The reading optics in the dual lenses .. are they optical cut into the sunglass or are the 'glued' on the sunglass ?

Yes, cut right into the glasses. they a small enough not to hinder normal vision yet perfect for reading or seeing the panel, ipad or charts.

Where in the UK are you Jan?
 
Thanks James for that info ...

I am in the North East of UK .. Not far from Newcastle ...

I am going to be in London Oct 4-8th, I was going to suggest 'come and try them on'. If you need anything else on the glasses let me know I'll do my best to send accurate info.
 
serengeties

Serengeti drivers from sams club

Tried many others alway go back to the serengetis
I take some heat from the stews about how outdated and out of style they are ( over 25 years old) but have never found any better.

Airline guy...
 
custom made, tinted on top, clear on the bottom. no polarization. problems solved.
P1010404.jpg
 
I have a pair of Vedalo Bologna glasses and although they look great and allow my headset to totally seal out noise, they are very fragile. The lenses are held in the frames with tiny metal hooks and if you try and clean the lenses, it is probable that you will pop at least one of those lenses out of the frame.


My Vedalo I have never had any issued. They are not fragile nor do the lenses pop out when cleaning or dropped. The Pilot I fly with has a pair as well yet a different model. He has experienced no issues either.
 
Just a heads-up here... Rayban has reintroduced, for a limited time, their Ambermatic aviator glasses. I bought a pair of their original Ambermatics 34 years ago and absolutely love them. Yes, they have been in continuous service for 34 years! That says something about quality.

I recently was given a pair of the new Ambermatics. The manufacturer (no longer Bausch and Lomb) have changed the lenses so they are in the format of driving glasses, lighter tint on the bottom, darker on the top. They remain photochromatic (darken in the sun) and actually go a little darker than the original Ambermatics. They work fine with the screens in the cockpit.

I figure if I get half as much life from these new Ambermatics as I've had from the old ones (which are still going strong, by the way), then I'll be a very happy camper!
 
Gray vs brown tint...

...is one better than the other...

Gray tint is the more natural of the two, it reduces transmission of all wavelengths equally.

Brown (or amber, yellow) tint reduces much of the blue. The more yellow in the lens, the less blue transmission you have.

Since much of the glare is created by reflected blue light, I would use brown/amber rather than gray.
 
I use a cheap alternative - check your local sports store - Gander Mountain, Bass pro or similar. They typically carry a line of glasses that are polarized and incorporate a clear, non polarized bi-focal in the usual strengths. They work great for viewing cockpit glass. About $25.00
 
Old guy clip ons rose color

Being an old guy, I have to wear bifocals. I've tried "clip ons" to clip on my regular glasses, but have found they're all too dark to see my instrument panel. (They're only too dark because of old eyes) I have a pair of sunglasses for my car that I guess one would say is a rose color (when you're looking thru them) Just to look at them, one would say they're sort of purple-ish. I've never been able to get the name of the actual color from the sunglass stores, but I once found a pair with that color, (frame attached) had the lenses taken out of the frame, and specially made into clip ons for my regular glasses. They were very fragile and eventually broke.

Why do I talk about this color? Because they make cloud and haze definition absolutely fantastic. If anyone knows this color, and if I could have clip ons, dark on top and clear on the bottom, (like Turbo), I would love to know about it and would be a happy camper.
 
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Not to revive this old thread, but since I posted some concerns about Vedalo sunglasses, I thought I'd follow up with my subsequent good experience.

Bottom line is that I met with Vedalo at Sun N Fun, showed Joseph (manager) my sunglasses. He said that they had not been made correctly, I sent them back to him after the show, Vedalo repaired them at no cost, and now I'm happy with them. Kudos to Joseph Jones and Vedalo for doing the right thing even though it had been almost 3 years since I bought them!
 
And when you get really old and need lens implants because of cataracts, you might get lucky and have improved depth of field. I fly with a pair of Serengeti sunglasses and I love them.

I have the Toric lens implants to correct both nearsightedness and astigmatism, and only carry Costco readers (2.0X) to satisfy the FAA. The increased depth of field after surgery was a pleasant surprise that no one told me about. Folks with a history of Lasik surgery may not be candidates for the Toric lens implant. Check with your ophthalmologist.

No more bifocals for me. Different strokes for different folks.
 
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source?

Just a heads-up here... Rayban has reintroduced, for a limited time, their Ambermatic aviator glasses. I bought a pair of their original Ambermatics 34 years ago and absolutely love them. !

okay Mark, fess up...where did you get 'em? how much?
my Dad and I both bought a pair for flying in the early 80's....
I had mine stolen from my truck in 1988, and foolishly didn't replace them...they were hard to find, even then!
 
A couple of thoughts. One is that Serengeti's are famous for being faked. It is also common when ordering RX versions to get Serengeti frames but generic lenses. The whole reason to buy Sgti's is the genuine lenses.

I've bought two pairs of Sgti's from flightsunglasses.com and know they are genuine. I believe they will also price match a legitimate competitor.
 
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