Hatteras charter fishing captains already know how critically important using polarized sunglasses can be. Fishermen have been using polarized sunglasses for years. Outdoors enthusiasts have also been relying on polarized sunglasses for driving, skiing, boating and many other activities where sharp vision can be critical. You can read here about our opinion why polarized sunglasses are worth the investment to everyone? Maybe a little bit of science combined with a wealth of experience will help to explain it. 

The Basic Science: Color is determined by a combination of reflection and absorption of light (either sunlight or artificial light). Black would be maximum absorption while white is maximum reflection. Bright sun light (being reflected basically white) bouncing off objects will hit our eye from horizontal angles and can be too much glare for our eyes to process. Flat horizontal surfaces are reflecting tremendous amounts of white glare. Water is an almost flat horizontal surface with the possibility of waves which can act as many multiple horizontal surface angles and even increase the glare.  

When light strikes a surface, it becomes polarized, which means that the photons in the light are all vibrating in one direction, instead of in random directions. The light waves travel from "pole" to "pole" along that plane. This phenomenon is what causes the glare reflected from a car window or chrome, or from a wet pavement. This glare distorts the true color of objects and makes them harder to distinguish. It also causes a mirror-effect on wet surfaces, so that objects below the water's surface cannot be clearly distinguished. 

How Polarized Sunglasses Work: Think of the blinds on a window at home. You can tilt the blind at different angles to filter the amount of light coming through your window. The polarized lens is designed with filters at a 90 degree angle to reduce vision of only the glare but not the object.   

Polarized lenses have a laminated surface containing vertical stripes. Similar to the window blind, polarized sunglasses will redirect and scatter the glare making it easier for you to see the object.  

Tradeoffs When Using Polarized Lenses: Although polarized lenses do an incredible job of cutting the glare in many outdoor activities, they do have some minor drawbacks. When driving or riding a motorcycle the light filtering properties make seeing the readout on an LCD instrument difficult. This can also include the readout on cell phones, GPD devices and bank teller machines.   

In cases where instant decisions need to be made and vision is key in the decision like seeing an instrument polarization can become a problem.  Another unique example of this would be downhill skiing where immediately seeing the glare from an ice patch and avoiding that spot is critical. However, there are very few examples that I can imagine where cutting the glare wouldn’t be more important then being able to see it. 

Quality Issues: So what’s the difference between polarized sunglasses and why do the prices vary so widely? First, I would like to say that you don’t have to purchase $200 polarized sunglasses to enjoy the benefits of polarized sunglasses. I have owned $15 polarized sunglasses that allowed me to see well into the water and catch more fish as a result. However, those $15 sunglasses did have a few issues that I would have not had to deal with if I had known a bit more about the subject.   

The first polarized lenses were made of a polarizing film that was sandwiched between two flat sheets of glass. Because glass lenses are so heavy, however, the advent of plastic and polycarbonate materials, which are lighter and thinner, made the glass lenses less popular.

One of the problems with early polarized sunglasses was “delamination”, when the polarizing film separated from the pieces of glass or plastic. This problem has been solved with modern lenses, as the plastic can be melted and poured into a mold in which the polarizing film has been suspended. The plastic then hardens around the film, creating a solid material, rather than a layered one.

Polycarbonate lenses are created in a different manner, since polycarbonate lenses are injection molded and the heat from the process would destroy the polarizing film. For polycarbonate lenses, the polarizing film is applied to the front of the lens and covered with a scratch-resistant coating. This process means that polarized polycarbonate lenses are the thinnest and lightest polarized lenses available.  

Options: I would like to offer these options for you to consider when you are selecting the correct polarized sunglasses for you. Only you can determine how much you intend to wear these polarized sunglasses, how critical seeing with them might be and how careful you are with your sunglasses. Taking these options into consideration will help you determine how much you will be willing to spend.

Please take a moment to check out our friends at Optician's Choice below. They have trusted quality polarized fishing sunglasses designed and used by our military, police, EMT, firemen and  many other  agencies because they meet the government's rigid ANSI standards. Optician's Choice prides itself in service oriented transactions with the quickest shipping, the most comprehensive satisfaction guarantee, and best pricing available anywhere.

Check out the Optician's Choice for more information about polarized fishing sunglasses and some of the best quality polarized fishing sunglasses available.