Choose the Right Sunglasses for Your Sport

Choose the Right Sunglasses for Your Sport

Sunglasses (eyeglasses with tinted lenses) have three purposes: increasing comfort, improving visibility and protecting the eyes.

Increasing Comfort

When playing outdoor sports on sunny days (especially in sunny places), sunglasses help to minimize the amount of glare, shine and brightness. On misty or overcast days, sunglasses increase contrast, improving your vision or seeing. Sunglasses also protect your eyes from harmful UV light, wind, rain and snow; however, most sunglasses are not strong enough to protect your eyes from impact by balls or action of other projectiles.

With other words

Sunglasses reduce glare and brightness, whether from the sun directly or from water, snow, sand or reflective surfaces. Bright flashes off water or shiny surfaces can subject the eye to 10 times more light than needed to see. Glare can be painful and dangerously distracting while driving or playing sports.

To be sure that sunglasses will block glare, select lenses that are dark enough to hide your eyes. For comfortable vision on sunny days, sunglasses should block 75 to 90 percent of visible light. If dark enough, sunglasses will eliminate eye strain and squinting when in bright light.

Steps 

Familiarize yourself with the advantages of the various lens colors.

• Gray or green lenses on sunglasses help your eyes see true color. Green also increases contrast in bright lighting. Both these colors are a good choice for runners, cyclists and golfers.
• Choose brown or amber lenses on cloudy or hazy days. Both colors enhance contrast and add brightness to your vision. Brown is also good for high-glare sports such as boating, fishing and skiing. Amber lenses reduce eye strain but distort colors. Amber is a good choice for pilots, hunters, skiers and others engaged in all-day outdoor sports.
• Yellow lenses are effective in low lighting, as they increase contrast and depth perception. Yellow is a good choice on partly cloudy days, when the sun isn't strong but the day is still bright. Yellow lenses are also a good choice for skiing.
• Use sunglasses with red lenses if you need an optimal contrast between objects and green or blue backgrounds. Red lenses are useful when sailing, boating, hiking and hunting.

  

 

Wear wraparound-style sunglasses with polycarbonate lenses for the maximum amount of UV protection.

• Although these sunglasses do not protect your eyes from impact with large items, they do provide some protection from small items, such as pebbles and insects.
• Wraparound sunglasses provide UV light protection from all angles, making them popular among cyclists, hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.

 

Wear photochromic lenses when playing sports if you need your prescription lenses.

 

  Photochromic lenses provide UV light protection. They darken within 30 seconds of exposure to increased light and lighten within five minutes of being out of the light.

 

 

Try mirrored lenses to reduce the amount of glare by reflecting high-intensity light.

 

  

 

Purchase a pair of sunglasses that has polarized filters in the lenses. 

 

 The polarization allows the lenses to absorb light from all angles, so they are optimal for blocking glare. Polarized lenses are also available in an assortment of colors.

 Different tints filter different wavelengths of light. Some may enhance or distort colors and affect contrast. Select your tint based on your lifestyle and personal needs.

• Gray - Allows true color perception, but does not enhance contrast. Good for golf, cycling, or running.

• Green - Allows true color perception and good contrast in bright light. Reduces eye strain in bright light.

• Brown - Good in hazy sun, enhances contrast. Good for high-glare sports such as skiing, fishing or sailing.

• Amber - Brightens cloudy, hazy, or foggy skies. Excellent for contrast. Minimizes eye strain. Good for hunters, pilots and snow skiers. Distorts color (images look yellow orange).

• Yellow - Improves contrast and depth perception in low light. Good for snow skiing and trap shooting, especially on overcast days.

• Red - Excellent depth perception in low light. Contrasts objects against blue or green backgrounds. Good for skiing and hunting.

• Mirrored - Reflect high-intensity light to reduce glare. Available in a variety of colors.

 

 

Try the sunglasses on before making your purchase, to ensure you've got the right fit. 

 

 When wearing sunglasses for active pursuits, the fit is important for comfort, safety and effectiveness.

• Choose a style that sits high on your nose, so the lenses are close to your eyes, to better block light from the sides.
• If the sunglasses have nose pads, make sure they feel comfortable and fit your nose properly, or are adjustable and can be made to stay put on your nose without discomfort.
• Sunglasses without nose pads need to fit the bridge of your nose snugly--but not tightly--to restrict movement. 

Tips

 When trying on sunglasses, test the quality of the lenses. While wearing the glasses, look at a vertical line on the floor, wall or ceiling. Move your head side to side several times, allowing your eyes to move across the lenses. If you see any movement or wiggling in the line, the lenses may be of poor quality or have defects.

Warnings

 

Sunglasses provide enough eye protection for sports that do not involve close physical contact with opponents or fast moving equipment such as bats, rackets, pucks and balls. Other sports require more complete forms of eye and face protection, such as goggles, shields or face masks. 

Safety Standards

Among other issues, the impact of ultraviolet light on eye health is a worldwide concern. Several countries have set voluntary standards for sunglass manufacturers in order to protect their citizens'eyes. In Australia, these standards are mandatory.

Manufacturing and labeling regulations cover characteristics such as refractive properties like distortion and blur, impact resistance, UV protection, color transmission and appropriateness for driving. Check labels when purchasing sunglasses and contact regulatory organizations for more information.

The most widely recognized regulatory agencies are:

• American National Standards Institute
• Canadian Standards Association
• CEN (Europe)
• British Standards
• Australian Standards

All sunglasses must be impact resistant, but they are not shatterproof. They are not tough enough to protect the eyes for high-impact sports or industrial safety purposes. Sunglasses cannot provide protection against intense light sources such as sunlamps, lasers, welding torches or solar eclipses.