Any suggestions for new sunglasses?

[Frank N. O.]

My Shields Eyewear are now scratched a fair bit and I need to get them replaced but last I checked neither Shields nor Intelitec (which I think to remember was the company behind them) could be found anywhere on the face of the earth so I guess I have to get normal glasses with frames, but which ones?
I strongly need coloured filter glasses that completely cover my eyesight, single-piece with glare-free frames but not sure which sunglasses are just a fashion accessory with dark tinted glass and which ones have good filter/coloured glasses like my Shields. If there are some with automatically variying darkness adjusted by the sunlight then that would be nice, but not sure how easy such are to find and I actually only heard of it from my dad's old prescription sunglasses. Before the Shieilds (which are surplus NASA issue), I had Ray Ban Chromax Driving Series however these are long since discontinued and Ray Ban no longer sells special filter glasses like these

I'm going to be driving a lot this summer with my mom, also hope to see some of the aircraft around Denmark, such as SAAB F-35 Draken, Supermarine Spitfire, Consolidated PBY-6A Catalina, Fairey Firefly, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 etc. but without good glasses then I'll get a serious headache and strain my eyes quickly.

Frank

[G-man]

Get yerself a pair of Maui Jim's. No glare, No reflections, good color.....oh and by the way.....you will look MIGHTY FINE for the ladies...

[Mike]

Maui Jims are my favorite. I always get the Sport Titanium ones because the frames are so thin on the side they easily slip underneath the earcup of the headset or helmet and never cause those pressure points.
They're not cheap but for as much as I am using them while making a living . . . .
Totally worth it!

[Oddball]

Got myself a pair of Bloc X57's (Red Lens).  Find them comfortable since they are a snug fit while wearing my cycle helmet or a base ball cap while out flying or hiking.

[Fabo]

Maui Jims are my favorite. I always get the Sport Titanium ones because the frames are so thin on the side they easily slip underneath the earcup of the headset or helmet and never cause those pressure points.
They're not cheap but for as much as I am using them while making a living . . . .
Totally worth it!

Are those the ones in your avatar?

[tundra_flier]

I've been useing Serengetti's for the last 10 years, just replaced my first pair.  Unfortunately my favorite style was discontinued, so I went with the standard aviator style.  They use an amber lens, but it's different from most I've seen and doesn't distort colors like most amber lenses.  Still helps tremendously in the flat light we get a lot in the arctic through, and cuts the glare and intensity on bright days.

Phil

[madpilot44]

I love Serengetti. I've used both the amber and black lenses (black for uniform wear). The amber lenses are better for driving since they provide good definition, while the black lenses are better for bright conditions. I've tried a couple of their bayonet style sunglasses and they don't interfere with active noise reduction headsets at all. Unfortunately I lost my last pair on one of those nights I don't remember much, but I'll definitely get a new pair as soon as I can afford them (a bit sketchy on money right now)

[Frank N. O.]

Sorry for the late reply, I was wrapping up the end of a sim-racing season, I'll post about it in the hobby topic.
Thank you very much for you suggestions, I'm investigating them now. I see at least the Maui Jim's and Serengeti are available on the danish market so maybe I can test some in a store (I also did that with the old Ray Bans). I take it from the comments that the thing metal frames aren't a problem in terms of both comfort and long-term durability. If they can last long then it's a worthwhile investment, especially since I need them. I do hope they fit my fat head (even without overweight my skull is big so several frames don't fit me).

Bayonet style, is that referring to frames that don't go behind the ears but just over them?

Thanks again guys
Frank

[madpilot44]

yep, I meant the straight ones that don't come down on the back of the ear.

[Baradium]

I had a set of serengeti's I loved but they eventually came apart.   For work I use a set of ray bans with the graduated tint.   At home I use $5 carhardt branded ones.   My work sunglasses simply stay in my flight case.

Heated windshields like we use preclude the use of any type of polarized sunglasses (which most are these days) so I have to avoid them.  It's funny how many "aviator" sunglasses you see in actual stores are polarized.  Pretty well stops a lot of pilots from even being able to use the things.

[tundra_flier]

My original Serengeti glasses were very well built and survived being dropped, sat on and even stepped on a couple times.  The frames of my new ones are dissapointingly frail looking, but that may be just the different style too.

I've had a couple pilots tell me polarized lenses affect their dept perception, but I've never noticed that myself.

Phil

[Frank N. O.]

Hi guys, long time no see (didn't actually notice it'd been that long). So far I haven't had any luck finding a store with Maui Jim's and the only Serengeti glasses I could had a very bad form that didn't cover my eyes very well and the frame couldn't reach properly behind my eyes to be secure, it sucks living in Denmark. The new goverment with our first ever female PM are totally reforming the country, goodbye scandinavian wellfare model.

While on the subject of vision then a while ago I was at the eye-doctor. I've had these floating things in my vision for a while and recently I had a couple of light flashes in the corner of my eye where I knew there were no lights. While the it doesn't look like I'll go blind anytime soon then there's no way atm to clear my eyesight, so this is the final nail in the coffin for my dream's of getting a pilot's license. I already had no way to finance it, even for hobby flights, but not having a good eyesight for flying at hundreds of km/h that's just no good imo.

I've tried to catch up a bit on the forum, some very cool bits of news. The news about Gary Clark was fantastic, and I think the cross-over idea suggested in the topic here would be brilliant, I'd definately buy the book that was in.
Sadly it also seems like there's still bad news, good people getting fired/killed, continued misunderstandings in the media about general aviation etc. I hope things will improve for you all.
Me, I'm atm trying one last ditch attempt at getting a nice career started after all the grief and depression with my dad's death and my mom's illness, but it's a lousy time to try it with the world as it is and when you got little to no money and almost no personal contacts.

Greetings
Frank

[Mike]

Hey Frank!

We were wondering where you went!!

You need to go out there and meet people. Drive to the local airport, talk to the pilot's/mechanics there. You can't make any personal contacts sitting in your room behind your computer. You never know, maybe there are a few jobs out there you can do at/around the airport. They might not be pilot jobs but it will be a stepping stone in meeting the right people. That's what I did!
I was hanging around the airport and was asking if they needed somebody to mow the lawn. Eventually I got referred to helping in the hangar and only a couple of weeks later I was sitting in a plane on a ride-along on a test flight. (which I would have gone on with or without floaties in my eye, btw). I didn't know anybody in aviation, nobody in my family knew anything about it, until I went to the airport and got connections started.

I went from no connections to meeting Burt Rutan, Chuck Aaron, Sergei Sikorsky and many more without an initial push!
But it wasn't by sitting behind my desk, I can tell you that.

Don't be mad at the world! Go out there!

As for the sunglasses, my view has changed! Forget the Maui Jims!
Get Vedalo HD's!!!

(G-Man may back me up on that now as well)

[G-man]

I went from no connections to meeting Burt Rutan, Chuck Aaron, Sergei Sikorsky and many more without an initial push!

And ME.....

Vedalo HD's are THE way to go----we even know a dealer who will give you a discount and prolly mail them to you.

[tundra_flier]

Frank!  Good to hear from you again.  Sounds like you had a detached retina.  If you haven't seen a doctor, do so quickly.  It's an easily fixed condition theses days.  I know, my eye doctors have told me I'm at high risk for it and I've known a few people who've had it before.  I don't know about the medical requirements there, but in the US, as long as it's treated and you can still see well, it's not a disqualifying condition for flying.

Good Luck!
Phil