Anti-reflective or polarized sunglasses for night?
 

I've searched around this forum and lots o other places and I still have no idea lol. Right now I have regular yellow tint glasses I use at night. I've ended up forgetting them a few times and I can't see a friggen thing without them with all the glare from the oncoming headlights. I really notice a huge difference that the yellow ones make! (the problem is the stuipd frame is too thick at the top and blocks a bit of my vision so I'm looking to get new ones that don't block my vision!)

I found http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/tsm212.html which are polarized slightly yellow tinted ones.
I've found http://arubasportsonline.com/proddet...D90%2D2&cat=25 which have anti-reflective coating on the orange and clear ones.

Since I can't easily try these out or any others really for my night commute, I'm wondering for those of you who have clear / yellow / amber / orange ones with polarization / anti-reflective coatings, what works best for you? And also if you would be so kind as to provide links to where you got it.

Thanks!
azbok

Native makes really nice polarized lens specs. I've got a pair from REI, and they came with clear, yellow, orange, and dark brown lenses, all polarized. I use the clear ones for my morning commute in the dark, and switch it up between the others depending on light conditions for the ride home.

I have clear, amber, dark, and polarized lenses. Frankly in the dark, they all suck. With the clear lenses, once you get any kind of scratch, chip, dust speck, water droplet (common when it's raining or even in fog), you get starbursts.

All other lenses reduce the amount of light that reaches your eyes. Polarized lenses are nice when you're staring at headlights in the dark -- until you actually try to see where you're biking. Even my HID setup does not provide enough illumination to ride with lenses with any tint at any reasonable speed.

One problem is that when the headlights shine in your eyes, your pupils contract. This makes it hard for you to see anything, the same way that you can't see anything when you come indoors after being out in the bright sun.

I normally wear clear lenses at night because there is a section of my commute where I need to worry about downed branches raking across my face. However, I don't like the solution at all. I'm seriously considering not wearing lenses at night and just being more careful in key areas. In the winter, bugs, dust, and other stuff is not an issue at night where I live and I think my glasses may be causing as many problems as they solve.

With a Euro-style cycling cap I can tilt my head to block some glare but for the most part it's hopeless and I expect to be blinded. :(

Maybe I can help here.....
I often recommend these "fit over" glasses to cyclist because they offer true value for a
small sacrifce in fashion. The are all polycarbonate lensed which means you have real
protection over your eyes for a small price. I can recommend them because I wear them
with great comfort from wind (helps bunches with my dry eyes) as well as great sun
blocking.

Please note that these glasses are often used by folks who have cataracts (as I did that's
how I found them) but please don't let that keep you from trying them. They offer you
honest value at a workingman's price.

http://www.eyesave.com/styles/p12013...low/index.aspx

http://www.eyesave.com/brands/b281-d...ses/index.aspx

Here are some alternatives for about 1/3 the price
http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/fiovrxgl.html
http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/360-a.html

Not polycarbonate, but full safety glasses rated and 99.9% UV protection. I notice the pair you indicate says 100% UV block. That trips my BS-o-meter. There's no such thing as 100% UV block unless they're totally opaque to visible light.

As far as safety, unless you're planning on being shot in the face (or really, even then) then anything that meets the safety ratings is good.

FWIW, I just got a pair of these, and they are polycarb.

http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/essice243len.html

and have the prescription insert on order. I wanted something that seals out dust and bugs really well, and these work. At $42, they're not as cheap as some of the others but it's a good system with everything replacable if it gets scratched up or broken. In fact my optometrist sells exactly the same thing for $200 (not to me though). I ordered the prescription from them for < $100.

I just use plain old clear lenses. This is sort of out there, but what kind of headlights do you have? I found that with my HID's I don't get blinded by headlights nearly as much as when I only run my little cateye lights. Something about my eyes adjusting maybe? Could all be in my head, just tossing it out there.

I've given up on sunglasses and just wear a helmet with a visor. Whenever something is shining in my eyes -- whether it's the sun in the day or headlights at night, I just tilt my head to block it.

I find that tinted lenses don't work for me even in the day -- they keep the sun from blinding me but I can't see the road surface in the shady patches.

I normally wear prescription glasses, but they are very small and don't cover very well.

I decided to wear full coverage safety glasses for a number of reasons, none of them to block glare (I actually use a clear lens).

First, I ride on gravel roads and in the winter. I have had bugs, sand, road salt, gravel, slush, and leaves fall into my eyes, and it's not pleasant.

Second, I know too many people who are only 20 or so years older than me that are starting to develop cataracts and macular degeneration. Since I've choosen an activity that puts me outdoors in the sunshine up to 2 hours a day, I want to stop as much UV entering my eyes as possible.

That is incorrect. Only the dark lenses are polarized. The clear, yellow and orange are not.

All lenses, with the exception of the clear ones, filter some component of the light reaching your eye. Yellow lenses filter out the blues so that yellow and brighter colors are enhanced. Try wearing yellow for a while and then take them off, everything will appear gray and blue. Vermillion lenses do an even better job of it.

I've found that any nonclear lens (I have to wear glasses) makes riding at night very tricky. Yellow and vermillion bring up the yellows but they also make the dark areas darker. In some cases, inky dark:eek:

Stick with clear. And if you wear photochromic glasses, you might not want to wear them in cold weather. My photograys will go positively black at temps lower then 40 F, even at night!

I just read up, and true enough only the dark ones are polarized. The others, while not polarized, do well enough for keeping the glare factor down.
There are also blue and bronze partial mirror finish, grey, and rose lenses that are polarized.