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wearymicrobe
wearymicrobe UberDork
6/2/10 10:53 a.m.

Gatorz have two pairs that are at least 10 years old. They are mondo expensive though.

Karl La Follette
Karl La Follette UltraDork
6/2/10 1:32 p.m.

psst hey want some sunglasses cheap

heist

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
6/2/10 1:53 p.m.
rebelgtp wrote: Though one of my favorite pairs was some Gargoyles (not the huge ones) though they can't even offer replacement parts for them now either, they are about 14 or 15 years old and still holding together. I am tough on sunglasses yet this pair has held together great.

I too had a pair of Gargoyles that I really liked. A few years back when trying to replace them all I could find was this website and ordered off it successfully.
http://topofthelinesunglasses.com/gargoyles-sunglasses-c-128.html?osCsid=c452c931ab3913b9c6bd4d603a8f4eba

Gragoyle had just a fantastic amber lens.
I now have Maui Jim's and they are nice. The frames feel cheap but I heve found them to rather robust (amber lens with plastic tortise minimal frames)

whenry
whenry HalfDork
6/2/10 3:21 p.m.

Anything made by Nikon. Yeah, expensive and hard to find anymore but worth it in lens quality. Just search on Ebay periodically. I keep a set in the Miata and GTO.

93EXCivic
93EXCivic MegaDork
6/2/10 3:31 p.m.
rebelgtp wrote: I mostly wear a pair of Ray Ban Aviators (no not a "hipster" just always worn them over the last 30 years).

^ This. I have some old Ray Ban Aviators (with the forehead bar) that I found. Best damn sunglasses I have ever owned.

DuctTape&Bondo
DuctTape&Bondo Dork
6/2/10 3:31 p.m.

Maui Jim Aviators, the fit my huge noggin and face shape and the lenses are so good to my eyes. Expensive for sure, but I wear them daily so it was worth it.

M2Pilot
M2Pilot Dork
6/2/10 4:01 p.m.
Woody wrote: Serengeti Drivers.

Absolutely agree. After years of sitting on or losing cheap sunglasses I decided to get an expensive (to me) pair that I'd not lose or sit on. That tactic worked. I'm on my second pair in about 25 years.

Lesley
Lesley PowerDork
6/2/10 4:10 p.m.

I have about 40 pairs of shades....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=135019&id=515956307&l=b6ae777509

My absolute hands-down faves are my tortoiseshell Wayfarers. I have a pair of the vintage ones, made in the US by Bausch and Lomb, but the newer ones are made in Italy by Luxottica and fit me better. They're super comfortable, always look great, and the lenses aren't too light or too dark.

For driving, Serengeti Drivers have a really neat lens that darkens in bright light, and lightens up when you're driving through tunnels, etc. so you don't find yourself pushing them up on your head so you can see. I've got 3 pairs in different styles -- one pair was purchased brand new and were rather pricey, the other two pairs are vintage and were bought at a really decent price off ebay.

I have one pair of Maui Jim's - the frames are super light, and being nylon, bendable, but I don't really like the lenses much -- they're too light and there doesn't seem to be as much sun protection.

I bought a pair of chinese knock-off wayfarers, honestly, the quality was pretty good, the lenses were polarized and it's pretty hard to tell them from the real thing. Gave 'em to my sister, she loves them - at $15 vs $140 - they were a bargain :-)

Try ebay for the really expensive brands - I've had good luck with vintage and slightly used pairs at a fraction of the retail cost.

poopshovel again
poopshovel again MegaDork
6/2/10 4:39 p.m.
3M/A0 Safety safety glasses that I got at Lowes for $9. They're red, they look/act like sunglasses, but have the ANSI spec. and have rather good optics.

Win. My Canexican girlfriend buys 10 pairs when they go on sale. The current ones are falling apart, but it's awesome to be able to sand/grind/cut the grass, etc., without going "now where are those damned safety glasses?"

For the beach/fishing/vacation whatever, I bought a pair of "dive shades" polarized glasses a few years ago. They're flimsy, but they're good at what they do and not goofy looking:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker
Giant Purple Snorklewacker MegaDork
6/2/10 4:49 p.m.

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
6/2/10 5:33 p.m.

Costa Delmars for years. They are over $200 a pair for the ones I like now. I broke three sets in the last two years. Costa used to fix them for free, but not any more. They also won't replace broken lenses any more. So no more Costas for me.

What I'm wearing now is a pair of Caribbean Sun from WalMart. $68 a pair. They have the optical quality of the Costas at less than half the price.

donalson
donalson PowerDork
6/2/10 5:42 p.m.

worn oakleys for 15+ years now... some where given to me or found, a few paid for... i still have multiple pairs of my original M frames, had some jackets in different variations and E and A wires at various times... always loved em... had my last pair for about 2 1/2 years before I left em in a fitting room checking on fit for a tux... by the time I realized I'd forgotten em they where long gone :(

recently went to these custom antix with "ghost letter frames" and the blue lenses (whatever Oakley wants to call them these days) they fit me just right and me loves em

not my pic... but identical.

Peabody here
Peabody here UltimaDork
6/2/10 6:04 p.m.

I'm hard on sunglasses, so I use a good pair of tinted safety glasses when I ride, but they don't look the best.

I was in a sears warehouse outlet store last year, and bought a few pairs of MAXX glasses for $3.99/pair. They were probably a few years out of date by the time I got them, but I've never had glasses this good.

wbjones
wbjones MegaDork
6/2/10 6:06 p.m.

cheap... ok I know that's what people call me ... but it's still what I wear

donalson
donalson PowerDork
6/2/10 6:09 p.m.

for riding (bikes) i roll an awesome pair of winchester yellow lensed shooting glasses... on the trail they are great... if i ever get back into paintball i'll get the same kind of lenses... recall a friend had em on his profile mask and was amazed at how much they brought out detail.

JeepinMatt
JeepinMatt Dork
6/2/10 7:41 p.m.

Some crap sunglasses won't protect your eyes. Eye docs said they can be worse, as they let less light in, which causes your pupils to grow, but don't block the rays that damage them. But it isn't hard to find cheap sunglasses that don't do that.

I've got the cheapest polarized Oakleys, but they're still pricey (over a c note). I also have a $10 pair I use while in the ocean and on the boat, cause it wouldn't be the first pair to get smacked off my face. Could always try Persol. If they were cool enough for Steve McQueen, they've gotta be cool enough to consider.

griffin729
griffin729 HalfDork
6/2/10 8:30 p.m.
neon4891 wrote: Clip-ons for my RX glasses, and *NOT* the cheesy flip ups either.

This is what I've got with the magnetic catches on the clips.

triumph7
triumph7 Reader
6/2/10 10:28 p.m.

+1 on the Tifosi, I think I have the Slipstreams. I've used them for a couple years now, mostly for cycling. Girlfriend's puppy got ahold of them, scratched the lenses and chewed up the ear pieces... within a couple days the bike shop had new lenses and parts, good as new for $20.

Osterkraut
Osterkraut UberDork
6/2/10 10:36 p.m.

Oakley's Standard Issue website is solid gold if you can get access. Battle-tested models for 50% of retail!

alex
alex UberDork
6/2/10 11:04 p.m.

Vintage Ray Ban aviators are the only way to fly. (The hipsters have long since moved on.)

NYG95GA
NYG95GA UltraDork
7/7/10 5:26 a.m.

Sunglass Canoe.

modernbeat
modernbeat Dork
7/7/10 11:23 a.m.

I've got about a dozen pair of 62mm Ray Ban Aviators. Some have the shooter frame, some the forehead bar, and some the standard frame. Most are yellow-chromax, yellow or amber tinted, but I do have a couple pair of green tints.

I've also got a handful of Wayfarers. Ray Ban makes different shapes and styles of the Wayfarer frames. I've got the extra large size with the spring-hinged bars in black (model 2113). I've also got a few "new" Wayfarers that are slightly more streamlined, also in black (model 2132).

I'm also a fan of glass lenses AND like to be able to get my glasses repaired or replaced anywhere I go. Ray Ban has so many dealers, and is also sold in optometrists everywhere. I'm able to get parts, have them adjusted, or buy an exact replacement just about anywhere I travel. The only snag is that the yellow-chromax lenses are long out of production.

Lesley
Lesley PowerDork
7/7/10 11:53 a.m.

They don't repair broken hinges though. I snapped the hinge on a pair of original Bausch & Lombe Wayfarers, the US ones.

mtn
mtn MegaDork
7/7/10 12:18 p.m.

Well, I'm the one who started this thread and its kinda moot now. I had decided on a pair of Maui Jims that were competitively priced with anything else with a discount I get where I work. I was going to buy them, and then a co-worker and friend died unexpectedly leaving a family with nothing. All of the caddies pooled money together, and that was my sunglass money. I'll wait for next year, or browse craigslist for now.

Lesley
Lesley PowerDork
7/7/10 12:32 p.m.

Try Ebay. I bought my Maui Jim's there for $18.

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