If the statement you want to make in a sport shade is “My eyes are REALLY worth protecting,” check out the Wiley X PT-3. Brad Pitt won’t be wearing these sunglasses on the Academy runway, but PT-3 makes no fashion pretenses. The wrapped, single-lens shield is cut tall and wide for great eye coverage, and features three snap-in polycarbonate lenses built to the highest military specifications—as in ballistic protection, as in wear it if shell fragments are flying up around you, the sand’s blowing, and you can’t afford to lose an eye. And yes, it’ll serve just fine on your next mountain bike foray, too. The only downside to such a large shield is heat buildup—when you’re moving slowly but working hard, it gets a bit roasty behind PT-3. The three lenses switch out with remarkable ease: a gray with 20% visible light transmission for bright sun; rust (53%); and clear (89%), which add up to 24/7 protection. $90, but Zappos has it for $82.80, and you always get free shipping at zappos.com

Optic Nerve has, well, a lot of nerve. For bargain prices, they crank out spiffy, functional designs that play well in the ’hood of far pricier shades. A case in point is the Autovaughn. Talk about functional: It’s a snug-fitting wrap with a nonslip nosepiece, temples with subtle but grippy rubber inserts at the tips, and ventilation openings at the corners of the lenses for antifog airflow. That last feature is much appreciated when you’re barely staying afloat on a steep mountain biking gradient; the last thing you want then is a foggy whiteout. All this is delivered in a style that’ll let you hold your head up high on street as well as the trail—no jocky geek factor. The copper lens is a smart choice. It lets in 27% of visible light rays—on the light side, and not what you want for a day traversing the Wapta Icefields in bright sunlight, but fine for shoulder seasons and hikes or runs that dart in and out of the woods. But don’t look to $59 sunglasses for brilliant optical quality. Passable and protective is what you get—and pay for. Eastern Mountain Sports carries the Optic Nerve line:

You’ll find sunglasses for virtually every sport. Is that a good thing or a lot of marketing hooey? Are sunglasses for running really much different from sunglasses for volleyball? Well, if you love a sport and you value your eyes, you want targeted eyewear. The fact that sunglass manufacturers have dialed in exactly what you need for so many different sports really is good news. PS: That’s mountain bike racer Darcy Turenne in Oakley Radar above.


But let’s be real about it. The trick is to understand what you REALLY need for your favorite sport, and then make an intelligent decision about wearing them for crossover use.

We’ll try to help. When we review sunglasses in any particular category, we’ll always cross-reference them. Chances are, those road-biking shades will do just fine for road-running as well.

What to look for in sport sunglasses:

UV protection. Duh. 100% UVA and UVB, aka 400-nanometer protection.

Plenty of wrap—8-base or 10-base for peripheral protection.

Impact-resistant lenses. That means polycarbonate, SR-91, or NXT (see THE QUICK GUIDE for the scoop on lens materials). Definitely NOT glass. Even good lenses can pop out of bad frames. Stick with major makers, like the ones reviewed on this site. If the maker states that the shades pass the ANSI Z-97.1 standards for high-mass and high-velocity impact, excellent. That means they’ve survived rigorous testing.

Lens clarity. You and your sport shades are likely to get cozy for some long stints. They better be sharp—for at least two reasons: a.) Crummy shades will strain your eyes, make you feel fatigued and headachey, and you may not even know why. You just won’t have as much fun as you should. b.) Clarity could be critical. Whether you’re skiing, playing golf, mountain biking, or fly-fishing, you need to read details. If the shades don’t impress you at a glance, they’ll be worse later. How else can you judge clarity? It’s tricky. Price is a fairly good indicator, but not always. Read up or ask salespeople about the lenses—do they use “decentered” technology? That means each lens is subtly thicker in the middle and tapered to the outside so that incoming light waves reach your eye at the same time. The result: no eyestrain, and a crystal-sharp image. Makers of cheap shades don’t bother.

QUICK FIELD TEST FOR LENS CLARITY: Stand outside and stare at a stop sign. Switch between glasses. See how the white is affected by the lens tint. How crisp is the “P”? Is there a blur inside the “O”? Hold the glasses at arm’s length and look at a distant vertical line. Move the glasses up and down and side to side. Does the line stay straight? Most important, though, is how the view looks to you. Try lots of shades. One will stand out, bring the world into crisp focus. That’s the one you want.

Comfort and fit. Sport shades have to remain securely on your face. Move your face around, emulating your sport if possible. The temples need to squeeze your mandibles without causing pain. Nonslip rubber on the temple ends are a worthy bonus. Nonslip rubber on the nosepiece is indispensable. The frame needs to flex readily, with much more give than you’d want in street shades.

The tint you want. There’s no “right” tint for sport shades. I favor brown, copper, or rose for sports such as cycling when I might start out in low light. Those tints are bright and contrasty. But for a long day in bright sunshine, I favor a relaxing gray or green.

The right light. Don’t get lenses too light or too dark for the job. The sweet spot for visible light transmission (VLT) is right around 12% for most sports. Darker than 10% is for intense conditions like glacier travel. Lighter then 25% is for special situations like fly-fishing in mottled shade or mountain biking in the woods. Of course, interchangeable lenses can carry you through any situation, and photochromic lenses can carry you through most. Read on….

Interchangeable lenses. Good old-fashioned sport shields with interchangeable lenses give you a lens for every situation. A typical shield comes with three lenses: a gray for bright sun, yellow or copper for low light, and clear for cloudy days or nighttime. Will you really take the time to switch them out? A question worth asking. And how easy are they to swap? Most require a Tab A into Slot B process that can be tough on the fumble-fingered or vision-impaired, and you’ll smear grubby fingerprints all over the lens. Still, it’s the best way to guarantee that you’ll have exactly the right lens when you need it.

Photochromic lenses. Lenses that darken in bright light are gradually overtaking interchangeables. Start out early in the morning and the lens might permit, for example, 25% visible light transmission, and darken to 10% when the sun comes out. Not as much range as interchangeables, but a lot more convenient. Don’t look for miracles from photochromics. They can take several minutes to lighten, meaning you might feel Mr. Magooish when you mountain bike from sun to woods. Their range is limited. Don’t expect them to swing from clear to glacier-glass dark. Typical visible light transmission ranges are 16% at the dark end to 40% at the light end, or 13% to 30% or 10% to 25%—fine for normal circumstances, but too dark for, say, bike riding at dusk. The greater the range the better—but lens reaction time will be slower. And no matter what, you pay a premium for the convenience of photochromics.

Polarized lenses. Glare-cutting polarization is seldom a necessity for sport shades, but why not have it? Its main benefit is subduing stabbing glare off water, but it’s also comforting on a long road-bike ride or a cross-country ski jaunt across a sunlit meadow. It’s becoming more common on less-expensive shades, but be warned: Cheap polarization is a pale imitation of the real deal.

(Latest in a series of short tutorials. Click here to see the whole thing to date.)

3. Do You Want Polycarbonate Lenses?
Plastic lenses for sunglasses come in several flavors, including polycarbonate (PC), CR-39, and some proprietary materials. Polycarbonate is the best choice for action sports. Sunglasses made for the military (e.g., those from Wiley X, Smith, and Oakley) are invariably made with polycarbonate (PC) lenses. In fact, any premium sunglasses made to withstand occupational hazards are made with polycarbonate. If there’s a chance of a pebble flying into your eyes, of your taking an endo, or (heaven forbid) a chance of fragments from bullet fire hitting your eyes, you want PC lenses. For mountain biking, river rafting, rock climbing, volleyball, baseball, even golf, you want polycarbonate lenses.

Only polycarbonate lenses stand a chance of passing both ANSI Z-87.1 tests for impact resistance. In one test, a 25mm steel ball gets fired at a lens mounted on a face form. In the other, a pointed, 1.1-pound weight is dropped on a lens, also mounted on a face form. To pass, the lenses cannot shatter AND cannot make contact with the face form. The frame has to hold the lens in place, which means that the sunglasses must be very carefully designed and constructed. Cheap shades made from PC lenses are very unlikely to pass that latter test.

As for acuity, polycarbonate can approach the optical clarity of glass, but only when in the hands of a manufacturer with outstanding quality control. Oakley and Wiley X make great shades using PC exclusively. But cheap polycarbonate sunglasses can be dreadfully, eye-strainingly bad.

The downside of PC? Mainly its susceptibility to scratching. The best lenses receive a scratch-resistant coating that works well, but it can’t turn plastic into glass. Lousy PC lenses will scratch like crazy.

The large, very masculine Embargo was issued to me in the leopardlike Havana frame with a polarized brown lens (14 percent VLT), and I wouldn’t have it any other way. (Though you’ve got lots of frame and lens options.) The 8-base wrapped frame is superthick at the corners of your eyes for max pro against sidelighting. Smith works wonders with lenses. These issue the expected “Wow,” but with a small side order of “Ahh.” Clarity is excellent—Smith tapers its lenses for impeccable resolution. Every detail at the beach will pop, even as the sun sinks slowly in whatever direction it’s going. $119. Buy it: framesdirect.com.

Wiley, you rascal! You’re so well known for extreme-conditions sunglasses (war zones, NASCAR, bass fishing). Now you’ve gone stylish on us, with no sacrifice in quality. Nice broad temples have tons of attitudinous wrap and a narrowish cut that suits every sex I can think of. The lenses, smoke or copper, are impactproof polycarbonate—that’s Wiley X’s deal—and swallow 80 percent of visible light. Optics? Quite decent. Nonpolarized, but look at that price. Also give Wiley X credit for the extras: rigid case, lens cloth, and lanyard. $100. Buy it: Free Shipping at Zappos
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