Thought I would do a quick review on these sunnies I bought for windsurfing which are called Surge from Lip Sunglasses. These are the first ones I have used that actually do what they say. They don't fog, water beads off them and they actually stay clear. Probably similar to the Oakley water jacket but less than half the price. They seem to be fairly high quality too. Good value for money at less than $150 including express postage from Europe. Took about 10 days or less to get here.
www.lip-sunglasses.com/product/surge/

Good info, thanks Steve. Happy New Year mate

Cancer Council Polarising sunnies $40. Best for your eyes and cut through the glare.

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Shifu said..
Cancer Council Polarising sunnies $40. Best for your eyes and cut through the glare.

UV wraps from Bunnings. $28. Polarised. Impact resistant as well.

I have used the cheaper options for years. They generally work ok, but you always end up with a day when they don't work. The lenses get covered in spots. The spots dry and leave big white blobs. You can't see. You rinse them. Spots again. Take them off. Grumble. It got to the point where I would do anything rather than wear sunglasses.

The Lips glasses work not much better than the cheap ones at their best. They're better, but not 10 times better (although they are 5-10 times more expensive). But they do work all the time. You get spots on the lenses. But the spots blow off and diminish and you can see ok. I have never had a time when I have had to take mine off. Occasionally I re-rinse them and do it in a way that the drops run off smoothly.

Cheap glasses have a fairly high workload to get the best out of them. You need to get them spotlessly clean so there are no grease or dirt deposits for water to stick to. I washed mine with dishwashing detergent in warm water. I tried stuff like Rain X and H20 H8R wax. They all work, to an extent and for a (short) time. You still end up with them not working and swearing and grumbling.

There is a similar but simpler workload with the Lips glasses. You need to rinse them with fresh water after each session. I soak mine in the sink when I get home. Occasionally wash them with a gentle soap. I use hand wash liquid soap. You let them dry then polish with the cloth.

The Lips glasses are expensive so there is an incentive to look after them. You get a hard case so it's pretty easy to keep them in the case and look after them.

The bottom line is, I used to avoid wearing sunglasses because they were a pain in the bum. Now I wear my Lips glasses all the time. They work much more reliably. I have the Lips Typhoons which are the much more expensive version.

The Lips glasses do have a marketing point of difference. They have built in hydrophobic coatings. All the other glasses require you to apply stuff to make the water run off. The Surge have some un-named coatings. The Typhoons have Zeiss coatings. There's a fair bit of material available on the net about Zeiss coatings. It's not just a made up marketing term.

I was initially disappointed in the Typhoons and sent some emails to Lips. They didn't want to give me a refund but offered me a free replacement pair if I wanted. In the meantime I found I was wearing mine all the time and have got to the point where I don't want to go in the water without them.

PS I have owned Oakley Waterjackets in the past. They were crap (and expensive crap at that). I have used lots of cheaper, and not so cheap, glasses, mostly SeaSpecs. So far, the Lips are keepers.

To prevent droplets n fog, just lick em n dip em in the water. Quick blow off n their done.Same as scuba crew does. I wear glasses surfing n sailing n it works for me.

The Lip lens are the best Ive found too, also been trying the bombers, they're ok for the price but the Lip lens stay clear for a whole session whereas bombers need to be cleaned often

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olskool said..
To prevent droplets n fog, just lick em n dip em in the water. Quick blow off n their done.Same as scuba crew does. I wear glasses surfing n sailing n it works for me.

I have done the lick and rinse thing for years. It never really worked. So many dives spent flooding and clearing the mask so I could see for a few minutes. Washing a diving mask in dishwashing detergent works very well.

Lick and rinse might be ok for sunglasses but I'm not about to do it mid-session with the glasses strapped to my head under a hat.

Used the Lips last night in strong choppy conditions and waves. Lots of spray. Most of the drops blew straight off the lenses. The more I use them the more I like them.

Done thousands of kms in really rough water and never had a problem with spots or spray on 40 dollar sunglasses.

Gorgo,

Sigh... My cunning plan was to keep buying cheap Bunnings sunnies and throw them away when they become too grotty or the lenses start fogging up (2 dozen sessions until the last pair became unbearable), but yesterday I was badly affected by the water spots on my sunnies to the point that the evening sun glare was preferable, and I had worn them only 6 or 7 times.

So I might just give in. The only trouble is I have a fat skull, so buying expensive glasses sight unseen is a risk.