Back in the 80's and 90's I was a mad keen windsurfer. To be honest, it's what got me through high school in the 80's. I would watch the wind turbines on the school roof and if they looked good I would race home after school and ride my bike and trolly down to the river for a session. Back then we only had one-piece masts so it was a long rig that used to topple over if I wasn't careful on corners. In the 90s I had a 74 Kombi so the bike didn't get much use. I then had a break for a while while I went into boats and wakeboarding. Relatively recently I have taken up Wing Foiling and absolutely love it.

All those years of watersports did not come without their costs though - I recently noticed that I had a 'bump' on my eye and had it checked out. Turns out it was a Pterygium from UV exposure. To avoid it growing larger and eventually needing surgery I decided to go looking for some sunglasses to wear on the water. After looking at lots of options I purchased some LiP Sunglasses. They were brilliant - super comfortable and lightweight fit, hydrophobic lenses, injected polarisation, venting to minimise fog, unique two-stage retainer system and they looked good too.

I liked the sunglasses so much, I tracked down the owners (watersports enthusiasts in Taiwan) and I have recently become an Australian dealer to make them more available for others - we only get one set of eyes and we get twice the UV exposure on the water. It's a bit like the Gillette story, but I have not bought the company. Anyway, I have recently sent the Australian website (lip-sunglasses.com.au) live and to celebrate its launch - here is a 10% discount code for all forum members (Sea-lips). Available until Jan 8th.

Here's to being able to do what we love on the water for longer, while also protecting your eyes.

Can definitely agree with your thoughts on these glasses. I have now had my pair for a few years and a number of mates have them as well. I have had a few small issues with my Lip glasses, however the aftersales service in rectifying the issue was nothing short of fantastic.

Although there is no perfect water sports sunglasses ie. they all fog to a degree and depending on the time of day (sun angle and glare) they all distort vision, these would have to be the best I have had to date.

That said, can definitely recommend....and spend the extra and get the Typhoon.

Those dudes in Taiwan get serious wind in the straits of Taiwan...as in 55kt days...every day some times of the year.
There are some pretty decent sailors up that way!

I don't like polarised as harder to see the water surface when rough.

The LiP team have dialled back the polarisation to enable you to see the water surface clearly. They have kite surfing and windsurfing backgrounds so out on testing the gear themselves. Very practical (comfortable and fit for purpose) with no compromise on quality (i.e. ZEISS lenses). Yes I do sell them, but I only got involved (distributing nationally) because I really liked mine and I felt that more people should be using them to protect their eyes, have better vision on the water and be able to stay out in the water longer. You only get one set of eyes so make sure you look after them.

I switched to the photochromic lenses. I can wear the glasses pretty much all year round and not be troubled by overclouding or sessions running after sunset.

www.lip-sunglasses.com/product/eclipse-brown-photochromic-red-mirror/

I love my late afternoon/sunset sessions and you are right the photochromic lenses are perfect for that.

Select to expand quote

longboard said..
Those dudes in Taiwan get serious wind in the straits of Taiwan...as in 55kt days...every day some times of the year.
There are some pretty decent sailors up that way!

Penghu ... yeah it absolutely rips, the flight in is...interesting. There was (still is?) an Aussie guy up there called Alex Mowday who ran the the watersports and organised the PWA events, was agent for quite a few Windsurfing brands around asia. Not sure if he is still there, but he spoke very good Mandarin as I recall.

Back to the glasses; yes, while we have a different brand, highly recommend wearing them if you can. I wear contacts which have a bit of UV protection I believe (mine do), but my wife wear sunnies while foiling (she has perfect sight). Windsurfing not so much....

Can you buy the lenses seperately?

Some people sweat over 5G, but it's the radiation at energy levels above 10eV you have to sweat over . Thanks for the link Zasby. I'll put in an order.

I purchased the FLO/Matt Black and have used them twice Windsurfing, plus driving for a few days. They are really good. Love them. They also don't compete for space with my Gath helmet. Thanks for posting Zasby. I would never have discovered them.

Select to expand quote

LouD said..
Can you buy the lenses seperately?

I'd be keen to know the answer to this as I have a pair of Lip sunglasses that I would like to add prescription lenses to

Select to expand quote

nicky said..

LouD said..
Can you buy the lenses seperately?

I'd be keen to know the answer to this as I have a pair of Lip sunglasses that I would like to add prescription lenses to

Yeah me too...keen on ordering replacement lenses

www.lip-sunglasses.com/product-category/lenses/

I now have replacement lens here in Australia. I have not added them to the .com.au website yet but text me on 0401 835 422 and I will organise.

These glasses look good, my issue is I haven't found a sun hat, sunglasses pairing which can worn together.
I use a bucket hat complete with neck piece & chin strap to keep the sun off however I can't get glasses which have a strap to fit as well
I have used water sunnies which are great but sometimes it is a case of the choosing one over the other.
Does anyone use both, if so what are you using?

Yep, I use both. I have however found that it is not an issue with my FCS bucket hat, but if I'm wearing my OE (Ocean and Earth) bucket hat it presses on the arms and forces the sunnies up a bit.

Select to expand quote

GWatto said..
These glasses look good, my issue is I haven't found a sun hat, sunglasses pairing which can worn together.
I use a bucket hat complete with neck piece & chin strap to keep the sun off however I can't get glasses which have a strap to fit as well
I have used water sunnies which are great but sometimes it is a case of the choosing one over the other.
Does anyone use both, if so what are you using?

I'm not sure I understand the problem. I wear the Sunglasses with the strap around the back of my my head and the band around my neck. The hat then the helmet goes over the top (I wear a hat with a helmet because the Gath adjustment straps are crap. The hat makes the helmet fit my head perfectly and gives me a decent brim out the front). In winter it's a hood and helmet. (I always wear a helmet wing dinging and never wear a helmet kite foiling so hat and helmet for winging and just a hat for kite foiling.)

In total that's one head strap with neck leash, and two chin straps (one for surf hat, one for helmet). I don't need all those straps but I usually grab my trusty old favourites and put them on. They work fine.

The Lips head leash has some hard plastic hooks that connect to the arms of the glasses. With some combination of glasses, hat and helmet with ear covers the pressure on those clips causes a headache after about an hour. I fixed that by making my own slim elastic head strap that fits smoothly underneath everything.

Here is my set up, creatures cap with chin strap,
And free issued day / night Australian standards safety glasses from work on a homemade lanyard. Nice and bright to see the bumps yet shaded enough to take out the glare. No JSA required

Select to expand quote

herbyburger said..
Here is my set up, creatures cap with chin strap,
And free issued day / night Australian standards safety glasses from work on a homemade lanyard. Nice and bright to see the bumps yet shaded enough to take out the glare.

How do you deal with the water beading?

Select to expand quote

Buster fin said..

herbyburger said..
Here is my set up, creatures cap with chin strap,
And free issued day / night Australian standards safety glasses from work on a homemade lanyard. Nice and bright to see the bumps yet shaded enough to take out the glare.

How do you deal with the water beading?

Another perk from work,use one of these before I go out and it's good for the whole session.

Select to expand quote

GWatto said..
These glasses look good, my issue is I haven't found a sun hat, sunglasses pairing which can worn together.
I use a bucket hat complete with neck piece & chin strap to keep the sun off however I can't get glasses which have a strap to fit as well
I have used water sunnies which are great but sometimes it is a case of the choosing one over the other.
Does anyone use both, if so what are you using?

I've been using a fcs bucket hat with my typhoons for close to 6 years no probs when I use a helmet on top I use a thin 2mm brade and tie a bowline through the arms to the neck strap supplied and it works great

Looks like a great product, as I'm short sighted does anyone in Sydney uses them.
keen to try a pair for fit test. They're not cheap with prescription lens.

Just about to replace my old worn out Lip sunglasses after 5 years of hard use. Just trying to work out which lens is best to get when on the water.....seems to be three choices.....Polaraised, Photochromatic or a standard lens.

Thoughts and experiences please, and no I'm not chasing a substitute brand or alternative.

Select to expand quote

shi thouse said..
Just about to replace my old worn out Lip sunglasses after 5 years of hard use. Just trying to work out which lens is best to get when on the water.....seems to be three choices.....Polaraised, Photochromatic or a standard lens.

Thoughts and experiences please, and no I'm not chasing a substitute brand or alternative.

I've tried 2 different pairs of polarized glasses and if there's any height to the bumps I lose depth perception. I thought it was just me until I saw a Blue Planet video and one of Rob's friends mentioned the same thing. I've started using regular/normal sports
glasses with a dark lens and so far it seems better if there's some height to the water surface.
If you can, experiment with regular sports/wraparound glasses with interchangeable lenses to see what works.

Photochromic are very good for sessions on cloudy days or that extend through sunset. I have the brown red mirror lenses. They're not polarized.

Most of my time in the water is for bright sunny locations, so would go one of the others then.

Select to expand quote

shi thouse said..
Most of my time in the water is for bright sunny locations, so would go one of the others then.

I always use polarized and the brown lens as that is the best & brightest for me (but still a good sunglass UV blocker) as it cuts out the glare and still has excellent contrast etc, I am a bit shortsighted but with the sunnies on my vision is excellent:-)

I've had the polarized for now, how do you find the brown lenses?

Lips photochromic lenses go between cat 1 and cat 2 which is 75% light transmission to 25% light transmission. The standard lenses are cat 3 which are 11% light transmission.

I find the Cat 1-2 lenses fine for most conditions. Cat 3 is better on a bright sunny day.

I'm a big fan of brown or bronze lenses. I just like how everything looks bright and warm.

Select to expand quote

shi thouse said..
I've had the polarized for now, how do you find the brown lenses?

Polarized Brown lens are the best for everything otherwise grey or green polasized etc, only thing you need to worry about then is normal fogging up etc?:-)