Looking for advice regarding sunglasses lens colors.

[JFlynn97]

I'm looking to buy a pair of Cocoon fitover sunglasses to use over my prescription glasses instead of buying a pair of prescription sunglasses. Currently I can't decide between two options: the straight polarized amber lenses, or the polarized amber and green mirror lenses. Both lenses are polarized and amber colored, but does the one with a green mirror offer anything in addition to the standard ones? Or would they both perform similarly?

 

Thanks!

[Further North]

You will look way cooler in your old-man-fit-over-your-regular-glasses fi they are mirrored than if they are just plain amber (and it's harde for other folks to see your regular glasses under the mirrors.

 

Signed, A Cocoon owner since 2010.

 

Just kidding...I've never noticed any perceivable difference, but everyone's eyes are different.

[TOXIC]

Mirror glasses help reflect more water glare, thus why most of the saltwater fishermen have mirrored.  When I got my Oakley prescription sunglasses, my friend who makes the lenses in a lab suggested mirrored grey because of the all around versatility of that combo.  I use them for driving, fishing and everyday use as well.  If I had an unlimited budget I would have at least 4 pairs of sun glasses.  Amber for low light, copper for bed fishing and grey for bright days and finally 1 for driving.  I don't have the option of getting that many pairs of glasses, so I try to cover as many bases as possible.  

[Bassun]

I have had a bunch of different glasses, from cheap to prescription.  While being polarized seems like it would be a simple yes / no or on / off type of thing - it unfortunately isn't.  Adding mirrors to the equation adds another level of complexity.  It also adds another layer of light dilution / image degradation.  

 

The color of the lens has an impact on how well the reflections are quelled by the polarization process as well as how the actual light transference works.  I, for example, prefer an orange / yellow lens for most things, second to amber/copper.  Unfortunately, polarized yellow does not have the same properties as polarized grey does.  1:1 polarizing yellow sucks compared to polarizing grey tints.  Suck's so bad that I returned a pair of prescription yellows and got standard grey...same tech, same glass, same prescription, same everything except tint color --- and the difference was night and day.  I wear those grey's daily as driving glasses and on the water if it's a bright day and I wont be fishing in a lot of shade or doing much sight fishing.

 

If I am going to be doing more under trees, in shade, or sight fishing etc, then I wear my copper costas.  I know, I haven't spoken to mirrors yet but I'm getting there, lol.  I personally like a lighter lens.  I don't want UVA/UVB but even lightly tinted lenses protect you from that.  If you add a mirror you are always making the lens a shade darker.  Maybe not much, but it is something to consider if you ONLY have one pair to wear.  I love my grey's for 90% of what I do with them, but if I am trying to see under trees in full sun, they are just too dark.  Because of that, I usually just wear the costa's when I fish.  Before the "Copper" Costa's I used exclusively amber colors for fishing (for the same reasons), regardless of the brand.

 

If I were an open water fisherman, like saltwater for example - I would probably add blue mirrors, and probably have them over a grey tint.  But, I end up in a lot of different light conditions, cloudy, shade, early, late --- all those hurt grey, imo.  I want to have as much light as I can get, while still having good polarization so I go amber/copper with no mirror.  The reflection of the specific wavelengths does add a little contrast.  Reflecting green away from green, blue from blue, and any other color you choose to mirror with.  The thing to consider is those colors reflected away, change what you see.  The tint absorbs colors, the mirror reflects them --- so together you get different results.  

Having said all of that --- 99% of people wont care.  Buy what you like the look of, and accept that whatever color shift you get is what it is.  After a few minutes you wont really notice it unless you have two pairs side by side and swap them back and forth --- then the difference is rather noticeable.  Just a blue vs green tint over amber makes a big difference side by side.  

 

Here is a list of what the impact of colored mirrors actually has --- but until I can really see them side by side, I go mirrorless, but I know of bunch of people who love their green mirrors on small freshwater and blue on open water.

 

Blue mirror - shifts colors towards yellow
Red Mirror - shifts colors towards blue/purple
Green mirror - shifts colors towards rose/pink
Gold mirror - shifts colors towards green
Yellow mirror - shifts colors towards blue/green
Teal mirror - shifts colors towards magenta
Silver mirror - tends to darken without much shift in color

 

Amber/Copper tint tends to shift the perceived color range towards green and reds IIRC --- I know I like that better than what the greys do overall.  And I seem to remember something about reds helping with depth perception, but one would have to look into that.  But, you can see the green mirror will shift slightly towards the reds, which is what the amber color lenses do, so you probably will get a little more contrast with the green mirror. 

 

However, if I am looking at a cheap pair of glasses, I personally would avoid mirrors.  While a good mirror coating with help protect the lens from scratches, etc. a cheap layer will scratch more easily as I understand it.  Also, consider the impact of the tint vs the mirror.  Grey and amber tints usually blocks like 10-15% of light transmission, tint 2%.  (roughly of course)  So the tint you choose is much more important than the mirror, and unless they are side by side you will probably never notice the difference.  If you like a little darker, maybe a bit more contrast - add the mirror.  If you like a little more light for seeing in low light, into shadows etc, skip the mirror.  If you don't know / don't care - pick the look you like and rock on!

 

[JFlynn97]

23 hours ago, Bassun said:

I have had a bunch of different glasses, from cheap to prescription.  While being polarized seems like it would be a simple yes / no or on / off type of thing - it unfortunately isn't.  Adding mirrors to the equation adds another level of complexity.  It also adds another layer of light dilution / image degradation.  

 

The color of the lens has an impact on how well the reflections are quelled by the polarization process as well as how the actual light transference works.  I, for example, prefer an orange / yellow lens for most things, second to amber/copper.  Unfortunately, polarized yellow does not have the same properties as polarized grey does.  1:1 polarizing yellow sucks compared to polarizing grey tints.  Suck's so bad that I returned a pair of prescription yellows and got standard grey...same tech, same glass, same prescription, same everything except tint color --- and the difference was night and day.  I wear those grey's daily as driving glasses and on the water if it's a bright day and I wont be fishing in a lot of shade or doing much sight fishing.

 

If I am going to be doing more under trees, in shade, or sight fishing etc, then I wear my copper costas.  I know, I haven't spoken to mirrors yet but I'm getting there, lol.  I personally like a lighter lens.  I don't want UVA/UVB but even lightly tinted lenses protect you from that.  If you add a mirror you are always making the lens a shade darker.  Maybe not much, but it is something to consider if you ONLY have one pair to wear.  I love my grey's for 90% of what I do with them, but if I am trying to see under trees in full sun, they are just too dark.  Because of that, I usually just wear the costa's when I fish.  Before the "Copper" Costa's I used exclusively amber colors for fishing (for the same reasons), regardless of the brand.

 

If I were an open water fisherman, like saltwater for example - I would probably add blue mirrors, and probably have them over a grey tint.  But, I end up in a lot of different light conditions, cloudy, shade, early, late --- all those hurt grey, imo.  I want to have as much light as I can get, while still having good polarization so I go amber/copper with no mirror.  The reflection of the specific wavelengths does add a little contrast.  Reflecting green away from green, blue from blue, and any other color you choose to mirror with.  The thing to consider is those colors reflected away, change what you see.  The tint absorbs colors, the mirror reflects them --- so together you get different results.  

Having said all of that --- 99% of people wont care.  Buy what you like the look of, and accept that whatever color shift you get is what it is.  After a few minutes you wont really notice it unless you have two pairs side by side and swap them back and forth --- then the difference is rather noticeable.  Just a blue vs green tint over amber makes a big difference side by side.  

 

Here is a list of what the impact of colored mirrors actually has --- but until I can really see them side by side, I go mirrorless, but I know of bunch of people who love their green mirrors on small freshwater and blue on open water.

 

Blue mirror - shifts colors towards yellow
Red Mirror - shifts colors towards blue/purple
Green mirror - shifts colors towards rose/pink
Gold mirror - shifts colors towards green
Yellow mirror - shifts colors towards blue/green
Teal mirror - shifts colors towards magenta
Silver mirror - tends to darken without much shift in color

 

Amber/Copper tint tends to shift the perceived color range towards green and reds IIRC --- I know I like that better than what the greys do overall.  And I seem to remember something about reds helping with depth perception, but one would have to look into that.  But, you can see the green mirror will shift slightly towards the reds, which is what the amber color lenses do, so you probably will get a little more contrast with the green mirror. 

 

However, if I am looking at a cheap pair of glasses, I personally would avoid mirrors.  While a good mirror coating with help protect the lens from scratches, etc. a cheap layer will scratch more easily as I understand it.  Also, consider the impact of the tint vs the mirror.  Grey and amber tints usually blocks like 10-15% of light transmission, tint 2%.  (roughly of course)  So the tint you choose is much more important than the mirror, and unless they are side by side you will probably never notice the difference.  If you like a little darker, maybe a bit more contrast - add the mirror.  If you like a little more light for seeing in low light, into shadows etc, skip the mirror.  If you don't know / don't care - pick the look you like and rock on!

 

Holy! Thank you so much, that was incredibly informative and answered practically every question I could think of. I decided on the amber and green mirror, like you said I probably wouldn't be able to notice the differences very well anyway plus having them a little darker because of the mirror might work for using the glasses as a general-use pair in addition to using them for fishing. Thanks again!

[keagbassr]

While I couldn't add to what bassun  said I just wanted to say that I bought a pair of cocoons a few years ago and did not like them at all small was to small medium was to big and they just felt heavy. So now I just buy these. About 13 bucks at wallyworld but can be  found on Amazon at times for 3-6 bucks a pair.

[the reel ess]

I like amber because you can still see with them in lower light, morning or evening. But then people can see what you're looking at when you aren't fishing.

[TOXIC]

Color and style aside, I will say I tried for many years to avoid the high cost of Rx sunglasses.  My eyesight was never bad enough that I had to have Rx glasses for driving or fishing and so I just bought quality manufacturers.  I decided to "splurge" since my prescription program through work would pick up "some" of the cost and I found out a fishing friend was a Lense maker for a chain glasses company.  They also carried many of the premium sunglass brands.  Him giving me a 50% discount also helped.   I must say, it was well worth the $$.  I still ended up paying about $300 out of pocket after the discounts and insurance were applied.  Per my friend, some things that he strongly suggested.

 

1. Poly Lenses.  Many prefer glass but in fishing situations, even the best glass when hit with a jig will put glass shards in your eye.  Not pretty.

2. Get a tint that works for your needs.

3. Get a frame that fits your face.  Big deal!!  A bad frame fit will give you headaches and make you miserable.  I required wrap around style due to using them when running the boat.  

4. If getting Rx, choose a manufacturer that makes their own lenses.  I chose Oakley because the retail outlet where I bought them had to send them to Oakley to have the lense made.  Even some of the top brands once you choose a Rx lense, they send them to the retail chain's lab to have the lense made.  You end up paying big $$ for a frame and a lense that is only as good as the lab they sent it to.  

 

Just some things to consider.   

[thinkingredneck]

If you use clip on, especially ones from your optometrist, don't put them in your shirt pocket on the way home and leave them in the shirt.  Mine got scratched up in the washer after one trip.  Expensive mistake.