For some things, having cheap sunglasses might be fine. But if you’re trying to shoot accurately, see fish under the water, or avoid running into dangerous obstacles while you’re driving, you don’t want your sunglasses making your vision blurry.
For that reason, I don’t mind spending a little more on sunglasses than I would if I bought them at a discount store. I take pretty good care of them, too. If I’m going to spend $200 or more on shades, you can bet I’m not going to lose them or break them.
I’ve had a pair of Costa sunglasses for the past five or six years, and they are incredible. They have glass lenses, which are a little heavier than plastic lenses, but they’re still very comfortable. And the glass is more durable than plastic, so even after half a decade of hard use, they are still clear and unscratched.
But Costa has some other lens colors I wanted to check out, and they were willing to send me two new pairs to test. They sent me one pair in blue mirror and another in green mirror. Both are just as clear and sharp as my old copper lenses, but all three colors give me a whole different picture of the world in front of me.
The original copper ones aren’t as dark, but they’re great for driving, as long as the sun isn’t hovering right over the road straight ahead of me. The green ones are darker, but they enhance contrast, even if it’s somewhat foggy out. They’re incredible for seeing fish in the water. The blue ones are the darkest of the three, and they’re even better for seeing what’s under the water, as well as for those days when the sun is really bright.
Invest in some good sunglasses, and take care of them. They’ll return the favor.
