h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I want to get some prescription sunglasses, but I have a number of requirements that most high street opticians don't seem to be able to meet.

Frames
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I don't want just normal frames with tinted lenses. I would like "proper" sunglasses, preferably the "wrap around" sort that cover your peripheral vision aswell. Most high street opticians cannot do this since the lenses in those sort of frames are curved and not flat.

Tint
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All the the highstreet opticians don't offer dark enough tints. I want the sunglasses for use when flying model aircraft, therefore I would like something that will enhance the contrast between the model and the sky... at the moment all I can see is a silhouette. I believe this would be a brown tint?

I also want something that is dark enough to basically allow me to look directly at the sun for a few seconds without being affected. I know this would be a stupid thing to do, and you always try and keep the model away from the sun, but should the worst happen by accident I don't want to loose control of the model due to not being able to see it.

However I don't want them *too* dark because I also intend to use them whilst driving etc..

Does anyone know of any specialist opticians that might be able to do something like that, and how much it might cost? Also given that I'll probably have to visit them rather than doing it all online, somewhere with a branch not too far from Birmingham / Wolverhampton would be good too!

Thanks!

Dunno but it *does* sound expensive
Can't you get ordinary sunglasses such as you desire and wear contact lenses underneath?

Could do. Used to, infact. However, I can't be bothered with contact lenses now.

I have an astigmatism and have to have toric contacts. They are lenses where the rotation matters, ie they are weighted at the bottom to (try) to ensure than the bottom of the lens is always at the bottom of your eye. However it doesn't always work and they were forever swinging off making everything go blurry until you either closed your eyes for a few seconds until they settled or stuck a finger in your eye and rotated it back manually. If that happened when I'm flying it'd be going home in a bin bag.......

I've had a quote from www.eyesiteonline.co.uk at £334 for a pair of Oakleys

http://www.oakley.com/catalog/colors/eyewear/omatter/valve/bronze_titanium_polarized

But that's the only one I've found and I was hoping some of you might be able to suggest some alternatives at a lower price!

Fair enough. That's not as bad as I was predicting but not as good as it could be either.
We get prescription lab goggles where I work and we get them from the usual opticians but I guess they're more common than what you want. Where have you actually tried to get these? Have you jsut gone to Vision Express amd Specsavers or have you gone to more specialist opticians who may well be able to improve on this?

I'll be honest though, I suspect only specialist sports people (Cricketers etc.) and rich folk would bother with what you want and you may be stuck with the expense.

Have you had a look at http://www.sportsspectacles.co.uk

It's a Barnsley address so not exactly in the neighbourhood but if you have a glance at some of the stuff they do for
cricket etc... they might have somethign you can use...

I bought my sunglasses from a Sunglass Hut or similar, then took them to my local optician who put tinted prescription lenses (brown as it happens) in the frame with no hassle whatsoever. The lenses are dark enough so others cannot see my eyes through them when looking at me, but I am happy to drive in them etc. They are also coated so that I don't get that irritating 'spangle' effect. I don't know what sort of high street opticians you have up there in the midlands, but in my little corner of London the usual suspects don't seem to have a problem doing this with any model of sunglasses.

With regard to looking directly at the sun - no sunglasses, prescription or otherwise, are equipped to help you there and if they say they are, give trading standards a call!

Just tried the usual suspects at the moment.

Haven't tried any specialist opticians at the moment due to not knowing about any... hence this thread.

I said that basically because I don't personally like this "We'll grind your lenses in an hour and give you a free pair of Specs", I usually go for your local type places (Such as Brittain's in Harborne) and the like as they tend to have catalogues of more novel stuff rather than pump out fifty of the same type of lenses at once. Vision Express and Spec Savers strikes me as the Blockbusters Video of the opticians world, all of your popular styles but nothing for a different taste/specialist design.

Anyway, as I can offer nothing concrete I shall leave this to those that can.

I know I'm not going to get ones that let me stare stright at the sun but then I don't want that, just something that isn't going to give me bright green spots in my eyes for five minutes after just a glance....

There's dark and there's *dark*. I haven't found any prescription lenses that are anywhere near as dark as the lenses in normal sunglasses.

It was Vision Express that said they couldn't do the fancy curved lenses in a pair of Nike's that I was looking at. Thinking about it I haven't actually asked any of the other stores whether they can do those sorts of lenses, because their tints wheren't dark enough anyway.

Agree with you Orcus but they were the easiest places to make a start before looking further afield!

If you've got astigmatism, I wouldn't recommend highly curved lenses (if you can get them) because you'll get too much distortion.
An alternative, though not so trendy looking would be a close fitting frame with dark sideshields attached - this is possible, but you might have to shop around (off the High Street) to find someone willing to do it.
It is possible to get extremely dark tinted prescription lenses but they would be too dark for you for general purposes. Nothing is going to totally eliminate after images from catching the sun in view. Such a dark tint would certainly not be suitable for driving. Dark tints will on the whole merely make everything darker, not necessarily improve contrast.
However, you might be able to get photochromic lenses on top of a base tint to create something near to what you want.

How long ago did you give up contact lenses? They have improved considerably & you might find it possible to get a more stable fit now.

I think if I do get highly curved lenses I'll definately get them on an "if I don't think they're any good I'm not taking them" deal.

Regards contrast, I think I need brown lenses. Grey/Black lenses or "neutral density" do as you said, they just make everything darker. But brown lenses attenuate the blue so *should* make for better contrast. At least that's what I remember them doing when I had some brown sunglasses years ago.

Gave up contact lenses couple of years ago. Only really used them on-and-off, wore glasses normally and contact when I needed them ie sports/clubbing etc.

There are some good troic soft contact lenses now that can be used for occasional wear. Vision might not be quite as good as with specs, but tolerable. Can't tell till you try!

You're right about the colour - yellow is probably best for contrast but not much good at dimming the light. Brown is probably the best compromise but bear in mind that you also need to eliminate as much UVA & UVB as possible, so check the specification of any tint offered.

I have astigmatism, but it was corrected somewhat by wearing hard lenses for years. As those began to cause problems I switched to daily disposable lenses and have no problems with them what so ever. As they are so soft, there are usually few problems when swopping between specs and lenses.

For years I went to a large national chain of opticians, but they were never particualry helpful and the optometrists were always changing. I asked around and found an independent opthalmic optician who is marvelous, my lenses had gradually been getting more uncomfortable and he was realy helpful in advising me which lenses to wear.

However, not knowing your degree of astigmatism, they may not be suitable for you, but an independent set up may well offer you better advice and greater choice. Especially if you could wear prescription lenses and sunglasse just for model flying.

My problem is that I have always loathed wearing specs with a vengeance, but am now getting increasingly long sighted, so have to wear lenses and glasses for reading and just recently when at my PC

Teasswill suggested you get some very dark glasses with sideshields.
I imediately thought of glacier/mountain glasses like you see in pictures of when Everest was climbed for the first time. Oakley are not the only brand, Jublo, Cebe, Vuarnet are some others (and there are probably more that I've not heard of). Maybe they'll have something you can get made into a prescription pair cheaper.

I've recently got my first pair of prescription sunglasses and think they're great. Not quite as great as wearing disposable contact lenses and normal sunglasses but more than good enough so far (till I can afford to start wearing contact lenses again...)

Contacts with sunglasses. The best way. I've got astigmatism too, but these days you can get great high water content disposables that mean you can get on with a spec-free life and enjoy the benefits of not having to try and find decent scrip sunglasses. The cost of these would probably be more than buying a batch of daily disposables. What do you do if you finish flying aircraft and want to nip to pub for a beer? Do you have another pair of specs for indoors, in your pocket?

Caerwyn, I've reached that awful stage of arms not being long enough too. I wear RGP lenses & have now got some multifocal ones which are absolutely brilliant, no reading specs required.
I know you can get multifocal soft lenses too, but don't know how well they perform.

I've no intention of going back to contacts. Don't care how good they are, I can't be bothered with putting them in and taking them out all the time. It's not that I didn't get on with wearing them, I just prefer glasses.

Yes, I would have my normal glasses for indoors. Not that much of a problem, when you would have to carry around a pair of normal sunglasses anyway even for contacts. Just carry the sunglasses and if you need to switch, take one pair off and put them in the case you get the others from, so your still only carrying one case the same as with contacts.

You say the cost would probably be the same as a batch of daily disposables, well yes in the short term. But I would intend to keep my sunglasses for many many years (assuming my prescription doesn't change which is hasn't in the last few years). Compare that with the cost of the same number of years of contacts and they're much more expensive!