The last thread here about sun glasses spurred an experiment for me. I went and bought several models of each of the most popular brands listed by people and gave them all a fair shake. Brands tested were: Costa, Maui Jim, Smith, Oakley, and WileyX. Now, for kicks and giggles, I brought all of them along on my May trip to Arkansas and between me, my brother inlaw, and our guide, we wore all those pairs to try out and evaluate. My wife tried them as well. Between the results of 4 people, I can guarantee you this....everybody's eyes are different because none of us chose the same pair or lenses as our favorite...even when you ruled out the overall fit...just basing it off the lenses: ability to knock out sun glare and overall seeing distance into the water. None of us picked the same pair as our #1. So take that into consideration when polling forums.
I had the blue and green mirror 580G lenses in the Costas. I had the Maui Green and Blue Hawaii in the Maui Jim's. I had the ChromaPop glass lenses in blue and green mirror in the Smiths. Oakley I had 3 lenses in the Prizm series...Deep Water, Shallow Water, and Ruby.
The Smith and Maui Jim...by far the best construction of frames. The Smiths...I had them in the Guide series...and they were too big for me. I hate glasses that want to sag down and rest on my cheeks. I could see into the water best with the Smiths by far. Our fishing guide loved them and they fit his face well. He was wearing a pair of Costas of his own and he couldn't believe the difference between his pair and the Smiths so I gave him the Smiths as part of our tip for guiding. I don't think they make a frame that will fit me though. Maui Jim's are light as a feather. Very stylish but I felt like they had the least of protection from bright sun...I found myself having to squint some while out in bright sun with them on. Now...this is where the difference in people come into play. My brother inlaw liked those the best and had no trouble with brightness.
My favorite though...came as a whim buy. I already had the Oakley Flak 2.0 frames and really like them...and had the Prizm lenses for those. But when I saw Midway USA had a pair on sale in Prizm Ruby lenses for $50 I couldn't pass that up. To my surprise...the Prizm Ruby is the best for me as far as knocking out sun brightness. I can't see as clearly into the water vs the Smiths but for a heck of a pair for every day use...driving, etc that Ruby is awesome.
My wife likes the Blue Mirror Costas the best...she said those were the best for sun brightness for her. She said the Smiths made certain colors "pop" and were vibrant but said she would have to have a hat on to knock some of the glare down. She didn't like the Maui Jim's at all.
So there ya go. My top one is the Oakley, followed by Smith, then Costas, then Maui Jim, and WileyX last. I think everybody had WileyX last on their rankings...but I will say the WileyX Omega frame fit my face the best of all of them...just wasn't too crazy about their lenses.
But doesn't custom made sound better?
