Sports glasses are considered a must for almost all outdoor sports activities. When choosing a pair of eyewear one of the important things that you need to consider is whether you get a polarized or a non-polarized lens. To help you decide, here are a few pros and cons of polarized sports glasses.
Sunglasses are not only a fashion statement that can help make you look cool while playing sports but they are also now becoming a must for almost all sports activities especially for outdoor sports that are usually done under the bright sun. Sports glasses are effective in eliminating glare, reducing eye strain, improving focus, and helping enhance overall performance. Not only that, but sports glasses can also protect your eyes from the sun, dust, particles, and other eye hazards.
Sports glasses are available in different shades, shapes, styles, frames, and lenses. While choosing a pair of eyewear is a personal choice, some features need to be considered especially if you are going to use it for sports. When purchasing a new pair of sports eyewear, one of the important things that you need to consider is whether you get polarized or non-polarized eyewear. To help you come up with a well-informed decision, we have here some of the common pros and cons of polarized sports glasses.
Pros of polarized sports glasses
High-quality polarized sports glasses offer the following benefits:
They are great for snowy areas
Snows can create a glare that can be disturbing to the eyes. If you are living in a snowy area, getting a pair of polarized glasses can come in handy.
Polarized sports glasses have special coatings that can block the glare created by snow and ice. Ice and snow do not merely cause glare but they likewise reflect as much as 80% of UVA and UVB rays which are both potentially harmful to the eyes. Apart from protecting your eyes against the disturbing glare, polarized glasses can also safeguard your eyes from UV rays.
These lenses are perfect when doing sports like cycling, running, and other field sports in snowy areas. Polarized cycling glasses, however, are not recommended for trail or mountain cycling as they can affect the depth of perception.
They allow better visibility in specific surfaces
Polarized sports glasses enable you to see better on specific surfaces such as water, and wet roads. Polarized sunglasses eliminate disturbances brought on by ground reflections and resolves refractive vision errors.
Polarized lenses, specifically polarized cycling sunglasses, are great for cycling on roads where glare from metals or car mirrors is a problem. They are also ideal for water sports where the depth of perception is not required like fishing, swimming, boating, and kayaking in flat water.
They provide sun protection
The ultra-violet rays of the sun can damage your eyes. Apart from the disturbing brightness of the sun which can hurt your eyes, the UV rays can also cause various kinds of eye conditions including pinguecula and pterygia, cataracts, macular degeneration, and skin cancers of the eyelid. Frequent direct exposure to the UV rays can also cause corneal sunburn or photokeratitis, a condition that is characterized by sunburned eyes.
To avoid damaging your eyes, you need to wear proper eye protection. Thankfully, polarized lenses come with a special coating that offers 100% protection from UV rays.
Polarized lenses help improve contrast and clarity
Improved vision clarity and contrast is perhaps one of the primary advantages of a polarized lens. With better color contrast and vision clarity, you can be able to clearly see things underwater bodies, making it great for flatwater sports activities. Polarized prescription cycling sunglasses can also provide you with a clearer, better quality view of ground-level objects.
They offer better visual comfort
Reduced glares and reflections enable you to comfortably look at and see objects even in bright conditions without putting additional pressure on the eyes.
Cons of polarized sports glasses
Even the best polarized sports glasses come with some cons. Among the common disadvantages of polarized sports glasses are:
They are often expensive
The cost of the polarized lenses is their major drawback. Polarized sports sunglasses are generally more highly-priced than regular lenses. This is because these lenses are specially engineered with additional technologies to provide extra protection to the eyes. Value-wise, polarized glasses provide better value to your money than normal lenses.
They can make viewing LCD screens challenging
If you are cycling and you need to use your phone or your bicycle’s LED display for reference or you need access to GPS equipment, it would be better not to use a pair of polarized cycling sunglasses. This is because polarized lenses can make it difficult for you to see what is displayed on the LCD screens. Screen displays like images and texts tend to disappear at certain angles when you view them while wearing polarized glasses. Polarized lenses can filter out certain lights and displays, making them almost invisible to the eyes.
They affect the depth of perception
Though not significant, polarized glasses can affect the depth of perception. This makes them not suitable for sports that require the depth of perception like mountain or trail cycling. You do not have to wear polarized sports glasses when cycling on trails, mountains, or other areas where there is very little glare that can affect your vision. Wearing rx sports glasses is more beneficial when road cycling, though.
They may be ineffective in certain circumstances
These special lenses are designed to filter horizontal light waves. Polarized lenses are not recommended for skiing. They can compromise contrast under specific light conditions. It can be challenging for you to recognize ice, snow, or moguls.
Endnote:
Picking a pair of sports eyewear is greatly dependent on your personal choice and needs. However, knowing the primary pros and cons can help you decide whether or not these sports sunglasses are good for you.