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Sports sunglasses can protect your eyes from UV rays, improve your vision and enhance performance. With so many styles, colors and frames available, it’s hard to know which sports sunglasses are right for you. Do you need a gray tint, photochromatic lens or wraparound frame? Read on to find out!
Why Wear Sunglasses for Sports?
UV light is known to contribute to the development of cataracts, a leading cause of blindness amongst adults around the world, eye cancer, photoconjunctivitis, photokeratitis, and pterygium. These debilitating eye conditions are more common amongst those who are regularly exposed to UV radiation at high altitudes or on snow or water.
When playing sports you don’t think twice about wearing the proper clothes, making sure your equipment is in good shape and warming up before you step out onto the field. But do you protect your eyes from the damaging effect of the sun? Good quality sunglasses can block at least 99 percent of the UVA and UVB rays in sunlight. But when you’re playing sports, you need more from your sunglasses than a UV filter.
Choosing a Colored Lens Tint
Colored lens tints are capable of both enhancing colors and distorting them. Some colored tints are great for enhancing sports performance while others should be avoided. If you’ve got a pair of sunglasses you love, changing the lenses is always an option and there are websites like these that make this process easy.
Yellow or Orange Tints
Yellow or orange tinted lenses are particularly good at filtering blue light. Light on the blue end of the spectrum is emitted by digital devices and some indoor lighting. Yellow and orange lenses can both filter blue light and improve your eye’s ability to distinguish contrasting colors and focus making them perfect for sports played indoors.
Amber, Pink and Red Tints
Tinted lenses that appear reddish, pink or amber in color cause color imbalances but are very useful in heightening contrast both in low light and sunny conditions. These lenses are recommended for sports like fishing, watersports, and cycling.
Copper and Brown Tints
A good all-rounder, copper and brown tinted lenses can block visible and blue light from the eye. These lenses are capable of increasing visual acuity, especially against green and blue backdrops such as on water or on grass, and are the perfect choice for baseball, golf, water sports, and hunting.
Gray Tint
Gray lenses reduce the amount of visible light entering the eye but do not cause color distortion. This is important in any sport where you need to perceive color accurately so gray lenses are recommended for all outdoor sports that take place in bright conditions.
More Tips on Choosing Sports Sunglasses
Consider Light Conditions. Most sports take place in a variety of different light conditions so choose the lenses that match the conditions you experience most often. If you regularly take part in more than one sport, you may consider purchasing multiple pairs of sports sunglasses or investing in photochromatic lenses. Photochromic lenses respond to light levels by becoming clearer when the sky is dark and darker when the sky is bright.
Consider Glare. Whatever tint you choose, it’s a good idea to add an anti-reflective coating to your lenses. Most sports lenses come with an anti-reflective coating on the front as standard, but you also need it on the back. In bright conditions, the sun can hit the back of your glasses too and a good anti-reflective coating will minimize the amount of glare reflected onto your eyes.
Consider Shape. The best sunglasses frames for sports are wrap-around frames. These frames are designed to hug your head so they don’t move around much and filter the most light. For extra wind protection, you can add a foam insert to wrap-around frames.
Consider Material. Metal frames are not suitable for sports are they are rigid and can cause injury when they break. Plastic frames are rigid too but they’re lightweight and resilient. The most flexible sports sunglasses frames are made from nylon or nylon-hybrid material. These frames can bend and flex then spring back to their original shape making them ideal for sports that involve contact with other players.
However you customize your sports sunglasses, take good care of them by storing them in a glasses case. A decent pair of sports sunglasses should last you years and if they do get scratched or cracked, you can always have the lenses fixed!
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This content is sponsored by Erin Stone.
Photo: Shutterstock
