Sunday Classic / Treat your sunglasses as though your vision depends upon them

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Photo by Louis Cahill

Photo by Louis Cahill

Your rod, reel and line may be the only pieces of gear more important than your sunglasses.

On most days I’d rather have the wrong fly than the wrong glasses. They are not only crucial for sight fishing and reading water but make wading safer and the whole fishing experience more pleasant.

A good pair of polarized sunglasses are not only essential but expensive, too. Their effectiveness can be seriously compromised by scratches, delamination, and unnecessary wear or damage. It makes sense to take good care of them.

Still, not everything about caring for your sunglasses is intuitive. I’ve worn glasses my whole life and recently found that I was damaging my sunglasses by washing them with soap and water, a practice I assumed was the best way to clean them. Reached out to my buddy Peter Crow at Smith Optics for some advice, and he provided me with some good common sense information to share with you.

Peter was a fishing guide for years and is a hell of a fisherman in freshwater and salt. Now making his living in the sunglass business he knows exactly how important an angler’s glasses are and how best to care for them.

Here are his recommendations.

Treat your Smith fishing sunglasses like a fine piece of equipment.

Do not leave your sunglasses in intense heat, such as the dashboard of your car. This can cause delamination of any laminated product or frame damage and disfiguring.

Any chemicals found in common products like sunscreen and insect repellant can damage glasses frames and lens. Use care when applying these products and avoid contact with glasses.

Avoid full submersion of your sunglasses in water, especially saltwater. If your glasses do get wet, always try to dry them thoroughly. Extra effort should be made to ensure dryness around the edges of the lenses.

Keep your sunglasses in their protective case or micro fiber bag when not in use.

The seat of your car is a perfect place for your sunglasses to be sat upon. Sunglasses are not crush proof.

Clean your sunglasses with an optical cleaning solution or the Smith Optics lens cleaning solution. Dry the lenses thoroughly with a soft clean cloth. Do not use tissue or paper towels for lens cleaning. Never use an abrasive cleansing agent (such as Comet) or one containing ammonia or alcohol (such as Windex).

Avoid leaving the lenses face down on any hard surface. Even glass lenses riding face down in a vehicle will end up with scratches on them.

Remove your sunglasses straight forward off of your face. Sideways removal can cause some frame stress or hinge damage.

An eyeglass retainer is always a good idea for prevention of loss or dropping of your sunglasses, especially around water.

Treat your sunglasses as though your vision depends upon them!

Louis Cahill
Gink & Gasoline
www.ginkandgasoline.com
hookups@ginkandgasoline.com
 https://www.ginkandgasoline.com/hosted-trips/
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3 thoughts on “Sunday Classic / Treat your sunglasses as though your vision depends upon them

  1. Just a little note……I have owned Smiths,(Action Optics), Costas, Sunclouds, Maui Jims, etc., etc…..all polarized bifocals……I would like for the world to know that Smith’s warranty repair/replacement policy and execution is the finest, most customer-friendly behavior not just of any sunglass company, but of any company in the world. They are all going to be eating grapes under beach umbrellas and chatting with the angels after they die. And their products are terrific. I love my Costas, too………

  2. The biggest lie ever is polarized sunglasses have to be expensive. That’s just hype and marketing for suckers. A steam pile of bovine defecation. From what I’ve been able to research, all polarized lens are made in one factory.

    I buy my polarized sunglasses in bulk from a company named CTS. I’m sure they’re not the only wholesaler around. A dozen pair for between $25-45 depending on the style.

    I no longer worry about damaging or losing them. If I do, I just pull a new pair out of my stash and I’m good to go.

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