Conference unifix::sailing

    If you don't mind my asking, what did they set you back???
    

I can't speak for .0, but mine set me back $90 (in 1982). And i got the frames 
at wholesale from my brother (who sells them)!

They are the neatest thing since rum, even at that cost. They cut through glare
while not making the world dark, or orange, or pink, or, ... In negotiating
shoals they are as valuable as a depthsounder. One should not even try the
Bahamas w/o polarized sunglasses, and if you haved a prescription already, the
combo produce clear and non-glaring visible underwater features.

I recently lost mine. I guess i'll be out some $ soon...

re .1

>    If you don't mind my asking, what did they set you back???
    
I checked my receipt last night and the total was $132 for lenses and frames. 
Unfortunately the receipt did not list lense and frame prices separately. 

As best as I can remember, the polarized lenses were $20 more than tinted 
glasses. After a year's experience with the polarized sunglasses, my opinion 
is $112 ($132 - $20) for tinted sunglasses would have been a total waste.

- Bob

    I use long wearing (i.e. 30 day) weighted contact lens with whatever
    sunglasses i perfer. It costs more (appx $350 with good sunglasses),
    but this way I don't have to switch glasses when it becomes dark.
                                                         
    This is the way to go on the ocean since the salt water doesn't
    affect the contacts, and If I lose the glasses (did this once trying
    to drown myself on a windsurfer), I still have my vision. In addition,
    I am not limited to the frame style or lens coatings.
            
    
    

	If your a photo bug, the first filter to buy after the UV is a
poloizer.  I run with 2 pair.  1 yellowish prescription with UV protection,
(the yellow was unexpected due to the UV) and 1 pair of polorized prescrition
sun glasses for driving and anything outside.   Well worth it!!!!!!

    I have been cruising with both contact lens plus Polaroid sun glasses
    and with glasses with a built in filter. In rain or rough seas the
    contacts plus sun glasses are far superior to the prescription glasses.
    (It rains a lot over here in UK.....) I keep 2 pairs of sun glasses
    on board and thus always have one clean dry pair available for
    situations where clarity of vision is critical. Contact Lens have
    improved my sailing enjoyment. End of Commercial.......
    I have a friend who is an eye surgeon who converted me to contact
    lens because of my sailing interests and have been supplying him
    with Gin ever since as he won't let me forget who introduced me
    to the lens.
    
    Pete  

    
    I own a boat with another woman who wears glasses sometimes, and
    contacts other times.  The problem with contacts and sailing--if
    one goes on an overnight (or longer) cruise with contacts--cleaning
    them becomes a problem, when the boat is at anchor or on a mooring
    and there's no a.c. around--you can't plug in the little steam machine.
    An alternative is prescription Vuarnet Nautilux sunglasses which
    are specially designed for use on the water.  Practical Sailor
    recommends them highly as protection against an eye disease (I forget
    the name) that sailors are susceptible to.  I have non-prescription
    Nautiluxes and I love them.  Mine cost 55 dollars four years ago.
    Prescriptions were about twice that price.

    I will come clean......My lens are gas permeable hard lens that
    require cleaning in chemical and fresh water only. On passages
    overnight say typically from Chichester to the Channel Islands (20
    Hours) I wear my normal prescription lens. The rest of the time
    I stick to my lens. I should say that on any cruise I carry 2 pairs
    of prescription glasses ,2 sets of contact lens, 2 ordinary pairs
    of sunglasses............needless to say I cannot see much without
    some artificial help.....
    
    Pete   

    I've been wearing contact lenses (soft) for as long as I've been
    sailing - 14 years and have had no problem in keeping them clean/sterilized.
    
    I clean them with the prescribed solutions as usual and then drop
    the case into a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes (another use for that
    count-down timer).  Then I turn off the heat and leave the case
    in the pot until morning.  This is just as good as using the electric
    heating units. 
    
    So, if you can boil water (use Sterno if you have to) then you can
    keep your lenses clean.  
    
    bc
    
    

For those of us fortunate or unfortunate to be astigmatic without 
requiring any other correction, contact lenses aren't a good solution.  
About ten years ago, an optician friend of mine in Key West created the 
Ultimate Sunglasses for me, and they're easily worth $200 or more to me (I
paid much less then for them, though.) 

They are laminated with the highest grade polarizing filter available, but 
instead of glass he used B&L dark brown blanks, the darkest shade
available.  He then put the brown blanks in an amber color solution
for a day or so.  (FYI -- The way they tint plastic lenses is by 
immersing them in a color solution -- the longer, the darker.  Varied 
shading is created by pulling the lens out of solution a wee bit at a 
time; the overall darkest tint used to take 4-12 hr depnding on the 
color.)

Thus were created a perfect combination of overall blocking (85% 
reduction from the B&L dark brown), blue filtering (amber tinting) and 
glare blocking (polarizing layer).  I recommend them without reservation.

John.

Does polarizing glass block out Ultra-violet? If it doesn't, watch out!

From what I understand UV light can permanently damage your eyes. Its not how 
dark your sunglasses are that's important. Cheap sunglasses, for example,
do not filter UV light. So the darker the shade the more your iris opens and 
the more susceptible your eyes are to UV damage.

I have perscription sunglasses that I use out on the water. They have the same
coating that Varnet (sp?) uses in their sunglasses. It sounds like what was
described in -.? above. They block out UV, and the blue spectrum. They have an
amber tint. The eye does not focus blue light well so you loose resolution then.
They also go under the name Blue-blocker. Anyway, they work great...

    Re: .10   Good news for you John, my contacts are formed to correct
    my stigmatisims. They are weighted to keep them in place, and they
    are extended wear to allow me to keep them in for 30 days at a time.
    Wearing them on a catamaran means taking them out and rising them
    at the end of a day since the salt that gets behind the glasses
    onto my eyes makes them stick a bit. I have left them in overnight
    , but i need to squirt a bit of saline into my eyes in the morning
    unless i am having onions for breakfeast. That's why they cost 325
    bucks and normal contacts go 65.
    
    As for tints, thats what they do, tint the world. You have to make
    sure you get polrizied filter glass used. Without them you will
    have a lot tougher time picking up the wind shifts on the water
    on a sunny day. My wife used to work at
    a company that designed spectum analyzers and other optical measuring
    equipment for NASA. For a joke they tested a bunch of sunglasses
    to see who had the best UV test. Contrary to the tests in the 
    magazines, the Varniets (sp?) did the job, but not as well
    as some others that cost a good deal less. From what I remember
    the Bolle (sp?) were the best for the money as they blocked everything
    and cost about 25-30 dollars.
    
    john
        

    Well I read all the data and decided to get some new glasses.
    
    My eyes had not changed in four years so the perscription remained
    the same.  But the power of NOTES prevailed and I ordered a new
    pair of sunglasses with dark, 98%UV and polarized lenses. 
    
    I learned that polarized lenses and LCD displays do not mix well.
    My depth guage was ok, but the knotmeter was not readable unless
    I moved my head or raised the glasses.  My watch on occasion was
    difficult to read.  Think about how LCD's work and it makes perfect
    sense.
    
    On The Bay, they are great.  I will put up with the extra effort
    to read the speed (I'm a cruiser anyway).