You’d think the major manufacturers of sports eyewear would be keen to cater for spectacle wearers, especially given the sheer numbers of us (yes, me included) in the world who are somewhat challenged in the eyesight department. Well, guess what – they are – keen, that is – however, they don’t like to shout about it. Why? In all honesty I’m not entirely sure, but my best (educated) guess would be that when it comes to splashing the cash from their marketing budgets on magazine and other forms of advertising, they look at it as a game of numbers and concentrate on hitting the greater part of their audience who don’t wear spectacles.
In taking this line, I personally think they’ve missed a trick. These days, ever greater numbers of middle-aged to older people are partaking in sport and leisure activities, and a sizeable number of them need a little help with their eyesight. It’s a medical certainty that for most, the coming of the big ‘four zero’ will herald a downturn in your eyesight, and even if you’ve always been proud of those apparently perfect peepers over the years, it may be time to admit a visit to the optician is necessary.
As mentioned above, there is actually quite a decent selection of prescription sunglasses for sport on the market – you just have to put in a little work to find them. When you do, don’t be surprised to find most are expensive; after all, we’re talking about a requirement for optical perfection, and you have to pay for the glasses plus adding your prescription lenses. How could that possibly be cheap?
The best solutions to the prescription issue, offered by quite a few manufacturers, involves what the trade call an ‘Rx clip’ or ‘Rx insert’. In essence, the insert is a plastic spectacle clip that holds your prescription lenses and sits behind the actual wrap-around sports tinted front section of the frame. Very often, the tinted lenses are interchangeable, bringing practical and versatile options to the spectacle wearer. Solutions of this type are offered by the likes of Oakley, Bolle Adidas and Rudy Project, as well as a myriad of lesser known manufacturers. None of them are cheap, and there is a pitfall with this type of eyewear that, perhaps surprisingly, even the ‘big boys’ of the sports eyewear world often fall foul of…
The problem is this: in order to ensure the tinted lenses don’t sit too far off your face, making you look like something out of Battlestar Galactica when you hit the golf course, most manufacturers seat the Rx adaptor way back in the frame – so far back, in fact, that your eyelashes touch the lenses. Not only is this a quite literally irritating problem – you’ll also soon find, if you are taking part in active sports or even walking across the beach on a blistering hot day, that sweat will drip from your eyebrows down the lashes and onto the lenses. They will mist up, you’ll be constantly taking them off for a wipe and, worst of all, sweat and suncream will transfer to your eyes, making them sting horribly. If, like me, you’ve tried batting in a game of cricket with stinging eyes, you’ll know it’s nigh-on impossible to do.
Given the nature of this problem, and the sheer cost of buying a pair of Oakley’s or Adidas Rx glasses – expect to pay well over $150 (100 UK pounds) for the glasses alone, before your optician gets going with his calculator – it’s always worth considering the fact you’ll pay a premium just to have a fancy, well-known name on your glasses. Fortunately, there are a few manufacturers who make prescription sunglasses of extremely high quality that don’t cost the earth. By way of example, UK based company Rapid Eyewear offer a pair that retail for under 50 pounds ($75), and the good news is – if you are in the European Union – they will add prescription lenses for you at a rate of 40 pounds for single vision and 65 pounds for bi-focals. So, for under 100 pounds you can purchase a set of prescription-ready Rx sunglasses, with multiple lenses for different light conditions. But what about those eyelashes? No, they don’t touch. To view the various solutions available, visit their main website here and click through to the sub-brand sites.
Now, if you’re thinking “I bet this guy has a vested interest in promoting their products” you’d be right – I do work for Rapid Eyewear. But, before you hit the ‘back’ button and search for something else, consider this. I developed the prescription sunglasses highlighted in the above links as a direct response to the existing problems with Rx eyewear, namely the eyelashes problem and extortionate prices. I have solved both. Now, do you want to brush off my article as blatant advertising, or check it out as a neat and cost-effective solution to your prescription eyewear requirements? Only you can make that decision; whatever you do, I wish you luck. JC.