More than just goggles and helmets

Mar 12, 2010  ·  05:25 PM  ·  permalink

When I was at the SIA Snow Show in January, my husband and I dropped by the Giro booth and came away with a few pairs of sunglasses to try. Now I’m a bit of a Luddite when it comes to sunglasses. To me, sunglasses are sunglasses — they keep the sun out of my eyes, and I don’t need high tech to accomplish that, especially because I’m never impressed with higher priced models. They must be cute, but they don’t need to be much more.

Cute these sunglasses were, but what really caught my eye about these was that the lenses weren’t just any molded plastic lenses, they are made by Zeiss. I work in the aerospace industry, and when we want high precision optics, one of the few companies we go to is Zeiss. I was surprised to see them making sunglasses, and I was very curious to see how they worked.

When we got outside, we both put on our new shades and simultaneously said “wow!” The lenses were so clear that it seemed like we were just looking at a darker version of the world, not the usual distorted view you get from the cheapos I wear, and noticeably better than expensive ones I’ve tried. I’ve been wearing them nonstop since, and I’m still impressed.

I have one minor complaint about the model I got (Coy): they tend to fog up a little when I’m even mildly active. Even just walking the dog can cause fogging, but it’s not enough that I’ll stop using them.