Shades

[tugrik]

I just can't seem to come up with a good rant or story about sunglasses even though proper optics are quite important to me. Maybe it's just that I'm only @set ramble_ok?yes during the wee hours of the morning.

Leave it to say that it was Karlis, back in late high school days, that got me into Garygoyles instead of cheap-shades. Motorcycling is what's kept me wearing them. I mourn the loss of their Metalist line; the Bronze Metalists (yes, it's spelled that way) were the best shatterproof shades I've ever owned. One set damaged in use beyond repair, one set given away, one set given to a sister and then stolen. This is one of those cases where if I'd known in advance how much I'd miss them once they were gone, I would have pre-stashed a dozen pair to last a lifetime. :)

The other set dearly missed were the Nikon Copley LX's. Made out of borosilicate glass in the same factory that makes the Nikon camera lenses, these are hands-down the best optics I've ever owned. The nature of glass lenses meant they were a no-no for motorcycling, but I used them the rest of the time. They broke once thanks to being sat upon after a misplacement by a guest I was giving a ride to, and repaired for an ouchy cost. After four more years of service, they broke again, for reasons I don't even remember now. Like the Metalists, they too are no longer made. More annoyingly, after talking to a few opticians who know good glasses, it turns out those particular Nikons were indeed about The Best There Was. Even at their nasty expense, I now once again wish I'd bought multiple sets to last into the future.

I've been living off of cheap Black Ice 'classics', as sold by Aerostitch, for motorcycling lenses. I don't like the color, and I don't like the looks, but they fit and they work. The quest for replacements has gone on and off for most of a year. By pure chance, I stumbled across the Gargoyles Matrix series glasses. Shatterproof, big enough to fit my Arai-XXXL sized melon of a head, and available in a brown/flash color that is directly reminiscent of the Bronze Metalists, with a shape similar to the Nikon Copleys... hey, this works. Much to my surprise they're also insanely cheap as Gargoyles go. I still want to find something polarized and glass for use in the car, but for motorcycling I do believe these will work. As an amusing aside, the shades make octantis look utterly bad-ass. Someday I need to get his permission and post a photo of that.


I'm going to give them a few more weeks of riding to see how well they hold up to real-world use and distance. If it all pans out, I'll learn from my past and buy one or two as 'spares' to file away for future-day use... though given my luck with such things they'll stop selling them before then. Hrmf. :)

Comments

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

I have to point out Octantis generally looks bad-ass. ('gryn)