Maui Jim HT sunglasses

[UncleShorty]

I use $10 polarized lenses from my local Chinese Junk Distributor.

They fit over my Rx lenses and work fine for me.

Only thing is, I have to replace them every 3 years or so...

That's just my experience - if the "expensive spread" butters your toast, more power to you. Live and let live, I say.

I believe confidence in your tools & equipment is important to success in your endeavors, whatever they may be.

 

[pcray1231]

Well, as a longer term update to mine:

Glasses: MJ Twin Falls. HT lenses in the MauiPure material. Comparing them often here to my Costa Fathoms in green mirror 580G (glass).

This is part of their "Pure Air" series, so they are incredibly light. They are much lighter than the costa's. That said, weight doesn't bother me much. The MJ's are also flimsy, and yes, I broke the frames already (MJ repaired them for $10 plus shipping). Other MJ frames seem much sturdier.

As for the tint on the MJ's. Not sure they're light enough to take me really into spinner fall time of the day. But they are PERFECT for cloudy weather, and brookie fishing under a thick canopy, both situations where the Costa's have proven to be too dark. Good driving glasses as well. They are suitable for bright sun as well but a bit on the light side for that, still, it's nice that they're suitable enough for any situation where you could wear sunglasses. For this reason they are used more often than the Costa's. But the darker Costa's are far better in bright light situations, and offer better contrast and seemingly clearer colors.

Polarization: Not quite as good as the Costa's, but still very, very good and far above the cheapies I have. I think this is more a difference between glass (unstressed polarizer) and plastic (stressed polarizer resulting from injection molding) than it is a difference between the brands, which are both known for very good polarization.

Clarity: MauiPure is better than poly. But noticeably not as good as glass (again, this is their "MauiPure" material, unlike tctrout who has their glass lens).

Other: The coating on the lenses seems almost oily. Takes a very noticeable fingerprint like nobody's business, and when you try to clean them, it seems to smear instead of clean. Again, their glass would solve this "problem".

Overall: I like my Costa's better, but wear my MJ's more as they're better suited for a wider variety of conditions.

In the end, I don't think it's a reflection of the brands (both very good), but rather that glass > plastic. Both brands carry both glass and plastic.

 

[pro4mance]

Pat you have the ability, and have accomplished making my brain hurt.

 

[Six-Gun]

This thread got my attention. I actually went out to the mall after work today to Sunglass Hut (incidentally, I found out that Maui Jim and Sunglass Hut are part of the same conglomerate) and tied on several model of their polarized glasses: traditional glass, polycarbonate and MauiPure. I also stopped by ****'s and tried out the very limited selection of Costas they had in stock (and not one set of real glass ones was available.)

Of the ones I tried, the best balance of weight/performance/light transmission was definitely the MauiPure. I'm waffling between the rose tint and HT as far as which I prefer. It's a coin toss, but I think I may like the HT slightly better. For my facial structure - and purely from a style standpoint - the Twin Falls seem best. Given that I already have a respectably performing set of dark/amber tint Reflekt polarized glasses for bright conditions, a good set of dim light sunglasses is a natural next step.

Looks like my wife has an easy kill for figuring out my birthday gift next month. Thanks for the great discussion, guys. Very good topic.

 

[pcray1231]

incidentally, I found out that Maui Jim and Sunglass Hut are part of the same conglomerate.

Not really. Sunglass Hut is owned by Luxotica. All brands within are Luxotica brands, EXCEPT MJ. MJ is an independent company and simply has a contract with Luxotica to retail their glasses. That contract has come and gone and come again in the past.

Luxotica does seem to own most of the industry. That said, it's in the specific sport glasses where there are still a lot of independents. The fishing/skiing/motorcycle riding brands largely remain independent. Costa, MJ, Kaenon, Smith, etc. And they tend to be better quality too, at least in regards to polarization.

Designer brands are all Luxotica. And that includes Oakley and Ray-Ban, by the way.

 

[pcray1231]

And this is from a personal perspective. The difference between ANY plastic (including the higher grades like MauiPure, Kaenon's X91 or whatever it is, etc.), is pretty apparent to me. But not while trying them on in a store. It's not till you get outside and look at the definition of, for instance, leaves way in the distance where you see it. But when trying to pick out a fin 40 yards away under 4 feet of water amongst a bunch of rocks, well, it matters.

I think that's gonna be true across brands. i.e. just cause I like my Costa glass better than my MJ fancy plastic, doesn't mean I wouldn't like MJ glass over Costa fancy plastic. Glass rules.

And yeah, glass IS heavier, there's no doubt. But they aren't heavy. Weight has never been a problem for me.

The downside of glass is that it shatters. They aren't safety glasses. For fishing, I'll take optics over safety concerns. For, say, bike riding that equation reverses.

 

[Six-Gun]

Regarding the MJ/Sunglass Hut ownership: ok, that makes sense. The clerk at the store told me that "they are part of the same company," and apparently that was an oversimplification of the brand relationship.

As for the glass/MauiPure, etc. comparison, like you, I really wish that HT option was available to try in glass, but apparently it's not meant to be and possibly a specific option related to getting the most out of a non-glass lens.

Call me paranoid, but my big concern with a glass lens actually is the safety aspect. Chucking a large fly or split shot only takes one lapse in form to send it flying back toward your face. I'm a rated military flyer and it only takes on shard of glass getting into my eye for a flight doctor to permanently ground me, taking with it a sizeable portion of flight incentive pay. I want to take this new pair of whatever I end up with out to the Virgin Islands this summer when I join my dad to go for tarpon/bonefish. While glass would be ideal to deal with the glare/tidal murk, it's also a prime opportunity to pork a cast with a very big bug. I think I'm going to stick with the MauiPure for that reason.

 

[pcray1231]

Likely the clerk at Sunglass Hut simply didn't know. All other brands in that store (as well as Lenscrafters, Pearl Vision, Bright Eyes, and others) are owned by Luxottica.

And because of the relationship between MJ and Luxottica, analysts have long suspected or passed rumors of MJ getting fully bought out. But it hasn't happened yet. MJ's claims they're not for sale. Maybe they're just holding out for more money. Who knows.

Anyway, regarding glass vs. plastic, keep in mind it's not simply one or the other. There's a trade-off between optics and safety. Polycarbonate represents the safety end of the scale, and glass the optics end. But the many "high grade plastics" fall somewhere in between. MauiPure fits that description. Not as safe as poly, but better optics. Not as good of optics as glass, but better safety.
It's up to you where you fall on the safety vs. optics scale. If you can find it, generally the ABBE number of the material represents the optical side of it. Poly in the 30's and glass in the high 50's.

It depends on your vision too. Some are more sensitive to aberrations than others. i.e. if your eye-sight sucks, it doesn't much matter, as the lenses aren't the limiting factor!

Even among poly, there's a big difference between a stamped lens and an injection molded one. This is especially true of polarized films as stamping stresses the polarized film, and stressing polarized films alters the direction of polarization. (So, one area of the lens blocks out glare at this angle, and another area blocks out glare at a different angle). Though anything north of about $40 and you're probably safely into injection molded territory.

I don't consider glass overly dangerous for fishing. That said, I won't run a weed-eater with glass lenses on.

 

[pcray1231]

MJ's HT does indeed come in glass. 27 models. I guarantee at least a number of them are available at sunglass hut for try on.

1. List models that come in HT glass using MJ's website.
2. Go to SH, ignore tint, just try on glasses, decide which fit you best.
3. Order that model in glass HT (through sunglass hut, or direct from MJ, or any other retailer you want).
4. Enjoy.

My problem is that I had to order through Cabelas to use my Cabelas bucks. And Cabelas doesn't carry the whole MJ line, so my options were much more limited.

This is a useful chart for fishermen as well:

http://www.askmauijim.com/fm/fmsviewfaq.asp?faqid=1137

 

[troutpoop]

Dropped one of my pairs of Mauis in the drink on Sunday. Tough day. If it would have been in waist deep water it wouldn't have been so bad but I was at Clarks and the water was only 12 inches and I still couldn't locate them and we looked for over an hour.

 

[Six-Gun]

Good stuff, pcray. Unfortuntely, the Sunglass Hut at my local mall didn't have any HT glass samples available. There's another mall a reasonable distance away that I'm going to call and see if they have a sample living on the shelf. Otherwise, I am just going to figure out what HT-available frame works best for me and take it a step further once I can see the glass performance in HT first hand.

 

[pcray1231]

Again, you have 2 steps.

1. To decide which lens material you want.

2. To decide what model with that material fits best.

But for #2, YOU DO NOT NEED TO FIND PHYSICAL GLASSES WITH THE HT LENS.

For instance, you said Twin Falls fits you well. Well, that model is MauiPure. But it comes in all 4 tints. If SH only has one tint in stock, don't be put off. You can order it in whatever tint you wish. Same is true of glass models.

Generally, just FYI, the glass models are in much more "substantial" frames.

And since you said the Twin Falls fit you (and they fit me too, that's what I bought), I'm guessing your face size is similar to mine. The options in HT essentially boiled down to:

For glass:

Peahi. Fit me PERFECT. "Substantial" quality feeling frames. Big glass. Not the best "look" but having that much glass is really nice for fishing.

World Cup. Similar style to the Peahi's, but they were way too small for me.

5 Caves, square and looked ridiculous, not really sport glasses.

For MauiPure:
Twin Falls - lighter, flimsier frame, smaller lensed option

Or

Haleakala - Similar to the Peahi above. i.e. more substantial looking frames and a bigger lens.

In hindsight I wish I had gotten the Peahi's, honestly. Cabelas simply wasn't carrying them then, and I had to go through Cabelas.

 

[pcray1231]

Played a little with the camera at the jam, taking pics through sunglasses. The sharpness differences are not visible here, as the camera is the limiting factor here and the pics are further downsized for web use. Likewise, lightness vs. darkness isn't so clear because the camera adjusts itself. But it is a decent representation of the polarization and tint.

Also note, it was one of those days where the sun went in and out of clouds by the second, so it was impossible to get 100% consistent lighting for these.

Natural = taken normally
Costa = Costa 580G green mirror lens (copper base color)
MJ = Maui Jim MauiPure HT lens

 

[pcray1231]

And one on the stream (had the MJ's with me, but not the Costa's that day)

All polarizers will cut out glare (at this angle, darken the water, but at others let you see through too). Both costa and MJ are excellent polarizers compared to cheapies.

The MJ's do seem to lighten things up a bit and make some colors pop, especially greens. I wouldn't say they add contrast, though. If anything, quite the opposite, as they lighten dark areas and create less contrast.

The costa's do add contrast, at least to my eyes.