For the coming riding season, Survival Skills is offering four different pairs of shatter-proof, anti-scratch frameless sunglasses:
Contrast-enhancing Yellow Tint
It's been known for many years that a yellow "contrast enhancing" tint is extremely effective in poor light conditions, where there are no shadows and the world appears flat and two dimensional. Yellow
tinted goggles have been available for years for skiing on an overcast day, and racers often use a yellow tint when it's grey or raining.
Unfortunately, due to the vagaries of the safety eye protection standards, there are no legal visors of this colour.
Several years back I happened across some inexpensive frameless yellow sunglasses in a bike shop. I bought a couple of pairs.
When I got to wear them, I
particularly liked the wide wrap-around design of the lens itself which keeps the wind out of the eyes when the visor is up. The frameless design means no blind spots either!
I've tried a few other pairs of "bikers' sunglasses" and found the the frame obscured huge portions of my peripheral vision - there's no problem like that with these.
The lens is 100% optically correct (actually better than the visor on some cheaper lids!), and the yellow tint was particularly good on grey, winter days, enhancing the dull light but taking enough glare
out of the light when the sun did peep through that I wasn't immediately reaching for the dark glasses.
The semi-flexible sidearms were comfortable under the helmet and the light weight meant little pressure on the bridge of the nose, something I can have trouble with with conventional sunglasses.
With care, the anti-scratch lens stayed in good condition too, with just the same sort of care and cleaning that a visor needs. Each pair lasted well over a year, and remarkably I managed not to lose
or sit on them them quite as soon as I normally shed or crush sunglasses.
It's worth noting that the material of the lenses is constructed to the CE_EN166 safety eyewear standard, so is safer than ordinary budget sunglasses.
I've added these items to the shop, so Survival Skills can now supply these recommended riding glasses.
I finally lost the second pair in 05 and really missed them. The bike shop doesn't do them any more but I hunted round and found a supplier. So they are now available to all riders.
Mirror-finish "Iridium Blue" Tint
If you're not fond of swapping over
your tinted visor, sunglasses are of course much easier to remove when the sun goes down.
So when I found the supplier did a nice metallic blue "iridium" mirror tint pair which are good in full summer sun. I've found them particularly
good on summer evenings when I'm riding over to Oxford into the setting sun along the M20 and M25.
They are made to the same CE safety eyewear standard as the yellow contrast-enhancing glasses. However, I will warn you that like iridium tinted visors, these are not anti-scratch like the other
sunglasses, but given a bit of care and attention, they'll last just as long as the equivalent metallic tinted visor.
That said, they do look cool under the lid!
Smoke Tint
There's also an anti-scratch "smoke"
tint available. Like the "iridium" mirror tint, they aren't ultra-dark, but they take a significant amount of the glare out of the light of a sunny day, particularly when the sun is low and
near the horizon.
Once again, they are built to the same to the same CE safety eye-wear standard as the yellow contrast-enhancing glasses.
Clear lens
The final offering is the same model with a completely clear CE-approeved lens, which would suit riders with open face helmets who don't want to wear googles or use a visor.
Protective soft case
To protect your glasses off the bike, there's a nice soft protective zip case that can be slipped in a pocket or attached to a belt or bum bag strap with the clip.
Please note: just like anti-scratch visors, anti-scratch glasses are scratch RESISTANT, not scratch PROOF! If you treat them with the
same level of care and clean them as carefully as you would a visor, they'll last as long as a visor.
Order safety riding glasses now from the Survival Skills shop. Choose from:
High Contrast Yellow (anti-scratch)
Metallic Blue Tint (NOT anti-scratch)
Smoke (anti-scratch)
Clear (anti-scratch)
Per pair £12.00 including postage and packing
Zip-up soft protective case
Each £10.00 including postage and packing
Order Online Now
OR send a cheque for the correct amount payable to:
Survival Skills 11 Heathfield Langley Heath Maidstone Kent Me17 3JL
Remember to include your address and details of your order! Allow 10 days for delivery.
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When I got to wear them, I
particularly liked the wide wrap-around design of the lens itself which keeps the wind out of the eyes when the visor is up. The frameless design means no blind spots either!
I've tried a few other pairs of "bikers' sunglasses" and found the the frame obscured huge portions of my peripheral vision - there's no problem like that with these.
If you're not fond of swapping over
your tinted visor, sunglasses are of course much easier to remove when the sun goes down. 
There's also an anti-scratch "smoke"
tint available. Like the "iridium" mirror tint, they aren't ultra-dark, but they take a significant amount of the glare out of the light of a sunny day, particularly when the sun is low and
near the horizon.
Clear lens
Protective soft case
