What would be the best shade of sunglasses to wear for an African hunt to highlight game? Will be using open sights. Recommendaton as to brands would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance

I have to chuckle on this one ... I did the CLASSIC screwup one day in 2004 in SA on a Kudu hunt. I wore contacts and shooting glasses that worked a lot like blue blockers ... BIG mistake when you're trying to see an animal that tends toward the blue.

I lined up on a Kudu that was facing me, but didn't see me. He layed down in a shadow and disappeared! I simply could not see him. Didn't figure it out until afterwards ... otherwise I'd have just taken the glasses off. Man, was I embarrassed!

I have been happy with grey lenses. Polarized, especially for lateer in the season when the bush is thinning and there can be glare off of sand or bare light dirt.

A common comment of PH's is that many hunters have trouble seeing the game, even when it is pointed out to them.

I don't know where you hail from, but is its an area with high deer populations, you will benefit from taking some walks or even drives and working to spot deer.

I used to do this with my kids when they were young, either hiking or in the truck, just to keep them entertained, and actually trying to spot deer will lead to much better ability when it counts. My now eight year old son and eleven year old duaghter can spot game with the best of them, and my ability improved as well.

JPK

The Oakley transition lenses are cool. I took a pair to Zim this past september. The lenses actually lighten and darken. You can find them at www.oakley.com

Peashooter,

Polarized first off and any of the top quality makers... My personal preference is the light colored brownish lens which makes greens light up... and I also evaluate them by looking into shaded areas to see how deeply you can see into the dark areas..

Mike

Yellow for bright sun in the bush.
orange for cloudy days in the bush.

Not polarized.

This is what I was told and it passed multiple field tests.

Whatever style fits with Revo LMS-S or NXT Glass. I wear the 080-J2 everyday and haven't found anything better at any price.

quote:

Originally posted by SG Olds:
Yellow for bright sun in the bush.
orange for cloudy days in the bush.

Not polarized.

This is what I was told and it passed multiple field tests.

I have found it so bright on sunny days, which represent the vast majority in my experience, though I've actually been breifly rained on twice, that darker shades worked best most of the time.

BTW, take two (maybe different) pair.

JPK

I use the Orange persimon (non Mirror) Oakley lenses most places I shoot or fish. they really are great. If you combine it with another darker mirrored lens like the fire lens you have all the bases covered. If the glint from the mirrored lens is a problem then there is a yellow polarised lens that I bought in Dubai that I'm using more and more

All the lenses are in Sweep M-Frames

I used two time Polaroid 8835, if I remember well. Good choice fto save the eyes from the intense light, but too delicate and easy to scratch. A good brim hat helps a lot.

I like the big black framed green wrap around sunglasses that all the old geezers are wearing as they putt along in their Cadillacs.

Do a search. I think I saw JPK wearing them in some of his pics from Zim.

Decot HyWYD and others, my eye doc included, recommend a bronze color, but I found, like JPK, that grey lenses work best for me.

I had some brown/bronze colored lenses that I used in SA East Cape and the game seemed to blend into the brush for me. The grey lenses provided more contrast for my eyes. I may try the bronze tint again in the future. Might help with a backgound that has more greens and foliage.


RCG

Only thing you need sunglasses for in Southern Africa during the winter is driving. Maybe, just maybe, if you are hunting in the Kalahari teh glare might call for sunglasses.

If you don't normally use glasses you are luckly. Wearing contacts in the bush, especially dusty areas in something someone else might comment on. I now use bifocals

Regards

For my preference I use Amber lenses, on a bright sunny day they take the edge off and still allow me to see game whereas dark tint makes the game blend in too much. When it is overcast they tend to actually brighten things up a bit.

I just received a pair of custom Oakley Crosshairs for this very purpose (and other general sunglass wearing). I went with their black iridium polarized lenses and I could not be happier. Their optical quality is astonishing. I've been wearing their sunglasses for years, but this lens combo really impressed me. They cut glare and brightness but do not alter color perception. Things just seem to 'jump' out at me after using this tint.

Check out their website. They absolutely make the finest sunglasses available today.

PS - The other bonus to them is they exceed every OSHA safety test they have. This makes them great for using as shooting/safety glasses.

Corning France's Serengeti Drivers and Luxottica's Revo series are available as polarized photochromatics. These would take care of most outdoor applications. Try to choose a neutral shade like brown or grey and ask for the lenses not to be pre-tinted.

That would be the best solution overall.

My regular glasses have transition lens. That's all I use here, or in Africa for rifle hunting. I use Decot HyWyds with target bronze lens when shooting a shotgun. I use them more for the specialty frame than the lens.

Perception and comfort are very individual things and all I can tell you is what I do and why I do it.I prefer a grey lens over any other color , including amber or blue blockers for hunting. The reason is that grey distorts the color none at all ,it merely subdues it. Other colored lenses alter color perception and some color cues are useful in spotting game. One earlier poster eluded to this being a problem for them. I also see thebenefit of polarized lenses in sandy environs.

Fishing is a different proposition altogether and a bronze polarized lens seems to aid me when sight fishing.

A blue blocker is a great choice for driving but because it distorts color so much it is more of a specialty lens and it gets less use for me than the grey.

Transitions - grey.

Thanks for this thread...

My wife claims I obsess over the minutiae, now I can show her I ain't alone!

quote:

My wife claims I obsess over the minutiae, now I can show her I ain't alone!

.....must have been talkin with my wife.

This is what I wear most of the time, Working Saftey Glasses at the price of about $20, so I usually brings couple. Enhances the depth seeing so you see animals better than without in most situations, also very comfortable to wear.

Dang, Christer!
Almost looks like an old Aero-motor windmill on the rolling plains of Texas behind you!

Clayman - Did you get the VR28 Black Iridium or the straight Black Iridium lenses? Thanks, Jim

mykita.com

The hinges alone are worth the price. Fitted with polycarbonate lenses as shooting glasses are. Also anti-reflective coating. They are not inexpensive.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
Dang, Christer!
Almost looks like an old Aero-motor windmill on the rolling plains of Texas behind you!

Rusty, that i s a classic South African Windmill, situated in Vrede, Free State.

I had a local eyeglass shop custom color several sets of lenses for my shooting glass frames. I happened to find a guy that new his stuff and had a set of deep blue with a very light red over tint pair that really diminished green backgrounds and made any animal with any white at all nearly glow! They were superb for sporting clays in heavy green woods as well. They had a polarizing coat as well and were also were very soothing on the eyes.

The above were too dark for very early and late evening and in this situation a very light vermillion worked very well,

I tried a pair of orange with a hint of brown which were fine for wing shooting but not great for dry habitat background.

I ended up with 4 or 5 pairs some with very little tint in various shades since certain tints neutralize certain backgrounds or enhance certain colors especially in shade and failing light. And at least one pair that changed shades with the sun's intensity.

Since then I had lasiks and am starting all over. After 40 years wearing glasses and a coupe without I figured out that eye protection is as important as the luxury of being able to take off fogged up lenses and still being able to see!

Best Regards

Mike O

quote:

Originally posted by capoward:
Clayman - Did you get the VR28 Black Iridium or the straight Black Iridium lenses? Thanks, Jim

Jim,

I got the black iridium polarized lenses. I didn't get the VR28 because they weren't available for the frames I wanted (even from the custom shop). The thing I like the most about the black iridium is the way it doesn't distort color perception. Any other colored lenses will make everything take on that hue, and that can be bad for spotting game. Black just mutes all the colors, but essentially leaves them unaltered. I said it before, and I'll say it again, this combination of tint and polarized is optically astonishing.

I've actually tried several colors of sunglasses and the ones I have now are a dark amber polarized. I like these the best because they let me wear them well into dusk. Darker shades have been useless as the sun goes down.

What eye doc said about grey seems to make sence though and perhaps I will try them in the future.

Mark

Just another note ... remember my post about blue blockers and Kudu! They make grass greener in the sun and Kudu disappear in the shade.

Also, I noticed on the range the other day that the polarized lenses in my prescription sunglasses made the reticle in the EoTech Holosight on top of my 9mm race subgun disappear. Could not turn it up enough to see it well. Glad I didn't find out at a match. If you want to use the Holosight on a DGR or shotgun in the field be aware. Would be wise to check your glasses with any lighted reticle.

Grey lenses are hard to beat, IF they are not too dark.

My Oakly grey lenses were too dark.

However, I had a set of Oakley Bronze colored Polarized lenses that worked perfect.

They seem to highlight most game that I have hunted so far.

They do not seem to effect my view of red dot sights. I have used them with several different types.

Ray-Bans have always worked for me.

But then again, I was told by the teenaged sales girl when I bought my last pair of Wayfarers that I was "old school."

Oakley are spendy but worth the money. I wear there sunglasses about everyday, and like the bronze and brown oakley lenses the best.

On cloudy days I do like Maui Jim's rose colored lenses though.

If you need prescription Transitions is available in brown which is the overall better tint to see animals in the bush.

I sometimes wear the old slow-style prescription transition lenses, which are a bit of a pain, as they change so slowly, especially if you are going from outside to indoors on a sunny day. I have a pair of glass prescription specs, which I use the most at any time (as already mentioned, a wide brimmed hat does cut out a fair amount of glare). I also have a pair of non prescription polaroid sunglasses, which are super, especially for fishing, and are certainly the best for glare reduction. However, one thing that I have noticed with archery (peep sight, and pin front sight) the sight-settings for my prescription specs and my sunglasses have been slightly different (even over 30m on a sunny day, where I have not had that much need for specs). I found this interesting, but it did made me think that it could have been the difference in curvature of the lens for the differnt results. The elevation was always fine, but the shots always pulled slightly to the left when I changed from sunglasses to specs! At 90m the specs would always mandatory for me unfortunately!

I think it depends where you are going to be a lot of the time. In Africa, most of the time it is going to be bright and sunny (with reservations). If you are going to be hunting in Namibia for instance, I can imagine the glare from the sand and reflective shrubs being quite harsh, and hence the need for shades. If you are going to be hunting in low light from a blind late afternoon, etc, the light illuminating glasses would obviously be of an asset. I have never used these, but have heard with cricketers, etc in overcast weather that they do help. As long as you shoot some groups with your intended shades you should be fine. As for what tint is best, I can not say I am afraid!

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Carney:
Only thing you need sunglasses for in Southern Africa during the winter is driving. Maybe, just maybe, if you are hunting in the Kalahari teh glare might call for sunglasses.

If you don't normally use glasses you are luckly. Wearing contacts in the bush, especially dusty areas in something someone else might comment on. I now use bifocals

Regards

I wear contacts, and the only time they gave me a problem in Namibia was riding in the bakkie. Sunglasses fixed that right up.