if you're blind as a bat...

[jumpmonkey]

hopefully this will be of interest to someone...
i wear glasses and my prescription means i can't get daily disposable contacts, the closest i can get is ones you change every 3 months. also can't get laser eye surgery for my prescription. anyway, because i was getting fed up of not being able to see, i decided a final throw of the dice would be some glasses for surfing in. i got some 'silverfish - s-rat' frames (online from U.S. only) and some polarised prescription lenses, and paddled out hoping that i wouldn't have £200 (mainly the lenses) whipped off my head by the first wave. all i can say is they are really excellent, the strap keeps them firmly attached to my head no matter how violently i face-plant (so far!), the glare in sunlight is much reduced (bright light bothers me), and i can finally see!!

i've started progressing much better and i finally feel comfortable starting conversations with others out back, before they could have been mouthing "f... off" while giving me evils, and i wouldn't have had a clue - so just used to keep quiet.

enjoying my surfing much more now.

[ninjah]

Sweet, I wear glasses too, and when I go surfing I can't see squat, do you have the link for the frames?

[billie_morini]

jumpmonkey & ninjah,
I need sunglasses when surfing because my eyes are especially sensitive to sunlight. I've been using Silverfish sunglasses with perscription lenses for close to 4 years. I'm an old guy and require correction for close, medium, and far distance. In the old days, you had to get trifocals. Today you can get progressive lenses that do not show the break between the different powers. Progressive lenses are much more expensive than single vision lenses. Before ordering the Silverfish sunglasses, I talked to the guy that sells them and he put me in touch with the lab that makes the corrective lenses for the glasses he sells. I checked them out, as well as, talked to their manager. Seemed like they knew what they were doing. So, I decided to get some. The Silverfish guy sent me a pair of standard sunglasses. A local optician marked the lenses for where the breaks in power needed to be. (This has to be done in-person by someone who knows what they are doing. And, you don't need to do this for single vision lenses) Then I sent the glasses to the lens lab. I absolutely love these sunglasses.

Result: I'd highly recommend Silverfish sunglasses with or without corrective lenses. Mine are the Standard model.

Anti-fogging Tip: I apply McNett's Sea Drops to the interior side of the lenses before entering water. Sometimes I use McNett's Sea Gold gel instead. When I'm in a real jam, I'll use Rain-X or rub a piece of peeled white potato on the lens. The potato trick is how we'd keep our motorcycle faceshields from fogging up in winter in New York state in the early 1970's. You can get McNett products at any dive shop.

web link that was requested: www.silverfish.com/

[PredationSA]

I've been looking to pick up a pair of sunglasses for myself (i surf the west coast where i live so I'm basically looking directly into the sun all the time) and it seems Silverfish and SeaSpecs are generally the "go to" suggestions. Has anyone used both and can give a little comparison or if anyone has used SeaSpecs, please give your thoughts as well. As far as i know, my local stores only stock SeaSpecs but I'm willing to order Silverfish off their site if it's worth it (they are a bit cheaper so if they are reliable then why not)

[billie_morini]

PredationSA,
I looked hard at Seaspecs when I decided to get Silverfish. They are truly the same product. In the past, there was the Silverfish dealer on the west coast (Laguna Beach, CA) and the Seaspec dealer on the east coast (Miami, FL). I bought the Silverfish for two reasons: 1) they are located in the same State that I'm in, and 2) the Silverfish guy was willing to support me better with my perscription lens requirements and was connected to a better lens making lab.

If you don't need perscription lenses, then you can truly shop for best price. Seaspecs are available in multiple colors (www.seaspecs.com) and Silverfish are available in black.

[PredationSA]

@billie. Ja, I'm realizing as i look into it more and more the standard models for Silverfish and SeaSpecs are basically identical in every aspect and they both have their little issues here and there i.e. no matter which i take, they will fog up now and then so I will probably just go with SeaSpecs, it's cheaper for me and I have the chance to try out before Thanks for the reply.

[jumpmonkey]

thanks for the anti-fogging tips, billie. i thought the seaspecs and silverfish were the same thing. i got the paint chipped frames for a reduced price (tightwad), gotta say though, i can't find any paint chips on them.

[billie_morini]

In case it interests anyone, the official websites for Silverfish has a 2 for 1 purchase deal and Seaspecs has a 2 for 3 purchase deal. (Haven't looked too hard; this may only apply to non-perscription lenses)

[zangpakto]

Actually contacts are the way forward... for me at least... Trust me on this the smaller the contacts, the better it seems. Maybe ask optician if they can reduce the diameter and try them

I found the bigger they are, the more likely to come off they will... So I've been using dailys for the last oh I don't know 5/6 months surfing 4/5 times a week

Best news? or bad... depending on your view... I've used the same 3 dailys to surf for the 5/6 months. And they still seem fine... They actually last longer than my monthlys :S that is the weird part...

Just remember, smaller diameter = god when it comes to water and contacts at least for me I lost maybe 4/5 monthly ones in the span of 2 months, then one day decided to try dailys as wouldn't be as expensive to replace... and well... lets just say I never looked back and they don't make daily in my prescription, but I took the best they could offer as I explained my situation, and they gave them to me without problems

Hope this helps someone

[surfnoob]

I have monthly disposable contacts. Have been surfing for 2 years and lost one of the only - BUT that was when i dropped it outside the car and it blew away!

I have astigmatism and a poor perscription so can't get dailies. Never had a problem with monthlies.

My only concern with wearing glasses would be getting mullered by a wave and losing them.

[bruinft]

I also have astigmatism and usually wear rigid lenses. But I got a prescription for some cheap dailies to use only while surfing. It's far from perfect, since it's a little blurry. But it's much better than being blind. When my box runs out, I might look into getting some glasses because the vision will be better (less blurry), and it'll be more convenient. Throwing on a pair of glasses in the morning is much more easier than waking up early in the morning for the dawn patrol and jabbing a finger in my eye trying to get contacts in.

[surf patrol]

Check out The Surf Sunglasses Super Store. It was started by a surfer who lost his eye in a surfing accident. They carry 4 or five different brands and two different prescription options as well. The only problem is that they can only do prescriptions up to SPH -6.0. I've looked around for the same products elsewhere and I have not been able to beat the price

[skyelans]

Just a FYI.. surfing can be bad on the eyes and sunglasses are really a good idea regardless if you normally wear glasses or not. See the following website to see the damage that can be done to your eyes while surfing without sunglasses