Best of Class 2: Sunglasses

I looked for years for that perfect pair of sunglasses- durable and classic with high quality lenses that won't give me a headache.  No hype, jingle-jangles or rhinestone logos.  I finally found them at Randolph Engineering.

Made in the USA (!) and famous for their quality and durability, Randolph Engineering makes (in my opinion anyway) the best sunglasses in the world.  These are the sunglasses worn by NASA astronauts and military fighter pilots.

If you can fly an F-18 at Mach 1.8 in them, they'll probably work fine for carpool.

Each pair goes through more than 200 production stages, mostly by hand.  In fact, RE is so confident in the integrity of their hand soldered joints that they guarantee them for life under normal wear.  The mineral glass lenses are distortion-free and tempered for impact resistance that exceeds ANSI Z-803 standards.  They also offer terrific polycarbonate lenses for lighter weight.

They offer 10 frame finishes, 8 frame sizes and 6 lens types.  I especially like the tan lenses for driving or riding on overcast days.  

Polarized lenses significantly cut the glare in extremely bright, high glare conditions, such as when light reflects off of snow or water.  Since this glare (or horizontally polarized light) is 7-10 times stronger than ambient light, it can be extremely harsh on your eyes and cause headaches.  

However, RE suggests considering non-polarized lenses if you spend a lot of time viewing gauges or instruments.  Because many gauges and devices are already polarized for view in sunlight, viewing them with polarized lenses creates a double polarization that will make them nearly impossible to read.

Temples come in cable (above), regular "skull" style (second from the top) and bayonet (top and below).   I prefer the bayonet because they are comfortable under a hat or riding helmet.  I can also yank them off quickly if I need to.

Each pair comes with a roomy hard clamshell case, lens cloth and a repair kit with extra screws, bridge pads and a teeny tiny screw driver.  If you need to spend $300 on sunglasses to feel cool, you probably won't like these.  But if the idea of creating your perfect, customized pair of military-grade sunglasses is appealing, you can visit Randolph Engineering by clicking here.

Or just follow me around for awhile, I'm bound to leave a pair somewhere.

Note:  Jennings & Gates received no compensation from Randolph Engineering for this post.