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Sunglasses for water sports use, whilst undeniably practical and good for protecting our eyes from UV, have always been a polarizing subject, sliding in and out of fashion like the extra-long boardies we saw in the early 90s in surfing.
But with the 90s revival well and truly upon us, wrap arounds are back, which is generally the most practical shape for a product that needs to be close to your head and streamlined. LiP provided us with two pairs of premium water sunnies to play with in the form of the Typhoon and Surge models.
The Typhoon is the premium offering with crystal clear polarized Zeiss or NXT Lenses which you specify at purchase. This model has extra TPU extensions to the inside of the frame to prevent water (and light) getting behind at the edges, sitting close to the edges of your eye socket and providing a lot of comfort if there’s any contact. The lenses are scratch resistant and have anti-fogging properties as well as a hydrophobic coating which is very effective with the water beading off with gravity alone. You’ll also notice venting on the upper and lower frame around the lens to let water out.
The Surge model sits in the mid-price range and sports a slightly different, more angular wrap-around frame shape. The TPU over molding on the inside of the frames concentrates itself around the bridge of the nose and forehead area rather than everywhere as with the Typhoon. The arms have a gentle hip in the middle before it fades into the same TPU-covered end. These seemed to fit my smaller head and face shape a little more elegantly.
Various frame and lens color combinations and specifications are available at purchase point, so you can tailor your style as you wish. Both models ship with an adjustable back strap which hooks into the TPU-covered rear of the arms and then tightens on a drawstring to provide a perfect fit. This then clips onto a silicone necklace which acts as a failsafe in case you do manage to blow them off your head, which frankly would be impressive as they really don’t want to budge when installed. They also both come in sturdy cases and with a microfiber cleaning cloth.
If like me, you’ve spent 30 years squinting into sun, particularly the low light angles and reflective silvery ocean environment we have in the UK winter, the LiP glasses provide a welcome relief and practical solution to a complex problem. The field of vision is excellent, and critically, the closure and retention system is solid. These well-designed and effective sunglasses will transcend a range of high impact water sports, and hopefully prevent your corneas getting fried…
