August 27, 2010
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Wear Sunglasses
Before I deployed to Afghanistan, I wasn't much of a sunglasses wearer. Being in the Army didn't help that. I guess they figured that people were just trying to be cool, and UV protection wasn't really necessary. However, a couple of deployments to the desert, and the fact that sand can cause "Snow Blindness" can occur when there's no snow, and the Army eventually changed it's tune. We were issued Wiley X sunglasses, but I wasn't a complete fan of the foam that seals around your eye. Nice concept, but your eyelids would literally sweat. I jumped onto the Oakley bandwagon. Specifically, the M-Frame, which were issued to us at some point.
After the deployment, I returned to Vicenza, and didn't wear sunglasses for the first couple of days. After a lot of squinting, I started wearing them again. I had no idea how I survived most of my life without wearing sunglasses during the day. Had the sun always been this bright?
Not just a tool for staring at women without them noticing,the UV protection is always a nice thing to have. Also, they seem to "tone down" the world. I can observe more, because I can actually open my eyes. I don't stop looking at things because of glare. The only downsides are that LCD screens can't be read at certain angles (more so for older ones), and when I look at glass, I can see how it is tempered.
Personally, I recommend going for a good pair of polarized lenses. They remove a lot of the glare that you encounter, and if you wear a good pair, you'll understand the difference. Also, for my line of work, the Oakleys are impact rated, so I can wear them to shoot. I also like to get the darkest lenses i can (usually iridium polarized) because there really isn't any need to squint.
I personally wear the Oakley Flak Jacket sunglasses. I like the interchangeable dual lenses, and the fact that it rides close to the head, unlike the M-frame and Half Jacket designs.
