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We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

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leeuwen
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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby leeuwen » Tue May 14, 2019 7:14 am

kite_hh wrote:
Tue May 14, 2019 4:31 am
Toby wrote:
Wed May 08, 2019 6:54 pm
(...)
The use of polarized sunglasses, in general, will help reduce the chances of cataracts, macular degeneration, sunburn on the cornea and the risk of experiencing vision issues like “snow blindness” which can and have happened to kiters before.
(...)
My biggest worry with sunglasses is that they may break upon impact and pieces of it could enter the eye and cause permanent damage.

Regarding the OP: What makes polarized sunglasses special or superior to 100%UV protected ones with regard to eye protection?
I am not an expert but I assume this is because it will reduce the glare reflected from the water.
e.g. basically you are looking indirectly at the sun via a mirror (the water).
Regular sunglasses are not made for looking directly at the sun but Polarized glasses should block these reflections from the water.
And as an additional benefit you will be able to look below the surface of the water for any obstacles or just to see how deep it is.

Regarding the breaking: if something is hitting your eyes hard enough it would break the glass and made it enter your eye you are probably in trouble anyway.
Also when water enters your eyeballs at high enough speed you can also get problems.
IMHO reasonably build sunglasses for watersports are way better protection even and far outweigh the risk you are mentioning.

I am personally using C-Line Davy Polarized Sunglasses and they are great.
They are comfy and the build in straps never made me lose one (and had plenty of crashes)

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby kite_hh » Tue May 14, 2019 8:07 am

Do you have any evidence of polarized being significantly better than UV-protected sunglasses?

Regarding the "you are in trouble anyways": yes, probably something has gone wrong when this becomes an issue. I just don't see why I should add bits and pieces of possibly sharp and pointy plastic to an already bad situation.
I would rather deal with huge load of water in my eye than any debris of any kind anywhere near my eye.

I will probably agree with you that goggles build for high speed watersports will outweigh the cons. However, some have reported they just use any cheap sunglasses with UV-protection. And the majority of sunglasses I see on the water is just regular sunglasses.

Additionally, maybe I am just not THAT much on the water (unfortunately :-D ) that I worry too much about sunlight damage to my eyes while riding. Though this article made me rethink this position and I am considering wearing sunglasses on the water. Hence the questions. ;-)

And last, but not least, I think that stuff potentially breaking close to your eyes should be addressed in any discussion regarding the well-being of the eyes.

Be safe!

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby HALF » Tue May 14, 2019 8:29 am

Something else to consider is that polarization hides some detail in the water, you cannot see the waves as clear as with normal waves. The brain is used to see the reflections and infer how the wave looks like, when you remove part of the light the brain perceives it as flatter than it really is.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby Toby » Tue May 14, 2019 10:14 am

I made the experience that black lenses made me see less structure of the water surface...and brown lenses were so much better for visibility

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby Kamikuza » Tue May 14, 2019 11:05 am

Toby wrote:
Tue May 14, 2019 10:14 am
I made the experience that black lenses made me see less structure of the water surface...and brown lenses were so much better for visibility
In the ocean though yeah. Here, with river silt in the water, brown lenses tend to turn the water in a uniform brown with no surface details :o

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Toby
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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby Toby » Tue May 14, 2019 11:27 am

Kamikuza wrote:
Tue May 14, 2019 11:05 am
Toby wrote:
Tue May 14, 2019 10:14 am
I made the experience that black lenses made me see less structure of the water surface...and brown lenses were so much better for visibility
In the ocean though yeah. Here, with river silt in the water, brown lenses tend to turn the water in a uniform brown with no surface details :o
Ocean, river mouths, lagoons (also brownish)

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby Matteo V » Tue May 14, 2019 2:53 pm

HALF wrote:
Tue May 14, 2019 8:29 am
Something else to consider is that polarization hides some detail in the water, you cannot see the waves as clear as with normal waves. The brain is used to see the reflections and infer how the wave looks like, when you remove part of the light the brain perceives it as flatter than it really is.
Yup - this is why I cannot wear polarized glasses when riding on the water. I even hate them for snowkiting as it inhibits depth perception of half shaded features. I tried to use polarized glasses, since I loved them for fishing. But I fount them to be detrimental to kitesurfing if you are after waves in the break or even kickers on a lake.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby slowboat » Tue May 14, 2019 3:08 pm

I have been trying to convince Lip to make some NON polarized versions of their sunglasses as I really like Lip glasses otherwise.

Please support this effort by emailing them if you agree that polarization does not add any protection but can inhibit vision, especially for foiling and waves.

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby MaximumAC » Tue May 14, 2019 7:29 pm

Yes, there is increased risk of infection, but particularly in fresh water and pools. I'm not entirely sure what the risk differential is, but I'd be in deep shit if I started telling patients it's ok to swim in your contacts. Obviously just about everyone does it at times though.

https://www.preventblindness.org/acanth ... act-lenses

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Re: We should be wearing sunglasses throughout the day and especially while kiteboarding! Why aren't we?

Postby POACHER » Tue May 14, 2019 9:48 pm

Thread jack:

Anyone have a recommendation for a good float retainer?


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