I need a pair of sunglasses with the following specifications:
100% UVA and UVB protection
screen out 70-85% visible light.
Non-polarised.
Grey or light brown tinted.
Would any good quality sunglasses meet these specifications, or would I have to get them specially made?
Thanks in advance.
Why don’t you ask the person who gave you the specification where to get them?
bob(from black rock) said:
Why don’t you ask the person who gave you the specification where to get them?
It’s a US website. I want to buy them locally and try them on first.
This would suggest that you may have to look to a professional to source a pair to suit your requirements. You’re not talking about a $20.00 service station special here.
We have a standard for sunglasses. Number 1067. Australian Standards want you to buy it, but the NZ government believes in open access:
https://law.resource.org/pub/nz/ibr/as-nzs.1067.2003.pdf
What you are asking about should be pretty much any non polarized pair of sunglasses, provided you check the labelling. It is not legal to sell sunglasses which do not conform to the AUS/NZ standard, but to be honest, that doesn’t really stop people. Look for something with a swing label saying they conform and that they are for general use. Do not get something labelled into the fashion category. Of course, many fashionable sunglasses will get into the “general use category”, and will be labelled as such. If they are labelled as “fashion”, they won’t meet your specifications.
if it’s labelled for the UV bit, the number you need to see is 400nm
By the way, light brown tinted will not meet your density specification. Grey is the better colour, you see colour normally through grey. Brown will distort your colour perception.
buffy said:
We have a standard for sunglasses. Number 1067. Australian Standards want you to buy it, but the NZ government believes in open access:
https://law.resource.org/pub/nz/ibr/as-nzs.1067.2003.pdf
What you are asking about should be pretty much any non polarized pair of sunglasses, provided you check the labelling. It is not legal to sell sunglasses which do not conform to the AUS/NZ standard, but to be honest, that doesn’t really stop people. Look for something with a swing label saying they conform and that they are for general use. Do not get something labelled into the fashion category. Of course, many fashionable sunglasses will get into the “general use category”, and will be labelled as such. If they are labelled as “fashion”, they won’t meet your specifications.
if it’s labelled for the UV bit, the number you need to see is 400nm
Thanks Buffy. The glasses are for aviation purposes. Do you know of any other specifications necessary for this purpose?
The only specifications I can find on the ones I’ve looked at are Category 2 (refers to visible light transmission) and polarised/non polarised. I haven’t seen any number like 400 nm.
It appears I need cat 2 – not too dark. However, the sales persons I have spoken to tell me that cat 2 will not give the best UV protection. For that I need cat 3, which are darker. (And hence unsuitable for my purposes.)
Would you agree with this?
Is there an aviation standard?
pesce.del.giorno said:
buffy said:We have a standard for sunglasses. Number 1067. Australian Standards want you to buy it, but the NZ government believes in open access:
https://law.resource.org/pub/nz/ibr/as-nzs.1067.2003.pdf
What you are asking about should be pretty much any non polarized pair of sunglasses, provided you check the labelling. It is not legal to sell sunglasses which do not conform to the AUS/NZ standard, but to be honest, that doesn’t really stop people. Look for something with a swing label saying they conform and that they are for general use. Do not get something labelled into the fashion category. Of course, many fashionable sunglasses will get into the “general use category”, and will be labelled as such. If they are labelled as “fashion”, they won’t meet your specifications.
if it’s labelled for the UV bit, the number you need to see is 400nm
Thanks Buffy. The glasses are for aviation purposes. Do you know of any other specifications necessary for this purpose?
The only specifications I can find on the ones I’ve looked at are Category 2 (refers to visible light transmission) and polarised/non polarised. I haven’t seen any number like 400 nm.
It appears I need cat 2 – not too dark. However, the sales persons I have spoken to tell me that cat 2 will not give the best UV protection. For that I need cat 3, which are darker. (And hence unsuitable for my purposes.)Would you agree with this?
I can’t go back into the standard here at work as I don’t have the internet strength. Have a look in there. For aviation (you should have mentioned that at the beginning really) you probably need the special purpose level 3 or 4. Hang on…..I think I’ve got an old print copy of the standard somewhere.
Look at table 4 in section 4 (p22) in my copy.
Here you go:
http://www.oaansw.com.au/visionstds/CASA_Handbook_Vision_Section.pdf
Section 2.1.13 gives the info you need. You need something labelled to conform with AS/NZ 1067 and “Special Purpose”.
buffy said:
Here you go:
http://www.oaansw.com.au/visionstds/CASA_Handbook_Vision_Section.pdf
Section 2.1.13 gives the info you need. You need something labelled to conform with AS/NZ 1067 and “Special Purpose”.
Thanks for that. The glasses I have seem to meet those requirements with the possible exception of UV opacity. As I glider pilot I don’t usually get above 10,000’, and seldom fly above cloud cover. I don’t think the UV is too much of an issue. Do you know whether lenses can be coated to improve UV opacity?
pesce.del.giorno said:
buffy said:Here you go:
http://www.oaansw.com.au/visionstds/CASA_Handbook_Vision_Section.pdf
Section 2.1.13 gives the info you need. You need something labelled to conform with AS/NZ 1067 and “Special Purpose”.
Thanks for that. The glasses I have seem to meet those requirements with the possible exception of UV opacity. As I glider pilot I don’t usually get above 10,000’, and seldom fly above cloud cover. I don’t think the UV is too much of an issue. Do you know whether lenses can be coated to improve UV opacity?
Used to be UV coatings, but now not used much because the basic plastics used for the lenses cut out a lot of UV anyway. Hang about and I’ll have a look at the price lists and see if UV coatings are still listed.
There are one or two companies still offering UV coatings. They can’t be put onto lenses already cut for the frame. So they are only applicable to custom made spectacles and have to be ordered with the lens blanks, before frame fitting.
Some of the commercial sunglasses probably have coatings, particularly in that special use category.
OK, thanks for useful info. :)