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Fishing. Cycling. Golfing. Sailing. Skiing. Hiking.
If you wear glasses, we want you to choose the right lenses for your active lifestyle. Historically, polycarbonate lenses have been the norm for sport, but new technologies - such as Trivex lens material - have resulted in substantial improvements which is why we want to let you know: not all lenses are created equal!
So, when choosing between polycarbonate or trivex, be sure to consider the following features:
Impact resistance is critical. You don’t want to risk a lens shattering if a ball smacks you in the face! Polycarbonate and trivex are the most popular lens materials that are strong enough to surpass ANSI requirements for high mass impact resistance. In other words, these lenses will absorb resistance without shattering. In our opinion, however, all impact resistant lenses are not created equal.
The lighter your lenses are, the more comfortable they will be to wear. Heavy lenses tend to jump around or slide down your nose when you’re active. Both polycarbonate and trivex are significantly lighter than glass, and trivex lenses produce a thinner and lighter lens than polycarbonate.
When it comes to clarity and crystal-clear optics, glass lenses are the gold standard however, we don’t recommend glass for active lifestyles because glass shatters on impact and is very heavy. Trivex lenses have significantly clearer optics than polycarbonate. To be sure, we avoid polycarbonate polarized sun lenses because of birefringence, the natural distortion that is inherent in the lens material, which is unfortunately amplified in polycarbonate polarized lenses.
Finally, we prefer trivex lenses over polycarbonate because they are more durable and more scratch resistant. In our experience, even with anti-scratch hard coatings, polycarbonate lenses just don’t handle wear and tear as well as trivex does.
Have a question about selecting the right lens material for you? Click this link to send us a question. We're quick to respond and we're happy to help in any way we can.
If you live an active lifestyle, we definitely recommend trivex lenses. Trivex lenses have clear optics like glass, plus they are impact resistant and weigh lighter than polycarbonate lenses. They are also scratch resistant which should save you dollars in the long run. Trivex is available on our website in Single Vision Rx or Progressive Rx and in nearly every treatment including clear lenses, photochromic (clear indoors / dark outdoors), and polarized sun lenses. Choose wisely!
