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Best heavy rain driving lenses?

Which lenses are best for driving in heavy rain?


  • Total voters
    8

kronin323

Font of Useless Knowledge
46,014
7,943
Austin, TX
I found two very old threads that discuss rain lenses a little bit, but wanted to start this new one with a poll, and more focused specifically on driving in heavy rain...

I've been using contrast lenses to drive in heavy rain forever - cutting out that blue haze and adding more contrast makes it a lot easier to see other cars and stuff with all the crap raining down and being thrown up by tires, etc.

Pre-Oakley days, I started with yellow-tint shooting glasses. When those disappeared I got something amberish, close to persimmon.

These days I use VR50. I was going to try for some HI yellow or HI persimmon custom cuts but found the VR50 works well enough.

But I wonder if they're really the best choice. Also wonder if they'll come out with a Prizm variety that'd be tailored for this. And again, I ain't talking about light rain / overcast / going on a hike; I mean driving in a heavy downpour.

So, please answer the poll and chime in with your personal experiences!
 
Buddy, not figured out what the Prizm lenses are, but IMO they are just Polarized Contrast (brown based) lenses with a heavier coat of color, nothing much different but they are now going to offer good colors in that combo. I looked at a awesome green Radar lens that will be out in Feb for cuts and one of the new frames comes with Sapphire that should be good for X Metal cuts. Waiting on my Madman and Badman frames to arrive and will hopefully have them ready for customs too. Should be 8 base but we will see.

Hi yellow is the best with persimmon polar the next. VR50 is right up there though and if not too dark Vr28 polar. (cuts the glare) You've seen the TV commercials selling the night vision glasses, they are basically HI Yellow. LOL
 
Buddy, not figured out what the Prizm lenses are, but IMO they are just Polarized Contrast (brown based) lenses with a heavier coat of color, nothing much different but they are now going to offer good colors in that combo. I looked at a awesome green Radar lens that will be out in Feb for cuts and one of the new frames comes with Sapphire that should be good for X Metal cuts. Waiting on my Madman and Badman frames to arrive and will hopefully have them ready for customs too. Should be 8 base but we will see.

Hi yellow is the best with persimmon polar the next. VR50 is right up there though and if not too dark Vr28 polar. (cuts the glare) You've seen the TV commercials selling the night vision glasses, they are basically HI Yellow. LOL

Thanks for the reply, IH.

FYI the best post so far explaining Prizm is here:
Oakley Prizm Lens Technology - I Wish You Guys Could Have Seen What I Saw Today! | Oakley Forum

.
 
I used persimmon in my XX for downpours in Texas. They do amazingly well in helping identify road lines, along with helping cut through fog or heavy rain to see traffic signals sooner and more clearly.

Having said that, I was always told that HI Yellow was even better for those conditions but prone to the "ghosting" effect that the higher transmission Oakley lenses are plagued by. Personally I'll take slightly reduced overall clarity in place of distracting ghosted images for hazardous driving.
 
Yep the prism is similar to the radar green shooting specific they had last year. It's a contrast lens and possibly the colors on the outside help it focus the wanted effect. Or they cleared up the polycarbonate quality so the contrast versions are more intense. Costa has been doing this for years, however they typically are glass lenses.
 
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